Like a marionette with broken strings reattached, Nam Hae-soo staggered to his feet.
I was shocked—
“Eek?!”
Even his wife, who had accepted his death without a flicker of emotion until now, was startled.
Bang! Bang! Bang…!
The frantic gunfire from the traitors and snipers hidden on the cruise ship revealed their panic as well.
What was even more shocking?
This bizarre phenomenon was only the beginning.
“……”
With a twisted, pain-ridden expression, he opened his mouth wide in a silent scream.
Tick, tick, tick…
His body, once penetrated easily by bullets, began to change as if the hard metal had grown beneath his skin.
Srrk—
His arms and legs shriveled like wilted flowers, and his flesh clung to bone as the fat vanished.
Then his body started flattening, becoming thin—like a blade.
It was unmistakable—
“A Sword Demon…?”
But not yet.
He still had only two arms—like a human.
Thunk! Thunk!
Two ribs near his underarms burst outward and transformed into blade-like limbs.
Now he had four arms.
He had fully become a Sword Demon.
“H-honey?!”
“……”
Staring with cold eyes, the resurrected creature that had been Nam Hae-soo gazed at his betraying wife.
“I-I’m sorry…!”
“……”
“Please! Think of our child! Genetically, he’s undoubtedly your heir—your true son…!”
“……”
The Sword Demon swung its arm.
Slice!
Her head dropped as her pleading cries were cut short.
Then—
“Unbelievable…”
“Waaah~!”
I leapt forward, snatching the newborn from the stroller and embraced him tightly.
Slash—
The stroller was split cleanly in half.
If I hadn’t intervened, this newborn life would have been taken too.
“……”
Nam Hae-soo’s vacant eyes stared at me, jaw slightly parted.
There was no need to guess who his next target would be.
Bang—!
If not for a third party, I would be dead.
Bullets from the cruise ship struck him again, pounding against him harshly.
Wobble—
Dents formed on his blade-like body, as though piercing a thin sheet of metal. The recoil alone would’ve been unbearable for a normal person.
Was it irritating him?
Or did he view them as a threat?
“……”
His gaze shifted away from me—toward the cruise ship.
Then he charged in a straight line.
“…This can’t be real!”
From the luxurious villa, he dove into the ocean—
And slid over the waves, speeding forward as if skating on water.
Only his razor-sharp toes touched the surface, gliding like a figure skater toward the ship!
He ignored gravity, surface tension—every natural law—and moved at terrifying speed.
Bang! Bang! Bang…!
Suppressive fire erupted to stop him, and the cruise ship finally began moving to escape.
“What is even happening…?”
The villa was wrecked with gunfire and a headless corpse.
To escape the Sword Demon who might return after slaughtering the traitors on the ship, I had to flee immediately.
“Kang Moon-soo.”
I froze.
A familiar woman’s voice called out from behind.
“…You again? Witch.”
Witch.
A nickname I gave her because I didn’t know her real name, though anyone could see she dressed like a sorceress.
Once again, the witch wearing a wide-brimmed black pointed hat sat on the villa’s sofa, legs crossed.
“Witch, huh? Then I should call you Shaman, shouldn’t I?”
“I don’t mind.”
“…I didn’t expect someone who hates his own ‘calling’ to take that title so casually.”
“What are you doing here?”
“I told you before. This world was created by me. The homeowner has simply come home.”
“This world is the dream of Swimming Emperor Nam Hae-soo.”
“And I created that dream. Am I speaking too difficultly for you?”
“……”
A deep frown formed on my forehead—clearly, she was treating me like an idiot.
“Mr. Nam Hae-soo was finding happiness in the world he wanted. Why disrupt that?”
“This world is not reality.”
“And what defines reality?”
“…The real world.”
“Do you have proof that the world you believe in is real? What if it was created by someone else—just like this one?”
“……”
Her sharp question pierced straight through me.
The witch smiled as she watched me fail to respond.
“Mr. Kang Moon-soo.”
“…What now?”
“Just admit it.”
“……”
“You’re no different from Nam Hae-soo—just another human living inside a dream.”
As virtual reality and artificial intelligence advanced, intellectuals fell into despair.
Why?
“There is a 99% probability that the world we live in is also virtual.”
That conclusion.
A world full of simulated AI that believes, “We are humans”—
Just like creators (humans) believe the same thing.
Could there not be a creator above the creator?
Just as machines built by humans can build other machines.
There is no definitive proof we are “real humans.”
“Look at Mr. Nam Hae-soo.”
“……”
“He wanted to rewrite the past, but he failed to fulfill his wish and was murdered by the betrayal of his wife and subordinates.”
“And that’s my fault?”
“Yes. Because of your interference, all his closest aides went to prison. Even the head of his private army was defeated by you on the plane.”
“Hm…”
Her accusation wasn’t incorrect. I had indeed sabotaged Nam Hae-soo.
To force him to abandon the dream.
Just like Kim Eun-jung, who possessed the heroine of the romance fantasy 《I Became the Youngest Daughter of a Count Family 》, and ruined everything so the protagonist would break free.
“His transformation into that creature is your doing.”
“Into that?”
“…I’m talking too much.”
“Witch. Do you know what caused Mr. Nam Hae-soo to turn into a sword demon—transforming from human into monster?”
“Of course.”
“……”
So she claimed it was my fault.
Was it true?
I felt shaken.
“Nam Hae-soo won’t stop killing until the world he loves is completely destroyed. Love twisted into hatred, perhaps.”
“…Is that really true?”
“Why would I lie to an intruder?”
“You never know.”
“If you don’t believe me, then watch. You’ll see soon enough.”
“Hm…”
She sounded sure enough that I had to consider the possibility.
But so what?
Once Nam Hae-soo destroys this dream and this world collapses, he will wake up.
That’s a success in my book.
“Ah! I get it now.”
“What?”
“You’re angry that I ruined everything.”
I finally realized why the witch had appeared before me again.
“No. If that were the case, I would have killed you the moment I saw you. Look down.”
“Down? Huh…?”
Ssssk—
Before I knew it, a thick rope was wrapped around my neck, and the hardwood floor beneath my feet had turned into clear glass showing the ocean below.
A hanging.
Execution by strangling the neck, specifically the drop-hanging method, where the support is removed and the person is left suspended to die.
Anyway—
‘When did this happen?!’
I hadn’t noticed at all until she pointed it out.
“Do you understand now? I can kill you anytime I want.”
“…What’s your objective?”
“Guess. If you’re wrong… well, you understand, don’t you?”
The glass holding my feet would disappear.
The witch’s goal—
If it wasn’t revenge, only one answer came to mind.
“…You’re saying I shouldn’t interfere with someone else’s happiness.”
“Correct.”
Beneath her hat, covering half her face, a faint smile curled on her lips.
“I’ll ask one thing.”
“Go ahead.”
“Do you think Mr. Nam Hae-soo was happy before I interfered?”
“Of course.”
“Even while marrying a woman he never loved?”
“Shaman, you said one question, didn’t you?”
Her voice didn’t waver.
There was no room for persuasion.
In that case—
“Witch. I want to make something clear as well.”
“Is this a question?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
“The world you created is nothing more than a drug — one that lures people with pleasure and slowly destroys them.”
“……”
She didn’t argue.
Clunk.
The floor vanished, and weightlessness and gravity swallowed me.
That was her answer.
‘Ruthless!’
But if she truly meant to kill me, she should have tied my arms.
“Waaah?!”
I tossed the baby as carefully as possible onto a bed—
Grab!
Before the rope could fully tighten around my neck, I seized it with both hands and slipped my head out.
“Hey! If I meet you in reality I’ll— huh?!”
Crrrack.
Suspended in midair, gripping the rope attached to the villa roof, I was stunned.
What I thought was a sturdy rope… was rotten.
About to snap at any moment.
“I told you. I don’t intend to kill you.”
“Damn it! Just wait till next time~!”
Splash!
I plummeted from the villa into the sea.
‘That witch…!’
When I meet her again, I’ll pluck every hair off her head so she can never wear that hat again!
Shhhhh—!
For someone who could swim a 10km marathon with ease, drowning in a beach was impossible.
I quickly swam ashore.
“Moon-soo!”
While I wrung out my wet clothes on the sand, a girl ran at me and tackled me against her chest.
“H-Han-hee?”
“Hic… hic!”
Park Han-hee hugged me tightly, crying hard.
“I’m fine.”
“Idiot! You could’ve at least told me you were alive! Do you know how worried I was…?!”
“……”
I couldn’t say anything.
“Everyone else is safely attending the Olympic opening ceremony. But I’m not a national athlete, so…”
“I see.”
“So I stayed behind and searched everywhere for you.”
It seemed Nam Hae-soo hadn’t laid a hand on her.
“Sorry.”
“Where have you been all this time?”
“On this island…”
It seemed he’d played one last dirty trick to keep us apart until the very end.
Nam Hae-soo was a petty man through and through.
“No more dangerous stunts from now on!”
“That’s not something I can just—”
“Don’t do it!”
“…Fine.”
“Promise me right here! If you’re gone, who am I supposed to marry?!”
“Marry…?”
“Hurry!”
It felt like I was being suddenly forced into a marriage agreement.
“…Way to ruin a touching reunion.”
In the blink of an eye, the scenery changed.
I was left numb.
It was all a dream.
And even though I knew that from the beginning, the emotional shock was harsher than expected.
“You finally woke up.”
“Section Chief Seo Hye-ju?”
“That’s right, it’s me. Looks like your brain cells are intact.”
Section Chief Seo, my co-worker, joked as she examined me.
Which meant—this was reality.
Park Han-hee had been burying her face into my soaked chest, crying when I woke up from the dream.
No wonder I felt so uneasy.
Once again, I hadn’t even been able to say a proper goodbye.
“How long was I asleep?”
“62 days and 9 hours. Far longer than we expected. Did Mr. Nam Hae-soo really turn into a dolphin?”
“No. He became human. Someone completely different from Nam Hae-soo.”
“Yet you still managed to find him, huh?”
“I worked hard.”
Thanks to that, I also got to personally experience the bizarre politics and society of the past era.
“Well done.”
“What about Mr. Nam Hae-soo?”
“He woke up before you and already contacted his family via video call.”
“Oh…!”
That was a relief!
In the dream, he had died from betrayal and become a sword demon.
For a moment, I truly thought something had gone horribly wrong.
Patients dying in their own dreams—
Thanks to Song Sun-young, who practically committed suicide for breakfast, I wasn’t sure what to expect. But apparently, even if you die in a dream, you still wake up.
‘All that struggle was pointless!’
I couldn’t defeat the world’s strongest hero, Choi Kang-min, in the dream—but Kim Eun-jung, born into the Count’s family, had endless chances to kill.
Assassination, conspiracy, war, poison…
If only I had known dying in a dream was fine, I wouldn’t have wasted time trying to persuade anyone.
‘I’ll kill them from now on.’
It might not be healthy for the patient’s psyche, but my time was more valuable than coddling their fantasies.
And so what if they experience death?
In reality, you can’t buy an experience like that, no matter how much money you throw at it.
“Good work.”
“You too, Section Chief.”
“The moment he woke up, Mr. Nam Hae-soo immediately talked about inheritance. Probably because you explained things in the dream, right?”
“Yes.”
He must have accepted reality the moment he opened his eyes.
“He asked that all his assets be liquidated and used for cultural heritage preservation in Korea.”
“…What about his family?”
“Of course they’re furious. You know how much he owns.”
“I can imagine.”
They must be racing over in shock to try and talk him out of it.
“Oh, and he left a message for you, too.”
“I’ll hear it from him directly.”
“……”
Seo Hye-ju’s expression changed subtly.
“What is it?”
“He’s already passed away.”
“…What?”
“Cause of death: cardiac arrest. Just as we were preparing to rush over after hearing the news, you woke up.”
“……”
The dream hadn’t ended as just a dream.
‘Was it my fault…?’
The witch’s warning—not to sabotage someone’s happiness—stabbed into my chest like a dagger.