In that instant, light exploded, and the letters scattered and wrapped around Yeon-woo and Jeong-woo.

* * *

Beep. Beep, beep.

I was extremely dizzy. I didn’t even drink anything, but why was I so dizzy?

Drink?

Wait. Had I ever had a drink before? I did secretly buy a bottle of soju with hyung on my last birthday, but that was it. Since he said he didn’t like it, I never drank again after that sip.

No. I’d drunk all night with Valdebich before. We learned that Henova was fermenting beer in the cellar and snuck in secretly at night. It was so good that we ended up emptying five oak barrels. Howere, Henova ended up beating us with his pipe after we passed out there.

Still, it was worth it. Ah, I was drooling just thinking about it. Was there any way to get it again? It seemed like Henova was secretly fermenting it somewhere else. I thought about taking a look around.

But wait.

Henova? Who was that? Thoughts that didn’t make sense filled my head. Did I have a strange dream?

Unfamiliar names appeared and disappeared in my head. So did multiple memories. There were some holes in them, and they were so completely disconnected that it was hard to tell what they were about, but they felt vivid, as though they had happened yesterday.

I was glad, happy, anxious, depressed, sad, and grim at the end…it was like I’d just watched a sad movie. But the jumbled memories quickly scattered, the way dreams vanished when you woke up. All the scenes were swept away like sandcastles on the beach.

“What is this?” I rubbed my temples, opening my eyes. I could see a neat desk and books stained with spit. There was a notebook with a pen lying next to it. I guess I fell asleep while studying all night.

What were all those memories? They felt important, but I couldn’t remember what they were no matter how hard I tried. I frowned, trying to remember them again somehow.

Beep. Beep. My alarm clock rang noisily, pulling me back to reality. The headache that was pushing against my head disappeared as though it had never been there.

No. I didn’t even realize it was gone.

07:32

“Shit.” School began at eight. I was late. The strange memories were already gone from my head.

* * *

“Whew! I barely made it.”

“Dang, what? You made it?”

“Of course. Hehe, who do you think I am?”

“Damn. They’re discriminating against us now. It’s a sad world to live in for people who can’t study.”

The high school classroom was bustling today because it was an all-boys school filled with gross, sweaty guys. Rumble. They were probably playing a game of piling up on each other or something because a chubby dude slipped on the floor, and desks and chairs fell around him like dominos.

The kids whose books and snacks fell to the ground cursed as they stepped on the chubby guy. It was a nest of beasts and confusion.

Shit. I didn’t know I would come back here. I was glad to return since it had been a while, but it felt like that feeling vanished right away. What should I do about these heated beast bastards?

Huh? It had been a while? I came to school yesterday. What was I thinking? I pressed my temples again and got rid of the strange feelings I had. This was all because of my headache this morning.

“What’s wrong? Does your head hurt?” My friend asked with a concerned face. He had been joking around just a moment ago. We became close because we were in the same class in freshman year. His name was…huh? What was his name again?

“Do you wanna go to the nurse?”

“I’m fine. It’s all good. And don’t tell hyung. He’s gonna nag me again.” I waved my hand. Ever since I was young, I was frequently sick and suffered from colds all the time. I’d grown healthier and only ever got headaches, but I had to be careful because it was a genetic thing.

Mom was often sick, too. Doctors said the symptoms we had were hard to diagnose. They even suggested studying us to help advance medical knowledge. Thankfully, we were able to use that to pay my mom’s hospital bills, but it was still a horrendous illness.

“But I think you should tell Yeon-woo...”

“It’s fine. I know my body best. I can just endure it for a bit and I’ll be fine. Also, if I bring the guy who’s probably being beaten in front of the school gates, I’ll be the bad guy.”

Unlike weak me, hyung was super healthy. Even though we were identical twins, he didn’t suffer from anything, and he was athletic. He also got into fights all the time. Thanks to that, he was seen as a troublemaker by teachers and was often beaten for it.

He was so different from a model student like me, so he was pretty famous in our school. Even though I had rushed over, I was ten minutes late. However, our teachers let me off the hook.

My brother arrived only five minutes later than I did, but he was mercilessly beaten with a stick in front of the school by the dean. He was probably grinding his teeth while getting beaten up right now because I had snuck out of the house even though I knew we were both late.

I was planning on avoiding him all day, as well. He shouldn’t have eaten my mango jellies in the refrigerator without my permission. I felt refreshed after taking revenge. It was a little passive aggressive, but there was nothing else I could do since I couldn’t defeat him physically.

“Then that’s a relief. Anyway, if you can’t hang in there, tell me right away. Don’t just pass out like last time. Fuck. Yeon-woo hit the back of my head so many times that it’s flat now.” My friend grumbled as he shook his head. Right, he was also a victim of my brother’s temper.

It was pitiful. I had to be nicer to him. “Hyung is a bit like that, eh?”

“You brothers are the same.” I frowned at his words. I was still better than my brother. No, we couldn’t even be compared to each other. How was I anything like that psychopath?

“The older one beats people up when he’s bored, and the younger one mocks people with his mouth. What’s the difference?”

“Our looks? Don’t I have better looks?” I had already received confessions from girls even though I went to an all-boys high school, sucker.

“This son of a…! Argh! Let’s just not.” My friend sighed. At that moment, the bell for first period rang. Although he always complained, he was a gracious guy who took care of us brothers. A tsundere. He was like Henova.

Henova? Another strange name popped in my head. It seemed like the name of someone I missed. I didn’t remember anything at all. Why? Was it the name of some philosopher?

I looked at my friend, who was returning to his seat. Really, what was his name again?

* * *

[Our poor psycho] Hey, you son of a bitch. You’re dead. Really.

[Me] Hmmm?

[Our poor psycho] Would it hurt you to wake me up?

[Me] Huh?

[Our poor psycho] The fuck.

[Me]

[Our poor psycho] Shut up before I fuck you up.

[Me]

[Our poor psycho] I told you to stop sending weird stuff.

[Me] (cat emoticon with desperate eyes and begging paws)

[Our poor psycho] I’ll teach you what happens if you mess with me.

[Me] Huuuuuh?

[Our poor psycho] AHHHHHH%T$@#!@#

“Geez. He really can’t argue for the life of him.” I grinned, looking at the curse-filled messages. Since the messages continued appearing, he seemed pretty mad. He was probably frustrated because the messages were marked as read but there was no response.

“Ahhhham.” Class was so boring that I yawned. Since we were seniors, we already knew everything that was being taught. Classes were only conducted for grades, and with the college entrance exams coming up, most of us just used class time to study.

Teachers didn’t say anything to students who were solving problems from prep books on their own. I could get away with using my phone. Of course, if the teacher noticed me on my phone too much, he would take it away, but if I apologized, he would just give it back.

This was why it was important to have the reputation of a model student. I was already learning how to act in society. I thought about getting a prep book out to study like my other classmates, but strangely, I didn’t feel like it.

I’d been feeling strange since morning, as though I were missing something. What was it? It seemed important…but no matter how much I racked my head, I couldn’t remember anything.

I sat blankly at my desk with my phone all morning. I felt strange, but I always studied a lot, so I thought a day of slacking off wouldn’t hurt. Of course, I planned on clearing my head and holding my pen again after lunch.

Urrrng, urrrng! The phone in my hand vibrated. I was just about to download a game.

(Ad) You can make a wish if you reach the end of the Obelisk. Would you like to participate? YES or No?

“This again.” It was the spam message that I got every day. It had been annoying at first because every time I blocked it, it came back with another number. However, I was almost intrigued that I had been getting the same message with the same information at the same time for about a month.

‘Obelisk.’ A monument to worship a god or mark the history of a victory. However, here, it seemed like it was talking about a tower. It was a standard game ad, but there was no link where it said “YES or NO”.

There wasn’t any button to download the game even if I wanted to. Did they want me to play or not? I didn’t know what the message wanted me to do.

Urrrng, urrrng! My phone vibrated again. It was another text message. After I saw the sender’s name, my face stiffened: Father.

I deleted the message right away without reading it. It was obvious what it would be about. If hyung found out I was in contact with this person, bad things would happen. There was a big difference when my brother was jokingly mad from when he was really mad.

He grew so cold that he felt like another person. And it was clear what would happen after that. I didn’t want to see it. Was there really nothing to do? I scanned through social media, and after that, I really didn’t have anything to do.

I still felt strange, but it was better than this morning, so I put my phone down and lifted my pen again. No matter what I did, I still had to study.

I couldn’t let my grades slide or fail the college entrance exams. I was planning on getting into a prestigious college with a four-year scholarship. Then, joining a munitions company instead of doing the regular army conscription to earn some money for my family and immediately working for a big company after that.

It was the future I dreamed of: taking care of my sick mother and having a family. There was no time for rest. I was about to go through my prep book when my phone vibrated again. I thought it was a message again, and I was about to turn it off, but it turned out to be a call.

As soon as I saw who it was, my heart skipped a beat: Hospital.

* * *

“It happened suddenly even though she was getting better…haa. Since the urgent issue has been handled now, let’s observe and see what happens.”

After the physician left, I looked at my mom blankly.

Beep! Beep! She was breathing through an oxygen mask. No one would believe that she had only been joking with us yesterday. She didn’t look good at all.

“I’ll be back after some fresh air.” I didn’t wait for my brother’s response and left the hospital room with wobbly steps. I felt like all the energy had left my body. Why had I been dizzy since this morning?

Urrrng, urrrng! The phone in my back pocket vibrated. I pulled it out automatically.

(Ad) You can make a wish if you reach the end of the Obelisk. Would you like to participate? YES or No?

Even though it was a spam message I saw all the time, it stood out because it had arrived at a different time. One word stood out to me: wish.

It would be amazing if it weren't just a game ad and was the kind of miracle that appeared in movies or novels. If I could really make a wish and heal my mother’s mysterious illness, there was nothing I would want more. I tapped the screen, trying to calm myself.

At that moment, the “YES or NO” part turned blue. There was a link, after all. I found myself clicking “YES”.