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[Translator – Seraph]

[Proofreader – Draxx]

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Chapter 478

“Mr. Hyun-seo, you look to be in a good mood today.”

‘Had I been smiling without realizing it? The counselor’s eyes were on me.’

“Something good happened?”

“Oh, yes. Well… it’s nothing specific. Lately I just feel like everything’s turning out right.”

“Hah. That’s the first time I’ve seen you like this.”

I scratched my cheek instead of answering.

Because it’s true.

Before I fell into the coma, my life had been a wreck.

College was meaningless—I had no friends, no one to contact. I spent entire days barricaded in my room, lost in full-immersion VR games.

Even when circumstances forced me to step outside, there was no joy. No goals. No desires. Unhappiness was inevitable.

But everything had changed. Completely.

“By the way, how are things with that club you mentioned joining?”

“Really well. Everyone’s been kind, helping me adjust. I’ve been working hard to learn.”

Right before returning to school, I joined a club. That was thanks to my neighbor, Yoo Si-hyun—the one who’d invited me out for a meal.

That day over lunch, we talked and discovered that we not only attended the same university, but also shared a passion: films.

She was already active in a campus film club. Listening to her talk about it, I’d been intrigued… and ended up joining.

It was the first club I’d ever been part of in my life.

“I hadn’t realized you were interested in movies. Perhaps your mother’s influence?”

“Actually, I’ve never discussed that with my mother. If anything, my father was the one most interested.”

My mother was an actress—famous enough that nearly anyone would recognize her name. But in our home, she never spoke about acting or her roles.

My love for classic horror and sci-fi films came entirely from my father.

“Why not use this chance to talk about it with her?”

“I don’t know. She’s never shown any interest before. I doubt it would be any different now.”

“But you didn’t expect yourself to change, did you? I’m sure she’d understand.”

To imagine discussing hobbies with my mother once, that idea would’ve sounded absurd. Now, though, somehow it felt possible.

“If there’s something you want, give it a try. Don’t be afraid of how it might turn out.”

It was the sort of vague advice that usually sounded empty, but for some reason… it struck home.

Everything really was going well lately. Every wish I’d made was being granted, as though some god had decided to humor me.

Of course, that was impossible.

Maybe the truth was simpler, just as he said: the real problem was always my outlook. Always seeing the worst, always giving up before I even started.

At least now, things were finally improving.

Thanks to counseling, I was healing.

“Well, let’s wrap up here. Do you have any questions before we end?”

“Yes. About the medication—how long will I need to keep taking it?”

The thought had struck me suddenly as I was about to stand.

“It’s been a long time since I last had a hallucination. Wouldn’t it be fine to stop by now?”

“Ah… I see what you mean.”

The counsellor shook his head with a troubled look.

“It’s not that simple. Even if the symptoms improve, stopping abruptly is dangerous. If they relapse, treatment becomes even harder.”

“I see.”

“Besides, the medication also contains ingredients for anxiety relief. If we want to address not only the hallucinations but your anxiety itself, you’ll need to continue.”

It was a fair point. I did feel calmer every time I took the pills.

“So don’t skip your doses. Understood?”

“Yes.”

So far, everything my counselor had suggested had proven right. I collected my prescription quietly and returned home.

‘Looks like I’ve got a little time to spare.’

On days I had scheduled medical checkups, I always left the rest of my afternoon free. Until the club seminar that evening, I had nothing to do.

Sitting idly at my desk, I caught sight of the VR headset lying nearby—the one I hadn’t touched since waking from the coma.

Funny. Back then, I wore it more often than I took it off.

I used to all but live inside Space Survival. Sleep was the only time I logged out.

I picked up the headgear-shaped device.

Maybe I should try logging in again, see what’s changed.

I slipped it on. With a startup chime, the familiar interface flickered into view. I selected Space Survival from the menu.

But instead of the sweeping orchestral theme and main-title screen, a simple text box greeted me.

‘…Service terminated?’

So the game had actually died in the time I’d been gone.

It wasn’t too surprising. Space Survival had been a clunky, outdated mess from the start, riddled with absurd mechanics. With so many competitors, survival was unlikely.

‘Come to think of it, didn’t they announce a sequel?’

I even remembered getting an email about participating in the closed beta.

In fact… hadn’t I accepted? The memory was hazy, but I recalled launching the game after that acceptance—

‘Wait… what was that?’

A strange memory surfaced, then evaporated. Something crucial. Something I absolutely should not forget.

‘What was I just remembering?’

I tried to grasp it again, but it slipped away like the fragments of a dream upon waking. Only the feeling remained—that I had once received an enormously important invitation.

I yanked off the headset and dug through my old emails. Nothing. Whatever I thought I remembered simply wasn’t there.

‘Was it all in my head?’

There wasn’t a single trace. Nothing but a faint afterimage in my mind, and the emotion it had left behind—disquiet. A wordless warning, as if some primal instinct urged me: don’t forget.

I tore through the online forums, every community I could find. No mention, no record of a closed beta, no discussion of that email.

‘But I’m sure it was real. Somewhere… it has to be.’

I plunged deeper into the search, scrolling, clicking, racing from site to site—when suddenly, there was a knock at my door.

It was Si-hyun.

“Huh?”

Dang. A glance at my phone made me jolt upright. The time had flown, far more than I realized. A message from her already waited: Let’s head to the seminar together.

Frantically, I got ready and opened the door. She stood there, neatly dressed, polished—

“Hyun-seo oppa, are you alright? Why didn’t you answer me?”

“Oh—sorry. I was busy with something and missed it.”

“Today was your hospital visit, wasn’t it? Is it… your health?”

“No, it’s fine. Let’s just go.”

We stepped out together.

“You know, usually this is the kind of thing guys are supposed to say to girls.”

“You told me yourself—our film club doesn’t see gender, only cinephiles.”

“That’s not how the phrase is supposed to work.”

“You had me worried for nothing.”

“Yeah, sorry.”

“Anyway. Are you free this weekend?”

“This weekend? I’ll probably just stay home.”

“Then let’s go shopping for clothes together. It’s autumn soon.”

“…Clothes? With me?”

“Mm-hm.”

“To be honest, I really don’t know much about that stuff.”

“Relax. I’ll handle it. Think of it as your junior carefully picking outfits for her respected senior.”

“Uh… alright then.”

Before I could think it through, I’d agreed. Her lips curved in a small, pleased smile.

‘Shopping. Together. For clothes? Why…?’

Was it just because we were neighbors? Was this normal? I’d been so isolated from people, I didn’t even know anymore.

‘She can’t mean it like… a date, right?’

I liked her, sure. But that didn’t mean she felt the same. Maybe she really just wanted company while she picked out outfits.

‘Except… couldn’t she go with her other friends for that? Why me?’

My head churned with endless theories until I was dizzy.

So dizzy that everything strange about what had happened at home—the memory, the missing email, that visceral warning—slipped from my mind completely.

***

I opened my eyes, and there was nothing but blackness.

A space filled only with darkness. The instant I saw it, I knew: I was dreaming.

As if to prove that fact, the black expanse shifted. It rippled like the trembling surface of some fathomless lake.

And then—something submerged within that gloom rose to the surface.

A colossal head emerged, crowned with horns and shelled in heavy plates of chitin. Its monstrous features looked like something out of a nightmare.

But I felt no fear. Only a deep sense of familiarity. Because I knew what it was.

The Amorph.

In Space Survival, it was the creature I loved most. That monster lifted its gaze, vast eyes the size of a human head fixing directly on me.

That gaze stirred déjà vu. Somehow, I had stood in this place before.

Without thinking, I reached out my hand. I knew—if this were like before—the Amorph would lower its head into my palm.

But this time, it didn’t move. Instead, it bared its teeth and growled, as though protesting.

A protest? The thought unsettled me.

No one cherished the Amorph more than I had. No one. That’s why only I had raised one all the way to Ascension.

And yet—to feel resentment aimed at me, its dearest companion… impossible.

As if sensing those thoughts, the beast opened its jaws in a silent roar.

But it wasn’t anger. It wasn’t hostility. It was a warning. A desperate wake up.

And then I saw it.

Beneath the Amorph’s looming head, another figure swam up from the gloom.

A small, pink jellyfish-like being. One I knew well.

It called out frantically—

｢Big One!｣

“Urk?!”

Agony tore me out of the dream.

I shot upright, clutching my skull. An extreme headache crushed down as though trying to force me into forgetting what I had just seen.

Yet even through the pain, a single thought burned in my mind.

“Why…?”

‘Why am I only realizing this now?’

All this time, in this very room, a presence had been crying out for me.

The pink, many-eyed creature I had dismissed, feared, and rejected.

It was never a hallucination.

No. It was my first companion in Space Survival.

My precious family.

“…Number 26!”

The moment I whispered its name, the darkness claimed me, and consciousness fled.

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[Translator – Seraph]

[Proofreader – Draxx]

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