Chapter 63

I was back in my body again.

This frustrating body that couldn’t do anything.

Of course, I could wander around more freely with an Out-of-Body Experience, but I wouldn’t be able to Charge, so I decided to stay quietly inside my body.

Coincidentally, the day I visited the hospital was a Sunday, and weekends were when my mother visited.

Quite some time had passed since I collapsed, so my mother no longer kept a daily vigil at my bedside.

It seemed a caregiver mostly looked after me on weekdays.

“So, my dear, let me tell you what happened this week.”

My mother chattered away to my motionless self.

She shared all the interesting stories from the past week.

Compared to when I first came to the hospital with Dami, my mother’s mood had brightened considerably.

I was incredibly grateful to Dami for this.

Her visiting the hospital every weekend to keep my mother company must have had an effect.

In fact, my mother praised Dami a lot while talking about the international exhibition match that happened this week.

She added that it was nice because it reminded her of when I used to play.

“But Youngin. When did you and Dami start dating?”

If I had been drinking water, I would have definitely spat it out, asking what she was talking about.

Dami, who visited the hospital every week.

My mother had firmly recognized her as my girlfriend.

Otherwise, why would she have gifted her such a hard-to-get ticket?

“Still, if you have a girlfriend like that, you should have told your mother. We could have at least had a meal together.”

She’s not my girlfriend…

At the time, I was twenty-five, and Dami was eighteen.

If a rumor had spread that I was dating an underage player seven years my junior, every Community would have been plastered with articles titled “Han Youngin is trash!” so my mother’s assumption that Dami was my girlfriend was far from realistic.

Nevertheless, my mother said she would approve of Dami as a daughter-in-law anytime.

Then she sniffled, saying she wished she could live to see it, which was driving me crazy.

‘Should I try to move?’

It didn’t work last time, but I decided to try moving my body once more.

An attempt to move my body, which was as stiff as a block of wood.

Just like when I had Control of Seo Dami’s body.

The moment I focused all my nerves and put in some Fighting Spirit, shouting ‘Move!’, I felt what seemed like a twitch in my finger.

Was I imagining it? Or was it real?

Before I could even fully process the sensation, the hospital room erupted into chaos.

A piercing beep sounded as my Vital Signs flatlined.

Oh, shit…

My mother cried out for a doctor, and for a while, my body teetered on the brink of life and death.

I barely managed to survive, but my Energy Charge had slowed down, and the atmosphere had become that of a funeral home, so I didn’t dare try again.

I was afraid I might actually die if I did it a second time, so my only thought was to quietly fill up my Energy and go back.

‘When I go back this time, should I tell Mom the truth?’

Dami would surely understand and readily agree to revealing our secret.

My mother… I wasn’t sure how she would take it if she knew I was living in Dami’s body, but I thought she would be much happier than she was now.

And so, I finished my preparations to leave.

Although there was a happening where I almost died, the Charge was completed safely.

This time, I didn’t fill my Energy to the brim.

Ultimately, it would be more helpful for Seo Dami to build her practical skills if she had Control.

But if I charged too little Energy, I’d have to come back to the hospital again soon, so I filled my energy to about half.

At this rate, even if I ended up taking Control of Dami’s body, it would probably be for two weeks at most? A month should be enough for us to switch places.

Perhaps because of the accident midway, it took a little longer this time, even though it wasn’t a full charge.

The morning sun was already rising outside the window.

I figured it would take some time to get to the Team House from here.

‘Come to think of it, how did I travel in one go on the first day?’

When I first met Seo Dami, I had woken up where Dami was.

Even though I hadn’t traveled there myself.

‘It’s a pain to go while avoiding those weird things again…’

Would it be possible to fly there in one go if I concentrated my mind?

Just as a test, I decided to picture the Team House.

Towards the direction of Super Sylph’s Team House.

As I pictured Dami’s bed, I felt a sort of ticklish sensation.

It was then.

There was a pulling force from over there.

With the thought, ‘Is this actually working?’, I entrusted my body to that force.

Whooosh-! The feeling of my body rapidly leaping through space.

Along with the unfamiliar sensation, I heard a thud! and felt a pain in my forehead.

‘Ouch.’

What kind of sleeping habit is this…

It seemed she had uncharacteristically rolled off the bed.

I rubbed my forehead and got up.

‘Hm?’

But something was strange.

The room’s structure was the same…

But the furniture and decorations were different.

Especially that huge poster of me during my pro days, printed and hung up—that wasn’t in Dami’s room.

‘Don’t tell me… no, right?’

The body’s center of gravity felt different, too.

More agile and lighter…

Feeling as if this wasn’t Seo Dami, I felt a chill run down my spine.

And a moment later, a loud, sharp female scream I had heard sometime before rang through my head.

<Kyaaaaaaah-!!!>

Good grief.

I ignored the scream, ran to the bathroom, and looked in the mirror.

The mirror reflecting my image.

In it was Jung Yunseul in her pajamas, unable to hide her dumbfounded expression.

‘Hey, come on. I said calm down…’

<Who are you! What is this-!!!>

Her mental slap was sharp.

Was she trying to turn my brain into mush?

I shouted, ‘Jung Yunseul, calm down!’

‘It’s already happened! Let’s be calm and resolve this with a conversation!’

<How… how do you know my name…>

Having done this once with Seo Dami, I was now skilled at conversing with others just through thought.

I sat down quietly in the desk chair and began a conversation with Jung Yunseul.

As Jung Yunseul paused for a moment, I put my brain into overdrive.

Is it possible to leave a body without using up all the Energy?

If it was, I could just go back to my body in the hospital and then move to Dami.

But I didn’t know how to get out before all the Energy was used up.

So does that mean I have to stay with Jung Yunseul and wait for the Energy to be depleted?

Just the thought of it was dizzying.

And what would I tell Dami?

As I fell silent for a moment while lost in thought, Jung Yunseul was now practically begging me.

<Excuse me. Mr. Ghost. Please, don’t do this and just go back… I’m begging you like this.>

How scary must it be for a man of unknown identity to suddenly occupy your body.

Still, Jung Yunseul was on the mature side.

Dami had even cried for her mom at first.

‘Well… let’s start by introducing ourselves.’

<…Introducing ourselves?>

‘To find a way to solve this problem, it seems we’ll need to talk for a while, and we can’t just keep calling each other ‘hey’ and ‘you,’ can we?’

After she calmed down a bit, we communicated and took the time to introduce ourselves.

Actually, I didn’t need to hear Jung Yunseul’s introduction, but I listened to her silently.

As expected, it was all stuff I already knew.

<That’s about it for my introduction, what about you…?>

‘I’m… Han Youngin.’

<Who?>

‘Han Youngin. The Universe Arena Pro Gamer Han Youngin… you’ve heard of me, right?’

<…….>

I could feel Jung Yunseul’s anguish.

She seemed to be wondering how she should react to this.

<Really?>

‘Really.’

<What’s Youngin Oppa’s birthday?>

‘February 6th.’

<His height?>

‘179.’

<Wrong! My Oppa’s height is 180!>

‘That was just to match the Profile number, I added 1 centimeter…’

<Then which hospital is Oppa in right now?>

‘H University Hospital, private room 506.’

<Is it re-really you, Oppa?>

When I even got the hospital information right, which hadn’t been publicly disclosed, Jung Yunseul was greatly surprised and asked me several times if I was really Oppa.

When I said yes, she asked how I had been all this time.

<So did you just wake up?>

I reflexively almost said, ‘No. I was with Dami until now,’ but stopped, wondering if it was okay to tell her that.

But not telling her was also a problem.

Knowing Seo Dami’s personality, if I didn’t return for a long time, a problem would surely arise.

Then there was a pretty high chance that Jung Yunseul would find out about the secret between Dami and me.

Thus, I decided to buy some time for now.

‘…No. It’s been a little while since I woke up.’

<Oh my gosh. How can something like this happen.>

But the funny thing was, as soon as I revealed I was Han Youngin, Jung Yunseul’s attitude changed completely.

It was to the point where I felt like she was happy that things had turned out this way.

‘I’m sorry you have to go through something like this. I’ll find a way to get things back to normal as quickly as possible…’

<What? Don’t say something so disappointing. Since you’re here, stay a little longer before you go.>

‘……?’

<I mean, this is fate, too…. Actually, I’m a huge fan of yours, Youngin Oppa! You see the picture over there, right? I’ve even been to your matches in person. If it weren’t for you, Oppa, I would never have even thought of becoming a Pro Gamer.>

‘Th-thank you.’

<Hehehe.>

But still, no matter how much of a fan of mine she was.

Was it right for her to tell someone who had just popped into her body to stay a little longer?

Putting my doubts aside, Jung Yunseul said she was so happy and that it was almost time for us to have breakfast.

That was right.

Normally, it was time to go to Dami’s room, wake her up, and go to the cafeteria together.

‘Th…then shall we go eat?’

<Wait a minute. I have to change my clothes…?>

‘…….’

I thought it would be easy to adapt to living in someone else’s body since I’d done it once before and she was a teammate, but I was wrong.

I felt my world go dark.

I managed to change clothes with my eyes closed.

With my clumsy hands, I tied her hair and headed to Dami’s room.

Jung Yunseul usually wore her hair in a side tail, gathered and tied to one side, but perhaps because I did it, it looked less pretty than usual.

The actual owner, however, seemed not to care at all.

<This is Dami Unni’s room. Ah, Dami Unni is our team’s Ace. Have you heard of her? She’s really famous these days.>

I know. Of course I know.

I’m the one who raised Seo Dami.

When I said I’d heard of her, Jung Yunseul nodded, as if to say ‘of course.’

<She’s the teammate I’m closest to. Dami Unni is a huge fan of yours too, Oppa. If you just look at her play style, it’s really like watching you, you know?>

That’s because she’s a carbon copy of my play…

And so, I knocked and went in to wake Dami up.

Dami was already awake.

She was already fully dressed and looking out the window, as if she were waiting for someone.

<Oh. I have to act like it’s me, right? Then I have to call her Unni…>

“Unni~.”

<……?>

“Why are you just spacing out like that? Let’s hurry up and go eat. Food.”

<Whoa.>

I acted exactly as I had seen Jung Yunseul act and was able to get Seo Dami up without arousing any suspicion.

Jung Yunseul seemed very surprised by my acting, but this was the best method for all of us.

It was better for Seo Dami not to know that I was inside Jung Yunseul.

And it was better for Jung Yunseul not to know that I had originally been living with Seo Dami.

If I could return to Dami in that state, everything would be OK.

So this is what she’s like without me.

Seo Dami just picked at her food with her chopsticks in the cafeteria, as if she had no appetite.

Of course, it could be because her Condition was bad today, but I knew with high probability that it was because she was separated from me.

It was so bad that Hwang Jua even teased her, saying, “DamiDami, why are you in such low spirits today? Is it that time of the month?”

It wasn’t that time of the month.

That had passed before the Jeju Island event…

I ate my meal, cautiously observing the situation.

I was acting like I was Jung Yunseul for everyone’s sake, but honestly, I was concentrating so hard that I couldn’t even tell where the food was going.

<Wow. This is amazing.>

Did she even know of my struggles?

Jung Yunseul was marveling at the Sensory Sharing, saying she could taste the food that Oppa was eating.

‘You can feel your arms and legs moving, too.’

<That’s true, but. Ah, I like cherry tomatoes.>

Jung Yunseul informed me of her food preferences.

When I brought over some cherry tomatoes without a word and put them in my mouth, she made a ‘nom’ sound and was delighted.

<Is this the taste of cherry tomatoes being fed to me by Oppa…?>

No, these are your hands…

Her adaptability to this shared life was so high it was scary, but this was much better than her being depressed all day, begging me to return her body.

As I ate, I was lost in thought again.

Why on earth did I end up in Yunseuli’s body instead of Seo Dami’s?

If I had known this would happen, I would have just walked, even if it took some time.

Still, since it had happened, I needed to know the cause.

That way, I could prevent such an accident next time.

‘I don’t think there’s anything in common…’

But it was difficult to find any connection between the two.

If I had to pick one, it would be that Jung Yunseul also experienced a shock, just like Seo Dami did.

Seo Dami fell from the rooftop, and Jung Yunseul fell from her bed, so the difference was significant.

It was a relief that I had only filled up half my energy.

Otherwise, I might have been stuck with Jung Yunseul for a whole year.

Judging by the amount of Energy I had brought, it seemed like my time would be up around winter when the Transfer Season opened.

<Ah, and please speak comfortably to me.>

‘Should I…?’

<Yes! You’re a great Sunbae! You can just call me Yunseul-ah~. No, you can just use completely informal speech, really.>

It had been a rollercoaster with Dami, but Yunseuli’s adaptation to the Possession was absurdly fast.

Maybe this was a good thing.

Now that I was in Yunseuli’s body and had taken Control, there would surely be things I could teach her as well.

‘After we eat, it’s training, right?’

<Yes! The training is a bit intense these days since it’s the end of the Break Period.>

‘Then shall I teach you how to train? Since we have this rare opportunity.’

<Awesome! I’d absolutely love that!>

Dami’s skills were pretty much perfected.

To the point where world-class teams were showing interest and sending Offers.

What would happen if another outstanding player was born on Super Sylph?

It wasn’t intentional, but perhaps this team could become the first Korean team to aim for the world title.