Labyrinth Exploration 101 - L.E Chapter 67 (Part 1): Living Like That (1)
*Chijik. Chijik.*
A prickling sensation stabs at the back of my neck. It feels like a sudden jolt of electricity, or perhaps like a red-hot branding iron searing into my skin.
I pressed my hand against the nape of my neck.
“No, so…”
There’s a guy yammering right in front of me. The space around us is bustling with noise—a cafeteria. Everyone’s dressed in the same uniform, eating the same meal off the same trays.
“Ha-woon-ah. I’m saying, let’s go out together on our next leave, yeah?”
He flashes a grin as he speaks. Staring at that goofy smile, I…
*Chijijik!*
The pain intensifies.
“Ugh.”
I clutched the back of my neck with my hand.
“Whoa, what’s wrong? You get stung by a bee or something?”
“…No.”
I shook my head, wiping cold sweat from my brow and raising my middle finger.
“Fu*k you. Why the hell would I spend my leave with you?”
“Oh, come on. You’re just gonna sit at home with nothing to do anyway…”
His voice stretches out, distorted and eerie. The pitch warps, high and low, jumbling together. My vision blurs, the world slipping away from me.
*Pazzzut!*
The pain blinds me.
Or maybe I just closed my eyes.
“…Hah!”
I opened my eyes again. Gasping for breath, I clutched my chest. Thump-thump-thump. It felt like someone was kicking me from the inside.
“What’s up? You seriously sick or something, Seol Ha-woon?”
I looked at him.
“If *you’re* sick, it’s gotta be cancer, right?”
This guy, spouting his annoying nonsense.
Looking at his face, I can’t help but feel the danger of this labyrinth.
“Why aren’t you saying anything?”
Thanks to that last shock, I barely managed to pull myself out.
If the implant had been even slightly faulty or insufficient, I might’ve been trapped here forever.
A sudden curiosity struck me.
How many years did my subconscious experience in this place?
I can’t remember now. Like a dream fading upon waking, the time my subconscious lived through dissolves like powder in rainwater, faint and fleeting.
“What’re you doing? Daydreaming?”
He asked again. I let out a hollow chuckle without realizing it.
“…Yeah.”
A dream.
It’s definitely a dream.
“I’m dreaming.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? Oh man, bad timing~ I heard the duty medic this week is Lee Eul-yong. You really picking *today* to get sick?”
Lee Eul-yong, the duty medic. A real piece of work. No skill, stubborn as hell, and a notorious jerk.
Didn’t he get sued for refusing to send a cancer patient for a second opinion? If a war broke out, he’d be the first one I’d “accidentally” take out with friendly fire.
“You good?”
“…I’m fine. Fine.”
It’s been a long time since I last saw him. Blue hair. Blue eyes. Now that I look at him, he really does look exactly like my little brother.
“Good to see you.”
“…Huh?”
Seo Ji-hyuk tilted his head with a dumbfounded expression. Even his light habits and gestures were exactly the same as before.
No, exactly as I remembered them.
“What’s that all of a sudden?”
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen you.”
This guy never once showed up in my dreams.
Of course, this is probably just a projection created by my subconscious, but even that felt good to see.
“What’re you talking about? Did you hit your head or something?”
They say the fastest memories to fade are the ones tied to sound. Unfortunately, I don’t have any recordings of Seo Ji-hyuk’s voice. So I don’t know if this voice is the real thing.
“Maybe.”
I stood up. Maybe because it was a dream, both my legs felt fine. Wanting to savor the feeling, I hopped around a bit.
“…What the hell are you doing?”
Seo Ji-hyuk narrowed his eyes.
“Hey.”
“What?”
“You jerk.”
I reached out my hand toward him.
“Thanks.”
“…?”
Seo Ji-hyuk looked completely confused, but I wanted to say what I needed to. Words I’d always wanted to say if we ever met again.
“I won’t forget you.”
Seo Ji-hyuk blinked. Then, with a scoff, he raised two fingers in response.
Scissors.
“What kind of crap is that? Of course you won’t forget me, dumbass—”
*Pazzz—zzt!*
Another shock. A searing pain, like it was burning the back of my head, jolted me awake.
The darkness parted, and the space slowly came into view.
“…Ugh, my head.”
It’s a space decorated like a hotel. Probably inside the Unconscious Labyrinth. There’s an exit behind me, and I’m alone in the lobby.
“Phew.”
A long corridor stretches out, lined with doors. They must lead to the subconscious of the other explorers.
I have to wake them all up.
That means there’s a lot of work to do.
“This is gonna be exhausting.”
*Creak.*
I flung open a random door.
“…What the hell is this?”
It was a restaurant.
* * *