Bek shut out all outer senses, letting his body work automatically — cutting vegetables, putting water to boil, butchering masterfully the whole chicken he had bought. As his body worked, his mind was working full time, but in an entirely different direction. He sorted through all that had happened to him since he had woken up in bed that morning. He had woken up in what was quite obviously a very different world from the one he had come from. But as he thought that, another doubt sprung into his mind; did he come from the world of Greayknell, or was he always from this world, the world where he was in right now. Was he Trobek Ur, or was he Bek Hyung-So?
Try as he might, he found no answer within his mind. His head was a mess; memories of school life colliding with those of making potions, learning to drive a car, melding into meeting Remmy for the first time…
At that thought, a wave of melancholy hit him. In spite of all his confusion, Remmy had remained steadfast in his memories. The memories that included her blazed much brighter than the others, allowing him to recall them with ease. It was the presence of these memories that made him question himself even more; the memories of Trobek Ur were still vibrant within him, even as more memories of Bek Hyung-So slowly were uncovered, leaving him more confused with each revelation. Neither could he say anymore that Trobek Ur and Greayknell were just a dream, nor could he say for sure whether he was dreaming at that very moment. Searching his mind did nothing apart from leave him with more questions than answers.
Bek closed his eyes and sighed in frustration; and then immediately yelped in pain. Blood flowed along the grooves of the cutting board, coming from his left index finger, whose tip he had just sliced clean open when he closed his eyes. Cursing under his breath, he stuck the finger in his mouth as he walked over to the bathroom to look for a Band-Aid. Rummaging around the cabinet, he found one and stuck it on his finger. As he did so, another memory surfaced, of a young Remmy gritting her teeth in pain as an even younger (Tro)Bek held her hand in his, surrounded by a faint green glow as he muttered under his breath. A long cut on Remmy’s palm slowly closed up, as a green glow became more brighter. After the cut had closed up, Remmy had laughed a laugh of relief and hugged Trobek tightly, nearly crushing his ribs. Bek smiled at the sudden recollection; it was one his fondest memories of Remmy, one that had kept him going, through thick and thin.
As Bek looked at himself in the bathroom mirror, thinking of that moment, he shook his head.
No. He would not just give that up. He COULD not give it up. His last memory of Remmy had been her weeping her eyes out as he slowly melted away. A tear flowed down his eye as he recalled it.
No, he could not just forget about the life he had led in the other world. It was too vivid to have been a dream, and he had proof that it wasn’t, namely, that he had retained at least one of his powers. Sure, it could be that he had had this power in the world he was in right now, but that seemed like a very unlikely possibility. If he did have a power like that, a memory of him using it would have been within him, and he had recalled nothing of that sort. No, it meant that all the memories he had of Crescente, Zuriel, Remmy, of Trobek Ur were very likely real memories that he had experienced. Somehow, he had died, no, he had been KILLED; and had woken up in this world as Bek Hyung-So. While he was still unsure as to who he really was, he made up his mind on what he would do. He would continue living as Bek, all the while trying to figure out what had happened to him, and try to figure out who he was, or maybe decide who he would choose to be. It didn’t matter which world he was from; the fact remained that if it was possible to go from one world to another, there HAD to be a way to go back.
Bek nodded to himself and smiled.
“Wait for me Remmy, I promise I’ll see you again soon…”
Bek walked back to the kitchen with a Band-Aid and a new resolve, and continued cooking. After three quarters of an hour, a steaming plate of curry and rice lay on the table. Putting a spoonful to his already watering mouth, Bek let out a sigh of satisfaction. The tension building up in his body throughout the day ebbed away, as the curry warmed him to the core. It was just like how he remembered making for Remmy and the twins. The plate was empty within minutes, and Bek quickly polished off what was left in the pot.
Sighing like a man who had just eaten after days, he put away the dishes to be washed, and slowly walked towards the bedroom.
However, before he could even reach the doorway of the bedroom, Bek nearly collapsed from the sudden sensation of burning spreading out from his heart to the rest of his body. Gasping for air, he ripped open his shirt. The pendant hanging from his neck, free from the fabric, vibrated against his chest violently, the gemstone in the middle glowing a faint blue Bek tried to raise his hand to rip away the pendant from himself, but found it impossible to do so. His arms hung limply by his sides, and as he tried to stand up, his legs lost their strength too. Bek fell on his face on the carpeted floor, trying to call for someone, anyone, to help him against what now felt like a fire set alight within him, but his voice came out in nothing more than short, soft gasps. The pendant dug deeper into his chest as he lay helplessly, the burning getting even more intense. Tears streamed down his face as he tried in vain to move his body in some way to alleviate the sensation that had now taken over completely.
There were sudden cracking sounds, like a crystal shattering. The burning reached new heights. Unable to hold on any longer, Bek’s consciousness slipped away from him and he blacked out.
The early morning light filtered down on Bek’s face through a crack in the curtains. As it slowly got a bit stronger, his lips opened and a low groan escaped, like a beast waking up after a long slumber. Gradually, his eyelids parted, squinting at the sunlight. Bek Hyung-So sat up slowly on the floor, using the door frame as a support. His mouth felt like scorpions had made a nest in it; a bitter and stale taste filled it. As he sat up, his head throbbed in protest, wanting to remain in the position it had laid for the night. Scrunching up his face, Bek put a hand to his temples to massage them.
However, as he raised his hand, something tripped within him. A bluish-green glow emanated from his hand and enveloped his head. Shocked, Bek quickly withdrew his hand; the green glow faded, and the throbbing resumed with all its strength again. A sudden realisation dawned upon him. Slowly, he moved his hand back towards his head, while thinking of the words which had become almost his mantra, in his life as Trobek Ur. As his hand touched his forehead, those words came back to him as naturally as breathing.
“[Auto-Respite]”
His hand glowed that same bluish-green again as the spell activated instantly. The throbbing in his head disappeared almost, and the horrible taste in his mouth receded as well. The longer he held his hand to his head, the better he felt. Small aches and pains throughout his body, some that he hadn’t even noticed before, faded away. Bek closed his eyes and enjoyed the feeling. He had done the same many, many times, for himself, as well as for Remmy and the Twins. After every fight, every dungeon, he would cast that spell on his team mates, smiling with fondness as their fatigue melted away. However, it was different then. [Auto-Respite] was a basic support skill all healers had, but it was difficult to cast. It had a longer chant than the basic [Heal], was more difficult to control while casting, and did not actually heal wounds, only alleviated internal aches and pains. The more basic and much easier to use [Heal], while having the ability to heal wounds, did not have the same effects as [Auto-Respite], healing only external wounds and relieving pains caused by them. Hence, most healers opted to use [Heal]. Even for Trobek, a highly accomplished healer, the spell was difficult to maintain for long periods of time, so he only used it for brief moments outside of battle, ensuring to perform the correct chants to cast it in a controlled manner.
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
However, just now, he had cast the spell without any form of preparation. In fact, when he had accidentally cast it at first, he hadn’t even thought of doing so consciously, it had just happened. A complex spell as [Auto-Respite] could not be cast that simply, no matter how skilled the healer. Bek frowned. It was possible that what he was doing right now was nothing akin to his powers back in Greayknell; it might have been something entirely different. But the feeling, the faint glow from his hand, everything lined up with the spell he had known. Even while using it here, it had been triggered by the words [Auto-Respite]. This complicated his situation a bit more.
Yesterday, Bek had assumed he had kept some of the powers he had as Trobek Ur, but now he had witnessed that the way they functioned here was very different from what he remembered. He no longer had to go through long sequences of chants to cast them. Simply thinking about it allowed him to use the spell.
In order to confirm his theory, he thought of another spell, the simple [Heal]. Instantly, a familiar green glow emanated from his hand, but shut off again almost immediately. Confused, Bek tried it again, but with the same results. Frowning, Bek leaned against the doorframe. Why could he not use it?
And almost immediately, an answer came to his lips.
“I’m not injured.”
Bek flinched. He had not even thought of saying those words, yet they had just come to him. It had happened earlier as well, in the convenience store, and even earlier, when he had woken up in his bed the previous morning. Whenever he asked something about himself, the words seemed to force themselves out of him, almost like a reply to his question. It didn’t happen all the time, but it happened enough to make him sense that it was not simply his subconscious. As a test, he said,
“Who am I?”
“Bek Hyung-So, veterinary student.” The answer came to his mouth almost immediately.
The reply had come from within him, but it did not feel like it was he who had said it. Bek tried again.
“Who are you?”
“...” No response came. Perturbed, he tried it differently.
“Alright, WHAT are you?”
“...” Still no response came within him. Bek was now confused. Was he just being weird, thinking there was someone else inside him? He tried a few more similar questions, but the result remained the same, no responses. Bek leaned back, thinking hard. No, the answers definitely didn’t come from him. Sure they came from within him, but he had not thought nor wanted to speak them out loud, they had simply forced their way out from an unknown origin within him. He kept wracking his brain, but no solution presented itself to him. Bek let out a sigh. If only it were as simple as hitting the “Help” button in video games…
Suddenly, he jerked upright. What if it was as simple?
Tentatively, he said out loud,
“Uh, system information?”
“System [Guidance] in operation, partial functions available at present. Please level up to unlock advanced functions.” The words came to him again, from within him, but not spoken by him. Bek sat quietly in stunned silence. Was this really happening? Regaining his composure, he asked,
“What is my level?”
“Level 1. Progress towards next level: 0.0%. View current skills?”
“Uh, yes.”
“Acknowledged. Current Active Skills: [Heal] [Auto-Respite] [UNKNOWN] [UNKNOWN]. Current Passive Skills: [Medicine Preparation] [UNKNOWN]. Warning, memories unstable, information on some skills unavailable until manually recalled.”
This burst out of Bek Hyung-So like a river, not allowing him to take even a breath until they were spoken. Bek gasped for a short while for air. Coughing, he pulled himself up on the bed to recover. Was this really the best way to go about this? Could he just not see this info in like a status screen?
Bek thought of something while wondering about this. Clearing his throat and taking a deep breath, he repeated the question, but clamped his mouth shut immediately afterwards. As he finished asking, he could feel a pressure welling up inside him, but he kept his mouth staunchly shut. The feeling boiled inside for a while, but then died down. Immediately after that, a string of words appeared in his mind.
“Default outlet changed due to revoked permissions. Future updates will be outputted at the new outlet.”
Cautiously, Bek asked the same question again. This time, however, the answer did not force itself out of his mouth, but simply appeared in his mind. He grinned. This was so much better than being forced to say it out loud, like a text-to-speech engine!
But before he could celebrate this victory, a wave of exhaustion made him keel over. He felt drained, empty. A sudden light caught his eye. His hand was still emanating the bluish-green light. He had left [Auto-Respite] running! Bek quickly shut it off. Almost immediately, something popped into his head.
“Warning. Spirit reserves dangerously low. Shutting off non-essential functions to preserve energy.”
Before he could process these words, Bek flopped face down on the bed, feeling completely drained. His limbs and head felt like lead, and his eyelids forced their way downward. Bek suddenly remembered how demanding casting [Auto-Respite] was. It had a high demand on the caster’s energy, and even accomplished healers could only maintain it for a certain amount of time. Right now, Bek was back to being an absolute novice healer, and despite the fact he could cast the spell any time, it still had the same high demands on the user. Bek cursed himself for being so careless.
Bek drifted off almost immediately after his eyes shut close. However, before he passed out, he had the distinct feeling that he was forgetting something, but he felt too exhausted to give it any more thought, and fell asleep.
______________________________________________________________________________
Dr. Chae-Young checked the clock that hung above her desk at the clinic. 11:30 am. Bek Hyung-So was over two hours late. She frowned. Her apprentice had looked fine the day before, albeit a bit tired. She had assumed that’s what had made him keep calling her “Ma’am” until she had asked him to stop. Her cheeks coloured slightly upon remembering that.
Tapping her pen on the desk, she swivelled around and stood up. Walking to the receptionist who was reading a magazine, she asked,
“Did Bek Hyung-So call in to say anything?
The receptionist, startled, dropped the magazine and looked up.
“Uh n-no. I didn’t get any calls at all.”
“Tch, all right.”
"Should I call him?" The receptionist asked mildly.
"No that's fine, we don't have too many patients today, so I can manage by myself."
She turned around and headed back into her office.
Dr. Chae-Young examined the tiny kitten on the examination table. The tiny ball of fur mewled and then gave a small sneeze. Smiling, she turned to the young boy and girl standing nervously behind her.
“Don’t worry, this poor guy has just caught a small cold. Take extra care of him for a few days and he’ll be just fine.”
A look of relief washed over the pair. Thanking her profusely, they carried the kitten out of the clinic again.
The doctor checked the clock again. 4:30 pm. Gritting her teeth, she closed down the office and headed back into the reception.
“Close up the clinic and take the rest of the day off, I’m heading out for today.”
Heading into the locker room, she switched her lab coat for a dark brown overcoat, and headed outside. The sun was still up in the sky, but a chill was slowly permeating the air. Pulling her coat closer, Dr. Chae-Young turned left and started heading in the direction of Bek Hyung-So’s apartment.
______________________________________________________________________________