LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 73
“Get a grip, we need a happy ending!”
The fake Han Si-Hoo laughs.
“Go away!”
The Saint screams.
Bang!
The world bursts apart.
The fake Han Si-Hoo vanishes, and the scenery changes.
“Now the real memories will appear,” the Saint mumbles.
Sure enough, Seo-A appears here.
A house comes into view.
The house where Seo-A used to live.
Swish!
It’s raining.
In the courtyard with a concrete floor, Seo-A is sitting.
Getting drenched in the rain.
“Seo-A—”
“Wait, you can’t just blurt things out like that.”
“Why not?”
“We’re in the process of replaying a memory. If we interfere, the memory itself could get messed up. Isn’t it better to just watch?”
The Saint also wanted to see the real Yoo Seo-A’s memories.
This time, the goal isn’t to ruin the memory.
They keep a little distance, watching Seo-A.
The rain doesn’t stop.
And Seo-A remains seated.
Still waiting for Han Si-Hoo to show up.
Even though she knows he isn’t coming.
“Ah…”
Seo-A smiles.
“Ah-ha… ha…”
And then silence again.
She sits there for a long time, getting soaked.
“Next memory…”
“Wait a second, let me try talking to her—”
Seo-A turns to look this way.
“Si-Hoo?”
She saw him.
The Saint steps back, looking like she has no idea what’s happening now.
Han Si-Hoo runs towards Seo-A.
“Si-Hoo?”
Seo-A greets him happily.
“Yeah.”
“You’re back? Really?”
No.
Not really.
It’s just a memory.
No, if it’s possible to twist the memory and create a happy one, isn’t that a good thing?
“Yeah.”
It’s a lie.
“Ah, ha, heh. Thank goodness. Ah… thank you! You must be busy!”
Slowly, Han Si-Hoo seemed to be starting to grasp the situation.
This was right after they had entered the Academy.
When Seo-A asked him to go stargazing together.
“No.”
“Um, should we go in first? It’s cold getting rained on.”
Funny how he was the one saying that.
Han Si-Hoo followed Seo-A inside the room.
“I knew you would come. Right? I believe in you. You’ll stay with me, right? You don’t hate me, do you? I know you don’t.”
The words about believing were painfully sharp.
Of course, there were reasons they couldn’t be together, but he couldn’t be with her… for Seo-A’s sake…
This was the right choice.
This was the correct option.
“You’re worried, so you came back?”
“Yeah.”
That was it.
That’s what he should have done.
“You’re busy with something, right? You have promises to keep… I know there’s more to it.”
“Huh?”
“With the weather like this, we can’t see the stars anyway. Let’s catch up later. It’s okay for you to go now. We can hang out later.”
This was how it should’ve been.
He should’ve gone to Seo-A.
He should’ve actually done it this way.
While pondering what more to say, the scene shifts.
Bang!
It bursts apart.
Another memory transitions in.
“Ah, did you want to talk more?”
The Saint moves closer.
“Seo-A almost made eye contact with me, that’s why.”
“…Right.”
“And don’t mistake these memories as actual reality. Just like the strange version of you showed up earlier, weird things could appear… and the memory could already be distorted.”
Anyway, it’s another new memory.
Isn’t that a good thing?
If we could turn all the bad memories into something good.
If all the memories that disappointed Seo-A could be changed.
Isn’t that a good thing?
This time, it’s Seo-A’s house again.
He stops as he enters the room.
Seo-A is looking at herself in the mirror in the bathroom.
A suffocating silence flows.
How many minutes has it been?
Seo-A mumbles something.
Han Si-Hoo leans in closer to eavesdrop.
“…Help me.”
But there was no one to help.
“It’s hard…”
Han Si-Hoo wanted to rush to Seo-A’s side right away.
But he suppressed the urge.
He wanted to shout that he could help.
But that would just be a lie.
It’s just a memory.
Not real.
“You can help, right?”
Who can help her?
These words are spoken to herself.
To something beyond herself.
“Please…”
She says in a small voice.
She mumbles quietly, but it’s inaudible.
“Really? You’ll help me?”
Then suddenly her voice rises.
She asks in a hopeful tone.
“That’s right… Ah-ha-ha…”
The Seo-A in the mirror doesn’t respond.
A staring contest with her reflection.
And silence.
Yoo Seo-A stands there for a long time.
At first glance, she seems like she has fallen asleep standing up.
Then she opens her eyes again.
“Hah…”
She sighs.
Then looks at the mirror.
“I’ll try to do something… Huh?”
She locks eyes with the Seo-A in the mirror.
She recognized Han Si-Hoo’s presence.
“Han Si-Hoo?”
Seo-A bursts out of the bathroom.
There’s no way he should be here at this moment.
“Ah, yeah. Seo-A.”
The Saint quickly moves out of the way.
Seo-A doesn’t see the Saint.
Things would get complicated if the Saint joined the conversation.
“Uh, why are you here?”
Seo-A scans the room.
Leftover medicine.
Syringes.
There are lots of things he shouldn’t find out about.
“What, when did you come in? Did you see something? Huh? Why are you…”
Han Si-Hoo contemplates how to respond.
Should he say that he’s peeking into her memories?
“Yeah, that’s right. Han Si-Hoo, Han Si-Hoo, listen carefully, I don’t know why you’re here but…”
Seo-A spills out her words as if the situation is urgent.
“Listen! Seo-A can’t use drugs anymore. You see this syringe and the medicine bottles, right? Seo-A is in a state of drug addiction, but it can still be saved. Even though I’m trying, it’s reaching my limits.”
“Huh?”
This wasn’t the line he expected.
“Isn’t it true you came back because of Seo-A? Huh? Find a way as quickly as you can. You’re the protagonist; you can do it.”
“Protagonist?”
“You need to save Yoo Seo-A. Your childhood friend is dying, ugh, it hurts like hell. Anyway, save her however you can. I was actually going to come find you, but Seo-A didn’t want me to.”
This is odd for Yoo Seo-A’s memories.
It doesn’t sound like Seo-A at all.
He’s heard of dual personalities.
This situation seems reminiscent of that state.
“You need to be there. If I were a protagonist like you, I would save her somehow. Ah, just quit the Academy already. They’re all bad people anyway.”
Her words almost seem to share a viewpoint with Han Si-Hoo.
It’s strange for her to speak as if she knows the future.
Words Seo-A at this juncture shouldn’t be able to say.
Could the memories be twisted?
That’s very possible.
It’s already been warned by the Saint.
“What are you talking about?”
“First, that doctor, that jerk… related to the Academy and government… that’s… argh, already can’t remember. Damn it. Could this also be a hallucination? No way?”
“Seo-A?”
Han Si-Hoo calls her name.
“No, I’m not Yoo Seo-A… ah, what was it? Anyway, I’m not. Seo-A is sleeping right now.”
“Sleeping?”
“I put her to sleep. She looked so pitiful. I’ll bear the pain for a while. Then Seo-A will be safe enough… I’ll help, so hurry and call a proper doctor.”
Yoo Seo-A sways, clutching her head.
She looks like she’s in pain.
“Are you okay—”
“Hurry up. If I can’t hold out here… it’ll be corrosive. The drugs are too strong. Get going. I don’t want to keep doing this.”
Yoo Seo-A urges him on.
“Once everything’s settled… then I won’t be needed anymore. Then you can just live well with Seo-A.”
“Who are you, really?”
Someone who isn’t Yoo Seo-A is there.
That much is clear even to Han Si-Hoo.
At the same time, he feels the determination to protect Seo-A.
Though she’s an unknown figure, she’s still Yoo Seo-A.
It’s an incomprehensible situation.
“Ah, if you want to differentiate between me and Seo-A, just ask if you see numbers in front of you. If you do, it’s me; if not, it’s Seo-A. Got it? Do you understand?”
“Ah, I understand.”
Surely Seo-A once said there was something like a timer before her.
Han Si-Hoo was overwhelmed with too much information.
He didn’t understand what was going on.
Bang!
It’s another new memory.
This time it’s also inside a house.
Seo-A’s memories seem to replay mostly near home.
The Saint steps back, and Han Si-Hoo approaches Seo-A.
The house is in total disarray.
Seo-A is using drugs.
She’s filling the syringe with the substance.
“Ah, Si-Hoo?”
“Yeah.”
“You found a way, right? I’m sure… I mentioned it. I thought you could do it.”
No, he hasn’t found a way.
He’s just been wandering through memories.
This isn’t real.
“I’m sorry.”
He apologizes.
There’s no way to help.
Because it’s in the past.
“Huh? You didn’t find a way? I’m supposed to keep living like this? Ahaha, it’s fine. It’s not that bad. Seo-A didn’t get addicted for no reason.”
However much memories are changed, facts don’t change.
Han Si-Hoo couldn’t help Yoo Seo-A.
“I’m so sorry…”
“You didn’t do anything because you hated Seo-A. You could’ve found a way. Or maybe you really hated me. I’m sorry for being an anomaly. You couldn’t trust me?”
“I…”
“Seo-A is sleeping again. I’m really going to use the drugs instead of the real Seo-A. She’s scared of needles. I can bear being the only addict.”
Seo-A’s hand holding the syringe trembles.
Her hands were full of scars.
The mirror in the previous memory that had been fine is now shattered.
Did she break the mirror?
“Who’s that—”
Yoo Seo-A glances behind Han Si-Hoo.
White hair peeks out.
The existence of the Saint must not be noticed.
They need to shift to the next memory.
Bang!
The scene shifts again.
This time it’s also inside a house.
But the interior has become even more shabby.
The lights are out.
It’s dark at night.
Yet faint outlines are still visible.
Seo-A is bound with chains and ropes.
She’s tied to a metal structure.
Seo-A is bound.
In her own home.
Why? Who has tied Seo-A up?
There are keys thrown far away on the floor.
The keys are meant to unlock the rusty padlock on the chain.
“Seo-A?”
Han Si-Hoo approaches Seo-A.
“Hey, don’t just run off like that…”
The Saint tries to advise watching the situation, but it’s too late.
Han Si-Hoo has already gone to check Seo-A’s condition.
He doesn’t know who tied her up, but now he understands what the chains in Seo-A’s house were meant for.
“Ugh?”
Seo-A reacts to Si-Hoo’s presence.
She’s awake.
Yoo Seo-A is vividly awake.
“A-are you okay? Who did this?”
“Drugs, quickly, drugs, give me the drugs.”
“Where’s the medicine?”
“I threw it away, I did, Seo-A did. It’s in the sewer next to the house, hurry. I’m dying, it hurts. I didn’t know it would hurt this much.”
Yoo Seo-A personally disposed of the drugs.
Han Si-Hoo starts to figure out who tied Yoo Seo-A up.
None other than Yoo Seo-A herself.
There was a sentence written in her diary stating that she had thrown away the meds.
Was it during that time?
“It was a mistake. The drugs. Please, there are keys over there. Let me go find them. Ugh, it hurts so much…”
This is just a deceitful memory.
And it’s a memory that has been altered through Han Si-Hoo’s involvement.
He hopes this didn’t actually happen.
“It’s been 12 minutes. Ah. It hurts. Quickly, quickly. I can’t breathe, hurry ugh.”
The timer has dropped down to minus 12 minutes.
Yoo Seo-A has barely managed to hold on up to this point.
“Drugs, drugs, drugs, anything.”
“—Let’s move on.”
He can’t bear to watch any longer.
The Saint agrees.
Han Si-Hoo cannot help Seo-A in this memory.
Bang!
It’s the next memory.
Seo-A remains tied up.
Her mouth hangs open, craving drugs.
“…The memory remains intact?”
He asks the Saint.
“No, it’s clearly a different memory… Is it so shocking that it’s lingering this long? I’ll move to the next memory.”
Bang!
The same location appears.
Seo-A remains tied.
Bang!
Seo-A is still there.
Only remnants of her struggles are visible now.
A small amount of fluid and blood spills out.
Bang, bang, bang…
After skipping memories around ten times, it’s still the same location.
The nightmare doesn’t end.
Seo-A continues to be tied up, her face frozen with drool.
Liquid that seems to flow from her body gathers on the floor.
“…This, this is…”
The Saint speaks with a trembling voice.
“We focused on intense memories… how long has she been like this?”
Typically, there would be a long gap.
However, the density of the pain was so high that this incident occurred.
But then again, usually, memories switch after a few repetitions.
Something has gone horribly wrong with Yoo Seo-A’s situation.
“Stuck here…”
She had been trapped.
Of course.
No one had come to rescue her.
With Han Si-Hoo off at the Academy, now there’s nobody.
It was foolhardy from the start.
Even if avoiding drugs helped her get better, she couldn’t escape by herself.
Because she tossed the keys away far off.
Bang.
The memory shifts again.
Seo-A still remains in place.
“If this keeps up, who will save Seo-A…”
The Saint wonders aloud.
If no one comes to save Seo-A, she’ll perish in a miserable state.
But Seo-A isn’t dead.
This means someone has rescued her.
Who could that be?
Han Si-Hoo isn’t the answer.
He feels like he might know the answer.
Bang!
The Saint attempts to transition the memory again, but only memories of Seo-A suffering replay.
Same location.
Same person.
“3…”
In a moment, Seo-A mutters.
With a smile soaked in despair, she says.
“3 o’clock…”
Now it’s minus 3 hours.
She has attempted suicide long ago but failed.
She realized that just biting her tongue wouldn’t end her life.
She believes at least 30 years have passed.
The timer is a lie.
Yoo Seo-A feels it.
Until someone comes to rescue Yoo Seo-A, it’s 30 hours.