LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 78
Chapter 78
I paused for a moment, then carefully placed my fingerprint on the door lock, just as ‘On Raon’ had done.
The door smoothly opened, as if to confirm I had made the right move.
Ignoring my heart pounding so hard it felt like it would burst through my chest, I slowly stepped inside.
When I let go of the doorknob, the door closed slowly behind me.
Click. There was no sign of any presence in the dark interior.
The air was filled with a faint, stale smell characteristic of unoccupied spaces.
I fumbled for the light switch and turned it on.
The thick dust on the floor and furniture made it clear that no one had lived here for a while.
I left my suitcase by the entrance and walked further inside, leaving faint footprints with every step.
This place…
‘It’s so dirty…!’
Coughing from the dust rising with even the slightest movement, I put on a mask I always carried with me and opened the balcony window wide.
Then I found a mop and some cleaning cloths in a corner, hastily mopped the floor, and wiped the dust off simple furniture like the sofa and dining table.
Though it didn’t seem like the right time to be cleaning, I felt I had to, or else my respiratory health would suffer.
“All done!”
And simple chores help clear the mind.
I sat down on the sofa, feeling much calmer.
I had discovered and learned some things while cleaning.
I learned that this was the place where ‘On Raon’ lived.
And what I found was…
[To On Hae-jae]
It was a letter with my name neatly written on the front in Korean.
Not On Raon, but On Hae-jae. My real name.
Both the family name and given name.
On Hae-jae is definitely not a name you come across often.
‘So this letter is definitely meant for me, right?’
Unless On Hae-jae was a family name of On Raon, which seemed unlikely.
I took a deep breath and carefully opened the envelope.
Holding the opening downward, I gently shook the envelope, and a thick letter fell onto my lap.
The unfolded letter was written in English.
The white paper had neat handwriting.
To be cautious, I took out my student ID from a corner of my suitcase and compared the handwriting on the back with that on the letter. Although I wasn’t an expert in handwriting analysis, it looked like it had been written by the same person.
[To me from a faraway place
If this letter has found its way to you safely, the first thing I must say before anything else is that I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.]
‘What the…?’
The writer of the letter seemed to have the same thought as I did after writing that.
Below, in slightly messier but still legible handwriting, was the following:
[My goodness. Skipping introductions and straight to an apology. I think I learned letter etiquette once, but I can’t quite remember it now. Why is my handwriting so messy? I really am hopeless…
I hope you can understand all these mistakes. It’s just that things have been really hectic lately.]
I had considered ‘On Raon’ to be calm and composed, as shown in the one-minute PR video.
But the letter, following the unexpected apology, was written in a surprisingly light tone, which I found unexpected.
[Now, I know what I’m about to say will be hard to believe. But if you’re the one reading this letter, I think you will understand.
A few months ago, a letter arrived for me. To be exact, it was left on my desk. The very desk where you found this letter. At first, I thought a thief had broken in while I was out.
After confirming nothing was missing from the house, I carefully read the letter. To summarize, it said this:
We, from a far-off parallel world, had our souls accidentally swapped, and as a result, had to live unhappily in bodies that didn’t match our souls…
Of course, I didn’t believe such nonsense. The doctor diagnosed me with depression, not delusional disorder. The letter was so upsetting that I immediately threw it away.]
Despite the polite tone, there was a strange sharpness to it.
‘Come to think of it, this guy skipped the introduction as well…’
[But as you might have guessed, I gradually started to believe what was written in that letter. I’ll skip how they managed to convince me.]
It seemed like they were referring to the system.
As it concerned me, I found it increasingly interesting.
[They discovered the error that is “us” (I really dislike this term…) late and said they had to correct it as soon as they did.
Correcting it, of course, meant that I would become On Hae-jae, and you would become On Raon. Yeah, I know, it sounds absurd.]
The pace at which I read the letter quickened.
[Anyway, they said they needed the consent of one of us to make it happen.
I asked how you reacted when you heard this, but they said our worlds are so far apart that communication with you wasn’t possible. They can observe but not communicate, they said.
So the decision was entirely up to me. How could they fix our souls when they couldn’t even communicate with us?
Fortunately, while they had the ability to sneak into my house and leave a letter, they didn’t threaten or force me. Though they did plead, sending letters every minute, urging me to decide quickly.
Even though I came to believe their claim about our souls being swapped, I initially rejected their absurd proposal. They rudely insisted that couldn’t be the case, but what if you were living happily there?]
The next section was written in particularly strong, pressed handwriting.
[But if you have been experiencing the same things as I have, feeling rejected and out of place everywhere you go, and if swapping places could resolve all this…
I thought accepting their proposal might not be so bad.
Now you understand why I apologized, right?
Once again, I’m sorry for making such a major decision on my own.
I will live my life feeling guilty for having taken your name, your body, your family, and all the achievements you worked hard to attain—everything in your life that I can’t even begin to fathom. I think it’s my duty to bear this guilt, having escaped my reality to plunder your life.]
‘A kid who just turned eighteen…’
The letter felt a bit heavy in my hands.
[And since I’ve already done something so reckless, I’ll make one more request.
Be happy.
I know. You’re probably wondering how you can be happy when your world has been turned upside down overnight.]
This was something they told me to persuade me: once a soul returns to its original place after being in another world, it is followed by good luck for a while. At least for the amount of time it suffered in another dimension. They said the entire world would treat the returning soul like a parent finding a lost child, but believe it or not, I think it’s an exaggeration.
Anyway, they promised to ‘adequately’ compensate for the troubles caused by their mistake. ‘Adequately,’ they said. What could ‘adequate’ compensation from a group capable of interdimensional travel possibly mean? I don’t know, but I just hope it’s truly ‘adequate’ for us.
Damn it. Telling you to be happy when you must have been shocked by suddenly finding yourself in an unfamiliar world… I feel doubtful of myself for being so shameless. I’m sorry.]
“Haha…”
It wasn’t the right time to laugh, but a laugh escaped me.
[I feel like I’ve been gifted a one-way ticket on a spaceship that never returns to Earth. As my heart races like crazy day by day, it feels more like having my finger on the launch switch of a nuclear missile rather than a spaceship.
I change my mind dozens of times a day, wondering if this is really the right thing to do. I have no certainty. Sometimes, I even think the doctor might have missed diagnosing me with delusional disorder.
Ah, they sent me another letter. It says not to worry because I don’t have delusional disorder. How kind of them…
Anyway, if you, Hae-jae, are the one reading this letter, it means what they said is somewhat true.
It seems like morning is here, as I can hear the birds chirping.
Shall we go see the new sun now?
Waiting with a trembling heart for a half-finished spaceship, Raon
P.S. It feels like it’s been a long time since I’ve written a letter to someone with such a happy feeling. It might even be the first time. It would be nice if I had other letters to compare this to, but unfortunately, I don’t have any… I mean, who keeps letters they’ve already sent?
P.P.S. They called us humans who were not originally from this world, ‘aliens.’ Aliens? Are we supposed to be like E.T.? Knowing how others have seen me all this time made me feel worse. Still, I hope they didn’t say the same thing to you.]
It had been a long time since I’d read such a long letter in one go, even though it was just a letter.
Though I received P.P.S., the letter inside the envelope was not yet finished.
In fact, there was still more to read.
After blinking my dry eyes a few times from concentrating too long, I flipped to the next page of the letter.
[The Administrator has requested an interview.]
[You do not have the right to refuse.]
[You will be automatically summoned.]
Isn’t a request supposed to be a kind of plea?
However, since the system had fed me well a few hours ago, I let my body be carried away by the strange sensation of my consciousness being pulled away.
It was definitely not an opportunity to finally meet and punch the system directly.
When I came to my senses, I found myself sitting across a desk from the ‘Administrator.’
The Administrator appeared to be in human form, but it was hard to distinguish whether it was a he, a she, or an it.
“Hello.”
“Are you well?”
“Apparently not.”
How could someone piss me off this much in just two sentences? This bastard was definitely part of the system.
“Let me introduce myself. I am Administrator 14227 from the Dimension Management Bureau, Returnee Management Department. For security reasons, I cannot reveal my real name, so you may call me 14227, or, as you prefer, this bastard, that bastard, or any other insult you choose.”
“Crazy bastard….”