Ch.16Red Eye 4

“Dad…!!”

I shouted as I looked down at the collapsed debris.

But there was no response from below.

I hurriedly grabbed the fallen stones.

But at that moment, I heard the sound of meat sizzling from my hands.

I let go because of the extreme pain.

Did my father endure this pain while trying to get me out?

“Is anyone there…? Please help me. My dad is…”

I cried out desperately, pleading for help from anyone nearby.

But I soon realized that my actions were meaningless.

Everyone had already escaped through the exit.

Only the massive monster’s feet remained, continuing to destroy the entire department store.

“Dad, please say something… Tell me you’re alive!”

I began digging through the pile of stones alone.

My blackened fingers tore open, spurting bright red blood.

But no matter how much I dug, I couldn’t see my father.

The dark crevices between the fragments merely swallowed my dripping blood.

“What should I do…”

When I had given up on life in the debris, I was calm enough to reflect on my past.

But the survival instinct my father had awakened in me only plunged me deeper into panic.

Was that when it happened?

The moment the blue system window appeared.

「Ms. Han Surin.」

When the whole world turned gray, a blue window appeared in the air and asked me.

「What is your wish?」

My wish…?

Are you asking for my wish in this situation?

「Strength powerful enough to lift massive rocks.」

The system window showed me an accept button as if it could give me that power right away.

Of course I would take such power if it existed.

I didn’t care whether this window was real or fiction.

Right now, saving my dad was all that mattered.

Without hesitation, I reached for the ‘Accept’ button.

But my determined hand stopped just before touching the window.

Because the system presented me with one more option.

I stared blankly at the sentence typed before me.

「Eternal beauty that will never be damaged.」

Does that mean my ruined face would be restored?

Beyond restoration… forever?

The moment I read that sentence, my once-determined mind filled with all sorts of thoughts.

If I got a new body…

I should escape from this building quickly.

I could just walk calmly to that wide-open escape route where no one remained.

But…

I gazed at the rock fragments.

Once again, I put my face into the dark crevice.

And I asked.

To my father, whose life or death I couldn’t confirm.

“Dad…”

“Are you alive?”

My voice grew quieter with each word.

“You’re… dead, aren’t you?”

I asked one last time.

But the darkness remained silent.

Right.

I’ve tried hard enough.

He was crushed under these massive fragments, and he’s not responding at all.

He’s gone.

He must be gone.

I stared at the system window.

My heart began to race madly.

I looked back and forth between the words “strength” and “beauty” several times.

Meanwhile, the department store filled with the cries of bizarre monsters.

The sound was so loud that I could hear glass breaking everywhere.

Those ominous sounds of rupture began to rush my decision.

The department store, shaking like a sand castle, gave me no more time.

“…”

I finally made my choice.

“Did it work…?”

The moment I pressed the button, the system window disappeared.

Afterward, I examined various parts of my body.

I checked to see if “beauty” had really started to manifest.

But nothing changed in me.

My face was still completely melted, unrecognizable as male or female.

My limbs looked like charred chopsticks.

I couldn’t help but laugh bitterly at the lack of results.

Was the system window just a hallucination before death?

“I’m sorry, Dad…”

My bitter laugh ended in guilt.

It felt like the system window had tested my selfishness.

If I had really chosen option 1, maybe I would have gained strength like in a fairy tale.

Like Samson gaining superhuman strength before death.

And nothing happened to me because I sold out my father for blind desire.

A fitting end for a villain.

A villain…

I slumped down beside the traces of my father.

And rested my tired shoulders against the fragments.

Alright.

Since I’ve become a villain, let me be stubborn one more time.

“When we meet in heaven, you can scold me again.”

The daughter whom her father saved at the cost of his life ultimately gave up on her own.

That’s how enormous her stubbornness and desire for her dreams were.

Perhaps even greater than the monster before her eyes.

“—.”

How long had I kept my eyes closed?

I heard someone’s voice.

A man’s voice I’d never heard before.

I stirred and barely lifted my head.

“Is there any survivor?!”

When the firefighter with a headlight spotted me, I quickly hid my body.

I can’t be rescued looking like this.

I need to hide somehow…

“…”

As I hunched down, I felt something strange on my thigh.

Smooth flesh appeared over my completely burned muscles.

Wondering if I was seeing things, I carefully examined my body again.

It wasn’t just my thigh.

Eyelids formed over my protruding eyes, allowing me to blink again.

My fingers, which had been dripping with blood, were now seamlessly healed and smooth.

Is my body… really healing?

My whole body itched.

Along with the itching, I trembled uncontrollably.

I looked at a glass shard stuck between the debris.

New flesh was growing on my face, which I thought I’d never see again.

In that moment, I realized the system’s words weren’t lies.

That realization ignited a fire in my fading life.

Eventually, I rose from the debris on my own.

And waved frantically at the rescue worker.

They soon spotted me and urged me forward.

In truth, my body had healed perfectly so there was no need, but I deliberately leaned on them.

I still don’t know why I did that.

I just wanted to pretend to be hurt a little longer.

On the way to the exit, I kept looking back at the debris where my father was.

But the rubble that buried him remained very quiet.

As if nothing had happened.

“…”

Time passed, and I was sent to the survivor camp.

It was to confirm the status of family members missing from the department store.

“Mr. Kim00, deceased. Mr. Kim00, currently surviving and being transported to Boramae Hospital.”

The rescue worker recited the names of people trapped in the department store in alphabetical order.

People laughed and cried at his every word.

My father’s surname “Han” was placed near the end of the list.

I waited for my father’s turn while listening to all the other names.

That time was like torture.

My whole body trembled madly with each name called.

I thought the trembling was due to my restored body.

But soon, I realized it wasn’t because of the growing flesh.

Why am I so anxious…?

I didn’t do anything wrong.

Father must have died then.

I couldn’t see him, but he couldn’t have survived being crushed under such massive fragments.

And if he’s alive, that’s even better.

Isn’t it the best scenario if both my father survives and I get my body back?

I wasn’t wrong…

Anyone… anyone would have done the same.

“Mr. Ha00, deceased. A joint funeral bus is available at the back of the camp.”

My father’s surname was approaching.

My heart pounded wildly.

My whole body itched.

I started scratching my newly grown flesh.

The itching was unbearable.

People sitting nearby looked at me with fearful faces.

They began moving their chairs away from me.

“Mr. Han Suho, currently surviving and transferred to Korea University Hospital. Is there any family member present?”

It’s my father.

He’s alive.

I rose up as if having a seizure.

Everyone in the camp turned to look at me at once.

They surely smiled with relief, as if congratulating me.

But I felt afraid of their gazes, as if my shame had been exposed.

“You’re Ms. Han Surin, correct?”

“Yes…”

When my name was called, people started whispering.

Recognizing me as a former model, they were amazed that I still looked beautiful even in this situation.

Even in a place where people’s lives were being discussed.

My lower eyelids trembled each time those words reached my ears.

“There’s a shuttle bus heading to the hospital. It leaves in 10 minutes, please board it.”

The entire way to the bus felt strange.

It’s certainly joyful news that my father is alive.

But guilt also washed over me for not trying my hardest to save him.

It made me nauseous, like oil and water churning inside me.

I arrived at the hospital carrying that agony.

I needed to apologize to my father.

I had to express my remorse.

That was all I could think about as I took the elevator up at the hospital.

But in the end… I couldn’t say those words.

Because the place the attending physician led me to was the intensive care unit.

My handsome father’s face was completely wrapped in bandages.

Through the gaps in those bandages, dark red blood was seeping through.

“Dad…”

“He’s unconscious, so he can’t hear you.”

“He’ll be okay, right? When the bandages come off, he’ll be back to normal…”

The attending physician shook his head.

“He probably won’t make it through today.”

“What…?”

“We contacted you, his guardian, to give you a chance for a final meeting.”

The doctor sighed briefly and left the father and daughter alone.

As he left the ICU, he left me with one last comment.

And that single comment finally broke me, who had barely been holding myself together.

“If he had been rescued just a little earlier, he could have survived… I’m sorry.”

“Just a little… earlier?”

If I had chosen strength instead of beauty back then.

If I had immediately cleared away the debris with that strength.

Is he saying my father would have lived?

I collapsed onto the ICU floor.

In the room where only biorhythm monitors could be heard, I just stared blankly at my father.

“Dad…”

I grabbed his cold arm.

And knelt down.

“I’m sorry…”

“Back then… something happened to me.”

“I was so scared. I couldn’t bear the thought of living with that horrible appearance.”

Despite my confession, there was no response from the bandaged arm.

It was cold and frigid like a statue.

The price for my new skin was…

my father.