Dream Breaker

How great would it be if everything in the world went my way?

But I know, and everyone knows, that there is no such convenient world.

I could feel it ever since my father passed away in a ridiculous manner.

The world is unfair.

Luck and misfortune are not given fairly to everyone, and sometimes they can be cruelly discriminatory.

"Tsk!"

Thud!

By the time I realized it, Choi Kang-min had already grabbed my neck.

'I have no luck...!'

I could tell just by looking at Choi Kang-min's expression as he prowled around the hotel parking lot. He definitely didn't know I was hiding here and came looking for me.

It must have been a coincidence. Though statistically, it's hard to dismiss it as just a coincidence.

"Kang Moon-soo! How dare a bug like you...!"

Thump.

My right arm was severed by the enraged Choi Kang-min and fell to the floor.

"......"

But I remained calm.

It was painful, but maybe because I had experienced it once before, it wasn't unbearable.

And I had anticipated the worst-case scenario like this ever since I returned here, so I wasn't confused.

"...What?"

"What?"

"Why aren't you screaming when your arm is torn off without anesthesia? Why aren't you begging for mercy, forgiveness?"

That was a mystery to me, too.

I used to scream and roll around when my finger got pinched while moving products at the convenience store.

It was indeed strange that I was calm despite experiencing the pain of having my limbs severed.

Anyway,

"Did you expect that? What a pity-"

Crack.

Choi Kang-min snapped my left leg like a twig while I was speaking.

"Beg already...!"

Did he expect me to whine and beg for forgiveness?

In my eyes,

'It seems like he wants me to beg for an apology.'

But I had no intention of submitting to Choi Kang-min's overwhelming violence.

Wasn't one miserable experience enough?

There won't be a second time.

"Hey, have you been drinking since daylight?"

"You bastard!"

Thwack!

Thrown against the solid concrete wall of the hotel, I collapsed lifelessly onto the floor.

The inside of the room was already a mess with my blood and flesh.

Yet, my mind was calm enough to give him a piece of my mind.

"Kang Min-ah, grow up."

"How dare...!"

Choi Kang-min, who immediately noticed that I was imitating the old man's tone, was furious.

Crash!

* * *

Choi Kang-min's encounter with Kang Moon-soo was not a coincidence.

A strong attraction.

There was an unknown force that drew him like a magnet. Although it wasn't compulsory, he naturally followed the guidance, like preferring asphalt highways over dirt roads.

And then he came face to face with Kang Moon-soo.

As soon as he saw him, anger surged.

"You...!"

He cut off Kang Moon-soo's arm first, and since his anger didn't subsided, he severed his leg as well.

However,

'Why! How come!'

Even though he had ruined Kang Moon-soo's limbs, making him live as a cripple for the rest of his life, he was not satisfied.

The reason?

It was because of Kang Moon-soo's attitude.

His eyes looked down on him without fear of his overwhelming power.

And the biggest problem was that he accepted his calm attitude as natural.

'Is it just a dream after all...'

Kang Moon-soo seemed to say there was no need to be afraid since he wouldn't really lose his arms and legs.

Nevertheless,

"Beg already...!"

Choi Kang-min forced himself to deny this cruel fact.

"Hey, have you been drinking since daylight?"

But Kang Moon-soo, who didn't succumb to pain and said everything he wanted to say.

His casual tone, mixed with jokes, seemed playful as if he couldn't feel any pain at all.

"You bastard!"

Enraged once again, Choi Kang-min threw the bloody Kang Moon-soo into the hotel room.

Thwack!

Blood and flesh flowed from his severed limbs, staining the walls and floor. Naturally, his body was tattered-

"Kang Min-ah, grow up."

But it was still not enough to silence Kang Moon-soo!

"How dare...!"

It meant that he had no fear of not only pain but also death.

Was it really because he wasn't afraid of death?

No.

It was because he wouldn't die in the first place.

As evidence, Kang Moon-soo, who had been definitely killed in this world (dream), came back to life and appeared before him.

'It can't be...!'

Choi Kang-min resisted violently like a fish caught in a net.

Crash!

* * *

I thought Choi Kang-min would kill me in a fit of rage.

But he didn't strike my head with his sinister wand.

Instead, he vented his anger on the expensive furniture in the hotel room.

"Huff... huff..."

"Choi Kang-min."

"......"

"Just accept it. Your father is waiting for you at the hospital. He's waiting for his eldest son to wake up from his sleep."

"...Lies."

Choi Kang-min, with a distorted expression like a crushed can, denied my words as if wringing them out.

"Does this seem like a setup?"

"Kang Moon-soo. I have one question."

"Go ahead."

"Do you have any grudge against me? Why are you doing this?"

My eyes widened in the midst of the pain at such an absurd question.

'Does he really not know and is asking?'

I decided to reconfirm because I couldn't believe what I just heard.

"Telling you the uncomfortable truth that would have been better off not knowing until you die? Why did I tell you and torment you?"

"......"

Choi Kang-min, who still didn't want to accept it, answered with silence.

"Ha! What a stupid question! You made me like this, and you're asking that? Have you already forgotten?"

"This is what you brought upon yourself...!"

"What about last time?"

"That's because you were talking nonsense."

"Is it nonsense to teach that you don't have much time left to live? Why do you get medical treatment from a doctor? If they say you're not healthy, you'll dismiss it as nonsense."

"That, that's..."

Choi Kang-min, whose excuses were becoming awkward due to my perfect logic, trailed off and fell silent.

"Back then, I genuinely wanted to save you. Even if it was only 100 days at most. Now, there are less than 50 days left."

"This isn't saving me."

"So, you should have left me trapped in a happy dream and welcomed a happy death?"

"...Yes."

"That's something a drug addict would say. Leave me alone to die."

"It's completely different. I'm a hero who saves the world."

"Heroes don't kill their parents for property, and they don't frame their siblings and send them to prison."

"It's because of what my father did! He should have chosen me as his successor, not my brother...!"

Choi Kang-min yelled as if in a rage.

"Take it up with your father directly. There's no use complaining to me, who is not your family."

"Tsk!"

Choi Kang-min fell silent once again at my irrefutable scolding.

And then,

Thud.

Despite having a super-realistic power that moved at the speed of light, he knelt down like a sinner, lying face down.

"Choi Kang-min."

"......"

"Do you still have regrets?"

I frowned as I started to feel dizzy from anemia.

The dream wasn't ending, just like when Song Sun-young was struggling. It was proof that Choi Kang-min, the protagonist of this world (dream), was still hesitating and not giving in.

Song Seon-young, who promised not to commit suicide if she lost in the swimming competition, also suffered while wandering.

It was a similar situation.

'Saving him won't be easy.'

It wouldn't really end until Choi Kang-min genuinely let go of the fantasy of being a "Magical Boy."

"My father only loved the son born to his new woman."

"I'm not interested in your family history. I don't want to know."

I firmly drew the line.

"Tell my father-"

"I'm not a recorder. If you have something to say, say it directly. Do you still think you're a kid? Did your brain get younger when you transformed into Magical Boy?"

Choi Kang-min glared at me with resentment at my harsh words.

"Do you want to die?"

"Go ahead and kill me. I'll just wake up from the dream anyway."

"You bastard!"

Thwack!

Once again, I couldn't react at all and became the target of his anger.

'My abdomen is burning...'

My eyelids, heavy as iron, wouldn't lift, so I couldn't tell where or how badly I was hurt.

"Cough, cough! I'm going to die again at this rate."

"...Aren't you in pain?"

"It's painful enough to die!"

Is he really saying that now?

I've been working on my physical strength lately, but fighting a monster that moves at the speed of light is too much.

However, I didn't feel like I had lost, even in this miserable state.

"Kang Moon-soo, am I not scary to you?"

"Not really."

"Even if you lose your limbs and suffer, it's just a dream in the end..."

"Seems that way."

But just because it's a dream doesn't mean I've become an iron man who can't feel pain.

Should I endure it with bluffing and stubbornness?

I thought I had to overwhelm Choi Kang-min mentally since I couldn't physically compete with him.

'Hang in there! Just a little more!'

My whole body was in so much pain that I wanted to die quickly and be at ease.

"I've wanted to be a hero who saves the world since I was a child..."

But this guy didn't seem to have any intention of giving in easily.

Complaining at this point?

It's driving me crazy.

"I remember very well. When we played situation games at the playground, you always took the role of the hero. You made me and Kang Hoon play the villains and supporting roles."

"Cough!"

The Choi Kang-min I remember from my childhood was an ordinary boy who admired heroes.

That's right. I thought he was ordinary.

I didn't know about his past of tormenting his younger brother back then.

"Those days when you made your brother play the villain role and poked him with tree branches. I never thought that was your true nature."

I had dismissed it as the selfish behavior of an immature child.

But it was exposed.

"I was afraid of my father. I'm still afraid to face him."

"Unbelievable. Are you a Magical Boy who's afraid of all villains?"

"It's a completely different issue."

"Because your wrongdoing was exposed?"

"Kang Moon-soo. It's your fault."

"What?"

What nonsense is this?

"If you hadn't interfered, I wouldn't have had the extreme thought of hurting Choi Kang-hoon. Then I wouldn't have been caught by my father either."

"Wow! Do you have a conscience? It's wrong to think about harming your family in the first place. Don't blame others too much!"

"Succession disputes are the course of nature."

"Really? Then interfering with someone's life you don't like must also be the course of nature."

"......"

Choi Kang-min, who tried to force his way through, closed his lips without gaining anything.

"Choi Kang-min."

"I don't want to hear it."

"I don't want to meddle in other people's family affairs, but I'll just say one thing because it's annoying. You're throwing a tantrum on a full stomach. I don't have parents to scold me or siblings to compete with."

"That must be nice."

"I don't have any inheritance either."

"That's a pity."

"......"

I also like money, but this guy seems to be rotten to the core, judging his family by money.

"Let me make it clear here. I'm not going back to reality."

"You'll die like this?"

"Yes."

"Choi Kang-min. I took a picture of your actual appearance in reality... Huh?"

I hesitated as I struggled to rummage through my pocket with my remaining arm.

'Is it gone?'

I had taken a picture of Choi Kang-min lying in his hospital bed like a mummy and brought it with me.

Did it fall out of my pocket when I was rolling on the floor?

The picture couldn't be found.

"A picture?"

"...It would have been nice if I had taken a picture."

"What's my condition?"

"You're in a state where you'd say goodbye to the world as soon as you take off your oxygen respirator due to various complications, including asthma."

"......"

"Do you want to die?"

"...Are there people who want to die?"

"Didn't you say you wanted to die happily? You said that just a while ago."

"That, that's..."

Choi Kang-min, who fell into a contradiction because of his own words, exercised his right to remain silent.

"You're a funny guy. You tell me to leave you to die, and then you take out your anger on me."

"......"

He wouldn't have anything to say even if he had two mouths.

"Hey, if you want to live, open your eyes."

"How..."

"Admit that this is a dream. Don't deny reality, accept it."

This isn't something I say after reading a shaman or occult manual.

Experience.

And impromptu instinct!

"Choi Kang-min, think positively. In reality, you haven't harmed your family, right? There's no legal problem. It's just a mistake from your immature childhood. You can start over. No, it's more accurate to say that you haven't even started yet."

I said something I didn't really mean.

"...Is it possible?"

However, it was enough to persuade Choi Kang-min, who was now filled with the desire to live.

"Of course!"

"Really?"

"That depends on you. I'm not a fortune teller who can see the future."

I'm a shaman.

And my role ends here.

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