Yoo Jonghyuk's side quest #30: Dream...?

***

A lone figure could be seen running through the dense foliage of a vast gloomy forest.

An eerie silent landscape of neverending trees stretched forward his path. The young man greedily gasped for air as he dove into the deepest part of the forest. He dared not to turn back, for his survival was at stake.

Hunted by a pack of ferocious hounds, the breathless young man moved forward, one big stride after another without stopping.

He kept his pace and ignored all the small cuts on his body caused by the sharp branches of this unwelcoming dark forest.

Pushed by his cowardice and fear, he ran forward because he felt no pain. This was only a nightmare after all, right?

Everything will be soon over, right?

But no matter how long or desperately he had fleed for, those nasty dogs persisted. That vicious pack growled and barked, scampering after his shadow as if their life depended on it.

"Aooo--!"

Raising their muzzles towards the starless night sky, they howled, filling the forest with wicked cries.

They were unwilling to cease their pursuit.

Kim Dokja ran... or more precisely, he watched himself as he ran.

It was weird...

A novel experience.

Everything felt like a lucid dream.

He saw the young man stumble on his way before hastily struggling to pick up his pace again. The urgency inside his heart was real. Albeit his body followed all his instructions, why does the point of view feel so... uncanny?

As if he was stuck in a "game" with a player's perspective but could only act within the limits of a character. Was this the rare second-person perspective?

While following the persecution, Kim Dokja couldn't speak, scream, or shout. He could only desperately flee whereas his "eyes" leisurely tagged along behind the hounds.

Then a voice suddenly talked.

"The consequences of your actions..."

A voice near him.

"Do wish to face them?"

A voice inside of him.

"You have no choice."

A peal of condescending laughter.

Kim Dokja felt his soul jolt as if zapped by lighting. Then, his eyes shook, returning his eye-level back to the ground. The unwelcoming forest was now greeting him personally. He was experiencing the full package himself.

He had returned inside his own body, the one running for dear life.

All the wounds that were vividly impressed on his body finally registered the pain inside his mind too. Kim Dokja could feel the stinging ache coming from his overexerted lungs and the incessant drumming of his heart that muffled every sound he could have perceived.

His body was trying its hardest, but at the same time, it also seemed as if all of his organs were racing for who was going to fail first.

Anxiety and fear? Yes, those were general reactions to usual nightmares. However, physical pain? That was uncharacteristic, no shadow of a doubt about it.

So he had asked himself a few questions.

Where was he? What was this place? Why was he chased? And why-

"You have so many inquiries."

What- Who are you!

"Me...?" The voice retorted with a questioning tone.

"...You?" It answered in a familiar condescending tone with another query.

"Guess who." It mocked him.

He could almost imagine the taunting laughter coming from that nondescript face as 'he' made a questioning gesture by half-raising both arms with hands spread open.

Irked, Kim Dokja wanted to turn back, wanted to see the owner of that voice.

Inside the simmering pot of every emotion, feeling, and question, the fear had been the final straw. Kim Dokja's body experienced a sudden rush of adrenaline. Every fiber of his body rected to that cold shiver down his spine.

Kim Dokja had a strange premonition. That every decision and action he had taken during his lifetime was about to lead him to now. Everything was culminating into this exact moment-

However, unexpectedly, and surprisingly, a very disappointing and underwhelming feeling washed over his torrid emotions. It was like ice-cold water poured over him. As if the world was giving him a wake-up call reminding him that he wasn't the star of the show even when he's at the center.

Gone was his rush.

Stripped away from him as if he wasn't even allowed to fear.

Then, a new crescendo of events followed.

A different wave of emotions substituted the previous hollowness.

Indignation towards the unknown. Unwillingness.

Nothing is worse than a man who's no longer bounded by fear.

When there's no fear obstructing us. Curiosity and thirst for answers become unbound.

Kim Dokja whipped his head around. Uncaring towards his fate as he was confronted with countless maws bearing their sharp fangs at him. The first row of hounds pounced forward. The second soon followed. Then the third, fourth- No one was willing to be left behind the pack.

And as his body was beginning to fall, everything else also seemed to slow down altogether. Kim Dokja could pinpoint all the details of every hound in front of him. He could see the outline of all the muscles on their arched backs as they lounged towards him. Even every strand of saliva hanging and drooling down their jaws was visible to his naked eye. He could almost count every tooth too.

However, none of this mattered.

Kim Dokja wanted to see "him".

Even though enhanced, the young man's sight enhanced, unfortunately, also slowed down accordingly with everything else.

The body he controlled lagged behind his will.

A glimpse would suffice.

Just look up!

The truth-

...

*Crumble... Crumble...*

...

He felt light.

A sinkhole appeared under his feet as if the universe itself wanted to prevent him from finding out the truth.

Voices.

The void was filled with countless incomprehensible voices. Sorrowful, voices breaking down in tears. Angry, voices filled with wrath. Hysterical, voices reduced only to screams. All of them, seem to call for something, someone.

Kim Dokja heard the desperate whimpers of those same damned animals that appeared to have lost their previous bravado as they fell inside the boisterous void. Together, with himself included.

His heart somewhat felt a malicious delight when he saw them helplessly dropping inside the darkness one after another, even if he knew that his fate didn't differ from theirs.

The bottomless darkness' clamor grew louder and louder until it consumed every other sound. However, in retrospect, he could now make out a few words from their deafening nonsense. Although, nothing changed as it still remains nonsense to his ears.

"■e■■■ K■n■ ■■ ■a■■■ti■■"

"■■■ ■■■■■"

"■h■ m■■■ ■n■i■n■ ■■■a■"

"■-... W■-"

"■A■E U■-"

But just before being swallowed by the dark void that had abruptly appeared below, out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of the tail of a fluttering long coat.

No- He wanted to see more!

A glimpse is... Not enough!

More... please, move upward a little bit further!

He yearns to see! To know!

And as if finally acknowledging his pleas, the figure lowed himself at his eye-level.

Who...

...

.... J-... Jun...?

The familiar scar across the cheek of a face he was unaccustomed to see without a mask. With eyes deep as the endless darkness that swallowing him up. Kim Dokja head ached. As if that man was no longer shrouded in mystery. The face he'd grown to recognize was now being overwritten by another one in his memory.

With a sneer and a mocking tone, "he" spat few bitter words as he coldly watched Kim Dokja fall into the abyss.

"He" opened his mouth but Kim Dokja couldn't understand what was said because of all the noise. Kim Dokja couldn't read lips nor he was able to at the moment as his vision got blurred by the darkness.

"■■■'■■ ■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■, ■■■■■■ ■■■■■."

No- Wait!

Why do you look li-

H- Hyun-...!?

***

Confusion, disbelief, and every other emotion all vanished in the void with everything else.