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Greetings! The beings from the higher dimension welcome you!
Fireworks exploded, and fanfares blared. The whole world was bathed in rainbow colors. The flying flower petals shined so brightly to the point where OO's eyes started to hurt. He rubbed his eyes before waking up.
‘Was that just a strange dream…?’
OO blinked, attempting to recall the contents of the dream, but to no avail, nothing came to mind. It seemed like he heard someone welcoming him, but he wasn’t sure. He got up. Underneath an unfamiliar ceiling, he realized, this isn’t the room he usually sleeps in.
What’s going on?
Just when he asked that question, he remembered his encounter with the clump of feathers. Is this really the world inside his sister’s novel? OO got out of bed and took a look around the room. The ceiling wasn’t very high, and the floor was fairly narrow. The only piece of furniture in the room was a bed, which wasn’t wasn’t very comfortable. Not even a blanket was provided.
‘I didn’t want to admit this but this feels like… a prison.’
OO decided to first take a look around and approached the window. It wasn’t a window he was familiar with. A rectangular hole just below the ceiling, which he decided to call a window. It barely let any light in and it was only good for ventilation. The window was at a height where he could only look through by standing on his tiptoes. The outside world, half-blocked by bars instead of glass, showed patches of grass. There were no people or buildings in sight. The only thing he knows is that he was underground.
‘No wonder it smells so musty.’
OO once lived in a house with a basement. And no matter how often you cleaned it, the basement will always have that musty smell. A familiar scent that made him frown.
‘Now it feels even more like a prison now that I know I’m underground.’
Why is his sister’s most cherished character in her novel in prison? He assumed that she had written a beautiful and warm story, but now he’s starting to have his doubts about it.
Whenever OO asked her about the story she’s written, she would look around nervously and say, “I don’t know. It’s kinda like one of those stories where you defy fate to get your happy ending or something.”
‘I’m pretty sure that’s what she said.’
The description was vague, but it sounded wholesome. So he thought the protagonist would avoid the cliche trials and tribulations and make safe choices.
After a brief recollection, OO sat on the bed. He needs to assess the situation. The room was too dim to see clearly, but he could tell the body he resides in was male. If it had been female, he would’ve needed more time to adjust. Luckily that wasn’t the case. His age didn’t seem too old. And his face and arms were smooth. Judging by his eye level, he can tell that the body was quite tall. If he’s fully grown, it means that right now he is probably in his late teens or early twenties. Which is not too far off from his original age of twenty.
‘What’s my situation?’
He doesn’t seem to be hungry, meaning he hadn’t been imprisoned for very long. That made sense. There’s no bathroom in this room either. This place doesn’t seem like a place for someone to be kept in for a long time. Or maybe it’s because he has recently just woken up, and he hasn’t felt hungry yet. If so, the severe hunger might hit him soon.
‘Am I really imprisoned?’
The room looks like a prison, so of course that’s what he assumed. OO stood up to look for a door and he found one, but he couldn’t open it. There was no doorknob. Both the lock and handle seemed to be accessible from the outside only.
‘So I really am locked in.’
OO returned to sit on his bed and continued on with his thoughts. His sister’s cherished character is most probably the protagonist. But if the protagonist would start off in prison, maybe this story isn’t as wholesome or peaceful as he thought it’d be. But of course, starting off in prison doesn’t necessarily mean the protagonist was doomed. The Count of Monte Cristo was imprisoned too…
‘No, just because he got revenge doesn’t mean he was happy doing it. The fact he even had something to avenge was a tragedy in itself.’
For now, it’s difficult to speculate any further without meeting or seeing someone. Fortunately, it wasn’t long before he sensed a presence. Hearing footsteps approaching from beyond the door, OO got up from the bed. He was worried that just might be a passerby, but luckily that wasn’t it. The footsteps stopped right in front of the door.
The room was so dark that it was hard to notice the small window in the door. There was a scraping sound, and a small opening the size of a palm appeared. It was too narrow to see the person beyond clearly, but he could at least see their eyes.
“Satin.” The unfamiliar person beyond the door said.
‘Is that my name?’
Even though that might be true, he didn’t answer hastily. It could just be a term with some other meaning.
“Satin, why aren’t you answering?”
Seems like it really was his name. OO’s name is now Satin. Satin approached the door and responded.
“Yes…”
“Is your late response because you are dissatisfied with what I did to you?”
Dissatisfied? Satin had to second guess his earlier assumption. If this wasn’t a prison, although it’s similar to one, perhaps it’s a reflection room in a communal living environment? And the question about dissatisfaction suggested that was an incident worthy of this happened. What should he say? Should he deny it? Or claim he doesn’t remember?
‘Was this really my sister’s taste?’
In those viral reincarnation stories, the protagonist usually awakens as a despised member of a noble family or an outcast from the royal family, despite their high status. If you wake up as such a character, they can suddenly claim to have lost their memory and muddle through. The servants would run out, exclaiming that the young master or young lady had changed, and soon after, the family would gather, expressing their concern. This would help the protagonist realize what kind of novel they’ve been transported into.
Reincarnating into a novel you’re familiar with usually means everything will proceed smoothly, so there’s no need to pretend to have amnesia. You can plan ahead, improve relationships with characters you had bad blood with, accumulate wealth, and build a reputation. A swift and satisfying storyline. But it would be difficult for Satin to follow that progression because,
‘I haven't read my sister’s novel…’
Maybe entering a novel without knowing its contents might not have been the greatest move after all. Getting locked up in a reflection room at the very beginning suggests as much at least.
‘But there’s no need to worry.’
She said that they would definitely find happiness. There might be some obstacles along the way, but the character his sister cherished surely wouldn’t be stuck in misery forever.
OO knows his sister well. It’s not wrong to say that she’s the kindest person in the world. Even the clump of feathers said it was rare for someone to ascend to a higher dimension. Although Satin doesn’t understand the concept of “Higher Dimension”, surely…
“Aren’t you going to answer?”
Satin was so lost in his thoughts that the person outside had to ask him again, prompting Satin to speak, “I…”
Taking a brief moment, Satin finally decided to speak up, “Why am I here?”
They say it’s better to face problems head-on. Avoiding the problem right now might lead to more trouble later.
“You called me Satin, is that my name?” Satin pondered on how to convincingly act as someone with amnesia but couldn’t come up with a solid plan. Amnesia isn’t a common condition, so the person outside might’ve never heard about it.
“Who are you? Can’t you get me out of here?”
There was no immediate response to the string of questions. Satin pressed closer to the small window, trying to make out the person’s face. It’s too dark to make out their eye color, but judging by the deep-set of eyes and prominent eyebrows, they didn’t appear to be East Asian. Come to think of it, the name “Satin” didn’t sound Korean at all.
His sister had a hobby of reading web novels during her commute. And she would occasionally recommend the ones she found particularly interesting,
‘Since she likes fantasy, I guess she wrote a fantasy novel.’
Maybe he could spread some modern knowledge. Ever heard of Kimchi? As Satin was lost in thought again, there was a clunk, and the door opened. Reflexively, Satin took a step back.
“You don’t remember anything?”
The person behind the door was quite old. At least sixty, maybe even older. At least the white hair hinted that, but the face was hard to gauge precisely.
‘He doesn’t look completely Western either.’
Western-style fantasy has been popular for a long time and is still pretty trendy, but novels set in a real Western medieval context are rare. Korean-authored fantasy novels often feature a mix of modern European technology, Joseon dynasty political structures, and characters with modern mindsets. It’s pure fantasy. The character’s appearances are usually imagined as a mix of Western and Asian features.
It seems like his sister followed this formula as well.
‘I wonder what my face looks like.’
Satin absentmindedly touched his face, then dropped his hand. The old man outside the door frowned slightly and stared intently at Satin.
‘He must be suspicious.’
It’s reasonable. Who would believe someone who claimed to have lost their memory overnight? Even if the old man was skeptical, Satin could understand. He’ll just keep insisting since that wouldn’t randomly let him regain his lost memories.
“Do you really remember nothing at all?”
“Not exactly…”
Satin darted his eyes around, mimicking a shy child. In reality, he was naturally shy, but just thinking of this place as a novel gave him a strange sense of boldness, so he could only pretend to be shy.
“I think I’ve forgotten things about people. I can talk like this and know the names of things, but I don’t know who I am or who you are…” Satin mumbled and hesitated. All while intently observing the old man’s appearance.
The man was of average build and slightly shorter than Satin. Despite frowning, his face looked kind and not fierce.
“Am I in prison? Did I commit a crime?”
Credits:
TL: Sajin
PR: Sajin & Norangie
TL Comments:
TL: Never trust your sister’s taste. No. matter. what. (Saying this as an older sister)
PR: Dang acting innocent is crazy… Anyways CAIN WHERE ARE YOU?!
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