Ramu (1)
I realized it all at once.
That I was dreaming right now.
“Seong-hyun! It’s about time to get ready! What time do you think it is, and you’re still not awake?”
“Tsk, tsk, I told you to wake up early today.”
“You’ll miss the train! Hurry up, wash up, and get ready!”
The voice of my mother calling me and my father clicking his tongue echoed faintly from afar.
Those two whom I can no longer see.
I wanted to run to them and hug them tightly right away, but my body wouldn’t move as I wished.
It felt like I was only allowed to look on as I sluggishly got out of bed and made my way to the bathroom out of habit.
“If you want to succeed, my son, you need to experience the wider world. There’s nothing better than travel for that.”
“Come on, you should take us on a trip abroad before saying that.”
“No way? You know I can’t take you; foreign countries aren’t as safe as Korea. It’s too risky…”
“Okay, okay, I get it. No need to explain.”
And soon I realized that this current dream was reflecting a certain moment from the past.
Family trips we used to take every year on our wedding anniversary, led by my father, who loved to travel.
“By the way, doesn’t it feel a bit empty this year without the two of them?”
“Well, it can’t be helped. Grandma’s getting older. Taesan said he wants to stay with Grandma.”
“It sounds like she’s been feeling very sorry for causing trouble all these years. We planned to go just the three of us, but it feels a bit unsettling. Should we just skip this year?”
Since learning about Taesan’s situation, I always went on trips with both of them. Somehow, that day was just going to be the three of us for the first time in a long while.
And I knew very well what would happen after this.
‘No! Don’t go!’
But I couldn’t do anything.
I screamed at the sight of myself heading to Seoul Station with my parents, but my voice only echoed inside me, never reaching them.
‘No!!’
And then…
“Wow, what a view! Son, we really made the right choice coming here, didn’t we?”
“Oh my, this is delicious! We have to take so much back with us. I need to give some to Taesan!”
The accident that remained vividly in my memory did not happen.
Until we finished our very ordinary, yet a bit boring trip and returned home.
‘…I see. So it’s just a dream.’
At that moment, I could clearly understand what kind of dream this was.
Dreams are just fancy reassemblies of leftover thoughts in the brain.
It wouldn’t be strange if it showed situations I desperately wished for as opposed to the harsh reality.
From then on, I could watch the situation unfold with a much more relaxed mind.
As dreams often are, the flow of time was unclear and uneven, but it wasn’t difficult to grasp how much time had passed.
“This guy is late again. Hurry up and get up!”
“Isn’t he supposed to have a lecture this morning?”
“That’s what I’m saying. He’ll skip breakfast and rush out again. Hey, Seong-hyun!”
“Tsk, tsk, tsk.”
I graduated high school like anyone else and entered a university in Seoul that matched my grades.
I managed to get into a pretty well-known school, though it was a stretch since I was more or less doing okay in my studies.
Of course, there was no avoiding the comparison to my friends who received full scholarships while juggling side jobs.
“Hey, Seong-hyun!”
“Uh…”
“What’s up? Why do you look so dead this morning? Did you stay up all night?”
“Yawn… There’s a promotion test coming up.”
“Seriously? You’ll really kill yourself that way.”
I lazily yawned and chatted with Taesan.
The world was noisy with Awakened Ones and superpower crimes, but it didn’t greatly impact my daily life.
Korea had relatively good public safety compared to other countries, and as always, the people who faced tragedies were just a small fraction of the population.
Just like the original me.
In this dream, I just belonged to the majority for a change.
-Next is global news. A villain named ‘■■■’ who had infiltrated the heart of China, Zhongnanhai, has been captured after a long manhunt. He had caused significant damage during his time…
The horrific incidents blaring from the TV were stories far removed from my current life.
How much time had passed like this?
Segments of my repetitive daily life swiftly zoomed by.
Exams, birthdays, romances, trips, games, breakups, and more.
I cried and laughed through the ordinary, yet a bit special events that most people experience, growing a little along the way.
‘Living like this might not be so bad after all.’
I had no power to influence the world, but a life filled with small, precious happiness shared with dear ones.
It became peaceful enough for me to consider this the future I had hoped for.
Yeah.
Until the moment the mood flipped suddenly.
‘What’s this? What’s happening?’
One day, the light disappeared from the sky.
At first, I couldn’t comprehend what was going on.
I was too insignificant to realize it instantly.
Grroooo—
But the moment I locked eyes with the gigantic eye that covered the sky…
I could instinctively understand what was happening.
Something immense, capable of gripping the sky… no, the entire Earth in one hand, was looking down on us.
‘Is that really an eye?’
Maybe not.
My brain, failing to process what I was seeing, likely conjured the most similar image.
But what mattered now wasn’t such triviality.
[■■■■■—!]
An unknown message that I could not pinpoint the origin of shook my mind.
But I, with no abilities whatsoever, was powerless.
It was the same for the top-tier transcendent beings who had wielded unfathomable power until now.
That was, quite literally, a ‘god’ that mere mortals couldn’t contend with.
And right after that.
I, Seong-hyun Han—
“……”
—was staring slack-jawed at the familiar ceiling, lost in thought.
‘What kind of ridiculous dream is this?’
As dreams go, memories began to blur frighteningly fast upon waking, but a few crucial moments flashed in my mind.
Such as the vivid images of my parents that I could only see in photos now.
“Hmm, well, it was okay until just before the end…”
A world where I hadn’t lost my parents and had yet to awaken any abilities.
While I hadn’t felt anything strange back then, looking back now, there had been a couple of points that felt off enough to raise suspicion compared to reality.
No, in fact, there were more differences than similarities.
‘Well, that’s how dreams are.’
I shrugged my shoulders and got out of bed.
I wanted to wash up quickly due to the cold sweat pouring from the abrupt shift to horror in my dream.
‘Not just horror, but cosmic horror. Come on, it is kind of ridiculous that I’m scared of ghosts or monsters at this point.’
A faint chuckle escaped my lips without me realizing.
The Undead King commanding the undead, the Vampire King reigning over vampires, the Demon King dominating demons, the bizarre creatures that gulp down all kinds of monstrous beings like snacks…
Imagining those avatars known for instilling fear trembling in fear themselves made me laugh uncontrollably.
As my mind felt lighter, I washed up, completely shaking off the lingering discomfort from waking up.
I settled into a cozy armchair with a warm cup of coffee and murmured softly.
“Alright—so what’s the cause behind this sudden dream?”
I had no intention of brushing it off as just a dream.
Of course, an ordinary person might do that, but I, whose soul had grown enough to bear the seed of holiness, couldn’t possibly have a meaningless dream.
At this point, even thoughts that came to mind without context sometimes touched upon the truth.
‘It seems like Heinrich got a glimpse of the future after obtaining the fruit of mythology… But calling it a prophetic dream feels too different.’
Still, I couldn’t trust it too blindly.
I was not a prophet, and the uncertainty that lay in discerning what part of it was truth and what part was illusion, remained unchanged.
‘Well, even prophets can’t guarantee a hundred percent accuracy. They don’t just throw around vague statements for no reason.’
Then I spent a while sipping my coffee and organizing my thoughts.
Numerous hypotheses swirled in my mind, but the one pressing concern stood out clearly.
‘I have to be thoroughly prepared to respond to whatever happens in the future.’
Even if I had to confront an alien god invading Earth.
With my already difficult position against the Head of the Buncheon Society, the thought of taking on additional worries made a sigh escape me.
It would be nice if someone would share this burden with me…
With that thought bouncing around in my head, just after I took another sip of coffee…
“Pff!”
I couldn’t swallow it and spat it out in surprise.
Blinking in shock, I hurriedly moved my avatars.
‘What? What’s going on?’
Hoon, the entity living with Ramu, roughly slammed open a door.
It was a rude and inconsiderate act for a girl’s room, but there was no helping it now.
‘She’s not here.’
I hoped against hope.
But the room was empty.
I had confirmed just a moment ago that she was right here!
‘Could she have snuck out the window…? No, that can’t be it.’
Ramu had voluntarily confined herself to her room; I had never locked her up.
There were no traces left on the protective barriers I had installed for security.
While not as fortified as the main residence, this place should have had adequate measures in place.
“Whew. Could it be real?”
Hoon sighed deeply, catching his breath.
Honestly, there wasn’t a real need to be in such a rush.
He was just re-confirming the situation for better understanding; he already knew where she was.
To be more precise.
He had known first through that side.
He focused his mind on the avatar at the location where Ramu had been confirmed.
The Gold Dragon, Horus.
‘How did she get there?’
Just a moment ago, Ramu had been on Earth.
Now she had moved to the Ganghwan Realm.
*
The Dragon God Shrine was in chaos.
An outsider had infiltrated the place, known for the strictest security even among the others of Gonmudo, the stronghold of monsters.
Right at the lair of the baby golden dragon, Hwiryeong, famed for its extreme vigilance.
The first to discover the intruder was the Black Dragon.
Accustomed to sneaking various snacks to meet Hwiryeong, she witnessed something unbelievable.
A teenage human girl, laughing and playing with their precious treasure.
What happened right after needed no further elaboration.
The commotion around clearly illustrated that.
“How dare a human come to the Dragon God Shrine…!”
A teenage girl with long black braided hair, the Black Dragon snarled, radiating dark energy.
Already a highly hostile creature towards humans.
Now faced with a human in this worst possible state…
[Gab! Kyaaah—!]
Had Hwiryeong not curled around the human girl with her long body, barking fiercely, something terrible would have indeed happened.
“Your friend? What are you talking about, Hwiryeong! How could a human be your friend? No, more importantly, you couldn’t have had any other friends while you’ve been stuck in here…”
[Kyuuurr! Kak!]
“…Who said I didn’t have any friends? I can say things like that to my big sister! No way! You come here! I must’ve been too lenient on you so far…”
[Hing-hing~!]
“Eughh! What the…!”
Alerted by emergency contact about the invader, Horus hurried to the scene, assessing the situation and letting out a sigh of relief.
Thanks to Hwiryeong taking the initiative, it seemed nothing escalated to the worst-case scenario that he had feared.
He then gradually approached the scene, leaving behind the other dragons that had been arriving.
More specifically—he drew near Ramu, the girl under the protection of the golden energy emanating from Hwiryeong.
[Kyuuu!]
Seeing him, Hwiryeong perked up with delight, her tail wagging.
She looked like she wanted to wrap herself around him immediately, but it seemed she was trying to hold herself back to protect Ramu.
“Horus! You came just in time! Talk to her!”
The Black Dragon welcomed him in the same way.
Worried Hwiryeong might get hurt if she used her strength unnecessarily, she could neither advance nor retreat, but surely Horus, whom Hwiryeong listened to well, could convince her somehow.
“Um…”
With the appearance of someone who seemed no older than six, Ramu’s tension eased despite the sudden unfolding situation.
Encouraged by everyone’s support, Horus stepped forward to clarify the situation.
He calmed the furious Black Dragon, soothing the overly sensitive Hwiryeong gently, and reassured Ramu, who was nervously watching her surroundings, to explain the details.
“…So, you thought you’d just like to meet and somehow ended up here?”
“Yeah… no, yes.”
Upon hearing her reply, Horus made a wry face.
She hadn’t specified a particular world or coordinates. She just crossed over dimensions by wishing to see someone?
And she did it without leaving a trace, landing precisely at a specific location?
“Then can you return to where you came from? The same way you arrived here.”
“Uh? Hmm… I’ll try it out. …Here goes.”
With her eyes tightly closed, Ramu grimaced.
About a minute passed.
Just when it seemed unlikely that it would work.
[Kyuu?]
Her form vanished cleanly.
Hwiryeong, amazed, started to roam around the place where Ramu had just been, but there were no remnants left whatsoever.
And then…
“…Ah? Over there…”
Hoon met Ramu’s gaze, who had suddenly appeared in the empty room, wearing a resigned smile.
‘If she can do this so effortlessly when she’s not even skilled, doesn’t that mean she might have negligible cooldowns or delays? What kind of absurd ability is this?’
It seemed I had picked up an incredible child, beyond my expectations.
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