episode_0098

I had a dream.

Actually, I don’t know if it was a dream or an illusion, but I was on some street.

No, it was ambiguous to even call it a street. To be precise, it was in a space that looked like an ordinary street.

Numerous people were busy living in that vast space.

They couldn’t look at me standing in the center, and were busy heading somewhere, as if they didn’t recognize my existence.

An office worker carrying a briefcase, a woman who looks like an office lady wearing an elegant suit and low-heeled loafers, a man carrying a sports bag that looks like a duffel bag, and students in school uniform walking around with their friends, smiling as if they had just left school.

They were all heading somewhere, somewhere, to do their own business.

Without even having time to wonder why there were so many people on this street, I was left alone among them, just staring blankly at them.

There were all different types of people wearing various clothes and walking to various places, but what they had in common was that not all of them were looking at me.

It wasn’t that he wasn’t paying attention to people passing by. Beyond that level, they didn’t recognize me.

At that time, a very stylish woman wearing high heels bumped into me and fell backwards.

I panicked and tried to help her, but she just stood up in a dazed state, massaging her sore head, shaking off her clothes, and continued on her way.

People around me didn’t look at me at all, they just worried about the woman who had fallen and offered a helping hand to her.

At that fact, I felt strange and hovered in this unknown space. It really felt like I was dreaming.

It was only after a long time that I was able to realize something.

I was not from this world.

These people did not belong to my world, or perhaps I no longer belonged to their world.

The moment I realized that, the scene suddenly changed.

The sight of the streets on a warm, sunny afternoon suddenly disappeared and numerous buildings began to rise from the empty plain.

And before long, I was standing in the middle of a busy city center.

It was a familiar city that I had always seen, but it felt somehow out of place.

An unfamiliar maker’s store, various electronic signs attached to the walls of the building.

As I looked around to understand the situation, my eyes landed on a large electronic display board that, although somewhat awkward, remained in my memory.

‘That… .’

It was a familiar emblem. It is a logo that cannot be seen in the world I live in now, but it is the emblem of a company that Koreans cannot forget.

The moment I recognized that, I began to remember where I was right now.

Although it has been forgotten in the current world where the world line is different, this street was a familiar sight from that time buried far away in my memory.

On that busy day before falling into this world, the street that an ordinary person, unless he was Elm Northmund, would always see it on his way to and from work.

When I realized that, I turned my head and saw my reflection reflected in the store window.

The mirror reflected the image of an ordinary office worker wearing slacks and banded trousers, wearing a casual smog-grey colored suit that had been his past attire, rather than the dignified style of a suit he was used to after acquiring a Yongin body.

In his hand, he was holding a small, familiar bag.

But my face was not visible.

That’s strange. Has it been forgotten from my memory? Why can’t I see this?

When I touch my face with the hand that is not holding the bag, I can feel the facial features clearly, but why is this face not visible?

I wandered these streets aimlessly.

I went down to a familiar subway stop and saw the train arrive and many people get off.

While wandering the streets, I stopped by my favorite store and sat in my favorite window seat.

Also, when someone was having a conversation, I would approach them and listen to their conversation.

Everything was just as I remembered.

It was a scene that seemed to unfold forgotten memories in a corner of my mind, as if it was a street created based on my memories.

That alone seemed to bring back memories, and that might have been enough.

Here I was a complete stranger.

Just like before on the street, people didn’t recognize me, and when I went into my favorite restaurant and ordered food, the waiter didn’t notice me.

When someone tried to sit in the window seat I used to sit in, I couldn’t help but move out of the way and walk out the door of the store filled with memories with regret as I looked at someone new sitting on my seat.

He was a complete loner.

They wanted to melt in between them, but there was a thick, solid wall blocking them that they couldn’t.

For a moment, I felt lonely about it.

All of this must have unfolded based on my memories, but why can’t I just blend into them?

It was as if my existence had been completely forgotten by the world.

Why is this happening?

And at some point, I realized that this was my situation.

That distance meant the world I was in and the other meant my old world.

Does this mean my future? In the original world, my existence has already disappeared and been forgotten, and is it that even in other worlds, I am being treated as a stranger?

As I was wandering around aimlessly, I saw a man and a woman coming out of a bookstore, so I walked towards the bookstore they came from.

As I was wandering aimlessly around the bookstore, I noticed an old book stuck inside.

A book with a familiar title.

I pick up a book with a romance-fantasy title depicting a good-looking boy and a girl, and turn the pages.

As I read it, bitterness gradually filled me.

Was everything pointless?

Is all of this simply the content of the book and meaningless no matter what I do?

Everything is just content that has already been printed and published, and if you try to change it, isn’t it possible to change the development and ending that the combination of letters on paper means?

And is it that I am bound to be forgotten by the world?

Is everything just a plot planned by that great being, and no matter how hard we try, it can’t be changed?

In the end, will that dream be broken and will I be forgotten by the whole world?

Were the devils right? Was that really the only way to save this world?

I quietly put down the book and sat down in my seat.

The bag I was carrying was thrown away and its contents rolled around on the floor of the bookstore, but I had no energy left to pay attention to it.

He was just sitting on the floor, holding his head tightly, lost in endless agony and deep thoughts.

At some point, an unfamiliar sound began to sound in my ears again. I took my hand away from my face and looked around, and before I knew it, I was standing on that street again.

*

I couldn’t tell how many times that cycle was repeated.

It felt like I was having a long dream, but maybe it was just a fleeting moment.

But for me, it was not a moment, my mind was gradually being lost, and I could only bury my face between my knees in despair.

No one recognized me and my voice did not reach anyone. It continued to weigh heavily on my heart.

Before I knew it, I was standing in a place that looked like an orchard.

A rich peach scent was emanating from the place where countless trees were thick like a jungle.

Feeling the joy of breaking away from the same cycle and coming to a new place, I walked among the lush, colorful trees.

Is Mureungdowon, where the stone monkey Son Goku in Journey to the West came from, perhaps like this?

It was a little different from the scene in Journey to the West that I had read, but the scent tickling my nose was not at all different from the description of Mureungdowon.

As we headed towards the place with the strongest scent, there was a large tree. Among the countless peaches, a white peach that looked like a white peach happened to be hanging from the tree.

Although the fruit grew from the same tree, the peach was unusually large and had the strongest scent.

Even the location was so high that I could reach it if I stretched out my hand, so it was as if it was tempting me to follow it.

“Peach.”

I muttered this to myself and plucked the white peach that was flaunting its presence from the branch.

A peach so huge that I have never seen it before. In some ways, it was so large that it felt hideous.

I hesitated for a moment because it was such a unique fruit that it would be a shame to eat it.

I soon came to the conclusion that this was just a world created based on my memories.

I’ve never seen the big peach I’m holding in my hand, but I thought it was a symbol of my childhood memories of going to my mother’s orchard to play.

Then there will be no more hesitation.

I rubbed the peach a bit to get rid of the annoying fuzz and took a big bite of it.

The rich juice burst into my mouth. I have never experienced such sweet fruit before.

And at that moment, I was dumbfounded.

It’s not because of the taste of the peach.

Rather, it was due to external factors rather than the flavor of the flesh.

“… Haha.”

The moment I bit into the peach, I heard someone’s voice that sounded familiar, coming from somewhere.

“… Huh?”

It felt like I was dreaming an old dream again. It felt like there was noise in my head, I felt dizzy and couldn’t understand the situation.

Unlike usual, I was curious as to why my thoughts were not flowing coherently.

I looked around because I thought I heard someone’s familiar voice somewhere.

At that moment, the world I was in shook, numerous cracks appeared like cracks in a mirror, and the world began to collapse.

When I finally came to my senses and stood up, I saw the ceiling with a unique, unsophisticated pattern drawn on it.

I felt like I was lying in a room somewhere right now.

I followed the only source of light illuminating the room, and saw the slender moon illuminating the dark dawn, and next to it the constellation Orion, which made me lost in thought.

‘… It’s a dream. It was a nightmare.’

When I came to, I realized that this place was the master bedroom of a rural Romanian house where I was lying.

I guess the reason my head didn’t turn right away was because of the countless wines I drank.

Since I drank it as a human rather than as a dragon, I wonder if I exceeded my drinking limit by quite a bit.

I heard that alcohol is close to a poison that destroys the body and mind. It was a vague feeling, but I guess I should say that it felt a little more real today.

‘It’s a really sweet dream. That scent still lingers in my mind.’

I was pretending to be strong on the outside, but it seems like all of that was slowly accumulating in my mind.

What must be done in the future, everything that could happen, and the countless cruel events that have already occurred.

I try not to say anything I don’t like and to hold on to it, but once the thoughts come into my head, they don’t easily leave my head.

That’s true, though.

“… .”

… Something is strange.

He must have woken up from a dream.

Even if it is a lucid dream or a nightmare as deep and realistic as a swamp, why does this strange scent still linger around me?

This is not my mistake. A really thick and heavy scent.

Yes, the scent of the large peaches I saw in that orchard was still lingering in my nose.

Did someone leave an air freshener container filled with strong perfume around me?

As I turned my head to find the source of the scent that was coming from a very close distance, not far away, I froze for a moment.

“… .”

“… Ugh.”

Their gazes crossed.

The two clearly recognized each other, but no words were spoken.

It was such a mixed bag of emotions that I just couldn’t express it in words.

To be exact, not on her side, but on mine.

“… .”

The person who held the source of the scent was red, and even though it was visible in the dark moonlight, I could feel its heat towards me.

As I looked at her, her face blushing and her tension somewhat different from usual, I saw that my hand was clutching her peach.

It is a metaphorical expression. It may be the same, but as an educator, I don’t feel comfortable expressing it any further. Whatever you think is fine.

I guess the sound I heard when I picked the peach was… .

“… Are you drunk?”

I made up an excuse for drinking, but even if I had a normal head, I wouldn’t have been able to express this situation.

In this ridiculous situation, I just frowned, pretended to be calm, and stared blankly at the other person.

“Description.”

“Well, so… .”

Long words were unnecessary. When she saw me spitting out a very short word, she looked at me with a strangely nervous face, her face turned bright red, and she began to mutter softly.

Looking at her face like that, I laughed as if I was dumbfounded. Of course, with a frown on his face.

When I look at this situation, I am the one who should be embarrassed, but the person in front of me is shaking and embarrassed by it, and I feel a sense of immorality.

“So that’s… I was lying in the room next door when I heard a groaning sound coming from the room where the professor was… .”

“… .”

“Well, I knocked on the door quietly, but he didn’t wake up… Sorry, sorry. I secretly feel like I’m having a nightmare… .”

“… It was an embarrassing thing.”

“I’m sorry.”

She blushes and shakes her head from side to side. Of course, since she was lying next to me, I felt like she was doing something stupid, so I just clicked my tongue.

Seeing my reaction, she lets out a wow voice.

“Are you overly self-conscious?”

“Yes? Oh, that… .”

“I have never limited the object of embarrassment to you. Of course, it’s embarrassing, but you weren’t the target of what I just said.”

“Uh, uhh.”

“… Still, I’m glad that you seem to be aware of your actions.”

In a place where the thin moon was struggling to drive out the darkness in the room, she felt like she wanted to burn up as if she were the sun.

The overripe ripe tomatoes were tossing and turning, but she didn’t seem to be aware that they were getting caught in her sharp horns and ruining the bedding.

When the landlord returned later, he seemed to be saddened by the mess in the master bedroom, so he reached out his hand to calm her down and laughed at the absurdity of it all.

I was so embarrassed that I wondered if she was hyperventilating or something, and as I looked at the unique white peach rising and falling on her chest, I thought about what had just happened and scratched my head.

“We both drank too much. That’s why. So let’s not worry about being rude to each other.”

“Ah, yes. yes… .”

“Thank you, though. Because you pulled me up while I was wandering in a nightmare.”

I held her hand lightly to comfort her, who still had the same gloomy face she used to have.

Although we were silent to each other, I was actually equally embarrassed.

Therefore, I tried to deny it and continued speaking while swallowing.

“I’m fine, so I went to bed and it was late at night. I have to go back to Korea tomorrow.”

“Yes… .”

When I took my hand away, she gave me a sad look and agreed to what I said.

However, I tried to ignore her continued hesitation and turned my lying body to look at the window.

Of course, it is an aside to say that Orion in the dawn sky and his lover Artemis, the goddess of the moon, seemed to be laughing as they watched this happening, which made my appetite a little sour.