"Poor thing."
This was my impression after reading a chapter of the book.
It had to be that way.
It's a story about a genius who would become famous in the world, but ends up living as a complete loser due to his brother's jealousy, and is eventually killed by him.
If the story I had read was just a passing supporting character, otherwise I would have been so furious that I would have shut the book.
'Anyway, it's lucky that it's been shown that my elder brother destroyed my younger brother's life.'
Even in his death, the supporting actor was cursed by the whole nation and was inflicted with all kinds of stigmas.
Even his relatives did not drop a single tear at his demise, so there you have it.
In any case, the bad guy lost both wealth and honor and met his demise due to the protagonist, so the conclusion was good enough.
'No, no matter what, this is crossing the line.'
There is no person in the world worth killing, so why would you murder your own brother? Just to become promoted?
'No, it didn't really happen anyway.'
I attempted to avoid thinking about it, but I caught myself tongue-clicking again.
I was tired because I had been so emotionally exhausted. The suffering was immense, so the pleasure of revenge was immense, but somehow I couldn't help feeling exhausted.
I put down the book, turned on my phone, and activated the alarm.
'I just need to sleep for 10 minutes.'
When I wake, I'll be rid of these entangling feelings.
I suppose it's good to read the next chapter with a clear head.
I thought that and collapsed onto the bed.
* * *
'Ah… This is insane.'
When I woke up, the world had already turned dark.
10 minutes, right? It's like I slept for 10 hours.
If I had not done it, I would have dozed at noon and the world wouldn't be like that. My body was lead-heavy from all this sleeping.
'…however…"
Why cannot I see in front of me?
Despite my open eyes, where I could certainly see, what I surrounded by was too black for anything to be discerned.
I was feeling frantically about me. I felt only the rock-hard stone below me.
'rock?'
I slept on a bed, but why is it a stone floor?
I had absurd ideas like, "Should I count my bed as a stone bed through the night?" but I soon became serious about the situation and my face hardened.
I opened my mouth to shout, but I couldn't manage the volume to do so. It was a half-exhaled sound. I somehow managed to constrict my throat and push the sound out again.
"iced coffee."
Luckily, it was comprehensible to others.
You might not be able to shout, but you might be able to yell for help if someone approaches.
'Let's try moving for now.'
I slowly stood up.
I couldn't see anything, but I could tell that my balance was off.
I put my hands on the ground and braced my legs with more caution than before.
Clank-
"…?"
It was the noise of iron hitting iron.
Is it possible that someone would create such a noise by simply moving one leg in an already frightening situation?
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In case, I shifted my leg again, and I could feel something stuck on my ankle.
'… This is crazy….'
Regardless of how much I try to think about it, this is the worst case scenario I can imagine.
As soon as I realized what was happening, the fear that I had been suppressing in order to think quickly returned to me in a rush. I pinched my nose to slow down my breathing before I ran out of air.
"Phew."
Let's be calm.
First of all, there are no humans nearby.
No matter how bound up you are, there is time to inspect the condition.
I stretched out and touched my leg. I could sense something metallic.
Luckily, there were no cuts around it since they did not try to pull it out forcefully. There was a little gap, so the blood was flowing well.
If only I could stop this, I would not have any issue running.
'I don't own a cell phone.'
I am sure you had your phone out for a very long time while you were in this state.
I did not have high hopes, so I was not disappointed. I attempted to remain calm and glanced around.
Suddenly, a voice was heard in the distance.
My heart began racing. Before I could even get myself ready, a line of light materialized in the dark empty space, and in a flash, a plane was created.
Since I had been in the dark for so long, my eyes hurt when I gazed into the light.
"How have you been?"
A gentle voice wrapped around my ears.
Someone entered, leaving behind a brilliant white light.
I opened my mouth in desperation.
"Brother… Brother."
'huh?'
Do you know anyone you could consider your brother?
No, to begin with, I didn't say those words by myself. I wanted to ask where the hell I was, not open my mouth to utter something I didn't know.
But as if to taunt the pouring panic, a voice full of fear kept coming out of my mouth.
"I'm sorry… I was wrong. I won't do it again…."
"What? No. What are you talking about, Luca?"
"I won't do it again, brother. I was wrong. I'll look after you better from now on. I really am. Please forgive me…."
"Luca."
My mouth, which had been muttering something insanely, closed up as the other person encouraged me. The other person glared at me with a scowl on his face.
It was lucky for me whether or not a stranger glared at me.
The more I widened my mouth, the more inexplicable horror and terror occupied my head, and because of it, every attempt to learn about the situation was futile.
Only now, with my mind slowly clearing up, did I return to what the other had uttered.
'Just a moment ago… you gazed at me and said, 'Luka.'
Of course, I'm not that sort of person.
By coincidence, there was a person named Luca in the book I read before sleeping… I don't think it has anything to do with this.
Either I confused someone with someone else, or it was a kidnapping scene with an alias that only I didn't know, or both.
Anyway, there has to be some motive as to why you bound me up the whole night, so they won't kill me immediately. There's time to sort out the situation a bit.
I turned my eyes around, acting afraid.
'There's nothing really dangerous.'
The room is quite bare, with two individuals standing beside the door. There appears to be no physical means to shake them off and escape here.
I must somehow understand what's happening and make him believe that I am not Luca.
Keeping my lips sealed as I desired, my 'hyung', who had been faking a serious face on his face, opened his mouth with a relaxed face.
"You waited long enough. I was just on my way to check on your condition."
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".situation?"
Yeah, you were right. It wasn't that you didn't take your medicine."
roughly?
Abruptly, there was a sudden subject of discussion.
The subject was out of context and the tone of voice which made it appear as if he had known me for years made me most irritated.
'…however….'
Although it was sudden, a feeling of foreboding entered my heart. Unlike previously, when I had no idea, now the shape of the plan was starting to emerge.
I did not need to open my mouth to learn more. The other person simply gazed at me with pity in his eyes and went on speaking quickly.
"Your condition has worsened. You explained that the amount you have been taking will no longer work. It is all my fault for not realizing this beforehand. I am apologetic for the miscommunication."
"…A disease?"
"What? This… You must have suffered terribly. What in the world did you all do to come to this?"
The guards at the door were perplexed as they attempted to justify themselves when faced with aggressive interrogation.
While he was shouting at the rest of them and cursing them for their errors, I hurriedly thought back.
'Your bottle', medication, brother, and Lucus.
My heart began racing.
At this juncture, I could not help but think of the characters in the novel I had just read.
That 'Lucus' too had an elder brother, and he was on medication for an incurable illness of unspecified origin.
My eyebrows involuntarily furrowed at the ridiculous coincidence.
Taking the reaction as a shock to the deteriorating condition, the other person tried to offer consolation.
"I've raised the dose, so you'll be all right now. But my heart hurts when I think of how frightened you were here for a week. Just understand. I don't want you to run wild because of that sickness and have the same accidents as last time… It was all for your own good."
As he gestured, one of the men standing guard at the door handed him a black wooden box.
The contents were clearly visible thanks to the light coming from behind. It was full of crystal vials the size of a finger joint, and the pitch-black liquid sloshed with the slight movement of the box.
It was unfamiliar but, at the same time, familiar to me.
If the medication that the 'hyung' in my recent read used to destroy his younger brother's life does exist in the real world, it would be just like this.
"…This is…."
"Yes, it really does resemble the one you've had up to now. The difference is that the strength has been heightened and the quantity has been increased too, so you won't experience any distress."
He drew out a crystal bottle and pressed it against my face.
At least I'll be able to get to school on time. I never thought I'd ever be able to go if I messed up, so isn't that a relief?"
"...."
"Come to think of it… I was informed that you'd already taken two bottles of the medicine yesterday, but I'm behind schedule with reaching out to you. I will have to use it in order to ascertain if the medicine was properly produced. But it appears that nothing can be done."
He was going on and on discussing things that don't matter to himself.
I had no time for hearing like this.
Lucus is in no sickness.
The 'runaway' situation my brother was mentioning never occurred to begin with.
You don't have to take pills, and there's no necessity to be cooped up in a basement like this.
That this individual, healthier than everybody else and gifted beyond compare, is living this way because of his big brother is not just wrong; it's unthinkable.
In a world where magic is restored, birth order means nothing.
Only the strongest in magic shall inherit the position and become head of the household.
My sibling, born as a prodigy, would have become head of the household at once without working a finger.
'If Lucus had never existed, that is what would have happened.'
While his brother did not start to acquire magical powers until he was six, Lucus was already employing magical powers at a more advanced level than his brother at the age of three.
There was no question that Luca would be the most powerful wizard in the history of his family.
As there was no possibility of him becoming the household head because a stronger one had been born, the elder brother chose to cut off Lucus's magic power.
The medicine my brother continued mentioning wasn't illness treatment, but a poison which destroyed magical power.
Lucus, who drank that poison half his life, can't exercise magic as his brother desired, and gradually draws near death.
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My eyes landed on the transparent vial in his hand.
I distinctly stated earlier that 'the illness has worsened'.
According to your approach, it implies that Luca's magical power has reached such a level that he can no longer be suppressed by poison.
'I think you misunderstood that I didn't take the medicine because the effect had worn off.'
If you assemble the unrecognizable sounds that are coming out of my mouth, you can get an idea of things.
Where in the world is there a brother who would imprison his little brother in a room where no light penetrates, mistakenly identifying him as poison?
And then to tell them that it was on behalf of my little brother? I am the limit of shamefulness.
'Still, I'm happy if it gets this far.'
When Lucus is an adult after graduating from school, he is back to sleeping in his room, and his brother murders Luca with his own hands.
It was not enough to dry them out slowly by administering medicine.
But now I'm being summoned by the name of a twenty-year-old man who died, and I'm in that condition again.
'You're crazy.'
I did not look at my body until then.
Different from when no light existed, lots of things became visible.
Garments of a strange period and location, something unusual. Untamed hair that blocks sight, a skeletal frame, and abnormally white skin.
This was not my body. Even if I was dead and resurrected, it was not mine.
It would be more believable to tell that he was an extra who fell ill due to a fabricated disease concocted by his brother, drank the poison he brewed, and died at age twenty.
Much more so when I reflect on the apologies that poured out of my mouth uncontrollably and the fear that I had of my 'brother' whom I was about to meet.
Perhaps my mind has been transposed into the body of a supporting character in that wacky book.
There is no other explanation for this scenario other than that hypothesis.
Whether it was logical or not, everything I experienced was real.
It was not that I was in a wild situation, it was my mind which was wild. After viewing the evidence in front of my own eyes, I experienced an abnormal feeling of relief.
"The introduction was too long."
As if he realized I wasn't paying attention, he fell silent and tapped the bottle with his finger to draw my attention.
A bluish-black poison danced in front of my eyes.
He spoke softly with a kind smile.
"Drink it immediately, Lucus."
"…!"
The servants' eyes widened. So did mine.
I've already drunk twice my normal dose.
You want me to drink another potion that's even stronger than that?
'… Theoretically, you could die.'
The servants must have thought so too, because someone opened his mouth in an urgent manner.
"I, Your Majesty…!"
"Do you have anything to say?"
Even with the gentle tone, the implication was clear.
The servants looked at each other, apologized, and left.
Eventually, there were just me and the other person in this large basement. He smiled at my face again.
"You won't die. Trust me. You know it's all for your own good."
Ha. There is no way that he would not know the risk of that drug.
This is impossible unless you value your brother's life lighter than a fly's life.
'… crazy kid.'
My fingernails pressed into my palms.
The beat of my pulse pounded louder and louder in my ears.
The panic that I had only just kept at bay surged back over my entire body as if a dam had burst.
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When my breathing became faster, I saw a stark white light materialize in front of my eyes.
Tiring