DB Vol 1 Part 4

“Yes, this is reality.”

Il-hae answered half-heartedly and inadvertently looked at him without thinking before making eye contact with Won-woo. Though his eyes were clearly black, for a moment they felt like a blue ocean. He was mesmerized by the deep blue sea of ​​unknown depth, and for a moment he felt like his mind had gone blank. Of course, Il-hae immediately came to his senses and looked away. Ji Won-woo was a bug that always freeload, so what was he thinking?

“You’re alive, and we’re all alive. It’s all real, so hurry up and sign this.”

He shook the documents again, but Ji Won-woo’s reaction was strange. His eyes grew wider and then he froze. He looked like someone who had just realized something shocking.

“Hey, are you okay…?”

Before he could finish calling out to him, Won-woo suddenly stood up.

“That’s right. Everyone, everyone is alive!”

After spouting such nonsense loudly enough for everyone to stare, he suddenly started running somewhere. Il-hae followed him a few steps, saying “Hey,” but stopped out of laziness. Instead, he organized the words he would write in his report into short sentences. Ji Won-woo seems to have gone crazy.

Why hadn’t he thought of it? Devastated by the fact that this was a terrible parallel world where all the Espers were alive, he failed to realize the most important thing. Won-woo had just noticed it from Il-hae’s words.

 ‘Everyone is alive.’

This meant that Won-woo’s most precious people might all be alive in this world too. The colleagues who had passed away. Perhaps, perhaps even that person. Him too.

In Won-woo’s world, they had won the fight against the Espers, but at a terrible cost. The tattered victory was a deep, dark quagmire for the survivors. Won-woo was no exception. Everyone around him had died. He alone survived.

At first he despaired and cried, but gradually he sank like a pebble in water. Most of that weight was resignation. Though alive, he was tossed about by life, but the worn-out stone had no life. He breathed, but that was all.

For the past few years, being alive had been a punishment. He didn’t know how or in what state of mind he had left the hospital. He ran frantically in his patient gown, then ran again. Everyone looked at him like he was crazy, but it didn’t matter. Several hours passed like a fleeting breath.

The street Won-woo was running through had been where government forces were stationed in his original world. So even though it was now covered in the unfamiliar landscape of this new world, familiar buildings and roads remained within. Won-woo spotted a familiar building and dashed up in one breath. In an instant, he arrived in front of a certain sign. On the top floor of an old commercial building without an elevator, at the very end of the 4th floor. A name hung above an old iron door.

‘Hwang Sang-cheon Laboratory – All kinds of electronic device repairs’

Won-woo gritted his teeth to calm himself as he wiped the dusty sign with trembling hands. In this terrible place where Espers were alive, there was a name unchanged from his world. This very sign. It was exactly the same. The person Won-woo had lost in his original world might exist in the same place, under the same name. And here, he might still be alive.

Suddenly, fear swept over him that this might all be an illusion, and he almost collapsed on the spot. But it was still good. It would have been nice to say that it was the last struggle of the lone survivor. Please be alive. Whether an illusion or a parallel world, please be alive here. The hope was so overwhelming it choked him. So it took great courage for Won-woo to grab and turn the handle. He barely managed to extend his trembling hand.

Creeak.

The old iron door opened with a small scream. The first thing he saw was shelves full of all kinds of machines and parts. Except for a narrow passage, both sides were packed with junk up to the ceiling. Won-woo slowly walked between them. Soon, he saw a man in his late 40s repairing a disassembled electronic device on a desk. The man was shouting excitedly as if talking to someone on the phone but swallowed his words when he saw Won-woo.

“It’s thanks to me hanging on that you can even hear such bullsh… Oh, a customer.”

The man started to get up to greet the customer but stopped when he saw Won-woo’s appearance. A man standing blankly in a patient gown, wearing slippers, with disheveled hair from running.

“How… may I help you?”

Won-woo couldn’t open his mouth in response to the man’s puzzled question. A lump in his throat was rising, hot enough to be painful.

***

Sang-cheon glared at the tabletop with eyes full of discontent. The device he needed to fix was already disassembled and neatly separated according to his own rules, so that wasn’t the problem. What was stoking his anger was the voice in his ear.

[Stop spouting nonsense.]

Sang-cheon’s hands tensed. The monotonous voice sounded almost bored. Of course, it would be boring. Trapped in a prison-like state, how bored must one be to sit and listen to Sang-cheon’s daily life like a radio?

Sang-cheon regretted not refusing this offer when it first came. He had already regretted it hundreds of times, but still felt remorseful. He truly never imagined he’d become a human live broadcast like this. When the offer first came, he had been grateful, thinking there was always a way out even if the sky fell.

‘We’ll give you an additional loan. In return, we’d like you to talk with someone every day.’

At that time, Sang-cheon’s situation was bleak. With several loan deadlines approaching, he was about to be kicked out of this place, which served as both his home and office. Just becoming homeless would be lucky. If he got caught by loan sharks masquerading as third-tier financial institutions but actually closer to tenth-tier, he’d be in danger of having his organs harvested.

Back then, he was desperate to extend his day-to-day survival, so he immediately agreed. Just some chit-chat, right? But he didn’t know he’d have to be on standby 24 hours a day, chattering away. Except for bathroom breaks, he had to expose his entire life to the other party through the damn communication device in his ear.

Moreover, the other party had such sharp ears that they could perceive Sang-cheon’s every action. He later found out why and regretted it bitterly, but by then he had already signed the contract. Who were these people? Weren’t they from that ruthless family known for slitting the throats of those who couldn’t repay and collecting the insurance money instead? His chat partner was the very executioner within that family. Thanks to his role as a knife-wielder, he was nicknamed “the Brute.”

If he had known who the other party was, he would have chosen to sell his organs instead. How did he end up in this misery, entangled with such a brute? No, when he tried to share some recent news out of boredom, he was told to stop spouting nonsense. Then the other party muttered casually to himself.

[Should I cut off one of your ears so you’ll understand better?]

A chill ran down Sang-cheon’s spine at the indifferent voice coming through the communicator. Despite the poor connection making the voice sound buzzy unlike the real thing, Sang-cheon swallowed hard in fear. He soon realized that since the other party couldn’t come out right now, it would be difficult for them to actually cut off his ear. Still, the goosebumps all over his body didn’t easily subside. Anyone who knew the other party’s identity would tremble like me. Sang-cheon grumbled, making excuses to himself.

“Look, I just thought you might be curious about the Monster Farm accident since everyone’s interested in that news. Being locked up there, you probably can’t hear the news. What’s the problem anyway?”

[Nothing.]

“If it’s nothing, why are you cursing at me…?”

[Calling someone who’s spouting nonsense a nonsense-spouter isn’t really an insult, is it?]

For a moment, Sang-cheon forgot the other party’s identity and snapped back.

“You’re always talking nonsense too! I’m starting to wonder if you’re actually a real dog!”

[Great. Shall we dogs meet face to face then?]

“Yeah, let’s meet face to… Huh? You’re coming out? Can you come out now?”

[No.]

Just as Sang-cheon was about to throw away the communicator in exasperation, the Brute slowly added,

[But it’s not impossible.]

Right, of course you can, Mr. Woof Woof. Sang-cheon clicked his tongue internally and slightly revealed the anger he had been holding back for days.

“If everything I say is nonsense to you, why do you keep listening?”

[You’re the only one who knows my identity, is scared, but still says everything you want to say.]

…He hadn’t even said 2% of what he wanted to say. But he could understand the Brute’s words. Knowing his identity, Sang-cheon was terrified at first. However, the Brute was so rude that anger overcame fear.

No way I’m going to be called a dog by that young punk. On top of that, his monotonous way of speaking was subtly irritating. Despite his young age, he was already cynical about everything in the world. Well, knowing his family circumstances, it was understandable. The problem was when that cynicism was directed at him.

[Old man, you’re going to be screwed soon, and I need to put up with the nonsense to watch that.]

“What do you mean I’m going to be screwed?”

[You’ve borrowed money from more than just a couple of places, haven’t you?]

Sang-cheon hesitated and mumbled as if making an excuse.

“I was scammed, thinking I was investing in research funds. I’ll, I’ll pay it all back. I don’t intend to run off with other people’s money.”

[So what? You won’t be able to hold out much longer. Among the people you borrowed money from, there are some bastards who do interesting things with human bodies. You’ll be dragged away without being able to do anything about it. Ah, since it’s research, maybe you’ll enjoy it even if you’re screwed.]

The voice was dry without any sarcasm, so it didn’t make Sang-cheon angry. Instead, it gave him chills. He again recalled the other party’s age. Wondering why such a young guy was so twisted, he frowned.

“What benefit do you get from watching me go bankrupt? Does that make you happy?”

[Of course not. It’s just sweet to confirm how shitty the world is. Even if you are unusual.]

“You’re saying I’m unusual?”

[Even in that pile of debt, you don’t run away or stop your research.]

Well, that’s…

“It’s because this is all I know how to do.”

[And that makes you happy?]

Sang-cheon was about to pull out a circuit to repair with tweezers when he paused. Suddenly, he thought of the condition of this ill-tempered creditor. How long had this guy been locked up there? Over a year? And he had to stay locked up for who knows how many more years.

As far as Sang-cheon knew, he was at most in his early 20s. No matter how nasty the other’s personality was, Sang-cheon felt sympathy knowing he couldn’t move from what was essentially a prison. It wasn’t just Sang-cheon. Those who knew about the Brute’s family, while shaking their heads at their ruthless money games, acknowledged this one thing.

Poor thing. How bad must it have been for him to end up like that?

The family’s misfortune evoked such sympathy. So when he heard the word ‘happiness’, Sang-cheon’s heart grew heavy. He thought about how desperate the Brute must be to ask about happiness to someone drowning in debt like himself.

“I’m not unhappy. Well, if I could just pay off the debts, I might even become happy.”

[What bullshit. How are you going to pay off debts with no customers? How rock-bottom must your skills be.]

“My skills are the best, what’s wrong with you!”

Thankfully, the tiny bit of sympathy quickly evaporated. He could tolerate many things, but not an insult to his skills.

“It’s thanks to me hanging on that you can even hear such bullsh… Oh, a customer.”

Belatedly noticing the customer, Sang-cheon stood up. It was a precious customer, the first one today. He was ready to fix even a 3000-year-old half-moon knife if the customer brought one, but his welcoming mood soon faded. The customer looked strange. A man in his mid-20s stood there in hospital patient clothes with disheveled hair. Anyone could see he had escaped from a hospital.

“How… may I help you?”

As Sang-cheon asked warily, this new type of madman just stood frozen like a statue looking at him. As Sang-cheon was about to ask again who he was, he too froze mid-rise. The eyes he met were brimming with some emotion. The emotion was so intense that Sang-cheon flinched.

“Who…”

“Uncle.”

“What? Me?”

Surprised by the unexpected title, Sang-cheon pointed at himself. But incomprehensible words kept flowing from the other’s mouth.

“You’re… alive.”

Sang-cheon was dumbfounded by these sudden words. For a moment, he suspected that a loan shark might be using an innovative method to confirm his survival. But this assumption soon disappeared. He was captivated by the overwhelming emotion the stranger was displaying. His trembling voice sounded like he was on the verge of tears.

“Thank you. For being alive. Thank you so much.”

“Do you know me? No, who are you to…”

Sang-cheon’s words were cut off again as the other suddenly came right up to his face. What the…! While Sang-cheon was startled, going confused, the man hugged him tightly.

“H-Hey! What are you doing?”

“I’m Won-woo. Hah, I don’t care if this is my delusion. Thank you. Thank you for being alive, uncle. I, I can handle seeing blood now. Like you said, I’ve drawn a line with the government and stopped being naive. Like you said, I’ve been living forcibly, forcibly…”

“No, what on earth are you talking about… Wait, please step back…!”

Sang-cheon panicked and tried to push away the man hugging him tightly. But despite being of similar height, the man was surprisingly strong and Sang-cheon couldn’t pry him off. He wasn’t just any madman. However, it wasn’t the strength that prevented Sang-cheon from pushing him away further, but what the man did next.

He started crying while holding onto Sang-cheon. He sobbed bitterly, barely able to breathe properly. And on this day, Sang-cheon learned for the first time that a person could cry hard enough to faint.