“Kkuuk.” Joo-o leaned back against the headboard and glanced at Dr. Jeong’s chart.When he first met Jin Muhae and spent a night here, Dr. Jeong had asked questions and gotten some answers out of him.Back then, his mind had been foggier, and he’d almost blurted out his excitement at finally entering the game’s story.Still, Dr. Jeong impressively picked up on everything: my name, my body’s reactions, every little detail.As Joo-o struggled to recall those hazy memories, Dr. Jeong nodded toward Joo-o’s shoes.“Why don’t you have Muhae make you some clothes?”“My clothes are fine, but my shoes are worn out.”“The hide you brought must’ve all gone into your jacket.”“Yeah, but that’s okay. It wasn’t me who needed it—it was Jin Muhae.”Finishing his sentence, Joo-o popped a jelly from his pocket—he’d stashed some earlier—and bit down.As the sweet, chewy flavor spread across the back of his tongue, he smiled so wide his eyes nearly closed.“What if you need something else?”“I’ll just tell Jin Muhae.”“Think he can get everything for you?”“He’d only promise what he could actually do.”Dr. Jeong studied Joo-o’s eyes again, then pulled a twisted puzzle from his pocket, handed it over, and turned to walk out past the curtain.“From what I’ve seen, nothing seems wrong. I can’t do a more detailed exam in a place like this.”“That’s fine. I was just wondering if something’s changed—he’s been talking more lately.”“Hmm. Must be psychological. But that’s not really my field.”Their quiet conversation rang clearly in Joo-o’s ears. He soaked up every word about himself and began shaking the puzzle in his hands.Apparently, he’d already solved this puzzle in the game. But maybe there was another solution he’d missed.“I found some reference materials on what you mentioned. Look them over, and if it’s not enough, let me know.”“Thanks. Oh, and I’ve been thinking about what you said last time—it doesn’t feel very efficient.”“Whenever a group’s small factional interest gets involved, things tend to go that way. We’d have to analyze efficiency theoretically…”Joo-o had no memories from before possessing this body—aside from his name and age, he couldn’t recall where he’d lived, what he’d done, what he’d learned, or how he’d thought.But he still had “common sense.” Objects fall downward, hard things break soft things. People get clean by washing, and when they’re hurt they see a doctor. Children spend days at school, adults at work.Cities don’t sit under domes. The sky’s blue, the earth’s dark. The slightly different accent of villagers from his childhood had been diluted—nearly vanished—since humans ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) began living in the Comfort Zone.1 plus 1 is 2, 8 divided by 2 is 4, 3198 times 1189 is 3802422.Yet he’d never encountered the kind of political intrigue, the physical laws, or the economic theories Dr. Jeong described.Joo-o absorbed their talk like a sponge and turned it over in his mind.Fifteen years after possessing this body, he finally began retracing his past in human thought.Twenty-two years old… not far from Jin Muhae’s age. Not exactly “young,” but not that lived either.How many years of this short life had he poured into this miserable La Vida Blue?Why, aside from his name and personal profile, did his mind hold nothing else? Was there forbidden information he wasn’t supposed to remember from outside the game?Endlessly awaiting a main story that might never begin in a monster’s body was truly awful—he’d spent most of that time zoned out.Yet that cannot fully explain why he woke up at dawn. Lately, Joo-o even dreamed.He couldn’t recall the content, but he vaguely sensed it were fragments of a past before La Vida Blue.A hollow feeling even more empty than wandering a strange world as an Anomaly.The sensation of falling forever into a hole so deep it made him shudder…With his limited vocabulary, he could only define that strange feeling—of which not even a sliver remained in memory—as a dream from before La Vida Blue.“It’s weird,” he thought. “Why did I start dreaming?” Maybe something changed when I completed Chapter One.But thankfully, this change wasn’t uncomfortable or scary. Honestly, he rather liked it. He’d been stuck in the same situation far too long—this was infinitely better than endless stagnation.Think about it: the System menu changed, a mode appeared, then the mode’s activation turned the Anomaly back into a human.When time’s stagnant flow shifted, Jin Muhae appeared! He met him, touched him, lived with him, and Joo-o strove to survive.The next change will come in Joo-o’s future—long predicted to vanish. So Joo-o felt okay.Though his body trembled when he woke from those unremembered dreams, he was glad they existed.The tremor always faded once he pressed himself against Jin Muhae. No fear at all.“…You want me to memorize that again? Fantastic.”“Right.”“No, seriously, I’m going crazy.”Clack. Distracted, Joo-o solved the puzzle the way he’d before.He set the separated wires beside the bed, strode over, and said to both of them, “I want to stay here too.”Muhae glanced at Dr. Jeong, then back at Joo-o—asking if it was okay to leave this nuisance here.“Give it a try. You may never have attended an academy, but you’ve learned plenty.”Dr. Jeong cast a quick look at Joo-o, then turned his attention back to Muhae. It meant he didn’t mind. Joo-o beamed and sat down beside them.Seen like this, Jin Muhae was callous and unfriendly, yet somehow… kind enough.He always snapped at Joo-o, but he’d mostly tolerated Joo-o’s insistence on tagging along.[퀘스트]Main QuestTutorial (Completed)CHAPTER 1 (Completed)CHAPTER 2☞ The One Responsible for Past Reforms (In Progress)- Planned Duty[Planned Duty]A four-day covert assignment isn’t difficult.But the Cloud wants more than mere surveillance.Everything’s going smoothly. If there’s one drawback, it’s that Jin Muhae kicks Joo-o out of bed every morning.His kicks don’t hurt, whether he stomps or taps, but Joo-o wanted to feel Muhae’s body heat more—smell him, nuzzle his head.‘I like being touched.’Is Muhae uncomfortable with it? If so, sorry—but I’ll keep pressing my face to his skin anyway.Bury my nose to smell him, rub my lips, press myself close to hear his heartbeat.Any contact with him was sweeter than any reward or meal. Let anyone in La Vida Blue touch my head or cheeks, but Muhae did it best.When we snagged that stonemason and almost dropped it, Muhae touched me so much—it felt good, but it’s a shame. He fussed so much then that I forgot my usual restraint and even tasted him.Of course I didn’t eat him as “meat.” I just felt a wildly different flavor, like a tremor of delight.Muhae definitely smelled good, yet he still got angry—his real-world personality seems worse than in the game.‘This is bad.’Normally Muhae’s blunt but not nasty; cold yet clearheaded.He’d scratch just enough to move the story forward, coaxing characters along as needed.At this rate, who knows when or where some needless conflict might arise? That thought made Joo-o serious.‘I’ll have to meet that person soon.’Especially since Muhae’s suddenly stopped talking about Sakdal. An unexpected problem might crop up in that storyline.Fortunately, Joo-o had tried everything on every map in this world—he was confident he could lead Muhae through whatever happened.‘Well, I’ll just have to step up.’No problem. Since Muhae now acted in ways the game never did, Joo-o also had real-world freedom of choice.“Is that really okay?”“Yeah.”“Even as you stare at empty air and slice it like that?”“Then collect about 4,000 dil and take me to a real hospital. I’m getting tired of this, Muhae.”

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