Yuzen felt like he had fallen into the nightmare again. His memories twisted together, breaking apart and rearranging, only to be replayed in front of him. He was forced to watch the tragedies all over again.
He thought it must have lasted a while, but then the images vanished. When he looked up, the three people from before were standing in front of him.
"What…?"
Min flinched and stepped back a few paces. His face twisted in bewilderment and something close to anger, as if Yuzen had just hurt him.
"What's wrong?"
Seojin asked, his voice sharp with confusion.
"I can't access his memories."
"You said he was a healer!"
Yuzen shouted in disbelief.
These people who barged into his room had never been honest from the start.
Seojin turned to him, that devilish smile spreading across his face.
"He is. A healer of the mind."
"Bullshit! What are you people trying to do to me?"
Hani stepped forward, her twin blades flashing as she drew them in one smooth motion.
"Don't act so cocky. Know your place."
Seojin raised his hand, stopping her.
"Don't be so rude to our little guest."
Guest?
Yuzen wanted to yell.
You're the ones who barged into my hospital room!
But when his eyes caught the glint of Hani's drawn swords, he kept his mouth shut.
"Look, we just want to know what attacked you that day. It's our job to find and record any kind of monster that appears. We need information. The easy way was to ask you, but the doctor said you weren't willing to talk."
"W-well… My memory isn't good. I also don't know what attacked me."
Seojin turned to Min.
"Why can't you access his memories? What happened?"
"It's just darkness. And I felt something push my power out with such strong force."
Yuzen nearly thanked whatever had done that. The last thing he needed was for them to discover the evil role he had played in their ruined world.
"So, what's the last thing you remember?"
"Uh… I'm not sure."
"But surely you remember the first day the gates appeared?"
"Y-yeah…"
"How did you survive the first dungeon break? Why weren't you at the Dome? How did you last this long as a civilian?"
"Huh? I—"
Yuzen's thoughts scrambled. He had never prepared answers for this.
"I don't remember much. I just… remember bits and pieces. Must have been traumatic for me."
He forced a shaky laugh.
Seojin's smile returned, but the dissatisfaction in his eyes was clear.
"Right. Then I guess we are done here."
"Brother? Surely we can't just—"
"We are done. Aren't we, Mr. Yuzen?"
"Y-yeah. I really don't remember much after the dungeon break. I just remember monsters and blood and…"
The image of the man in the blue cardigan flashed in his mind, crying tears of blood.
"Right. We can't help it if Mr. Yuzen says so. And Min can't access his memories either. I hope you recover well."
Seojin gestured for the other two to leave first, then turned back.
"Surely, you know what happens to those who lie to the Special Disaster Response team?"
Yuzen nodded quickly, his head bobbing.
"Great. To ensure your utmost safety, I'll assign someone from our team to watch over you. Surely you don't mind?"
Yuzen minded, but he could only nod again.
"Perfect. You are a very agreeable man, Mr. Yuzen. Hopefully everything turns out well."
Seojin turned and walked out without another glance.
Yuzen dropped his head into his hands.
Damn it. Now even his fate mirrored his MC, he would be trapped in a hospital room under constant monitoring.
Yuzen couldn't understand why the hell a seizure had led to this situation. People having seizures wasn't something shocking, was it?
Though that wasn't what really happened to him, he still couldn't understand why it made the SDR team, whatever they were, interrogate him to the point of bringing someone who could read memories.
Yuzen flicked his watch and saw someone in a uniform like the SDR team from before, a faint light glowing from their hand as it hovered above Jaein's injured leg.
He hoped Jaein's leg would really heal. The moment that thought came, his stomach turned. He knew his worry for Seo Jaein came purely because he couldn't, and didn't want to, carry any more guilt.
"Am I interrupting your staring contest with the sheet?"
"Huh?"
Yuzen looked up.
A woman with short wavy hair stood in the doorway, one lock cupped neatly behind her left ear. A silver sword earring with intricate flowers and vines swayed from her left ear. Her round brown eyes were the clearest Yuzen had ever seen. Her lashes fluttered with each blink. Her lips were soft pink, just like her cheeks.
"Hi. Mr. Yuzen, right? My name is Cha Hyejin from the SDR team. I was assigned to protect you from now on as you are just a civilian."
Yeah, right.
Yuzen knew they just wanted to monitor him. He couldn't believe they had come this fast. He thought it would be tomorrow at least.
"Oh, Hi. Just call me Yuzen. Ms. Cha, can I know how long this protection is?"
Yuzen plastered on the most polite smile he could manage even though he felt like hell.
"Just call me Hyejin! I am not sure. I am just following my order to protect civilians."
They both held the same polite smile, neither of them dropping the pretense.
"I understand. But surely you aren't going to stay here, right? You might bother the other civilian patients."
Yuzen gestured to the empty ward with the same smile.
"Oh, don't worry. I'll be staying right next to you only so I won't be a bother to anyone else."
The woman's smile widened, her wavy hair catching the light.
Yuzen knew he would be monitored but hadn't realized he would have no freedom at all.
The woman in front of him kept smiling that same fake smile.
He dropped his own smile as a notification buzzed on his watch.
The same notification he had always dreaded.
[Notification to Channel Owner: Your MC is in danger! Use Loens to change his fate. Remember, if your MC dies, your channel ends too!]
F*ck. Why can't this guy stay still for a few days? He had just been treated seconds ago! How was he already in a life-and-death situation again?!
Yuzen flicked his watch and opened the livestream. His MC was fighting a mass of tentacle-like monsters.
The comments were a mess:
[#highflo31]: cant belive the mc just busted out the door after knocking the healer unconscious
[#truesupreme]: lol he was just pretending to be obedient so they remove the handcuff
[#lala09]: hahahaha this is so good i told u guys mc alwqys has a plan
[#sh69]: omg he rlly knocked the healer down lmao
[#anonim23]: mc speedrunning from hospital
[#tresav78]: channel owner custom mod plssss
Suddenly his left wrist was grabbed so forcefully his body lurched forward.
The hand grabbing it was slender and white.
When she realized Yuzen was looking at her, Hyejin used the same smile again.
"I almost thought there might be something wrong with your left wrist as you keep staring at it. But it looks fine."
Hyejin let go of his hand. Her smile and her words were as uninterested as before.
Yuzen had learned a few things from his days in the hospital. People couldn't see his watch. No, it was more like something altered their recognition, making them think it wasn't there.
He kept spamming the Mods to help his MC while under the watch of the woman in front of him. But again and again everything he gave was thrown away by his MC.
"I think I will call Dr. Wei to check on you."
The woman smiled again. This time Yuzen thought he could almost see a sneer, as if she thought he was crazy.
She walked out of the room.
Yuzen took the chance to walk to the window.
He could see the ground below and the cars in the hospital parking lot, but from this height they looked like miniatures.
F*ck. Just how high was this building?
There was no other choice. The notification kept buzzing.
[I will answer one of your questions but you need to accept my blessing.]
The reply came so fast it was as if this was exactly what his MC had been waiting for.
[Deal, but you can't lie]
[Deal]
[An agreement between you and your MC has been created! As Channel Owner you are bound to follow the agreement and this cannot be undone!]
Yuzen didn't care what the notification said. He quickly bought a new Medium Mod.
A sound—
He skipped reading number 1.
A person appear—
He skipped number 2.
1x Rejuvenation Potion—
He clicked on number 3.
He watched the livestream as a vial of golden potion appeared in his MC's hand.
His MC looked at it for a moment. Then, finally, he drank the vial.
Finally this bastard accepted my potion!
Yuzen thought, is this what parents feel when their kid finally takes their first steps? Because it felt like that, a proud moment that almost made him cry.
But the next chat shattered all those emotions at once.
[Are you really God?]
Yuzen paused.
[I am not God. There are just circumstances here, and I can't explain them at the moment, but I just want to help you survive!]
He thought explaining about his world or his city, Lumina, would be too much and too complicated. Maybe with this, Jaein would soften a bit.
[Message can't be sent. You are in unbreakable agreement with your MC. The agreement is to not lie. The message must adhere to that. Executing punishment for breaking the promised agreement.]
What? But I am being honest!!