Chapter 106: Report (1)
Chapter 106: Report (1)
Tap, tap, tap, tap.
The sound of repetitive tapping echoed in my ears.
"Ha-ram-nim, wake up! Poyo!"
"Mmm... vitals are normal, but..."
What's going on?
As I opened my eyes to the commotion, a white ball of fur blocked my vision.
"Ha-ram-nim! Wake up!"
Tap, tap, tap, tap.
The source of the persistent tapping was Un-ho, who was currently drumming on my head.
That part wasn't so bad. It didn't hurt when Un-ho did it, and the atmosphere felt urgent.
However, as my head continued to wobble in my groggy state, irritation began to flare.
"Shut up."
I waved my hand to swat away the noise-maker on my head.
"Poyoooooo!"
Un-ho, who had been making such a fuss, let out a long, trailing cry as he flew across the room. Only Oxymoron remained nearby, watching me calmly.
"You're awake."
"Obviously. It was nothing."
"How much time has passed?"
"About ten minutes."
Fortunately, it seemed the flow of time there and here was different.
The time spent over there was roughly...
About seventeen hours?
If that much time had actually passed here, I would have wasted a whole day.
"Did something happen?"
"Before that, let me ask one thing."
"Sure. Answering a patient's questions is part of a healer's job."
Healer, my foot. There's no need for such a fuss.
"Was I here the whole time? Or did I disappear somewhere and come back?"
This was the most important point.
If I had physically moved, it meant there was a possibility of regaining my original body.
"You were here the whole time. Only..."
"Only?"
"You said, 'Found it,' and then crawled under the covers yourself."
What the hell is that?
I have no memory of doing that.
In fact, I wasn't the one who said "Found it"; it was a word I heard.
Anyway, even if I acted strangely, it meant I hadn't physically vanished.
"Then it must have been a simple Mental Magic."
How disappointing.
I've mostly given up by now, but every so often, a desire to go back still flickers to life.
"Mental Magic? Tell me more about that. Oh, and what's on your mind right now?"
Upon hearing my words, Oxymoron smiled brightly and pulled out a folder and a ballpoint pen from somewhere.
"Why? Are you going to try a standard mental interference counter-pattern?"
"Of course. When else would I get a chance to do something like this to you, Uncle?"
True enough.
Thanks to my incredibly powerful Mental Barrier, I've rarely had experiences like this.
Though I've had plenty of experience performing them on others.
Oxymoron seemed to be looking forward to it, and since it's been a while, I might as well go along with it.
Two heads thinking together would probably come up with an answer faster than one.
"Hold on."
I pulled myself up from the bed and sat on the edge, crossing my legs.
"Go ahead."
"Personally, I'd prefer it if you stayed lying down."
I'd rather not.
"This isn't a psychological counseling session. Let's talk face-to-face."
"I'm going to be looking at your chart, though."
So noisy.
"So, what's the question?"
"What did you experience?"
"Is that the first item on the list?"
"It's whatever the interviewer wants it to be."
Is it? Well, I suppose it's not set in stone.
"Hmm... how should I put it?"
"Take your time. You're the patient. There's no rush."
I really don't know what she's playing at.
"Why don't you just light some aroma candles and play some classical music while you're at it?"
"I already lit the aroma. Classical music is a bit much, though."
Ah, so that scent wafting past my nose was aroma. I thought it was just because the nurses were always carrying flowers around.
"Right. What happened, you ask..."
As I racked my brain, various thoughts surfaced.
The forty-six years I spent in that world. Forty-six years without a single incident or accident.
A world where conflict, hatred, and discrimination never ceased, yet a world without the Otherworld.
"...Oxymoron. Let me ask you one thing."
"You said that earlier too. Don't say that, just ask. In things like this, the back-and-forth of conversation is important."
Oxymoron was talking nonsense, seemingly fully immersed in her role as a psychological counselor.
Did she actually admire ordinary doctors or something?
"Can you imagine a world without Otherworldly Power?"
"I've lived in a generation where the Otherworldly Power has existed since I was old enough to understand things, so I'm not sure."
I see.
"I saw such a world. Perhaps because a perfect simulation was impossible, it was a bit monotonous, but..."
"Hmm. So that means you were hit by Mental Magic? Was that why you lost your memory?"
"Exactly."
The moment I heard the voice say "Got you," my consciousness had been transported there.
"Were you in your current form? Or..."
Oxymoron stammered slightly, as if finding it difficult to ask.
"Don't stutter. I was in my male form. If I hadn't become a Magical Girl and had aged normally, I probably would have looked like that."
"That slender look?"
"Not that. That was likely an androgynous look influenced by being a Magical Girl."
I still looked like a man, but it's meaningless now.
In fact, that might be why it was so easy to deny my true self. It was so different from the image of the man I knew myself to be.
"It's hard to imagine. You mean you'd look like the Lord of Infinite Castles?"
"That's way too old."
Talk about extremes.
"Hmm... then here's the next question. How was that world?"
"What do you mean, 'how was it'?"
"Just asking for your personal impressions of the world you experienced."
"Why? Is that so important?"
Whether it was magic, an illusion, or a Pseudo-Otherworld, what I experienced there was just a dream.
Looking back after waking up, it's just a dream where things don't add up and the details are fuzzy. That's why the Management Bureau tells you not to focus on the content. If it was a horrific memory, the mental burden is severe, and if you dwell on it, the brain might flesh it out until it feels like reality.
In other words, it's best to shake it off and forget it, yet Oxymoron is intentionally asking me about it.
"I think I know what you're thinking. You're wondering why I'm asking for details when it's over once you forget it."
I nodded silently.
"But, Senior. Didn't you bring up that world first, before I even asked anything?"
"..."
As I slowly retraced my memory, she was right. I was the one who spoke first.
"Dreams, illusions, Mental Magic. They're all unstable things created through the memories of the target or the caster. But you shared it even though you knew that."
"..."
"That means something is bothering you, and I want to know what it is."
Something about that world is bothering me? That monochromatic, chaotic, and inefficient world?
"...Let's move on to the next question."
"Are you sure you're okay with that?"
You still seem bothered by it.
Oxymoron didn't say it aloud, but it felt as if she were.
Perhaps, as she said, it was something I should pay attention to.
Still, it wasn't necessary.
"Next question."
"I must respect the patient's wishes. Then, how are you feeling right now?"
She's asking the question she should have asked right when I woke up. Amusing. How am I feeling?
"...I felt refreshed until a moment ago, but now it feels like there's a fog in my head."
"Why? Usually, it's the opposite, isn't it?"
Why else?
"Thinking about that world has made my head complicated."
"I knew it was bothering you. Even now..."
"Stop it and let's keep going."
"Yes, yes."
A half-hearted reply came back.
Oxymoron pouted, seemingly sulking because I wouldn't follow her lead.
"Name?"
"Lee Ha-ram."
"Hero name?"
"Crimson★Hammer."
"You've been brainwashed. Get some rest and come to the torture chamber when you've come to your senses."
Look at this girl.
"...Crimson★Hammer."
I really don't know why I can't find the time to change this.
"Could you recite the mental verification algorithm, including The Key Code?"
"How would you know if The Key Code is correct?"
It's a random code based on a specific combination, so it should be impossible to verify.
"I'm one of the people who developed it, so how could I not know? I can reverse-calculate it to some extent through the verification code."
"Ah. I see."
This is why you can't trust developers.
"Key Code 284986."
It's been a while since I've said it aloud.
"This is 284986, and the location is 284986."
"I am 284986, you are 284986."
"The actions I take are 284986, the actions you take are 284986."
"The current location is 284986, the current time is 154..."
"Error detected in time perception. Please continue."
...
Did it really pierce my Mental Barrier?
My Mental Barrier?
"...What I must do is 284986, the next thing to do is 284986..."
Since an error had popped up once, we went into a full verification of every detail.
Fortunately, it seemed that only my sense of time had been distorted, and there were no other issues.
"Hmm... It seems it's just the sense of time for now."
Click. Click.
The sound of her clicking her ballpoint pen.
Oxymoron also seemed a bit anxious, surprised that Mental Magic had actually worked on me.
"Should I try opening up your head?"
"...Is there a simpler way?"
"A simpler way... Can you lower your Mental Barrier for a moment? You can leave your important secrets as they are."
"I didn't know you could use Mental Magic. Your tone is quite..."
"I have my ways. Oh, and please relax your whole body."
Relaxing my whole body and partially dismantling my Mental Barrier.
If Oxymoron felt like it, she could turn me into a vegetable.
But I quietly relaxed as she instructed.
This was Oxymoron.
The woman who had hidden the Black Marauder and fought alongside me countless times. If I couldn't trust her, who could I trust?
Perhaps because the tension had left my body, my shoulders and hands slumped.
As I sat there with only my head held up, looking at Oxymoron.
Thump.
She suddenly leaned forward, and our foreheads met.
She had removed her Gas Mask, and her forehead, marked with small scars, pressed against mine.
"Stay still."
With those words, a brief pain shot through my head.
A tingling, bizarre sensation, as if someone were rummaging through my brain. A sensation that triggered an instinctive rejection.
But I quietly entrusted myself to her.
Simply feeling the warmth radiating from her forehead.
* * *
"Yes. All finished."
"It felt like there were a lot of patterns driven by personal interest."
Questions about my disciple.
The design of Black Marauder’s clothes.
My body weight.
Why would she ask those things?
"I asked because it was all necessary. While I can find errors in thought processes through The Key Code verification algorithm, I can't do anything about memory loss."
"Is that so?"
"I do it all out of affection. Normally this would take a few minutes, but I did all this for you."
"Sure, sure."
I said as I got up from the bed and headed further inside.
"Where are you going?"
"I have to finish today's work. I'm going to check on the patients."
"You could stand to rest a bit."
The more I rest, the later the reports will be written.
"It's not like anything major happened. Why should I skip work? I rested yesterday."
"If that's what you think, Uncle, then I won't stop you."
She stood up as she spoke. She put the folder and pen back where they belonged and extinguished the aroma candle that had been flickering beside the bed.
Watching her slow but natural movements, a strange thought occurred to me.
"...Before we're done, let me ask one thing."
"I told you, you don't have to say that."
"Have you ever wished that this world... wasn't such a mess?"
Why did I ask?
The question about the world in the hallucination, the one I told her not to ask about.
It came out on its own.
Perhaps it was because I had recalled her past while we were in contact.
Who knows.
In that world, Oxymoron might have grown up normally and been working as a psychological counselor, just like this...
"Hmm... I like it the way it is. Even if that other way might be less painful."
"Why?"
"Because then, I wouldn't have met you, Uncle."
"..."
"Oh, and everyone else, too."
Right.