December 27, 2011.
Thursday.
South Korea.
11:45 a.m.
A biting north wind sliced sharply through the gray season. Around noon, the sun hung high, its strong rays faintly warming the air despite the chill.
The city was bustling beneath a partly cloudy midday sky.
On the four-lane road, cars weaved relentlessly. Elementary school kids, freed early from classes, poured out of school gates in a noisy swarm. Office workers strolled the streets, debating what to eat for lunch. College students laughed boisterously as they rode their bicycles.
“This free period is awesome!”
A young man bundled in a thick parka grinned broadly and shouted. He blew out a puff of white breath, pedaled vigorously, surged ahead, then glanced back.
“So, where should we go?”
“Karaoke.”
“Hey, man!”
“What?”
“Think about that slowpoke trailing behind us. We just dragged him out of his part-time shift at the karaoke place. He was grumbling about not wanting to come, so I doubt he’s thrilled about karaoke now.”
“True.”
The first guy nodded, conceding the point. Then he suggested, “How about a quick game of billiards?”
“Isn’t he working at a billiard hall this afternoon? Come on, it’s rare we all have free time like this—let’s do something productive.”
“Internet café?”
“Nope, probably his night shift.”
“So, karaoke’s out, billiards is out, internet café’s out. Then what do you suggest?”
“Uh…”
The leader hesitated, silent like a mute. Excluding those three spots, he couldn’t think of anywhere else a Korean guy would want to go. And the idea of three guys hanging around a dull movie theater or an art exhibit was equally unappealing.
“Maybe we should just ask Hyun directly?”
Just as he awkwardly stopped his bike and looked back, a sudden flash of violet light reflected from behind, briefly illuminating the street. It vanished in an instant, so neither of the two young men noticed anything unusual.
But the first guy did feel something odd.
“Hey, do you want to go somewhere…?”
Suddenly, a bike zipped past with a whoosh. The young man’s gaze followed it, stunned.
The bike, which had been moving straight ahead, wobbled dangerously side to side before crashing loudly. The rider, Ahn Hyun, was thrown off the saddle, clutching his head and groaning in pain as he rolled onto the sidewalk.
“Ah, ah, ah, Hyun!”
“Hey! Are you okay? What’s wrong?”
On the surface, it looked like a typical accident. Everyone falls off a bike at least once in their life. Passersby barely glanced before moving on, showing little concern.
But there was one strange coincidence.
Across the street from where Ahn Hyun fell, a woman had collapsed, gasping and screaming as if struggling to breathe.
“Ah, ahhh…!”
“Jeong Ha-yeon?”
“It hurts…! My head, it feels like it’s going to explode…!”
“Stay with me! Oh no, I have to call 911 right now!”
Both the man and woman had suddenly experienced severe headaches right after the violet light appeared and vanished. The fact that it happened simultaneously was, if nothing else, peculiar.
But the real problem was that this wasn’t happening only on this street.
“Teacher! Teacher! Ansol is crying!”
“What? Again? Why?”
“I don’t know. Suddenly said she was in pain…”
“Good grief…”
At the academy.
“Ahhh! Aaaahhh!”
“Yoo, Yoo-jung? Lee Yoo-jung!”
“It hurts… it hurts so much!”
“What do we do? Someone help!”
At the library.
“What’s going on? Why is everyone gathered over there?”
“Oh, you know Ssa-gaji? She apparently just tumbled down the stairs at the Shinjoongdo building.”
“Ssa-gaji? Kim Han-byul? Why?”
“No idea. But she’s hot. Hehe.”
At the university.
“Director Han, the financial report you just submitted… Director Han?”
Gulp!
“Goodness, why are you sweating so much? Are you okay? Should I call an ambulance?”
“…!”
At the office.
Wherever the violet light had appeared, incidents followed—no exceptions.
Even on a train nearing its destination, the violet flash appeared again. Like a camera flash, the light burst near a man sleeping by the window. Yet, no passenger noticed anything unusual.
Moments later.
The man’s eyebrows twitched. His closed eyes slowly opened, blinking rapidly. After a while, his brow furrowed slightly, as if confused.
“…?”
That was all.
His expression showed only mild surprise, which quickly settled into calm.
No screams, no groans.
No complaints of headache.
In fact, his face looked peaceful.
A dream.
I had a dream.
Like most dreams, the details faded upon waking, leaving only a vague feeling lingering like an echo.
But dreams don’t matter. The problem is, I’m still dreaming. I remember resting my head on Seraph’s lap and falling asleep helplessly. Now, I’m on a train—the day I returned after discharge. So yes, this is definitely a dream.
Still, I wasn’t surprised. I’d had a similar dream a year or two ago. Probably when I was dragged into hell? What was it like?
I instinctively glanced at the seat beside me. It was empty, so this dream wasn’t exactly the same as before. In that one, Yoo Hyun-ah sat next to me.
Anyway, again…
Suddenly, an announcement echoed through the carriage.
Oh, right. There was an announcement. The wording was a bit different, though.
Soon, the train would reach Seoul Station. I’d get off, stand on the platform, and rain would pour from the sky. I’d wake from the dream, soaked. That’s probably how it went.
“Alright.”
I couldn’t guarantee I’d wake this time either, but I figured I might as well play along with this lucid dream.
Even if it’s a hallucination, it doesn’t matter. With my third eye open, and knowing it’s a dream, I can break free anytime. I’ll wait a bit, and if it doesn’t end, I’ll use it then.
With that thought, I stood up firmly. That’s when—
Clink!
Just as I moved toward the corridor, a heavy metallic sound echoed from my body. Several passengers glanced at me, whispering. I looked down in surprise and saw the dark armor of Chiwoo Cheonwang.
…What’s this? I thought I’d be in my military uniform since I was returning after discharge.
Rattle, rattle, rattle!
I suddenly felt the train slowing. The wheels’ clatter against the rails sounded unusually clear.
“…”
I stood dazed for a moment, then slowly turned to look out the window. The slightly smudged glass reflected the slowly passing Seoul Station scenery and my own image.
When I confirmed the reflection—
“What…?”
I was speechless.
Not a buzz cut, but long hair.
Chiwoo Cheonwang’s armor.
A red cape.
And earrings gleaming in the sunlight—the glory of Victoria.
Just from this, it was clear.
The person standing here wasn’t soldier Kim Soo-hyun,
but—
Kim Soo-hyun, the user of the Hall Plane.
---------------------------= Author’s Note =---------------------------
Well.
After reading the readers’ comments, maybe I should have kept it simple. ☞☜
Once the series and side stories are complete, I plan to do a full remake from start to finish. I’ll probably have to add some essential corrections and the ending as well. ㅜ.ㅠ
With only one epilogue left, I’ll proceed as planned for now.
Honestly, I did intentionally complicate things, but my primary goal was just to make the ending hard to predict (though quite a few of you guessed it anyway… I even threw in memory wipes and seals, but I never expected you to see through it. ㅜ.ㅠ). The actual ending isn’t as complicated as it seems.
So don’t overthink it.
What plan did Seraph devise to restore Kim Soo-hyun’s humanity?
Why didn’t Seraph tell Kim Soo-hyun about it?
The callback to Seraph in Se-yul’s tarot cards.
In Epilogue 4, I’ll focus on these three points.
Then, the phrases like “a new spark” or “you might never see it again” will make sense.
That’s all for the note.
Wishing all readers a relaxing weekend. :)