Otherworld Red Ginseng Candy - Little One, Another Nightmare Unfolds
-Little one. Today too, the nightmare unfolds.
The nightmare, carrying an unbearable sorrow, had once again invaded the lighthearted dreams where she had lain down with an easy heart.
Under a dark bridge. Rain falling from the sky. An impossible boy. The nightmare unfolding in the most wretched environment of her life illuminated the small girl she had once been.
The boy walked toward the girl huddled with her knees drawn up. He wore a bittersweet smile, hesitating over how to begin the conversation.
"The stars are falling so much."
A gentle voice. To the girl who ate the food he brought without saying thank you, the boy spoke in a tone without reproach.
As always, the girl had no answer. She just hid her face between her knees in sorrow, waiting for comfort.
Under the sky where stars fell and the Milky Way unfurled, the boy began his usual soliloquy toward the girl.
"You know..."
"..."
"I don't have a mom."
"..."
"Shhiiiibal..."
Pfft.
"I don't even know her face or who she is. No dad either. What is this? Not even Park Hyuk-se or anything."
"Park... Khyuk... Ku... Ge...?"
"..."
The girl laughed. She burst into laughter at the boy's joke.
And then. The nightmare began to emit a bloody hue.
"Run."
"Ah... aaaah..."
"Don't get cocky."
"No."
"Don't look back, just run."
The boy who couldn't leave. The girl who had no choice but to leave. Today too, the dark nightmare brought both sweetness and terror, beginning to unearth past sins.
Slowly.
"I'm the kind of person who keeps promises."
And terrifyingly.
"Stop...!"
Mihail opened his eyes, sitting up in the academy bed with hot breaths heaving from his chest.
"Haa... haa..."
Cold sweat drenched his forehead. His shirt soaked with sweat. Mihail huddled his knees and buried his head.
"Please..."
The memories remained intact. The gentle voice. The breathing that made his heart tremble. The heartbeat aching with sorrow—all lingered so vividly it was hard to believe it was just a dream.
"..."
As always, the boy's face, shrouded in black, did not appear, and the desperate longing and sticky worry in his heart tormented Mihail's chest today as well.
He couldn't erase it even if he wanted to. The past memory hurt so much it tore at his heart, making it impossible to think of carelessly. A sorrow he couldn't share with anyone—Mihail clenched his fist.
"Please..."
Mihail wanted to escape this cycle. It was selfish, but if he could sever it cleanly. His heart ached so much he wanted to wipe the memories entirely.
Hiding his head between his knees, Mihail murmured softly.
"I want it to stop now."
The doubt about the years lived under the name Mihail did not fade. Because he wanted to live as the boy remembered him.
The desire to wear pretty clothes like ordinary girls had long been erased. He had dreamed of such things once, but now, after time had passed, those feelings were gone.
Mihail closed his eyes and held back the sorrow. His trembling shoulders and the faint night air offered no help.
'Since that day, the nightmares seem worse.'
After losing the duel to Hanna, the frequency of nightmares and the sorrow that brought both peace and despair had intensified. Because after letting the desperately seized chance slip away right before his eyes, the memories he wanted most to forget resurfaced.
That child's survival. Mihail, who had fallen for the blue spear's joke that planted hope in the memory named Lee Min-hyuk, knew it was a lie yet still felt regret.
It could be a hallucination. Or perhaps the deepest wish he harbored, manifested.
"..."
His sweat-soaked hair showed no sign of drying. The damp shirt clung, screaming not to lie down again.
"..."
Mihail let out a deep sigh and rose from the bed. Under the moonlight illuminating his white legs, his bare lower half walked toward the window.
-Step.
Leaning against the windowsill, Mihail murmured with a wistful smile.
"You know..."
"Don't I seem like such an idiot?"
Mihail spat his unanswered soliloquy toward the moon.
"Crying on my own, getting disappointed on my own..."
"Wanting to show you a cool side of me on my own, tormenting the scarecrow all night."
"You'd definitely call me an idiot..."
Mihail let out a deep sigh and bowed his head.
"What would you say if you saw me now?"
She'd think I'm pathetic. That guy would definitely say to him, 'Why do you live so miserably?'
Mihail breathed in the night sky air and parted his lips. Hoping the cold air would empty his stifled heart.
"You know. I still can't say your name properly."
Mihail smiled faintly and carefully uttered the name from memory.
"Ee... Ku... Min-hyuk."
As the clumsy pronunciation spilled from Mihail's lips, he flushed with embarrassment.
"Over ten years have passed, and I'm still the idiot who can't even say your name right."
No family. No friends. No one to lean on—yet he kept calling the friend who should be resting, and Mihail felt sorry.
"Sorry for calling you so much."
Mihail stood leaning against the window for a long while.
-Whoooosh.
In Mihail's room where the wind blew, a white dress fluttered. The modest dress holding the small desire to someday show the boy.
It hung in the closet, swaying.
"Damn it!"
Today's peaceful Young Lady's mansion. The Young Lady sitting on the bed spat fierce curses.
Glare fixed on me with seething anger, she hurled the bag of red candies piled on the bed to the floor, venting her rage.
"Eeeeek!"
"What's wrong? The chocolates ran out, so I bought candy."
"..."
The Young Lady frowned at the meaningful picture on the red packaging.
"Not candy."
"It is."
"Why's there grass drawn on the candy?"
"Must be candy made from grass."
"...How do you make candy from grass?"
"Uh... well?"
The Young Lady clenched her fist, staring at me. Her glare threatened to toss every candy on the bed out the window if I didn't tell the truth.
"...Sniff sniff."
As expected, the Young Lady's a dog for sure. I nodded and confessed the truth to her.
Not that it was snacks chocolate.
"Actually, it's a product Mr. Malik and I developed this time."
"Why would Ricardo make candy?"
"To buy you something tasty, Young Lady."
"Oh... cool."
"I know."
"Annoying."
I nodded lightly at the Young Lady's petty rebellion and continued. Calling me annoying was praise, after all.
"Anyway, I brought it for a taste test."
The Young Lady gripped the candy, glaring sharply at me.
"What'd you make it from?"
"...Secret."
"Tell me."
"You won't die from eating it."
The Young Lady narrowed her eyes faintly at the packaging. Wondering if this was really the candy she knew.
I couldn't tell her the truth.
"..."
Because I knew she'd fly into a maximum rage if she ate it.
The Young Lady glanced at me warily and started tearing open the candy bag. At the faint, familiar candy scent, I smiled faintly and nodded to the distrustful Young Lady.
"It's sweet and delicious."
"..."
-Chomp!
"Probably."
The moment it entered her mouth, as I confessed the truth, I stealthily backed away from the bed where she sat, securing a safe distance. With so many things to throw on the bed, I had to stay back to dodge her attacks.
The Young Lady's face gradually paled.
"Ughhhh!"
As if invigorated by the new candy's effect, the Young Lady clenched her fist with an expression that shook the developer's heartstrings.
"Eeeeeek!!!!!!"
I told the Young Lady the truth.
"Actually, this candy is a 'mandrake' candy made for the high-age demographic..."
"Eek?"
At the Young Lady's bizarre expression, like she'd eaten a rice ball that turned human, I could tell the mandrake's effect was definitely potent.
"How is it? Overflowing with energy, right?"
"Eek?"
The Young Lady, gagging and spitting out the candy, floated a question mark over her head as she looked at me.
And then.
"Damn it!"
I could hear the Young Lady's scream filled with joy—no, rage.
"I'll report you to the Noble Abuse Committee!"
"No such thing exists."
"Eeeeek! I'll make one!"
The Young Lady glared resentfully at the mountain of candy piled on the bed, her face ready to explode any second.
I'd made her a candy mountain—what was the problem? At her harsh verdict on my masterpiece, inspired by red ginseng candy from my past life, I gave a bittersweet smile.
I carefully peeled the packaging from a candy she'd thrown and tossed it into the screaming Young Lady's mouth while whistling.
"Eeeeeek!"
The Young Lady's taste was firm. I noted her reaction in my notebook and nodded.
[Not suitable for children's tastes.]
'Ah, but the Young Lady's an adult.'
I quickly underlined in the notebook and rewrote the answer.
[Poison to the evil woman.]
Definitely helpful before launch. Malik said it was tasty, but we needed to test on various people. Target the right region too. Premium pricing might yield bigger profits.
I handed a square object to the teary-eyed Young Lady as experiment pay. Even for an evil woman, she deserved compensation.
"Eek?"
The suspicious Young Lady looked at me with a question mark, but I peeled the chocolate packaging myself to reassure her.
"Chocolate."
"No nasty stuff inside, right?"
"I'm not that much of a devil."
"...Devil."
"Take it back if you don't want it."
"Sorry."
The Young Lady clutched the chocolate in both hands and nodded. I looked at her and asked carefully.
"Young Lady."
"Mm."
Chocolate smeared all over her mouth as she ate, she turned to answer me.
"What if the chocolate tasted like mandrake?"
"...Hm."
The Young Lady frowned in thought, chewing the chocolate casually.
"I'd hit you."
"Right."
"Mm."
"Then, what if it's chocolate but has mandrake inside?"
"Huh?"
The Young Lady looked at the chocolate cross-section and pouted.
"Trying to assassinate me?"
"No. Just curious. And chocolate's too expensive to make casually."
"Phew."
The Young Lady nodded and replied.
"You know, for me—"
-Crunch.
"—as long as it tastes good, it's fine."
"Is that so."
"Mm."
"Young Lady."
"Yeah?"
Actually.
"Never mind."
I swallowed the words rising in my throat and shook my head. The Young Lady, feeling like she'd suffered the world's worst injustice, clenched her fist with a hollow expression.
"Eeeeek!! What is it!"
"Uh..."
"Yeah."
"Have one more."
"Heehee...!"
The Young Lady loved the chocolate.