Crunch Crunch (2)

Crunch crunch. Why was I sleeping in Ryu Harin's hospital room and dreaming a monstrous dream? To explain that, I had to rewind time a bit.

"Ms. Ryu Harin is in a coma and unable to wake up. We're speculating it's due to an anomaly exposure."

Park Jong-cheol, the deputy, said that. Dark circles hung heavily under his eyes. His weary expression screamed all-nighters. This is why I avoid office life.

"Uh... could you explain... how this happened...?"

"Of course. After resolving 'Moon's Fall' last time, Ms. Ryu was briefly hospitalized but woke up right away. She's a real go-getter—jumped straight back to work from her hospital bed."

Apparently, Ryu Harin had volunteered for the next site. They successfully recovered the monster there, but only she got hit by something and ended up unconscious.

"What entity did you recover from that site?"

"The 'Red Tissue Blue Tissue' entity. Shall I fetch the manual?"

"...No need. The name alone tells me everything..."

Toilet ghost. I'd faced it once in the monster game, and it's a globally infamous urban legend anyway. Though with squat toilets going extinct these days, maybe it's a relic of the past...? Kids today might not even know it.

Anyway.

"She didn't get taken out by Red Tissue Blue Tissue, right?"

"We don't believe so."

"Meaning some other monster did this to her."

Park Jong-cheol nodded at my words.

The Gohae Cult. Pure-evil villain group from the monster game. Complicated internal politics aside, they're folks who believe "all humanity must die" or "all humanity must become monsters." From their perspective, the Foundation and Special Task Force are massive thorns in the side.

...Probably used Red Tissue Blue Tissue as bait to lure in the Foundation, then dug a second trap.

And our little anchovy Harin fell right into it spectacularly.

Anchovy on death's door again? Bokchi bites the dust? Ah, the pun lands because it echoes Botcherlock (details omitted).

Ryu Harin getting hit by an anomaly? Happens all the time, so whatever.

"The Foundation has no clue what anomaly it is. Could the Ririri Detective Agency look into it?"

Not that the Foundation seemed too fussed about her life. Employees drop like flies daily. And Ryu Harin isn't some veteran—she's a newbie, maybe three months on the job.

In this line of work, death is par for the course, so everyone in the industry was pretty blasé about her crisis.

Still, they called me to uncover the anomaly's identity. The Foundation exists to explain and research every monster in the world. Gotta give 'em props for chasing truth harder than anyone.

Poor Harin...

"Got it. I'll give it a shot."

I nodded. No reason to turn it down. Boosts my rep as a fixer, saves a life for that feel-good factor, and pays the bills. Sure, it might put me in danger... but I've made my peace with that. Hiding in safety means no true ending.

To get back to my original world, I have to take risks.

"First off, gotta figure out what monster got her."

I got her health records from the hospital. Ryu Harin was... perfectly healthy. Aside from not waking up, that is. No brain issues, so it looked like she'd been cursed into eternal sleep by a monster.

Monsters that force endless slumber. A few came to mind, but maybe dream-related urban legends?

Dream legends abound, but the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠"die in dream, never wake" trope is common.

I shared this with Park Jong-cheol. "A dream-related Muksi Saengmyeongche? But usually, those anomalies require the dreamer to resolve them personally."

...Yeah. No one else can dream for you.

But could Ryu Harin escape on her own? Calling her bokchi seals half her fate.

...Looks like this timeline's Ryu Harin has reached her end.

...One method I could try, though.

I hesitated, then spoke to Park Jong-cheol. A life hung in the balance, and leaving it to her alone wouldn't clear the job. Gotta exhaust every option.

"Deputy Park Jong-cheol... um, could you release a quarantined entity under your authority...?"

"Risk Level 0 or 1, sure."

"Then, could you release 'Dis Man' for me?"

I said that.

Suddenly, I realized I was in a bathroom.

...Huh?

"Where is this? Doesn't look like our office toilet."

Me, perched on the toilet bowl. Lights out—pure darkness pouring down. Faulty lighting?

What the heck. Rewound my memory... nothing.

"Hmm...?"

Memory total blank. Hazy, like I'd blacked out after drinking... but I don't even like booze?

—Rustle.

"Hm? Something in my pocket?"

Fumbling for my phone, grabbed paper instead. Pulled out a tiny memo.

I unfolded it.

"...? What's this?"

My handwriting. Why'd I write that? And why Ryu Harin's name?

Did pre-amnesia me leave this clue...?

That's when things felt off. Pitch-black toilet. Lights not working. No Ari or Lisa, and summoning failed. Worst: the codex.

"..."

Dis Man. Those three words hit, and I got it.

"...This is a dream."

Memo plus Dis Man explained everything. I was probably inside Ryu Harin's dream.

How I got here? No clue. Dream world logic, I guess. Some folks lucid dream, but most don't—including me, apparently. Didn't clock it till checking the codex.

And dream rules blocked summoning Ari or Lisa. They were probably snoozing beside my real body right now.

"Ugh... gotta find Ryu Harin quick and bail..."

I stood. Dis Man: Foundation-quarantined dream intruder. Controlling it, plus the memo, meant I'd used it to enter and save her. Maybe not the first try.

Scary solo without Ari and Lisa... but anomaly dive's a dive. No choice but save Harin.

Sighing, I exited the toilet.

Blood-red letters on the wall welcomed me.

Um...

...Can I just go home?