Except for guild activities or when the commander reported that a new gate had opened, I hadn’t left the house in a whole month.
Even when my parents asked me to run small errands like before, I made excuses about being sick and stayed inside.
I met my friends only once in a while.
It all started after I went to the neighborhood mart on an errand and saw people harshly cursing Nada.
As I trudged home that day, so many thoughts flooded my mind.
That’s when I decided I should avoid going outside whenever possible.
Even when hanging out with friends, I stayed away from crowded places.
I didn’t browse the internet either and focused solely on closing gates.
[The recent number of gate appearances has noticeably decreased…………….]
Today, like always, I was spending time at home when the TV reported that the number of gates had dropped.
It only looked that way because I was closing them quickly before anyone else found them.
“They said the difficulty would rise to scare people, but the gate appearances have actually gone down?”
“The system or whatever is really messing with people, huh.”
“cough ahem.”
In the middle of dinner, I started choking and hurriedly drank some water.
‘So they can even interpret the drop in gate numbers from that perspective.’
I thought people would just be happy about fewer gates opening, but I realized some might feel toyed with.
“Why are you coughing all of a sudden? Are you okay?”
“Come to think of it, Dana’s been looking really pale lately.”
“Her face is so hollow.”
“And those dark circles have gotten worse.”
When I coughed, my parents looked at me with worried eyes, checking my complexion.
Lately, I’d been working hard with the guild and closing gates all by myself, and my body was barely holding up.
Still, I tried to manage my appearance so it wouldn’t show too much.
But I guess I couldn’t hide it completely.
“I haven’t been sleeping well these days.”
“Why not?”
I pulled out the excuse I had prepared in advance.
“I’ve been playing games…………..”
Playing games seemed like the easiest excuse for sleepless nights.
If I said I couldn’t sleep because of studying, I’d have to prove it with my grades like in my senior year of high school, so that was out.
Since no other excuse came to mind, I decided to pretend I was up all night gaming.
Bam-
“Ah!”
“You’re just a senior in high school, and you’re already addicted to games? What are you going to do!”
My mom scolded me while hitting my back.
I was glad she believed me completely.
I just rubbed my back with my hand and smiled.
“I didn’t nag you because you were active in the guild, but you still have to study hard.”
“Yeah, if the dimension outsider goes back to where they lived, gates won’t open anymore, right? Then all that’s left is grades.”
“Exactly. That dimension outsider came suddenly, so you never know when they might leave again. Awakening is not a lifelong job, kid.”
I bit my lip tightly at my parents’ nagging.
I expected them to tell me to study hard, but I hadn’t thought they’d mention the outsider possibly leaving anytime.
That dimension outsider is right here, though.
Suddenly, I felt a huge distance between myself and my parents.
No matter how much I grew attached to this place, I was still an outsider who might leave at any moment.
“………I’ll study hard too.”
I answered listlessly and went into my room.
Closing the door, I leaned against it and slowly sank down.
I buried my face in my knees and sat quietly for a moment, calming my mind.
‘They’re all right, though.’
It’s true I might leave at any time, and if the dimension outsider goes back, the gates will close.
That’s why I had to study hard.
Maybe that was one reason why someone like Yeon Ha-yeon, a high-ranked Awakener, studied hard too.
No matter how much I wished not to go back, I couldn’t know what would happen.
I could end up returning to the original dimension after entering a dungeon by chance, or one day I might suddenly wake up back in the original world due to the system’s tricks.
Nothing was certain.
I thought I was living well, having blended into this world, but now I keenly felt like a stranger.
Just as my parents said, if I do go back to the original world, all that will be left to me is my grades.
I couldn’t promise to get good grades, but I thought I shouldn’t come in last.
I fiddled with my workbook and opened a textbook, and before I knew it, time had passed.
Dawn was breaking.
***
“Huh? This is my house?”
As soon as I opened my eyes, confusion slipped into my voice at the sight before me.
Instead of a small, cramped room, I was in the master bedroom with a large bed.
Beyond the full-length windows, the Han River stretched out in full view.
‘Is this a dream?’
I quickly assessed the situation.
I’d never realized I was dreaming the moment I dreamed before, but this time I recognized it immediately.
Slowly, I looked around my room and then stepped outside.
On the living room table lay half-eaten snack bags and soda cans scattered about.
I thought the house would look exactly as I last left it, but maybe because it was a dream, it was a bit different.
I’m the type to clean up immediately after eating, but here were leftovers and fruit peels left around.
“Ugh, if you eat, you should clean up right away.”
Even though I knew it was a dream, I couldn’t stand seeing my house messy, so I began tidying up.
After clearing and wiping down the table, I was about to head to the kitchen when I heard singing from the bathroom.
No one should be home, yet someone was humming while washing up.
‘What’s going on……?’
Had I watched a horror movie before bed?
A chill ran down my arm as goosebumps rose.
Cautiously, I stepped closer to the bathroom.
The singing grew louder as I approached.
Just as I reached the bathroom door, the water sound stopped.
Then the doorknob turned, and someone opened the door and stepped out.
I recoiled in shock at the face that appeared outside the bathroom.
“What?”
A cold voice spoke — it was my original voice before possession.
Though the tone was much sharper and harsher than mine and felt unfamiliar, it was definitely my voice.
I was looking straight at my own face.
How many times in life would you experience seeing your own face in someone else’s body?
Even though the face was familiar, it felt strange, like it wasn’t really me.
“Isn’t it me? How did you get here?”
“What?”
I was supposed to be standing in the post-possession form, so hearing ‘Isn’t it me?’ made me suddenly suspicious.
“Are you the original owner of this body?”
What kind of ridiculous dream was this?
Though I wanted to wake up from the absurdity, strangely, I wanted to keep talking.
“I don’t want to live in that body anymore, so go back.”
“What are you talking about? This is your body.”
“I don’t want to live there anymore, so go back!”
She suddenly yelled like a madwoman, telling me to go back because she didn’t want to live in her own body.
I felt an instinctive sense of danger watching her shout wildly.
I’d thought she was a little off when chasing half-bloods in the original story, but meeting her like this—even if just in a dream—only confirmed it.
“You’re not even an Awakener. There’s no way you’d like living here.”
“Awakener? That’s been gone for a long time. Gates don’t open anymore.”
“……What?”
I started to doubt whether this was really a dream.
What Dana was saying felt less like a dream and more like reality.
‘I’m not hurting.’
I pinched my cheek, wondering if I’d crossed dimensions while asleep.
It didn’t hurt at all.
This was definitely a dream.
‘Is this pointless?’
Since it was a dream and everything here was just an illusion, did I really have to talk to her?
Wouldn’t it be better to just wake up?
These thoughts scrambled through my mind.
But Dana scoffed at my disbelief and said,
“Believe it or not, it’s your choice. But everything I said is true. Gates don’t open anymore, and thanks to your fame, I became a model.”
“A model? Who would ask you to do that?”
I’m tall, but I’d never thought about modeling.
Besides, my existing fame was mostly negative, so who would willingly make me a model?
“You really don’t know yourself. Well, that’s why you lived so stupidly.”
“You weren’t any better yourself.”
“……I want to stop talking, so get out of my house.”
Dana’s expression stiffened rapidly when the topic turned to herself, and she tried to kick me out.
Since it was a dream, I had no strength to resist and was pushed aside helplessly.
The difference in physical strength from body size was too great.
With my small, frail frame, I couldn’t beat the original me.
That’s how I got kicked out of my own house.
“Don’t ever come back.”
Dana left me with a cold warning before slamming the door.
The moment the door shut, my eyes snapped open.
“Huh? What?”
I looked up at the ceiling of the post-possession house.
Around me were the bookshelf, small desk, full-length mirror, and wardrobe that the half-blood had gifted me.
‘What kind of ridiculous dream was that?’
I laughed bitterly at the absurdity.
Did I dream that because I felt like an outsider?
‘What’s with this “model” nonsense? That makes no sense.’
I mulled over what Dana said in the dream and shook my head.
Then a question I’d long avoided popped into my mind.
‘Where did the original soul of this body go?’
If I possessed this body and the original soul didn’t die, maybe it really had entered my body, just like in the dream.
That would be better than the soul disappearing altogether.
It wasn’t a completely impossible guess.
But there was no way to know.
‘Maybe I’ll find out someday.’
If I ran an S-rank gate in the dungeon, maybe I’d learn the answer.
I shoved the fleeting question back into my mind and closed my eyes.