Dream Breaker

Animal-based proteins and fats always make the tongue happy!

Eating too much can be harmful to the body, but the same goes for vitamins, so that's beside the point!

I was happy that I would soon be able to eat beef, but I felt a little sorry for my opponent, who still couldn't fully grasp his defeat.

"It doesn't make sense..."

"It was a good match."

It was a wonderful match that brought me the beef.

"This is cheating!"

The coach in charge of that player yelled loudly.

"Accept it."

"There's no doubt he used drugs! He won with that weak body? We need to test him right away!"

"What will you do if it's not drugs? I'd like to hear specifically how you plan to compensate for tarnishing my player's reputation."

"Tsk!"

"If there's nothing, just apologize and be done with it."

The coaches had a second round over the match results.

More exciting than the main event!

I quietly watched and waited for the beef...

"This isn't defamation! You can't help but suspect drugs when you look at your player! Right? Are his legs long? Are his hands and feet big? His body is skinny too."

Mistaking is fine, but isn't personal attack crossing the line?

"Your statement just now is defamation."

"Hmph! It's not even wrong!!"

"Admit your loss cleanly. Don't act dirty."

"What, what-?! Dirty?!"

The conversation increasingly leaned towards me getting tested.

'I'm sick of tests...'

I wanted to refuse because I had taken too many tests recently, but the atmosphere flowed towards verification.

At that moment,

"Coach, calm down. The match earlier was fair."

"We were clearly dominant at first, right? We only lost because our stamina ran out."

"That player's specialty is not the length of his arms and legs."

"It's a very long lung capacity."

The players who had been watching stood up and spoke one by one.

Then,

"Do you think I don't know that and I'm arguing?! This must be a bronchodilator that increases lung capacity...!"

The coach who attacked me personally and was cornered hurriedly changed his words.

'Bronchodilator?'

Something that widens the throat? I didn't even know such a drug existed.

"Can you take responsibility for that statement?"

My coach asked again with a very unpleasant expression.

"Of course!"

"How do you plan to take responsibility?"

"If I'm wrong, I'll formally apologize and clean the swimming pool until the end of the year!"

Wow! Cleaning the swimming pool!

It seems like too much, but does that mean he's that confident?

It's a shame.

Of course,

"I want to ask you the same thing. How will you take responsibility if it turns out he really took drugs?"

"I'll resign without hesitation."

"Alright."

The declaration to quit being a coach.

Was it because it came out stronger than cleaning the swimming pool?

The coach's eyes, filled with confidence, trembled slightly.

He seemed conflicted.

But in the end, he didn't withdraw his judgment.

"Shall we go for the test now that the discussion is over?"

"Of course."

"You'll regret it..."

"That's what I should say! Let's see when that bluff breaks."

And so...

One poor swimming pool cleaner job was lost.

* * *

I learned about various Olympic banned substances through this opportunity.

In particular, salbutamol and formoterol, which are used as asthma treatments, received the most suspicion because they increase athletes' lung capacity.

Salbutamol.

Formoterol.

I even memorized those unfamiliar drug names!

Besides those two, the 'erythropoietin (EPO)' I was suspected of temporarily increases red blood cell production and oxygen transport capacity...

"You must have had a hard time."

Hearing my complaints, Manager Seo Hye-joo chuckled.

"Don't even mention it. That coach even pushed the doctor who tested for drug addiction and made up nonsense."

"It's a shame as a fellow doctor."

Even with soulless answers, I could tell she had no interest in what I had experienced over the past week.

There was only one thing she wanted to hear from me.

"Is your body recovering a bit?"

"Not yet."

The 'body' mentioned here doesn't just mean physical flesh.

Mental.

The aftermath of being beaten by the Magical Boy, Choi Kang-min, was that severe.

"Choi Kang-min has little time left."

"What? Isn't there still a little over two months left?"

"The 100 days I mentioned before is not the guaranteed minimum grace period. It's the opposite. It wouldn't be strange for Choi Kang-min to die at any moment."

"......"

"By the way, Choi Kang-min is also prescribed salbutamol and formoterol, the drugs you were suspected of taking. This is because asthma, which causes inflammation in the airways, is also included in the complications the patient suffers from."

"Ah, I see."

I don't know what disease Choi Kang-min will die from.

However,

'Should I hurry?'

If I want to receive the medical fees promised by Manager Seo Hye-joo, I couldn't afford to be at ease like now.

But I didn't feel impatient.

Medical ethics, moral values, sense of duty...

These basic things were missing when I decided to help Choi Kang-min. After experiencing hell, I no longer treated him as a human being.

Anyway,

"To convince Choi Kang-min, who is trapped in a dream, we need solid evidence that it is a dream."

The only way to wake Choi Kang-min up before his life is cut off.

This is not a simple guess.

'Song Seon-young was the same.'

Song Seon-young, who chose the extreme method of suicide whenever things didn't work out.

She didn't question the 'unreal phenomenon' of going back to the past every time she committed suicide.

She thought she was special.

She rationalized it without any basis.

"Choi Kang-min firmly believes that he is a special being with supernatural powers."

"Every time I hear that story, I feel drained. I'm working day and night to wake up the patient, but the person in question is having fun in the dream..."

"It can't be helped."

Although Choi Kang-min didn't like it, I didn't blame him for this part.

Why?

Even I, who prides myself on believing in science, ended up believing that Song Seon-young's dream was reality.

"But Kang Moon-soo, do you have any plans in mind?"

"I have to convince him. There's no other way."

When I convinced Song Seon-young to give up on the occult, we woke up from the dream we thought was reality.

'I was lucky back then...'

Because what I did at the time wasn't knowing it was a dream. But not anymore.

As evidence of that change, I immediately concluded that it was a dream when the environment around me changed unrealistically.

"Suppressing him... It's impossible."

"Yes, it's absolutely impossible. How can I beat Choi Kang-min, who is as fast as light?"

Convincing is the only solution.

However, since it's obvious that I'll taste hell again if I fail, I need to thoroughly prepare the 'evidence'.

"I think so too. But solid evidence..."

"......"

"......"

We closed our mouths and sank into thought.

And a few seconds later,

"Family secrets."

"Information that can't be obtained in a dream."

Manager Seo Hye-joo and I almost simultaneously shared our thoughts.

The content was different, but the conclusion was the same.

Satisfied, we looked at each other and exchanged meaningful smiles.

"I'll be back."

"In the meantime, I'll contact the guardian and ask for their cooperation."

"Oh! Thank you."

Even if I went straight to Choi Kang-hoon's house, I would be stuck in front of the elevator without a card key.

But if Manager Seo Hye-joo, who is also the primary physician, makes a prior arrangement, it will be much easier.

'I'm already looking forward to it.'

Did he poop on the blanket or sofa while watching a horror movie when he was young?

We need a lot of Choi Kang-min's dark history, which only he and his parents know.

* * *

(A reserved guest has arrived.)

Ding-dong!

Drrrr-

As soon as the elevator door opened, stopping at the top floor of the officetel, the housekeepers and maids welcomed me.

"Welcome."

"Welcome, guest."

"Welcome, Kang Moon-soo!"

As the gazes and attention of the maids, who reflected the owner's taste 100%, focused on me, I felt like I had become a noble with a great status.

"Mr. Kang Moon-soo?"

"Ah, yes."

"The chairman is waiting for you."

"...Understood."

With the butler's words, my mind snapped back, and I slowly took a step.

"There's no need to be that nervous. The misunderstanding has already been cleared."

"......"

The incident where I was said to be a shaman and was treated as a scammer.

The bitterness of that time melted away as soon as I saw the numbers in my bank account.

Now, the reason for my serious expression lies elsewhere.

'How much should I tell?'

The story of Choi Kang-min sending his half-brother Choi Kang-hoon to prison under disguise.

Although it happened in a dream, Choi Kang-min's judgment and actions, who believe that place is reality, would be sincere.

"By the chairman's order, a banquet is prepared."

"Oh!"

"As soon as he heard that Mr. Kang Moon-soo was coming, he quickly arranged for a top-class chef."

"There's no need to go that far..."

"It means that the chairman is also sincere towards you."

"...I see."

Sincerity.

A word that made my indecisive heart uneasy in both good and bad ways.

Knock, knock.

"Chairman, Kang Moon-"

"Come on in!"

Before the butler, who knocked on the study door, could finish speaking, the homeowner's permission came through.

"Welcome, Kang Moon-soo!"

His tone was 180 degrees different from when he treated me as a scammer.

"Sir, please come in. I'll prepare the tea."

"Yes."

Squeak-

I bowed my head slightly, expressing gratitude to the attentive butler, and carefully opened the door to the study.

"Excuse me-

"Moon-soo! I'm really sorry!"

Whoosh!

As soon as I entered, I was embraced by the homeowner, who had been waiting by the door.

"Ah, hello?"

"I was really sorry last time!"

"It's okay. It happens."

An apology is enough with the numbers in my bank account.

"Since then, every time I made eye contact with Kang-hoon, I've been scolded! How could that happen...?"

"Well, that happened."

I could feel how much the homeowner cherished and loved his son, Choi Kang-hoon, from his voice of complaint.

So,

'I have to tell him.'

That there is another son who is jealous and hateful of this love, even if it's just a dream.

"Chairman."

"Oh! Moon-soo, you can call me 'sir' like you used to. No, I'd like it if you did. It's this old man's wish!"

"...Sir."

"That's right! Haha!"

The simple-wishful gentleman laughed cheerfully.

"I have something to tell you. It's very important..."

"About the dream?"

"Yes. It seems Manager Seo Hye-joo has already told you."

"No. The primary physician didn't say anything. She just said to hear it directly from the shaman who will come soon."

"How did you..."

"I heard it from Kang-hoon."

"Kang-hoon grumbled that he went to prison in my dream??"

I couldn't help but smile bitterly.

It wasn't a story I told him to gossip about...

"Ha! Kang-hoon went to prison? For what crime?"

"......"

It seems I was too ahead of myself.

"Kang-hoon didn't say much. He just said that you, the real shaman, met Kang-min in the dream."

"That's how it was."

Then I can be relieved.

"Did Kang-min send his only brother to prison?"

"......"

"It seems I got it right. It shows on your face."

"Sir, how did you know?"

I became suspicious when Manager Seo Hye-joo really hadn't said anything.

"Because he's that kind of son."

"What?"

"That's why my successor is not Kang-min but Kang-hoon. That kid wouldn't kill his brother."

"Ah..."

Is this what parenting is about?

My heart ached.

"But my successor went to prison... It's like saying I had dirt in my eyes. Right?"

"That's correct."

The gentleman, who guessed everything correctly without me explaining yet.

I couldn't help but laugh.

"It's really interesting. It wouldn't be easy to kill me..."

It's not bluffing. You can tell just by looking at this study.

"......"

"......"

In the corner of the room, security guards in black suits were quietly waiting.

Could Choi Kang-hoon handle them all by himself?

It's not realistic.

'Right. It's impossible in reality.'

But if he is a person with supernatural abilities, a Magical Boy, it's entirely possible.

"Moon-soo."

"Yes."

"I'm really curious, but didn't Kang-min tell you in the dream?"

"What?"

"The method of killing this father."

"......"

What did this gentleman see in his first son?

I had a strong feeling that my purpose for coming here was contained in it.

"Why are you so sure?"

"Because he's that kind of son."

"Could you tell me the story if it's okay?"

"Hmm... alright."

The gentleman's story went back ten years.

Read ahead by supporting me on Ko-fi

. Access 5 advance chapters with the Silver Tier ($10) or 10 advance chapters with Shaman Tier($18)

For every $15 collected on Ko-fi

, I will release an extra chapter.

Choose your tier by clicking the 'Support me' button! Rate and review this novel on NU

to help people find this novel. Bonus chapters upon reaching specific milestones. Happy reading!

Previous Chapter

|| TOC

|| Next Chapter