Author's note: Happy new year everyone!
Painful!
How painful!
My head hurts so badly!
A gaudy and dazzling dreamworld filled with tragedies instantly shattered. The half-awake Caden Aeon felt an abnormal throbbing pain in his head as though someone had ruthlessly electrocuted him again and again.
Dammit, what's going on...In his stupor, Caden Aeon opened his eyes, attempting to turn around. However, he was unable to move his limbs like they weren't his.
From the looks of it, I'm still not awake... Who knows, perhaps the next scene could be me thinking I'm already awake, when in fact, am actually sleeping...
Caden Aeon was already familiar with this type of phenomenon, waking up from a blurry dream, feeling sharp pain until eventually, everything comes back to normal. So, I waited and waited... waiting for things to go back to normal. "Dammit, it's taking longer than usual."
He tried his best to focus in order to escape the shackles placed upon me by the mysterious dream and confusion.
However, his thoughts were running away from him like a fleeting fog. No matter how much he tried, as fear overtook him.
"Why is it taking longer than usual?"
Dammit it hurts.
I need to wake up! Now!
Throbbing pain inundated Caden Aeon, slowly but surely regaining his control over his limbs, regaining his wits. He finally broke free from his dream.
His vision first blurred before it was screened by a faint blue light.
"Check it out dude, I got the 0.001% mythical unit!" Beom-Seok yelled in excitement.
The store was dark, all the lights had been turned off, doors and windows shut. Except, a lamp placed on the desk emitting faint yellow light.
The lamp had a classical Western style to it, about half adult's head size with an inner layer of transparent glass and exterior gridded with black metal.
"You're so dry dude, at least try to show some emotions!" he complained while admiring the new unit he just got.
"Why did you close the store?" I asked in confusion.
"The power suddenly got cut and it's already 2:51 AM. You were sleeping for a long time. Also, you were muttering something in your mouth ha-ha! I think it was "Thank you everyone for all your help, up until now, in return I shall do at least this much." and you also said, "I'm just a reader."
While feeling shocked and confused, I went back to mattress I was lying down.
Subconsciously, he went up and shifted his gaze up by little.
Weird... I immediately got up to peek through the window. I ran flustered, my instincts telling me to unravel the mystery, the always active and noisy area no matter what time it was, was suddenly quiet. No light could be seen in the area, just darkness. I suddenly remembered Beom-Seok's response, "The power suddenly got cut." Was it a mass power cut?
With a sweep of his gaze, he noticed another existence looking right at him. Fear overtook him, air around him getting heavier, he rushed over to Beom-Seok. Dammit, move!
His body didn't respond, he had been frozen right on the place.
"Beom-Seok! Hey!" you tried yelling, but nothing came out. I could feel whoever that was getting closer and closer. "What should I do? Is he the one behind this mass power cut?" countless thoughts brushed past my mind.
"Black hair, brown pupils, thinly build, white uniform." I could hear mutters. He did a gesture, and the locked door opened itself.
Black trench coat dancing in the wind, white hair leaking from his black hoodie, leather black gloves reflecting the lamp's faint light. A tall, aesthetic figure was walking towards me.
"Hey, who are you?" Beom-Seok angrily demanded before looking at the frozen me. "Hey Aeon, you know this guy?" No matter how hard I screamed, nothing came out, I couldn't answer him. "Dammit, are we going to die like this?"
Beom-Seok stood up aggressively, pulling his sleeves back. "I don't know how you opened that door but leave while I'm still being nice."
Beom-Seok was knocked out with a snap of his finger.
Could we have been transmigrated into a fantasy novel? I thought to myself.
Tick tock! Tick Tock!
Clock ticking,
Dup, Dup, Dup
His footsteps echoing through the store.
The air around me was crushing me, shivers running down my spine, cold sweat dropping down from my forehead, blood flowing from my nose, my vision getting blurrier and blurrier every second. I wanted to fix my perspective and have a good look at his face, but my body wouldn't listen to me, my vision wouldn't return to normal.
Calm down, calm down, calm down... stop panicking. I took a deep breath. "I am Kim Dokja."
Just like Kim Dokja used to say "I am Yoo Joonghyuk" whenever he had to endure harsh times, I too did the same thing.
I am Kim Dokja. I am Kim Dokja. I am Kim Dokja. I muttered inside my head.
The man stood before me, pausing for a moment before pulling out a pocket watch from his pocket.
A silver pocket watch with a vintage, ornate design. The outer casing decorated with intricate patterns. And at the center, a small circular window reveals the watch face, a compass-like design with a set of clock hands attached to chain.
"Wake up! Hey dude!" Beom-Seok's voice jolted me awake. My vision blurred for a second before seeing Beom-Seok's worried face. I slowly stood up.
"Who was that guy? I was suddenly knocked unconscious, and when I finally woke up you were also knocked unconscious. Did he steal anything from the store?"
He quietly listened to him while looking outside, still dark outside, my mind drifting somewhere else.
"By the way, what's that you're holding?" Beom-Seok asked in curiosity.
"What?" It was only then, when I realized I was holding something very tightly in my hands. The same pocket watch that man pulled from his pockets. So that did happen, the evidence was right in my hand, the unmistakable watch crafted uniquely.
Because of that pocket watch the genre of my life changed.