Chapter 44

Whether this was a sign that I was about to return to my original body.

Or that true death was approaching, I couldn’t tell, but it was clear that the time to part with Dami was drawing near.

A thought suddenly occurred to me.

It wouldn’t do any good for me to keep getting involved in Dami’s gaming.

Once I’m gone, Dami will have to stand on her own.

But what would happen if I kept showing her the answer sheet, telling her what was best and how to do things?

She needed to develop the ability to think for herself, but I was just getting in the way.

From then on, I intentionally held my tongue.

Since Dami could feel my thoughts just by me thinking them strongly, I sometimes even closed my eyes during games.

Empty mind, no thoughts.

As if the game’s Win-Loss had nothing to do with me, I distanced myself for a while.

The reaction was immediate.

Infinity Gaming, who had been last in the First Division League the previous year.

After being relegated to the Second Division League, Infinity Gaming, who had been running in third place, suffered their first unexpected blow from Super Sylph.

The cause of the defeat was the team’s lack of tactical completeness, and Seo Dami’s slump.

-Is there a day when General Seo doesn’t play well?

-Shudder;;

-Let’s get it straight. Was it Dami who played poorly? The others were the ones who sucked ass!

-It’s true she was worse than usual.

-Even when she’s worse than usual, she’s still better than the other players?

-Her Annual Salary is 700 million Won, you know? Of course she has to be good ㅋㅋ;;

-So you’re saying General Seo isn’t worth 700 million Won right now?

-If she doesn’t win the championship, it’s 350 million, dammit. Stop inflating her Annual Salary!!!

At the first loss of the Season, the Spectators grumbled with dissatisfaction.

Still, there wasn’t much criticism directed at the player.

Winning the championship with a perfect record was just that absurd, and the Pro League was a place where you win some and you lose some.

The Coach and the other Coach encouraged the players, saying they just had to do well next time.

But even after returning to her room, the expression on Dami’s face didn’t easily relax.

I remembered the day I first met the kid.

The Seo Dami from the time she quietly confessed to me on the rooftop why she had fallen.

The Dami of now had a face full of worry, just like back then.

“Oppa. Did I perhaps do something wrong…?”

<No.>

“But why were you… like that today?”

Unlike usual, there was no advice.

He didn’t even strike up a lively conversation.

So, of course, she would have known something was off.

To her question of whether something was wrong with me, I answered bluntly.

<I can have bad days too, you know.>

“Can’t you tell me what made you feel bad?”

<No.>

“…Okay.”

I wasn’t actually in a bad mood, I just pretended to be.

But seeing her Game Performance already become a mess, the road ahead looked rough.

Can she really do well without me?

Am I going to ruin a kid by trying to detach myself?

I know it too.

That over the past year we spent together, Dami has come to rely on me a lot.

But the weakening of my bond with Dami was not something I could do anything about.

Originally, I was like an uninvited guest attached to Dami, so it made sense for me to fall away around this time.

But no matter how much I thought about it, this method didn’t seem like it would work.

If I were to suddenly disappear like this, I had a feeling Seo Dami would completely collapse and be unable to get back up again.

With a sigh, I decided to tell her the truth.

<Actually, I think I’ll be leaving soon.>

“Leaving? To where?”

<I think I’m going back to my original body.>

You might not have known, but I felt my Soul becoming faint.

I told her that in a little while, I wouldn’t be able to stick to her anymore and would likely return to my original body.

Even this was a rather hopeful way of putting it.

Fading away like this and returning to my original body was, in my opinion, a happy ending.

The bad ending?

Just dying as I am.

The feeling of my Soul becoming faint also felt like the consciousness that made me who I am was disappearing.

In that case, wouldn’t I just cease to exist in this world, rather than returning to my original body?

That possibility seemed quite high.

But I couldn’t bring myself to tell Dami that.

How could I tell Dami that if I’m unlucky, I’ll die?

To a kid whose mood completely sinks just from me being less talkative.

So I only told her the hopeful version.

Even with just that, Dami shed a few tears.

“So that’s why you were acting like that today? Because I’ll have to be on my own soon?”

<Something like that…>

“That’s a useless worry!”

Dami said.

She said I had no idea how anxious she was, thinking she had done something wrong.

“It’s a needless worry! Do you think I’m some little kid who can’t do anything without you, Oppa?”

You are a little kid.

The words, “I’m so worried about you,” rose up to my throat.

“I’ll work hard at the game even without you, Oppa. So you don’t give up either.”

She said there were many cases of people in vegetative states recovering.

So I shouldn’t give up either and should have hope that I can recover, that’s what Dami said.

“I’ll come visit you in the hospital often, too. And I’ll win the championship… then you’ll feel more energized, right, Oppa?”

<Hearing that you’re doing well would naturally do that.>

“Then I’ll definitely do that.”

<Okay.>

Just as I was thinking that it was a good thing I had opened up to Dami, seeing her make a mature resolution.

The kid suddenly burst into tears and started wailing.

I knew she was holding it in too well!

It seemed she had been holding back her tears with great effort.

“Suddenly, some dust, hic, got in my eye…”

Who in the world wails like that because they got dust in their eye?

Because of you, I’m so worried I can’t even leave in peace.

When I joked like that, she cried even more, saying, “Then don’t go.”

I silently stroked the kid’s head.

Right now, this seemed better than a hundred words.

Although she had cried her eyes out, from that day on, there was a definite change within Dami.

Seeing her try to figure out games on her own without my advice, or taking care of her teammates, I could tell what this kid was trying to say to me.

It was as if Dami was telling me, “I’ll be fine even without you, Oppa! Don’t worry.”

Thanks to her efforts, I was able to be at ease, and this brought a positive influence to us all.

「Seo Dami, who put on another great match today. Proving once again who the queen of the Second Division League is!」

「Super Sylph, whose Win Streak was broken, is already back on a 14-Win Streak!」

The slump was brief; with Seo Dami’s performance, who had regained her Condition, Super Sylph firmly held onto their first-place spot in the League.

Naturally, the team’s popularity was bound to be high, and buoyed by this atmosphere, the team even received inquiries for commercials.

At first, the offer came only to Dami, but she said she only wanted to accept commercials she could do with her teammates, so the first Commercial Film they shot was for a beverage.

It was a commercial for a major carbonated drink, something only popular teams could enjoy.

Perhaps because it was from a large corporation, the kids’ beauty captured on screen sparkled more than usual.

-Wow. They’re already shooting commercials?

-What do you mean, already?

-Considering God-per Sylph’s popularity, it’s unbelievably late.

-Originally, the commercial offer went to Dami, but she wanted to shoot with her teammates, so it took a long time to choose a group commercial.

-Really?

-Dami is a total angel!

Shooting commercials, racking up a Win Streak.

As the team regained its Momentum, Dami would visit the hospital on weekends.

It was H University Hospital, where I was lying.

“I told you, you don’t have to bring another gift.”

“No, it’s okay. I want to give it to you.”

“Just you coming is thanks enough.”

She had already greeted my mom last time.

Now, Dami came to the hospital almost every weekend, as if she were punching a time card.

One would think it strange for someone to visit so often, but my mom seemed nothing but happy to see Dami.

Well, she always did say she wished she had one more daughter.

She even sometimes told me that I should have been a daughter. Sometimes…

Anyway, it seemed like she was coming to the hospital too often, so one day I asked.

Why do you keep coming to the hospital?

To that, the kid reacted as if I was asking something obvious, saying, “I have to make a good impression now so I can come see you more often later, Oppa.”

<Even if you’re a fan, it’s still… If you come this often, won’t Mom think it’s strange?>

‘Strange how?’

<Well…>

Who comes to visit a person lying in a hospital bed every week when they’re not even in a relationship?

Even a childhood best friend wouldn’t do that.

‘Your mother likes it, too. Maybe it’s natural if her son has a pretty fan like me…?’

What?

Our Dami said something like that?

I thought her personality must have changed quite a bit from spending so much time with me.

After punching her attendance card at the hospital, we stopped by a snack bar on the way back and had a plate of tteokbokki and gimbap.

It was called Jiwon’s Bunsik.

We happened to find it in front of a middle school on our way back, and it was delicious.

After that, visiting the snack bar whenever we stopped by the hospital became a sort of routine.

<Let’s eat something less spicy next time.>

‘Spicy-wimp…!’

<No… It’s not that I can’t eat spicy food.>

‘Spicy-wimp!’

<It’s not good for your stomach either. You’ll only come to your senses once your stomach lining gets irritated.>

I can taste everything that goes into Dami’s mouth.

But unfortunately, she could handle spicy food better than I could.

It was almost as if she was getting revenge for all the hard training during the Off-Season.

It also seemed like she enjoyed the fact that I couldn’t handle spicy food well.

‘Okay. Then next time, something less spicy.’

<Good.>

‘Good…!’

As we spent our simple days, June arrived.

Finally, that day came.

My Soul’s presence had been continuously fading, and I felt like I couldn’t stay any longer.

From the latter half of May, Dami had also been feeling that my power had weakened considerably.

She said my presence had become faint?

This led to some side effects.

Like her only understanding what I said after I repeated it twice, or sometimes not hearing me at all.

My bond with Dami had weakened significantly.

Still, she had said that if she concentrated, she could tell I was still somewhere in her head.

And that’s why she could play the game with peace of mind…

But I met this day without any real warning.

When I opened my eyes, pitch-black darkness greeted me.

Oh, shit.

At first, I thought it was the afterlife.

I didn’t believe in religion, so I didn’t really believe in the concept of heaven or hell, but being greeted by pitch-black darkness naturally made me feel that way.

But after a long time, when nothing happened, I realized.

That this wasn’t the afterlife, but my own stiffened body.

That’s right.

I had returned.

To my original body, which had become a vegetable after being hit by a truck.

Should I call this a relief?

I had avoided the ending where my Soul fades and I just die, but I had ended up in an incredibly frustrating state.

I couldn’t see anything.

I could hear something, but it was only the periodic beeping of the vital graph.

Is Mom next to me?

I wish she would read me at least one line from a UA article.

Today was Wednesday.

It was the day of the matchup against Star Prism.

Surely they won’t lose, right?

If they get wiped by Star Prism, not even Supernova or Infinity Gaming, the forums would be quite a sight.

It was true that our team was popular, but there were also a ton of bastards just waiting for a chance to tear us down.

I’m worried…

Still, there was nothing I could do in this state.

No, is there really nothing?

When I was with Dami, I could even have an Out-of-Body Experience.

Then couldn’t I do it now too?

As I struggled, trying to find a way to get out of this body again, I made a surprising discovery.

‘Huh?’

Isn’t this, perhaps, charging?

Looking closely, it really was.

Something was refilling my Soul, which had become faint and had barely any presence left.

Don’t they say you suffer when you leave home?

My Soul had become faint because I had been away from my body for too long.

Now that I was back, should I say my Soul was regenerating? I could feel something like that.

If I played my cards right, it might even be possible to go and deliver news to Dami again.

‘The Soul can be charged…!’

With a discovery worthy of a Nobel Prize, I quietly began to charge my Energy.

It seemed like it would take a little while to reach a full Charge.