Chapter 81

Chapter 81

Otherworld Cheat Harem.

Episode 81: Eunha (1)

“Ugh… It’s not working.”

Sweat poured down my entire body like rain. It was the first time I’d been this exhausted since leveling up.

I threw my sword aside and lay flat on the ground. The rustling, the sound of soil crumbling, ants crawling, the sensation of sweat trickling down my skin, and the smell of weeds growing—I could feel everything.

‘It worked fine in the dungeon…’

The dungeon was a sensory hell, devoid of light. A void where nothing could be felt.

In that space, which most people found terrifying, I achieved a state of oneness and awakened my sixth sense.

…Or so I thought.

‘Was the light always this harsh?’

Once outside the dungeon, everything I had realized seemed to scatter like a dream. I tried to replicate it, but it was impossible.

Reality was overwhelmingly stimulating. The sun blazed overhead for half the day, and when it set, the moonlight and starlight sparkled.

Countless creatures chirped and squirmed, constantly stimulating me.

Achieving a state of tranquility and oneness was impossible. I knew the reason very well.

‘There’s too much stimulation…’

A renowned swordsman would have scolded me for blaming my lack of training on external factors, but what could I do when reality was like this?

‘At least it’s a world without smartphones… If it were Earth, I’d probably feel the radio waves too.’

If that were the case, I might have been unable to live a normal life due to electromagnetic hypersensitivity. Forget the sixth sense; even my five senses would have dulled from the overload.

‘Should I… go back into the dungeon?’

No matter what, I wouldn’t attain enlightenment like that. I had a feeling. If I could regain forgotten enlightenment the same way, it wouldn’t be enlightenment but something like a daily login reward.

“What should I do…?”

“Hey, Dojin…”

“Oh, Eunha. What’s up?”

“This…”

While I was pondering, Eunha appeared with a basket. Inside were water and towels.

“Here, wipe your sweat while you work… It’s not good if sweat gets into your wounds…”

“My wounds are all healed, you know? Aram fixed them.”

“Still, just in case…”

“…Alright, thanks.”

Receiving the towel from her, I immediately took off my shirt. As I removed the sweat-soaked shirt clinging to me, a cool breeze blew in.

Wiping off the sweat with the cold, wet towel brought an indescribable freshness.

‘Ah… right.’

And only then did I realize Eunha was beside me and turned my head. However, she acted naturally, even seeing my bare body.

Come to think of it, she was always like that. No matter what happened, she never showed much surprise or emotion.

‘Isn’t this what true serenity is…?’

How could I become like that? As I gazed at Eunha, she looked back at me as if asking if I had something to say.

“Eunha.”

“Yeah, why…?”

“How can I become like you?”

“…Like me?”

“Yeah, always calm, not reacting much to things…”

“I’m not that kind of person.”

Eunha said, lowering her head deeply. Her complexion wasn’t good. She looked as pale as someone who had eaten something bad.

“I-I… I’m not as great a person as you think, Dojin.”

“Really? From what I see, you’re pretty amazing.”

“No… I’m just, just hiding it. Yeah… Pretending everything’s fine is my specialty…”

Specialty, huh? I looked at her intently. She seemed to have no self-esteem, still lacking confidence in herself, with her head hung low.

Even after coming to this world, the trauma embedded in her didn’t leave her.

‘Come to think of it…’

Eunha’s ability was Pain Immunity. In other words, it meant she had suffered so much that escaping pain became a trauma. How could such a thing be possible?

I slowly read her thoughts. Then, I flinched and looked away.

‘…What is this?’

─Die die die die die die die die.

Her mind was filled with self-loathing.

Back in his room, Dojin recalled Eunha’s thoughts from earlier and felt a bit nauseous. It was a deep-seated thought, strong enough to define emotions beyond the text.

‘Since when has Eunha been like this?’

He couldn’t tell because of her nature of not showing it outwardly. At least in the past, it didn’t seem this severe.

He tried to remember the last time he read Eunha’s thoughts. It had been so long that he couldn’t even recall.

‘If I ask Aram… would she know?’

Aram was still sharing a room with Eunha. Not because there were no other rooms, but because Eunha couldn’t sleep alone.

Unlike Seoyoon, who visited frequently, Aram didn’t come by as often for that very reason.

Realizing the truth, Dojin headed straight to Aram’s room. Fortunately, Eunha was nowhere to be seen, perhaps having gone for a bath.

“Dojin? What’s going on…?”

“I have something to talk about regarding Eunha… Do you have a moment?”

“…I’ll come to your room. Just wait a bit.”

Not long after Dojin waited in his room, Aram appeared. She was even wearing glasses she didn’t usually wear.

“Did you wait long?”

“No, come in first.”

“Okay…”

Entering the room, Aram adjusted her glasses and cautioned Dojin.

“I’m not here for that, so don’t get any ideas, okay?”

As she said this, her chest heaved slightly. Dojin couldn’t tell if she was trying to seduce him or if she was genuinely saying it.

However, he didn’t try to read her mind and instead sat on the bed with her. Once seated, she took a deep breath and looked at Dojin.

“So…? How much do you know?”

“…What do you mean by how much?”

“About Eunha, how much do you know?”

Dojin spoke about what he knew. That she was timid, had low self-esteem, and even contemplated suicide.

Considering she had already experienced leveling up, it wasn’t just simple depression. It was a chronic mental illness that wasn’t easily cured.

Listening to Dojin, Aram slowly began to share what she knew.

“…Do you remember when we first fell into this world, I shared a room with Eunha?”

“Yeah, I remember…”

Nearly half a year had passed, but it was a memory that couldn’t be forgotten. At that time, they had no money, so they sold everything they had, including their smartphones and padded jackets, and even then, it wasn’t enough, so two or three people shared a room.

During that time, Aram shared a room with Eunha and recalled how she behaved.

“Back then, Eunha’s body was… covered in wounds.”

“…Covered in wounds?”

“Yeah.”

“Since we came back from the dungeon, it was like that… No, back then, Seoyoon took care of everything, so we didn’t even get a scratch.”

Dojin also recalled those days. In front of Seoyoon, who had awakened her abilities, goblins were nothing but weak monsters. It was almost impossible for them to even get a scratch….

Naturally, Eunha, who was the smallest and weakest among them, didn’t even get a chance to fight. There was no reason for her to get wounded. And that meant.

“Was she abused or something?”

“…Yeah.”

Dojin spoke easily, but in fact, child abuse was a serious crime in modern society. In the United States, parents would immediately lose custody and be imprisoned.

Considering Eunha was a girl, there was even the possibility of sexual abuse.

“Surely not…”

“No, that’s not it. She didn’t have any knowledge about that, and when we bathed together, there were no signs of it.”

“…That’s a relief.”

Dojin, genuinely relieved, felt a surge of anger in response. To think she was abused to the point where she couldn’t even feel pain because of her abilities? Dojin’s father had done similar things, but at least he had a plausible excuse.

“Eunha… she has a deep emotional wound.”

“…Isn’t there any way to heal her?”

“Dojin, you know too… there’s no way.”

In reality, Dojin also couldn’t cure Aram’s depression. Her recovery was due to the power of leveling up, not his power.

Considering that Eunha had already experienced leveling up once, it meant her mental illness was beyond the stage of being cured.

“…Eunha wants to die.”

“How do you know that? Did Eunha say that herself?”

“That… through my ability.”

“Your ability? Isn’t your ability about being good with a sword?”

“Well, as my level increased, I gained a new ability. It’s something like reading the thoughts of my opponents.”

It was a lie. However, he couldn’t tell the truth. Revealing his ability to Deokgu was a completely different matter.

Fortunately, Aram didn’t doubt his words. After all, it had already been proven that the others’ abilities could evolve.

“…So Eunha was thinking that.”

“Yeah.”

“…Right now, Eunha is showering alone.”

At that moment, one thought flashed through both of their minds. Suicide. With Eunha’s ability to feel no pain, she could quietly die as if undergoing euthanasia.

Dojin immediately ran to the bathroom. He burst through the bathroom door and jumped into the bath. Eunha, lost in thought in the tub, turned her head to see Dojin and was startled, covering herself.

“D-Dojin?”

“Are you okay?!”

Dojin rushed to her and pulled her arm. She, who was busy covering her chest, had her hand taken away.

Fortunately, there were no cuts on her wrist. As a relieved Dojin sighed, Eunha spoke up, embarrassed.

“…Um, Dojin? Could you please leave…?”

“Oh, uh, yeah. Sorry.”

As he apologized and stepped outside, only then did Aram arrive. She was panting heavily as she asked Dojin,

“Where’s Eunha?!”

“She’s inside, washing up.”

“Is she okay?!”

“She’s fine. Nothing happened.”

In truth, not everything was fine. Dojin recalled Eunha’s naked body he had seen in the bath.

‘Those scars…’

There were scars that couldn’t have formed in just a day or two. Some seemed to have been there since she was young and had grown with her…

Everything Aram had said was true. Eunha had been abused. That was how she developed such a personality.

‘To resolve this…’

Wasn’t there any way? Unfortunately, this world lacked advanced mental health care. Dojin’s elementary-level understanding of psychology was clearly insufficient to heal her wounds…

‘What should I do?’

Dojin pondered for a long time… all night long…