Dream 3

As I slowly regained consciousness, I opened my eyes to narrow slits, piecing together what I saw with the sounds around me.

“…Right? I’m pretty sure he matches the description.”

My wrists were cuffed and fastened to something.

Clunk!

The place was the inside of a moving transport van.

‘But seriously, if that really is him, what on earth happened? I mean, it’s unbelievable that a man who’s been missing for over a year would suddenly be found at home, and I’ve never heard that he was violent.”

Hmm, so this is the setting?

No wonder the difficulty felt so high for what was basically supposed to be a tutorial stage.

Five grown men breaking in by punching in a password wasn’t enough—they had tasers too?

‘Damn, not even giving me a knife while the ranged mobs get Tasers? That’s basically telling me to lose.’

Judging by the setup, losing and getting captured at the beginning was scripted. The real quest probably began after that.

“Enough talking. Once we get to the station and take his fingerprints, we’ll find out if he’s Lee Han-soo or not.”

…Whew, well, at least I’m still alive.

“Team Leader Kang? This bastard is smiling.”

“What?! He’s awake?”

When the man next to me said that I had woken up, Chief Kang, who was sitting in the passenger seat, flinched and turned around.

‘What, I couldn’t kill him? Did I let go of him too soon?’

With only three people left in the car, the other two had probably already been taken to the hospital for treatment.

“Lee Han-soo! You stay still! No matter what you’ve been through, if you cause another disturbance here, then no matter what your mother says, we’ll have to proceed according to the law!”

It seemed Team Leader Kang was worried that I might cause another scene in the car.

Do I look like an idiot?

“Yes. I’m sorry. I will stay still.”

I told them in the most polite voice possible that I wouldn’t cause any more trouble.

But maybe he found it ridiculous?

“What’s with this bastard… Why did he suddenly become so docile?”

I mean, I was literally being CC’d right now.

Unless I had the body of a warrior capable of shattering handcuffs in an instant with monstrous strength.

An ordinary Lee Han-soo becomes useless once handcuffed.

So…

“It might be an escape mission. Just as there are dreams where you beat up monsters, there are also dreams like this.’

Rather than attempting a hopeless escape, I decided to play nice and gather some information.

Think of it as the tutorial phase.

Yeah, so…

“Officer, I was too flustered earlier. Suddenly, strangers were trying to enter my house using a password, so I was startled… I apologise once again for what happened earlier.”

Instead of resorting to the barbarian way of thinking, I offered a clean, polite, modern apology.

But strangely enough—

Chief Kang’s face didn’t lighten; it grew darker instead.

“Cut the crap.”

…Wow, I apologized and he calls it crap?

I really should’ve finished them off earlier—

“You were laughing, weren’t you?”

…Huh?

“…Absolutely not, officer.”

“Hah… We’ve really landed a crazy one. Hey, what did this bastard call us earlier?”

“He said we were goblin cops.”

Ah, that.

“Haha, I misspoke in the heat of the moment. Please calm down and maybe explain what’s going on—”

“Shut up!!”

Whoa, what’s with the sudden outburst?

“Just shut the hell up and stay put, you bastard!!
I’m barely holding back as it is!”

Ugh, stop spitting on me.

“……”

I didn’t understand why he was blowing up like that, but it was obvious I shouldn’t provoke him any further.

So, I shut my mouth and quietly organized my thoughts.

After a while, the van finally stopped at what seemed to be a nearby police station and the door slid open.

Blinding sunlight.

The sweet scent of flowers in the free air.

“Get out.”

Oh, is this the moment for an escape—

“Don’t even think about it. Unless you wanna taste electricity again.”

Damn it…

‘Fine. First priority is getting these cuffs off. The moment they’re removed, that’s the trigger. For now, just endure.’

Having abandoned the idea of escaping for the moment, I followed the team leader into the police station, flanked on both sides by his men.

After a short lift ride, we arrived at an interrogation room.

‘One, two, three, four, five, six…’

The entire building was teeming with Goblin Officers, and this floor was no exception.

When does this tutorial even end?

I had no idea, but I followed Chief Kang’s instructions, gave my fingerprints and was briefly held in a cell before being called out for questioning.

“We’ve contacted your family, so they’ll be here soon. Oh, and since you probably didn’t hear earlier when you fainted, Lee Han-soo, you have the right to remain silent…”

Unlike before, Chief Kang was now speaking politely. After reading out the Miranda rights, he asked me the first question.

“Name: Lee Han-soo. Age: 30. Went missing from his home over a year ago. First, tell us this. Why were you there today?”

“I just opened my eyes and I was there.”

A completely honest answer, with no exaggeration. However, my unintentionally ‘barbaric’ honesty seemed to irritate someone else in the room.

The lackey next to him flared up and raised his arm.

“…Found yourself there’? You little punk, watch your tone when talking to Chief Kang!”

“Enough, Detective Park! He’s someone who went missing and was found after over a year! We don’t know what he’s been through, so bear with it for now.”

“But Chief! Because of him, Jihoon’s in the ER! The ER!”

“…That’s enough! If you’re going to interfere with the investigation, get out, you punk!”

Mob A let out an irritated huff and slumped back into his seat.

“Huh… Sorry for the commotion. Mr. Lee Hansu. Let’s resume the investigation. We have a lot of questions for you right now. Of course, you have the right to remain silent, but we hope you won’t exercise it.”

“Yes, don’t worry. I will cooperate sincerely with the investigation.”

“No, don’t just listen casually, I mean it. A Korean detective was injured. One almost died from being choked. If we don’t protect you, you’re really in big trouble. Understand?”

“Yes.”

I answered half-heartedly, letting the words wash over me. Team Leader Kang let out a deep sigh and resumed the investigation. I answered as truthfully as possible.

The problem was, he didn’t think I was being sincere.

“So you’re saying that while you were playing a game called Dungeon & Stone, you suddenly got pulled into its world?”

“Yes.”

“And the way you speak is because you had to survive as a race called “Barbarian” in that world. And now, you were exploring a place called the Dreaming Waterfalls and fell asleep, and this place is that dream world?”

“Oh, right.”

I nodded, impressed by his neat summary, but…

“Wow…” someone muttered beside me. “Wow… This guy is a real nutjob…”

“Could it be schizophrenia?”

“Seems like it.”

Although it was frustrating to be treated like a lunatic for telling the truth, I could see the advantage.

If they thought I was mentally unstable, they’d lower their guard.

They are all ‘enemies’.

And in that sense…

Click, click.

I picked up the ballpoint pen in front of me and fiddled with it.

‘The tip is quite…’

Sharp.

If I stab a vital point like the eyeS, they’d be incapacitated and could suffer permanent damage.’

‘I’ve figured out how to unlock the cuffs too.’

While I was being questioned, I continued to observe my surroundings and eventually found a way to free myself from the cuffs.

I came up with the idea after watching them remove the cuffs from someone else being questioned in the next room.

‘The waist.’

The officers keep the handcuff keys on their belts.

In simple terms, it means if I just subdue Team Leader Kang, I can take the key from his waist and remove the CC.

“Team Leader… Shouldn’t we send him for a psychiatric evaluation before this investigation?”

“I’ll handle it, so just mind your own business. You really have that much free time to waste?”

The interrogation continued. Surprisingly, Chief Kang actually took me seriously and listened to my story.

After some time, he asked, ‘You must be hungry. Let’s eat first. Would you like jjajangmyeon or jjamppong?”

“Jjajang. Oh, and soda too.”

“…Got it.”

I buried my face into the black noodles he brought and and slurped them up greedily, then suddenly paused.

“Kaaaaaaah……”

Could something taste this real?

“What’s wrong? You were enjoying it a second ago.”

“It’s just… weird.”

“Weird? It looks fine to me.”

“In previous dreams, I’ve eaten stuff too, but I couldn’t taste it.”

“That’ll do for the questioning. When you’re done, pass me the bowl. There’s someone you need to meet.”

“Someone to meet…?”

“Who else could it be? Mr. Lee, your—ah, she’s here! Miss, over here! This way!”

I turned around as he waved.

“Han-soo…”

The same long skirt she always wore.

The old, worn-out sneakers.

That bucket hat she always wore to hide her rough, unkempt hair.

And beneath its brim was the face I’d longed to see, yet never wanted to see again.

“Ahh…”

My mother clutched her mouth and collapsed to the floor, sobbing.

Seeing that, I let out a hollow laugh.

“Pfft…”

It certainly made it feel more like a dream.

“Pffft! Hahahahahaha!”

But damn… it felt awful.

***

A small, studio-sized dorm room whose name I couldn’t even remember.

My mother was always busy at work, coming home late, and I wasn’t mature enough to understand her.

“You’re the reason,” she always said.

“I should never have had you,” she cried.

Still, I loved her.

I begged her to stay with me. Once—just once—she did.

That day, we were together.

She read me my favorite fairy tale. Cooked instant noodles when I got hungry. We cuddled under the blanket in the cold room, sharing snacks.

I said I wished every day could be like this.

She said, “Let’s make it that way.”

The next day, she took me to an amusement park.

That was the last time.

She disappeared from in front of the carousel and I was only picked up by the amusement park staff at closing time.

I don’t remember much after that.

Countless adults came and went. I slept somewhere new almost every night.

Child neglect. Abandonment.

Denial of custody

Adults whispered complicated words behind my back, but even as a kid, I understood vaguely—

I’d never see her again.

‘I understand now. You were just tired of it all.’

Now, I can’t say I don’t understand her.

A sick child.

One who constantly caused pain.

And not just that—

A cursed presence that brought disaster wherever he went.

Lee Han-soo.

That was me.

So maybe it was only natural.

My mother was only a few years older than I am now. Like any other miserable person, she needed something — or someone — to hate.

The desire to throw everything away and run away must have tempted her at every moment.

Well, what happened after that is another story, though.

[Kyaaa! Don’t come near me! Just disappear from my life forever!]

When I found her again years later, as an adult—

She screamed and shouted those words.

After that, I never sought her out again.

So when Hyun-byeol later told me news about my mother, I really was… surprised.

“[She was talking about the inheritance for a long time… Then she asked the police if there was any way to report you as deceased before the missing person period expired.]”

I guess she heard the news and got greedy for the money?

Or maybe she just wanted me gone for good?

Only she knows what she was really thinking, but one thing is clear.

“Sob… Hansu-yah… I’m sorry, I’m sorry… Mom is so sorry……”

She wasn’t the kind of woman who should be crying like this now.

Thanks to that, I was even more certain that this place was a dream world.

“I… I really wanted to meet you and tell you. I know I don’t have the right… but can you forgive me…? This foolish mother……”

Watching my sobbing mother, I finished my assessment.

‘This… might be usable?’

Not bad, actually.

So, I reached out my hand toward my crying mother.

While suppressing all the emotions rising inside me.

“I forgive… you……”

“R-Really…?”

“Yes…. Because that’s what you taught me……”

Like a priest granting absolution for all sins, I reached out and gently placed my hand over my mother’s.

Hansu Lee’s hands were surprisingly small.

I tenderly stroked the back of her hand, then slowly turned my head towards Chief Kang.

“Detective, could you please take off my handcuffs for a moment?”

“…No.”

“Damn it.”

So that didn’t work after all.

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