* * *
My hands trembled violently as I fumbled to twist the cap off and poured the water into my mouth.
I didn’t know how long I’d have to stay here, so I should conserve it—but I felt like I was going to die if I didn’t drink right now.
Either way, I was going to die.
What difference did it make?
…It’s not like I had any lingering attachments to life, anyway.
If there was one regret, it was this—
“I should’ve written that letter sooner.”
I’d spent too much time practicing my handwriting.
Despite all the hours I dedicated, I never really produced anything meaningful.
If I’d known it would come to this, I would’ve practiced by writing out what I actually wanted to say instead of copying passages I liked.
But I’d been too worried about Taehwan barging in on me in the middle of it.
There was so much I wanted to say after all these years together…
“Haa… Huff…”
Before I realized it, I had drained the small water bottle dry.
The heat inside me subsided just slightly.
“For now… sleep…”
I had to sleep now—before it got any worse.
I closed my eyes, hoping that by the time I woke up, at least one thing would have ended—whether it was this pain, this life, or my isolation in this dungeon.
I worried for a moment that the fever would keep me awake, but that fear was unfounded. I blacked out almost instantly.
…How much time had passed?
I woke up from a sleep so deep, it felt like I had been dragged out of a bottomless swamp.
My mind was hazy.
Something felt different from usual, though I couldn’t pinpoint what.
“Huh? Ugh…!”
I tumbled onto the cold floor from a high place.
Only then did I remember—I had fallen asleep in my wheelchair, not a bed.
I had stayed in it because I wasn’t confident I could climb back in on my own.
But if I knew I was going to roll off like this, I would’ve just laid on the floor from the start.
“That… hurt.”
Tears pricked at my eyes, but I couldn’t make a sound.
I quickly clamped both hands over my mouth.
Because I felt it—something was here.
Grrrrk, grrrrrk.
A deep, guttural sound rumbled from somewhere close by.
The slow, heavy footsteps weren’t human.
It had happened while I was asleep.
The hospital had fully merged into the dungeon, and the creatures that inhabited it had entered the building.
They didn’t seem hostile—at least not yet.
Their movements suggested curiosity rather than hunting.
Judging by the weight and length of their strides, they were slightly larger than a person.
For a monster, that meant they were on the smaller side.
But just because they were small didn’t mean they weren’t dangerous.
Each one of them was strong enough to take down a full-grown grizzly bear.
A non-Awakened like me shouldn’t even consider fighting one.
Especially someone like me—practically the weakest of all humans.
If they found me, there was no escape.
I held my breath and waited for them to leave.
I’d check the isolation room later—after I was sure they hadn’t heard my earlier scream.
“…?”
But something was strange.
I could see… lines.
In the pitch-black darkness, faint white lines crisscrossed my vision.
“What is this…?”
And they weren’t just flat—they had depth.
Most were straight, but some curved.
They varied in length and thickness, flickering in and out of existence.
At first, I thought my fever had fried my brain, but that didn’t explain everything.
When I closed my eyes, the lines disappeared.
When I opened them, they reappeared.
It felt like I was truly seeing them.
And they were getting clearer.
Not just the lines—the entire room.
The barren walls, the light fixtures, the bag that had fallen into the corner, the button mounted too high for me to reach…
Everything was becoming sharper.
Like my eyes were adjusting to the darkness.
My heartbeat quickened.
Not from pain this time—but from exhilaration.
The tension in my hands eased. I let go of my mouth.
Cautiously lowering my gaze toward my hands, I saw them.
Flipping my palms over, I took in the sight of the backs of my hands.
Each individual finger, the nails at their tips, the veins faintly visible beneath the thin skin—every detail stood out.
‘What…?’
It was a strange sensation.
To be able to see something through my own eyes.
Was I still dreaming?
Lately, I had become so accustomed to darkness that I couldn’t even see anything in my dreams.
And that wasn’t the only thing that felt off.
‘My legs… hurt.’
A sharp pain radiated through my lower body, as if I had fallen and scraped against the floor.
Maybe it was the impact from tumbling out of my wheelchair…
But that shouldn’t be possible.
The nerves below my waist had long since lost function.
I couldn’t move them of my own will, nor should I have been able to feel any external stimulus.
This was wrong.
This felt like—like I had gone back to a time before my body was consumed by the poison.
‘Maybe… I should try.’
I didn’t expect much.
It was just…
Since I could feel my legs, since they hurt… maybe I should at least try moving them.
There was nothing to lose by trying.
And slowly—very slowly—my legs moved.
They moved, responding to my will.
“…Ah.”
I pushed myself up, supporting my upper body with my arms, pulling my legs beneath me.
And then, with a thud, I collapsed again.
Every motion had been deliberate.
Done by my own will.
I could even feel the weight of my body pressing against the floor.
When I brushed my hands over my legs, the touch registered.
“…Ah….”
My vision blurred.
For a moment, I feared I was losing the sight I had only just regained, but no—it wasn’t that.
Tears welled up, spilling down my cheeks, clearing my vision once more.
My face was quickly damp.
A raw, choking sob clawed its way up my throat, forcing me to clamp both hands over my mouth.
It finally felt real.
Somehow, for some reason, I had regained my sight—and the sensation in my lower body.
—Boom!
—Creeeeak!
—Screech!
But there was no time to dwell on it.
The creatures stirred, their movements suddenly becoming more frenzied.
One of them must have bumped into something in the hospital, knocking it over.
The loud noise had agitated them.
That was fine. It was nothing special.
Once they realized it wasn’t anything significant, they would calm down again.
—Crash!
“…Ah.”
The problem was that one of these idiotic creatures, in its panic, had barreled in the wrong direction—straight into the door of an isolation room.
The thick, metal door crumpled like a tin can.
Though it didn’t break off entirely, it warped enough to create a massive gap—one large enough for a person to slip through.
At the same time, one of the creatures’ glowing red eyes snapped toward me, catching the sound of my startled breath.
Before I could react, its grotesque head split open like a blooming flower, revealing rows of jagged, razor-sharp teeth.
—Kiiiiiiieeeeek!
A shrill, piercing cry erupted from its blackened throat—a sound meant to paralyze its prey in terror before the hunt.
Yet for some reason… I wasn’t afraid.
Even as the isolation room’s door groaned under the pressure, widening the gap…
Even as monstrous heads pushed their way through the opening, their twisted mouths gaping…
All I did was watch them.
More accurately, I saw the ‘lines.’
‘Red…’
Amid the countless lines that crisscrossed my vision, one in particular caught my eye.
A single, deep crimson line.
It ran clean across the monsters’ necks, unwavering no matter how they moved—as if targeting them.
I reached out.
Though there was still considerable distance between us, my fingertips brushed against something.
There was nothing there, and yet—I could feel the ‘line’ beneath my fingers.
It was damp, searing hot.
Almost like a pulsing, oversized vein.
Without hesitation, I seized it in both hands and tore.
Like a pre-scored sheet of paper, it ripped apart effortlessly.
—Kieeeeeeek!
—Kyaaaaaah!
Space itself seemed to split open along with the line, revealing an endless void of black.
And since the line had been across the creatures’ necks… their heads came off too.
Eerily, almost absurdly, easily.
The headless bodies convulsed, shrieking and flailing before collapsing.
—Thud.
Even their severed heads soon fell silent.
“Hah…! Hah…”
As soon as I confirmed their deaths, the strength drained from my body.
I crumpled to the floor, landing hard on my backside.
But rather than pain, I felt—relief.
No, more than that.
I laughed.
“What… is this…?”
Even now, I still didn’t fully understand what was happening.
* * *
