Echoes of Trauma
The sight before me was so utterly unexpected that I found myself at a complete loss for words. Who could have possibly predicted that a modern setting would appear here, of all places?
The Player's Composure has activated.
Messages like that rarely appeared. It seemed I'd been shaken up far more than I realized.
Whew. Yeah, I get it.
It was disorienting, sure, but the answer came quickly once I thought about it. This probably wasn't Earth. To be precise...
This must be my trauma.
I, who had once been Kim Seung-hwan, had lived on Earth, not in the game world. That was why I suspected the trial had manifested Earth itself. Anything else simply wouldn't make sense.
That explains the current situation, at least.
As I turned the idea over in my head, a voice cut through my thoughts.
“Disciple. Do you know where we are?”
Miroel stared at me with clear suspicion in her eyes. Hmm. How was I supposed to explain this? She had probably already figured it out—that this place existed inside my memories.
Hoo. This is going to be a pain to explain.
Still, standing around wasn't going to help. I could explain later. Right now, the priority was overcoming this trauma as quickly as possible. I swiftly changed the subject.
“Master, I'll explain everything later. For now, let's focus on clearing this trial.”
“Haa. Very well. I would normally let it slide, but this time I truly expect an explanation.”
“Understood.”
With that, we began walking at a leisurely pace.
Hmm. The people passing by aren't even glancing at us. It looks like they can't see us at all.
For one thing, the clothes I was wearing weren't the kind anyone would wear in the modern world. Frankly, they looked more like cosplay. And then there was the fact that they were completely ignoring Miroel, an elf.
We were essentially treated like invisible people here.
Still, what kind of trauma is this supposed to be?
I was seriously pondering that question when—
“Disciple! L-look at that carriage over there!”
Miroel suddenly grew excited and began shaking my shoulder vigorously. Wondering what had gotten into her, I turned my head. She was staring in awe at a car driving down the road.
Well, I guess it's natural for her to be surprised.
In the game world, cars would basically look like carriages to her.
“Umm, that's not a carriage.”
“It's not a carriage?”
“Well… it's similar to a carriage, but you should think of it as something completely different.”
“Hmm. You seem to know an awful lot about it.”
“Ahaha…”
“More importantly, let's ride one of those!”
Suddenly Miroel was suggesting we steal a car. Was this really the same legendary hero from the beginning of time? The way she talked, she sounded more like a third-rate thief.
“Stealing is a bit…”
“No, it's fine! This is your mental world anyway, Disciple! So it doesn't mean anything!”
Well, it wasn't reality, so stealing one car wouldn't really matter. I nodded at her words and, without a moment's hesitation, stepped into the road and stopped an oncoming vehicle.
Screeech!
The car came to an abrupt halt, and someone stepped out. And that someone was—
That bastard…
It was the manager who had always chewed me out. He suddenly got out of the car and looked around, apparently trying to figure out what had just happened.
“Ugh, what the hell is wrong with this piece of shit? Why did it just stop like that?”
He grumbled as he lit a cigarette. I walked right up to him. But, as expected, he couldn't see me at all.
Sigh. Of course.
What was the point of getting revenge in a place that wasn't even real? It would just be a pathetic mental victory. I let out a quiet sigh and slowly climbed into the driver's seat.
At the same time, I called out, “Master, take the passenger seat… I mean, the seat next to me.”
She nodded and settled into the seat.
So things can pass through here after all.
I'd wondered, but sure enough, in this place she could interact with everything like a normal person. After confirming she was seated, I turned my head.
“The seatbelt is… um…”
Miroel tilted her head in confusion. Instead of answering, I quietly reached over to her. She flinched, her face turning bright red as she stammered.
“D-Disciple! I-I'm your teacher! We shouldn't be crossing that kind of line yet…?”
I ignored her words and calmly fastened her seatbelt. The next moment, she stared at me with wide, blinking eyes. I ignored her gaze and took a shallow breath.
“There. All done, Master.”
“Oh… um. Is that it?”
“Yes, that's it.”
“……”
She puffed out her cheeks and glared at me with sharp eyes. What more did she want? I had a rough idea, but unfortunately we didn't have time for that. The car's owner was already heading back this way.
Without hesitation, I turned the key.
Vroom!
The engine roared to life. Did he hear it?
“Huh?”
A bewildered sound came from outside. I paid no attention to his reaction and stepped on the accelerator without a second thought.
“What the fuck!”
In an instant, he came running with a panicked expression. But of course, there was no way an ordinary person could catch up to a car. As I watched my former manager grow smaller in the distance, I reached for the window.
At the same time—
Yeah. Fuck you.
I raised my middle finger.
And that was how I ended up playing real-life GTA for the first time.
After stealing my manager's car, we drove around the city. I'd wondered if anything would be different from Earth, but…
Nothing's really all that different.
As expected, it was exactly like the modern world I'd lived in. Well, since this world was created from my memories, that made sense.
While I was lost in those meaningless thoughts, Miroel, who had been munching on rice cakes beside me, suddenly asked,
“The food here is incredibly delicious!”
“Is it?”
“Yes. It's nothing like the world we were in before.”
Well, unlike that world, this one had a highly developed culture, so it was only natural. There were so many things to enjoy here, after all.
But what should I do now?
Even though I was spending time like this with Miroel, our actual goal in coming here was to obtain the Awakening skill. We couldn't just keep playing around. It was time to start clearing the trial properly.
I immediately turned to her. She was still devouring snacks like there was no tomorrow.
Anyone watching would think we came here on vacation.
Feeling a bit dumbfounded, I asked,
“Master, what do you think would be the best way to clear this?”
“Hmm. Wouldn't it be good to meet people you know, Disciple? Trauma is usually related to things like that, isn't it?”
“……”
She wasn't wrong. The problem was that I'd already met someone I knew. In fact, I'd just given the finger to the manager who used to harass me every day.
Hoo.
What was going on? Something felt off. I slowly organized my thoughts.
Then, at that moment—
-Ding!
An alarm rang from the phone inside the car. My gaze naturally shifted toward it. The next moment—
“What?”
I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Because the date displayed was—
2026?
The current date was exactly one year after I had been possessed.
Does this even make sense?
This world was definitely created based on my memories. So why was it set one year after my possession?
It has to be related to the trauma somehow.
A sudden wave of dizziness hit me as I realized there were memories here that even I didn't know about.
“Are you alright, Disciple?”
“Haa. Yes.”
I had to stay calm. Panicking wouldn't change anything. If I organized the current situation, it meant there were memories even I wasn't aware of. In other words, it was as if some of my memories had been erased for some reason.
Why were they erased? Did someone interfere?
I was frantically turning the idea over in my mind when—
Shiver.
A sudden chill ran down my spine. It wasn't just me—Miroel's face had gone rigid as well.
At that moment, voices came from outside.
“Whoa! A shooting star!”
“Look at that!”
“Let's take a picture!”
People outside were holding up their phones and snapping photos. Without hesitation, we got out of the car and looked up at the sky.
And at the same time—
“No fucking way…”
A curse slipped from my lips without me realizing it. Because every single one of the shooting stars falling from the sky was a demon.
I was stunned by the sudden appearance of the demons. I had never imagined they would show up like this.
But that wasn't the end of it.
Rumble…!
Suddenly the clouds in the sky split apart. From within them appeared a man whose face was obscured by dark mist. At the same moment, both Miroel and the system revealed his identity.
WARNING!!! The Demon God Azidahaka has appeared!
“Why is the Demon God…?”
Yes. The man who had suddenly appeared in the sky was none other than the Demon God himself.