Outside the Dream

‘Jiwan…!’

Jiwan heard someone calling his name.

But he couldn’t tell who it was.

‘Guild Master! Hey!’

His body felt languid and heavy, sinking damply.

He didn’t want to respond.

‘Hey! Do Jiwan!’

…Whose voice was that?

‘Aaaah! Hyungnim!’

At that moment, the man’s face flashed through Jiwan’s mind.

He felt bewildered, not understanding why the man was calling him hyungnim.

“Hyungnim! Hyungnim! Hyyuungniiiim! Please come to your senses!”

The muffled sound echoing underwater suddenly rang out loud and clear.

Like someone dragged from the depths, Jiwan sucked in a sharp breath.

Then he saw something black clinging to his body.

He shook his arms and legs, and the black fragments fell away.

Watching the man sigh in relief, Jiwan frowned.

“Why am I your hyungnim?”

It wasn’t that he was upset.

It was just absurd.

When Jiwan was ten, the man had looked exactly the same.

‘…Though now we look almost the same age.’

Did he not age?

An elf, maybe?

That kind of thing only existed in fantasy novels.

But after the upheaval of the world, perhaps such beings could exist.

Since the problem was gone, Jiwan thought he should clear the dungeon.

He was just about to move.

The man’s form began to blur.

“You…!”

Jiwan stared in shock.

The man looked confused, then glanced at his own half-transparent hand.

There was no fear in his expression.

Instead, it was Jiwan who felt fear.

“You! What’s happening?!”

He tried to grab the man.

But his hand passed through like a ghost.

For the first time, Jiwan felt his blood run cold.

The man spoke to him, who was on the verge of panic.

“Hyungnim, this is a dream.”

Jiwan knew that.

That wasn’t what mattered.

What mattered was that if he woke up, the man would disappear.

He didn’t know who the man was.

He didn’t even know if he truly existed.

Perhaps he was nothing more than a hallucination conjured by his brain.

As Jiwan struggled to steady himself, the man said,

“We have to wake up. I’ll see you outside.”

Outside…

The word pierced deep into Jiwan’s chest.

‘Outside… you’re there?’

If he wasn’t just a dream, then there was no need to cling to it.

He could wake up.

Meet him outside.

And never let him go again.

The man grew fainter.

Jiwan felt sudden fear, but he clung to those words and shouted,

“Outside…! I’ll see you there! I have to!”

If it was a lie…

He would kill him.

Better to destroy something than have it taken away.

The man vanished.

The world collapsed.

Even as it crumbled, Jiwan was anxious—

What if the man wasn’t outside?

Soon, he felt his body being pulled somewhere.

His eyes flew open.

“Guild Master!”

People surrounded him as he lay on the ground.

He felt arms wrapped around his waist.

Looking down, Jiwan felt relief.

‘Thank God.’

He wouldn’t have to kill him.

He wouldn’t lose him.

With that thought, Jiwan closed his eyes.

When I opened my eyes again, I was in a hospital.

A nurse checking my condition noticed and asked,

“Are you conscious, patient?”

“…Yes.”

After confirming a few things, she said she would call my guardian and left.

‘But does Shin Jiho even have a guardian?’

Both parents were dead.

I wasn’t sure if he had relatives.

If he did, would he have died so easily?

Soon, I heard hurried footsteps.

The face that appeared was familiar.

“Jung-ho hyung.”

“Jiho!”

He rushed over, checking me anxiously.

After the haze faded a little, I asked what had happened.

“How much do you remember?”

“Um… I remember grabbing the Guild Master’s waist to stop him from being absorbed into the wall.”

“I see…”

He nodded and explained.

“The pattern on the wall started glowing, and both of you were sucked inside. Others tried to rescue you, but no one could get in.”

A week passed in agony.

Then the light went out, and we were expelled from the wall.

“The Guild Master woke up after one day. You woke up after three.”

“…Three days?”

I was shocked.

Not because of the time itself.

But because I had been separated from Do Jiwan for three days.

What if someone who wanted the Demon King’s rise had approached him while I was gone?

Seeing my reaction, Jung-ho hyung must have misunderstood.

“Don’t worry about the hospital bills. The company is covering it as an industrial accident. And the Domun Guild is giving compensation too.”

…Technically, this incident happened because of my loose tongue and curiosity.

But I kept quiet.

‘Wait, this is a private room?’

The company wouldn’t pay for that.

So it must have been the guild’s consideration.

‘Can I get discharged?’

If I stayed here, I couldn’t watch Jiwan.

“Hyung, I want to leave.”

“Huh? Shouldn’t you get more tests?”

“I’m fine.”

My body wasn’t great.

But my holy power was healing it slowly.

No need for medical science.

After I insisted, he relented.

“I’ll tell them.”

Soon after he left, pale-faced doctors and nurses rushed in.

“You wish to be discharged, Mr. Shin Jiho?”

“Yes.”

They looked distressed.

“Are you dissatisfied with our services?”

“What? No.”

“Then why do you want to leave?”

“I feel fine.”

They were oddly persistent.

“Are you sure you’re not dissatisfied?”

“…Yes.”

Just then, the hallway grew noisy.

Someone entered the room.

My breath caught.

It was Do Jiwan.

I hadn’t expected to see him so suddenly.

While I stammered, he remained calm.

He sat beside my bed.

Everyone else retreated like a tide.

Even Jung-ho hyung left.

Soon, only the two of us remained.

“You’re being discharged?”

“Yes?”

He frowned deeply.

I couldn’t tell why he looked displeased.

“Why?”

“Pardon?”

“Why are you leaving?”

Why…?

Did he want me to stay longer?

Or was he planning to injure me so I had to?

I hoped it wasn’t the latter.

“I… feel fine.”

His eyebrow twitched.

“If you’re dissatisfied, just say so!”

“You’re a doctor?”

“…No.”

“Then how do you know you’re fine?”

He sounded serious.

‘It’s my body. I’d know.’

It was weak, but holy power would heal it.

As I struggled to explain, Jiwan called his subordinate.

“Yes, Guild Master.”

“Arrange a full examination for Shin Jiho. Every test possible.”

“Understood.”

“Wait—what?”

Why are you ignoring my opinion?

But his expression was so grim I swallowed my protest.

‘Damn it.’

Being weak is a sin.

I grumbled inwardly as they dragged me off for tests.

By the time everything was finished,

I was sitting with Do Jiwan across from the doctor.