Chapter 0
Chapter 0
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 0
Chapter Title: Headache
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《Headache》
01.
"Fuck..."
A horrific headache pounded my skull. It was still the dark early hours of dawn outside, but fireworks were exploding in front of my eyes, flashing bright.
My stomach churned like I had severe motion sickness. I wasn't the type to drink, never even touched a shot of soju normally, but right now my gut was throbbing as if I'd chugged way too much booze.
"Fuck..."
I dragged myself out of bed, muttering curses under my breath as I headed to the bathroom. I grabbed the toilet lid and immediately heaved up everything in my stomach.
"...Why is this happening."
After the bout of vomiting, I slumped against the bathroom wall, gasping for air. I'd thought emptying my stomach would help with the headache and nausea, but they only grew worse.
It had been just three days since my full health checkup came back spotless. No way I'd contracted cancer or some deadly plague in those 72 hours, so I was completely at a loss for what was causing these bizarre symptoms in my body.
"Food poisoning...?"
As a kid, I'd once had gastroenteritis with a brutal fever and headache. It hadn't been this intense, but if I had to pick something similar, it felt closest to that.
"What a shitty fucking..."
I hadn't eaten much, and now this? Cursing my rotten luck, I hauled myself up. There should be some medicine in the kitchen cabinet.
"..."
Hoping there were still some digestive aids and painkillers left, I staggered toward the kitchen in my cramped studio apartment. In that short time, the headache intensified; now I couldn't even walk without leaning on the wall.
"Urgh!!"
Crash.
Maybe from the worsening pain. My legs gave out completely, and I face-planted onto the floor. A dull ache radiated from my knees through my whole body.
"119..."
I scrapped the plan. Instinct told me this wasn't something over-the-counter meds could fix. My left and right brain screamed in unison that this was serious enough to warrant an ambulance and an ER doctor's diagnosis.
"Phone..."
Cold sweat poured from my forehead like mad, the flashes in my vision worsening until everything blurred. I crawled on all fours toward the smartphone plugged into the charger by the bed.
"119, 119..."
I clumsily snatched up the outdated old phone and hurriedly punched in the three digits: 119. For some reason I couldn't pinpoint, a weird mechanical beep blared from the speaker right then.
— Beep! Beep! Beep!
"Ugh...!"
The artificial tone grated on my nerves. On the screen, which clearly showed the reliable 119 dialed, a new popup had appeared.
"Safety alert text...?"
One of those government messages that wouldn't go away until you read it—annoyingly persistent. In a second-was-precious moment like this, it was the absolute worst timing. I grimaced.
"Fuck, seriously..."
I tapped the popup and mashed the back button, but the seven-year-old piece-of-shit phone lagged on every action.
Thanks to that, the text stuck on the screen burned itself into my eyes whether I liked it or not.
Nationwide reports of unexplained symptoms (dizziness, blurred vision, nausea, etc.) are occurring, and unidentified light rifts—never observed before—are appearing in skies over certain areas. Avoid going outside, stay indoors with windows closed, and await further instructions. Relevant agencies are conducting emergency analysis and response.
>
>[Ministry of the Interior and Safety]
"..."
My mouth snapped shut mid-curse. A gut feeling hit me—this wasn't some throwaway message. I shook my head to clear my blurring vision and read the text carefully from the top.
"Dizziness, blurred vision, nausea..."
Symptoms hitting people across the country. They matched my own exactly. No way the government was lying in an official alert like this, so others must be suffering the same gastro-like issues.
Some kind of pandemic like COVID?
Or... zombie virus...?
I wanted to grill someone for details, but pathetically, I didn't have even one acquaintance to call. I'd cut ties with my family years ago after my business tanked.
It was suffocating.
"..."
I wiped the cold sweat smearing the phone screen with my finger and read the rest. My fingertips trembled; my condition was deteriorating even now.
"Unidentified light rift phenomenon..."
Light rifts? I frowned at the odd phrase. It didn't fit the tone of a standard government safety alert.
The whole nation gripped by identical symptoms, and outside, some bizarre new disaster called "light rifts" unfolding.
"Ha."
What the hell was going on.
Was this even reality.
Some massive nationwide prank with the government in on it?
"..."
My vision dimmed, my body grew limp, all strength draining away at once. Sensation left my fingertips; the battered smartphone clattered across the floor.
"Ah..."
Was I really going to die like this, pointlessly, without knowing why?
Indescribable terror wrapped around me. But there was nothing I could do. Even if I'd called 119 in time, things were worsening too fast for it to matter.
"..."
I laboriously turned my head and gazed out the small studio window at the night sky.
Just as the alert said, blue rifts—like torn dimensions—crackled across the heavens.
"Ah..."
The last sight in my fading vision.
A scene defying common sense, defying explanation. But one thing I knew for sure.
It was the most beautiful sight I'd ever seen.
"..."
Then my world went black.