Chapter 95.

What happened to me?

Where am I?

A hospital room?

Somehow, it looked familiar.

"It appears you're awake."

I turned in the direction the voice originated from and discovered a woman with dyed pinkish-purple hair that tapered off into a purple hue at the ends.

Her name instantly came to mind, Maria Yayoi, my fourth ex.

"Maria, why are you here!"

"Oh? You know my name? You actually know of me… How surprising. As for why I'm here... if you do know me, then you should also know that I'm a doctor; it's only natural I'd be in a hospital."

"Of course I know you, how could I not know you after all the time we've spent together?"

"I believe this is our first meeting though. You were admitted here after having a nervous breakdown related to your girlfriend… or should I say ex considering how you were dumped? This should be your first time admitted to this hospital, right?"

"My first time?"

"Mr... Genovese, was it? There shouldn't have been any chance for us to have ever met before this, so how do you know my name already?"

I looked to her side and noticed a calendar on the wall and somewhat understood what was going on. I must have been dreaming or something. It was two years ago that I first met Maria. When I met her back then, it was in this exact same manner.

I'd been kept captive by my third ex for an extended period of time, but at some point, she let me off the hook and left me alone. At the time I never understood why I'd been let off the hook, it was only later that I realized it was thanks to my second ex. Though, by the time I regained my freedom, it was already far too late for me. My mind had collapsed and I had a nervous breakdown after my run-in with my third monster ex. I was hospitalized here and I initially became one of Maria's patients, later on, I turned into one of her guinea pigs.

Before she used me for experimental purposes she helped me recover. Once I'd grown mentally stable again, she showed her true colors. Throughout the process of my recovery, I naively fell in love with her. At least that was what I thought back then. Looking back on it now, it may have just been latching onto any kindness shown to me after a traumatic experience with another failed relationship.

I was truly an idiot, it was practically a repeat of how I fell for my second ex. Having a moment of weakness exploited so easily. Did I never learn from my mistakes? Well, she was a doctor, I thought from the bottom of my heart I could trust her fully with my life considering how she'd literally saved my life once already by assisting with my recovery.

From the very beginning, she'd worn two faces, she only helped me so she could later use me for her personal gain. She manipulated my feelings and got me to fall for her. What she probably never expected though, was that throughout the course of her experiments, I somehow successfully snagged her heart in return. Despite how she'd fallen in love with me, her experiments only increased the more her love grew.

It was a positive feedback loop I could only blame myself for creating. After a few of her experiments, I understood her true colors. I thought it might have been possible to get her to lay off with the experiments by making her really fall in love with me. I never expected that her love was only a double-edged sword that would backfire in my face.

The type of drugs and tests she used in her clinical trials were all illegal, banned, and deemed to be too inhumane in the surface world. She operated on the dark web and ran a very profitable business where she conducted uncountable clinical trials for her seemingly endless clientele based across the globe.

Any normal person would be shocked by how filthy the underground world really was, I was no exception. The sorts of things I saw back then made me lose all hope towards better days.

"You don't seem to be sick, so why are you looking at the wall behind me blankly like an idiot? Is the wall that interesting?"

"Sorry, I was just a bit entranced by your beautiful hair."

"Hmm? Do you hit on every random woman you've only just met? You don't seem to be a traumatized victim like the reports say you are. Could it be you're actually a stalker who feigned sickness to get closer to me?"

Despite being in the same situation as two years ago, it was completely different from my memories. Was this really a dream, or was my entire life up until the recent events in my memory a dream that I only now woke up from?

Since I was too afraid of that being the case, I decided to act under the assumption this was the dream instead. If it was a dream, couldn't I enjoy it for a change since I was aware it was a dream? I had full control over my body after all, right?

What should I do though?

"Gross. You really are a stalker, aren't you?"

"I'm the one that was stalked and imprisoned, when would I have had the chance to stalk you?"

"How do I know that is the truth? That could just be a fabricated story."

"What if I told you I'm your boyfriend from the future and I returned to the past to save your life?" What if there was a life where Maria changed her way of life and became a normal person? If Adele had that possibility, couldn't Maria also have a chance as well?

"Hah? Did I make a mistake in my diagnosis? Is there really a problem with you after all? Could it be, you're actually insane? Haaaaah. It looks like I might have a lot more work at hand than I initially expected."

"Insane? Yeah, I'm definitely insane. Inanely in love with you, that is."

Ugh, the cringe. The cringe! Stop, me! Please! Never use such a crappy line again! I even messed up when I tried to say insanely. So embarrassing! Calm down, me. It's a dream. Mess up or not, no matter what cringy line I use, if I want the cringy line to work in a dream, it will surely work.

Contrary to my beliefs, she looked at me with a disgusted expression. A clear revulsion towards me oozed out from every pore of her body.

Wait a minute. Why should I even bother with her? Weren't things actually looking pretty good if she wanted nothing to do with me? Wouldn't I be an idiot to chase after her? If we don't know each other right now, then screw it, right? Her, 'what could have been', life doesn't have anything to do with me in a dream, right? If I went the opposite route instead of getting her to fall in love with me and I made her want to stay as far away from me as possible, wouldn't my life proceed in a much better direction? Hah. Yeah. I had not a single excuse for any of this. My self-defense mechanism for rejection was fully engaged.

Suddenly, her colorful exterior expression turned indifferent and cold, she'd completely switched gears.

With a frosty tone, she asked without a hint of her earlier friendliness, "Answer me truthfully. Are you a stalker or not? If you are a stalker, just how much do you know about me? Pick your words carefully. Your answer may be the last words you utter while breathing among the living."