Ch.476Daily Life (1)

Not long after I woke up, the doctor came. He explained everything about what had happened.

‘I was in a coma for over a year….’

I thought I’d been asleep for a while, but I never imagined I’d been in the hospital for such a long time. I was shocked when I heard it.

The hospital and my parents had tried everything to treat me, but they kept failing. There was nothing wrong with my health, but I remained asleep for unknown reasons. Then today, I suddenly woke up.

“Are you really okay to be discharged?”

Now I’m in my father’s car, heading back to my apartment.

Incredibly, my body had no major issues except for some muscle loss. The doctor suggested discharging me and monitoring my condition periodically.

‘I’m sick of the hospital.’

I’ve already been lying there for over a year and didn’t want to stay confined any longer. I wanted to be discharged, and my parents respected my wishes.

After dozens of tests, I was finally able to leave the hospital when night fell.

“You should stay longer.”

“It’s fine. Don’t worry.”

“She’s fine. If she stays there any longer, even I would get sick.”

“Hmph.”

My father smiled awkwardly at my mother’s comment from the passenger seat.

This is unexpected. In the past, they would have immediately started arguing.

Besides, though they never officially divorced, they’ve been separated for a long time. It’s been years since our whole family rode in a car together, not since I was little.

“Ahem, I wasn’t going to say anything since you just woke up, but…”

Did he see my expression in the rearview mirror? My father spoke up.

“After you collapsed, I started thinking about family again. Not just me, but your mother too.”

“…”

“We’re, well, slowly getting to know each other again, you could say. If you ask why we’re doing this now, I don’t have a good answer, but…”

“Telling all this to a child who just woke up. Really.”

My mother grumbled quietly.

In my memory, my mother was a cold person. Her expressions, tone, everything about her was like that. But now, her tone is much softer than I remember.

“No, I like it. That you two are getting along.”

“Really? That’s good.”

After my father’s last words, the car fell silent.

Actually, this happened before. Shortly after I suffered severe burns. Back then, I thought everything would work out. As you can see, it didn’t end well.

The subtle silence broke when we arrived at the officetel where my apartment is.

“I’ll head up now. Thank you for bringing me.”

“Are you sure you’ll be okay?”

“Yes. I’m fine. Drive home safely.”

After saying goodbye to my parents, I entered the officetel.

My apartment is on the 7th floor. When I got off the elevator, a gray corridor greeted me. It’s definitely been a year—the corridor scenery is subtly different.

‘Someone moved in next door too.’

I can hear soft music from the neighboring apartment that used to be vacant.

Come to think of it, they said it was a neighbor who reported me when I collapsed. If it weren’t for them, I might have died.

‘It’s late, so I’ll greet them tomorrow.’

After glancing at the neighboring door, I opened mine.

Inside, everything was exactly as I remembered. I quickly changed clothes and sat down in front of my computer.

“Sigh.”

My face reflects in the black monitor screen. A face with one side completely distorted by burn scars.

That’s when it finally hit me.

‘It was all just a dream.’

Suddenly, I noticed the VR headset neatly placed beside the computer.

Waking up as an AMorph in the world of Space Survival out of nowhere.

Eating enemies who tried to kill me, growing, and eventually becoming a monster that everyone feared.

There were a few other things too, but I can barely remember them. They’ve faded away during the journey here, leaving only vague impressions.

No matter how hard I try to recall, I just can’t remember. It feels like someone built a wall inside my head.

‘It’s probably nothing.’

Since it was already late, I prepared for bed.

For some unknown reason, I lost a year of my life. I have to deal with returning to university and many other things. I don’t have time to obsess over dreams.

After tossing and turning for a while, just as I was about to fall asleep, I heard a sound from somewhere.

“■■■.”

At first, I thought it was music coming through the wall from next door. It was definitely a sound I’d heard somewhere before.

The problem was that the sound seemed too close. As if it was coming from inside the room.

“■■■.”

The familiar sound came again. I opened my eyes immediately.

I was certain. There was someone else in the room besides me.

And I was right.

The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was a basketball-sized pink eyeball. Glowing clearly in the darkness, it stared at me while whispering incomprehensible words.

I quickly got up and hurriedly turned on the light.

Under the bright light, there was no one in the room except me.

“What, what was that?”

I clearly saw a monster where the VR headset was. Even when I cautiously turned off the light again, the monster wasn’t there.

‘Did I see wrong?’

There’s nothing in my room that could be mistaken for a monster.

But I definitely wasn’t seeing things in my half-asleep state. Even now, the monster’s image is vividly etched in my mind.

I need to go to the hospital for a regular check-up next week. I’ll ask about it then.

I lay down on the bed with the lights on. And so, I finally fell asleep amid anxiety.

–

“Hyunseo?”

“Yes?”

Someone is calling me.

I see a mahogany table with two coffee cups on it, and a man sitting on the sofa across from me.

“You suddenly stopped talking. Are you alright?”

“Oh, ah, yes. I’m fine.”

As I speak, I remember.

This is a counseling room. The man in the white coat is a counselor checking my mental state.

Today I came here for my weekly regular check-up.

“You look tired. Are you having trouble sleeping?”

“What? Yes. I suppose…”

“Because of the hallucinations you mentioned before, I presume.”

That’s right.

Since the day I was discharged, the pink-eyed monster has appeared every night, whispering incomprehensible words. Because of it, I haven’t had a proper night’s sleep.

“Hmm, it’s possible that the stress from your previous accident is manifesting as flashbacks due to the coma.”

“What? I thought that part was completely healed?”

“Brain functions are so complex that even modern medicine hasn’t fully analyzed them. We can’t rule out the possibility that something was missed during the treatment process.”

My heart sank hearing those words. The thought of experiencing that pain again made me break into a cold sweat.

“No need to worry too much. It seems like a temporary phenomenon. I’ll prescribe some medication to alleviate the symptoms.”

“Will it help if I take it?”

“I guarantee the effects will be immediate as soon as you take it.”

The counselor smiled kindly as he spoke.

That concluded the counseling session. I received the prescription and left the hospital.

As I took the bus home, something felt unfamiliar. Even though I’d traveled this route several times since waking up, it felt like I was seeing it for the first time.

‘Maybe I’m just tired.’

The medication will help.

As soon as I arrived at my apartment, I immediately opened the medicine packet. Although the hallucinations and auditory hallucinations don’t appear during the day, that doesn’t mean I’m at ease.

“…”

The pill prescribed by the counselor was a vivid purple. I swallowed it with water in one gulp.

“Huh?”

He said the effects would be good, and he was right. My anxiety disappeared in an instant. I felt a strong conviction that the hallucinations and auditory hallucinations would disappear too.

‘I’ll know for sure when night comes, but…’

For now, I feel like I can sleep soundly. Within minutes of arriving home, I passed out.

–

A sea so deep that light doesn’t reach.

A large marine creature with a massive body and fins swims quietly forward. This carnivorous fish is now moving carefully for hunting.

Ahead, there’s a creature emitting light, oblivious to danger.

Emitting light like that in this harsh sea is suicidal. That fool will become today’s daily bread for a violent predator.

The carnivorous fish slowly closed the distance to its target. The oblivious prey continued to sparkle, enticing it.

And when the distance was sufficiently narrowed, the carnivorous fish vigorously shook its tail fin.

Its large body accelerated like a torpedo just fired. Simultaneously, the sparkling light in front went out.

Having suddenly lost its target, the predator was confused. Then something happened that confused it even more.

Near where the light had disappeared, something faintly moving was visible. With a massive body reminiscent of an undersea mountain ridge, it was a tentacle of some creature.

And the owner of the tentacle was lurking below the carnivorous fish.

The carnivorous fish tried to avoid it but couldn’t. Due to its body structure, it was impossible to change direction once accelerated.

Only then did it realize. The foolish prey was itself.

A giant tentacle rising from below caught the carnivorous fish. The violent marine creature died instantly as its bones were crushed.

“Caught it.”

No. 26, the Sea Demon who had just succeeded in hunting, took the prey and descended.

She descended endlessly below the seafloor, past a deep undersea canyon. Then she entered a cave pierced in the middle of the canyon.

Inside the cave lay a monster as large as No. 26.

A monster with three heads and numerous tentacles. The Cult calls it the three-headed demon.

“Big baby, it’s food time!”

No. 26 approached the fallen demon and emitted energetic waves. But it didn’t move at all.

“Today’s food is a stupid fish. The stupid fish used to bully our family long ago.”

As if accustomed to the silence, No. 26 used her tentacles to open the demon’s mouth. Then she put the prey she brought inside.

“Stupid fish likes sparkly things. So I lured it with sparkles. Did I do well?”

After feeding all the prey, No. 26 covered the cave with a protective barrier as usual.

“Actually, I wanted to punish the greedy one with many legs. We had to flee our home with family because of it. Bad greedy thing!”

A purple barrier, shining like sunlight seen from under the sea, enveloped the demon and her.

“There used to be many family members here. We swam together and ate together. We even joined forces to drive away the stupid fish once! Isn’t that amazing?”

Having expended a lot of energy at once, No. 26 leaned against the demon’s head as if collapsing. Though exhausted, she didn’t stop chattering in waves.

“But now no one’s here. Bad people took everyone away. But it’s okay! We punished them with Big Baby!”

“It’s fortunate that even though I lost my family, I got a new one. Big Baby, Little Baby, Middle Baby, Friend and Little Friend, and even tiny nice people. Now I have a big family!”

“Little Baby is cute but sometimes acts mean. Now that she’s grown up, she doesn’t listen to me anymore. I’m the older one, it’s too much.”

“Middle Baby takes good care of the tiny nice people. But sometimes she looks lonely. Maybe she needs more family.”

“Friend and Little Friend are family but they fight each other. Maybe they’re still young.”

“I wonder if they’re all doing well? I miss them.”

The waves that started energetically gradually subsided. Her body, which had been glowing brightly pink, darkened.

Since coming here, No. 26 had poured out her stories every day without fail. Her past, what she had done, even her feelings.

But there was never any response from “Big Baby.”

“I have a lot to tell Big Baby. I have even more to show. So…”

No. 26, who had been intermittently emitting waves alone, pulled out one tentacle. She gently placed that tentacle on the demon’s head.

“I’ll help you wake up.”

A healing process she had attempted continuously but failed every time.

Still, No. 26 didn’t give up.

Believing that someday there would definitely be a response, she infused her power.