Chapter 183
Chapter 183: Trauma (4)
“Are you saying everyone is trapped in their dreams?”
—Yeah! Ji-han was just like that a little while ago!
The Sylph used the expression that the party members were trapped in dreams due to some kind of magic.
Not just simple dreams, but nightmares constructed from memories of the past, she added.
It was an extremely unfamiliar expression, but Yoo Ji-han thought it was a pretty decent metaphor for what he had just experienced.
Going back to the life of being persecuted in Kim Hyun-tae’s party was just like a nightmare for him.
“How did you figure that out?”
—I’m quite impressive!
“……”
—Hehehe!
Yoo Ji-han looked at the Sylph with a quite surprised expression.
Spirits are undoubtedly mysterious beings, but they aren’t perfect creatures that know everything in the world.
So what on earth was the Sylph doing that she could easily grasp even the magic she had just encountered for the first time?
It seemed even the Sylph didn’t know the reason or method behind it.
‘I’m glad to receive help, though.’
If the spirit excels, the one who benefits in the end is the Spirit Master.
While it would surely be of help to the party, it wouldn’t be a loss at all.
A few questions remained unanswered, but Yoo Ji-han decided to follow the Sylph’s words for now.
“So what do I need to do?”
—You have to go into Ji-han’s friends’ dreams and help them.
“You want me to enter someone else’s dream?”
—Yep.
The Sylph requested Yoo Ji-han to enter the dreams of others.
It meant he had to directly rescue his comrades who couldn’t escape their dreams.
“Alright. Let’s give it a shot.”
—Are you mentally prepared?
“Do I have to prepare too?”
—If you’re not careful, Ji-han might not be able to escape the dream either.
Getting trapped in someone else’s dream, not even your own.
If that led to the end of one’s life, nothing could be more absurd.
“Let’s skip the waiting and say I’m ready.”
—Then let’s wake Si-hu first! Being a mage, he might wake up faster!
“Okay.”
Following the Sylph’s instructions, Yoo Ji-han lay down with his forehead touching Kim Si-hu’s.
“If an outsider comes in, you handle it instead.”
—Ahem! Just trust me!
*
At Blue Moon Hero Academy’s class time.
Warm sunlight streamed through the transparent windows on a cozy afternoon.
Sitting at the very front of the desks lined by the window was Kim Si-hu, attending a Fire Magic class.
‘Right. We had this class.’
A class about creating a tiny flame the size of a fingernail at the tip of a wand.
In hindsight, it really was basic magic.
However, the results from students who had just entered first year were mostly lacking in firepower compared to using an ordinary lighter.
Most of the students had talent but were still inexperienced with magic.
In contrast, a few students were different.
Those who had awakened their talent early and practiced diligently.
Even though they were first-years, they used magic as skillfully as second-years did.
Past Kim Si-hu belonged to that group.
Whoosh!
The flame created at the end of Kim Si-hu’s wand surged into a blazing fire.
Not the size of a fingernail but rather bigger than three finger joints.
It was the brightest flame among the flames produced by students of the same grade.
‘This isn’t what I intended to use.’
Kim Si-hu had wanted to summon a colossal pillar of fire big enough to burn the whole classroom.
For some reason, he couldn’t freely cast magic here.
It felt as if he had truly become the student Kim Si-hu enrolled in Hero Academy.
Meanwhile, the instructor approaching his desk examined the flame closely and spoke.
“This is wonderful! This is the best flame I’ve seen in all my time teaching first-year classes!”
The Fire Magic instructor praised Kim Si-hu.
This was evidence that Kim Si-hu’s magic was quite skilled for a first-year.
Even compared to second-years, he wasn’t far behind.
‘How did I react here back then?’
Kim Si-hu recalled his memories.
When he first received similar praise from a teacher.
He felt a bit embarrassed yet secretly pleased.
It was the first time receiving such compliments from a strange wizard, not a wizard he was usually acquainted with.
“……”
But present Kim Si-hu was observing the reactions of the surrounding students rather than simply feeling happy.
And as expected, he could spot several unkind glances aimed at him.
Some were looking at him with open jealousy in their eyes.
They didn’t appreciate Kim Si-hu monopolizing the instructor’s attention.
Ding-dong-ding-dong!
The class ended, and it was break time.
Kim Si-hu sat still at his seat, anticipating what would happen next.
And, sure enough.
As the instructor exited the classroom, the students who had shot him disapproving glances during class approached him.
“Hey! What’s with you?”
“You do magic that well?”
“Who do you think you are, you mixed breed…?”
Students openly looking down on Kim Si-hu mentioned his race.
Even though the awareness that racial discrimination was bad was spreading during this time.
Perhaps due to their young age or maybe because there were many who shared similar thoughts.
The discrimination targeting Kim Si-hu inside the academy was done covertly.
‘Did I have to go through this again?’
Kim Si-hu maintained silence, refusing to respond to the surrounding questions.
Whatever he said would be used against him anyway.
“Look at this jerk ignoring us.”
“Typical elves, no manners.”
“Must take after his human mother. All those bastards are the ones ruining human society.”
“……Shut up.”
Mentioning his mother made Kim Si-hu finally speak.
He knew that this situation, staged as if time had turned back, wasn’t real.
He knew that engaging in dialogue here wouldn’t hold much meaning.
However, he couldn’t just dismiss the insults against his family.
“Giggle! Guess you don’t like it when I trash your mom, huh?”
“Mixed breeds seem to take care of family after all.”
“Monsters caring for each other.”
“Shut up!”
Kim Si-hu glared at the students around him with fierce eyes.
However, those who insulted him returned to their spots, still wearing smirks.
A complete disregard for Kim Si-hu until the end.
‘Should I just kill them?’
After all, they were just fakes.
It wouldn’t be a bad decision to wipe out those who irritate him.
‘Endure, endure….’
Kim Si-hu clenched his fist repeatedly, calming himself.
After all, this was just a fake.
If he waited a little longer, he would surely find a way to escape from here.
He tried his best to hold only hopeful thoughts.
‘If only it showed some older days instead.’
The past when his mother, Erna Hass, was still alive.
If it took him back, he could have met his living parents.
But unfortunately, it was already after they had passed away.
Kim Si-hu decided to just observe the situation for now.
And at the time when all classes ended, and it was time to return home from school.
“……?!”
While packing his backpack, Kim Si-hu found himself sitting upright at his desk as if he was back in class.
Panicking, he looked at the wall clock, and it was the time for the first class to take place.
The date, however, was different from the beginning.
Returning home from the academy didn’t occur at all.
“……Let’s just wreck it all.”
Eventually, Kim Si-hu made a plan to destroy everything.
Starting with killing the students who had humiliated him.
However, that attempt ended in failure.
The attack magic just passed through people’s bodies.
Even attempting to stab someone with a pen would only cause the pen to revert back to the pencil case.
“What is this…!”
It was then that Kim Si-hu truly sensed his helplessness.
And thus, the next day, and the day after that, and the day after that…
Life in Hero Academy, with no entrance and exit, repeated endlessly like a broken record.
Along with it, the discrimination from surrounding students continued.
“That guy’s mom is a mixed breed, right? What a pity.”
“Dwarf instructor Tataira gives Kim Si-hu really high scores, doesn’t he?”
“They all stick together. They’re defending each other just because they’re the same mixed breed.”
“Ugh, why are there such filthy mixed breeds in our academy?”
The uncomfortable gazes kept increasing instead of decreasing.
In an endless cycle of meaningless repetition, Kim Si-hu suffered.
In the past, he had earned the acknowledgment of those around him by overcoming difficult situations based on his skills.
He had made several decent friends and had even received apologies from some students who had previously acted discriminatively.
After that, he generally maintained harmonious relationships…
But it was different here.
Not only was the level of contempt worse than he remembered.
But there was no sign of improvement in his friendships over time.
Crash!
As Kim Si-hu entered the classroom, a deluge of water poured down from above.
Someone had cast Water Magic above the door.
Seeing the water dripping from his hair made the students burst into laughter.
“Pfft!”
“Hahaha! Gotcha, gotcha!”
“Didn’t I say you’d get hit? Hurry up and pay me 5,000 won.”
Students were placing bets on whether Kim Si-hu would get drenched or not.
Certainly, there had been similar attempts like this in the past.
But back then, he hadn’t faced any magic nor had any bets been placed at all.
“Holy crap, Kim Si-hu! You made me lose money!”
Moreover, a student who lost money even blamed Kim Si-hu for it.
Seeing that, Kim Si-hu fell silent.
‘Am I at fault?’
Had it been over three weeks of subjective time?
Hearing insults had strangely become quite familiar.
Even making efforts for change only led to failures.
Accumulating experiences that one cannot change the present made him feel completely powerless.
Learned helplessness soon dominated his actions.
‘……I guess it is my fault.’
Naturally, turning everything into self-blame was basic.
Even when someone crossed the line and insulted his family, he no longer reacted.
If he just kept quiet, the world would grow quiet and peaceful.
It was enduring everything alone.
“Useless bastard.”
But then, just as the boy who lost money mocked Kim Si-hu.
Swish!
Suddenly, the student’s head tipped forward and soon rolled onto the ground.
“What a useless head.”
“……Hyung?!”
From behind the student with the severed head, Yoo Ji-han appeared, wearing the same school uniform.
How could someone entirely unrelated in this period appear wearing the same uniform?
While Kim Si-hu felt immense confusion, Yoo Ji-han examined the head that had fallen to the ground.
“Kim Si-hu, a guy like you should disappear forever from Korea…”
“Stop your chattering.”
Even after getting his head cut off, the boy still continued to talk.
Not a drop of blood flowed from the severed head, and his body still moved as if his head were still attached.
It was an incredibly bizarre sight indeed.
Smash!
Stepping on the head with his shoe, Yoo Ji-han turned to look at the other students.
They didn’t even recognize the intruder Yoo Ji-han at all.
Slap!
Yoo Ji-han smacked Kim Si-hu’s back with his palm and said.
“Took a while to find you. Are you alright?”
“Yes!”
Life returned to the half-closed eyes of Kim Si-hu.
