[TS] The Return of The Gamer - Chapter 43

‘I wonder….’

As the game progressed, and after losing the dragon twice in a row, Li Zixuan's suspicion quickly turned into certainty.

Prisoner isn't normal right now.

Perhaps, his life might be in danger.

[qq7785dd55(Twisted Fate) : jg are you okay?]

So Li Zixuan, who usually wouldn't even type, even typed in chat to Prisoner.

[Prisoner(Lexie) : okok no problem]

He’s okay?

No, you are not okay.

Each of his plays indicated that Prisoner's physical condition was not good.

Even so, what was chilling was the fact that Prisoner was still playing well.

‘…Prisoner.’

Even without the usual sharpness,

Even without the previous fantastic operations,

Even if his usual super plays weren't showing,

Even so, Prisoner steadily advances towards victory.

It's as if he was born to achieve the result of victory.

So, I want him even more.

The game continues.

After a fierce battle between the two teams with no retreat, the opposing team was finally annihilated.

-Finish!

Soon, the opposing team's nexus exploded, and the long-awaited word appeared on the monitor.

[Victory]

Of course, he couldn't read it because it was written in Korean, but he knew the meaning very well.

He had barely won after a long period of fighting.

"Hoo…."

Despite the cold snap outside, Li Zixuan's head was drenched in sweat, perhaps because the internal heating of the dormitory was so good.

That's how focused he was on the game.

‘…Good.’

Li Zixuan was unusually nervous.

He had ruled over everyone his whole life, but today, he couldn’t control his trembling heart, as if he had become a teenage boy.

What should I say?

No, do I even know Korean in the first place?

"Coach Jang Seok-hwan!"

Li Zixuan urgently called Coach Jang Seok-hwan, who was probably lying somewhere.

If Prisoner leaves the result screen lobby like this, it will be hard to get another chance to talk.

At that moment.

[Prisoner : 4390uwpt6yj 2oi-5m=] w]

‘Hmm?’

Prisoner said something in the lobby window after the game ended.

Li Zixuan, who didn't expect Prisoner to speak first, read Prisoner's chat one by one with nervousness.

‘What?’

But, he couldn't understand the meaning at all.

A strange string of characters.

Li Zixuan's mind was clouded with confusion.

‘What does it mean?’

It couldn’t be Chinese, of course, and Korean as well.

English… impossible.

Rather than having any particular meaning, it was as if he had just randomly hit the keyboard…

"Huh?"

At that moment, one picture naturally formed in Li Zixuan's mind.

Prisoner collapsing on the keyboard right after the game ended.

"I wonder…"

Li Zixuan's heart was pounding.

He knew very well what it meant if Prisoner had collapsed now.

[qq7785dd55 : hey]

[qq7785dd55 : you okay?]

There's no reply.

Even after waiting a long time, there's no reply.

Ominous.

The ominousness that began to creep in began to entangle his whole body like a snake.

[qq7785dd55 : prisoner?]

There's still no reply.

The ominousness that had been creeping out had appeared before Li Zixuan's eyes as the name of reality.

‘It can't be. It can't be. It can't be. It can't be.’

Prisoner is dying?

No. Prisoner shouldn't die in a place like this.

He must look to higher places with him. He has enough talent and ability to do so.

[qq7785dd55 : hey?]

[qq7785dd55 : where are you]

[qq7785dd55 : i'll go]

He has to find Prisoner.

That thought dominated Li Zixuan's mind, and he first thought of an ambulance.

"120, I have to call 120…."

What's the Korean number for 120?

Is it the same as 120?

[“This is the civil service for your life….”]

That's not the number.

Even though he doesn't know Korean, he feels it from the calm tone of the counselor.

No, he was wrong from the beginning.

How can he report or help when he doesn't even know who the other person is, or even where they are?

"No, no, no, no, no, no…."

Li Zixuan felt the emotion of despair for the first time in his life.

He can't let Prisoner go like this.

Prisoner still has a lot to do.

"Coach Jang Seok-hwan!"

At the scream-like shout, Coach Jang Seok-hwan, who was taking a nap, finally ran out of the room.

"Wh, what's going on?"

"Prisoner, Prisoner is…"

"Why Prisoner? What's going on?"

"I-I don't know what to do, but I asked him if he was okay because it looked like he wasn't doing well, and he said he was fine, but he suddenly stopped talking as soon as the game ended, so I have to find Prisoner, but I don't know where he is."

Coach Jang Seok-hwan frowned at Li Zixuan's rambling, which was unlike him.

He didn't know exactly what was going on, but it was certain that if he left Li Zixuan alone like this, something would happen.

"Calm down. I'll try to do something."

Coach Jang Seok-hwan quietly examined the situation.

Li Zixuan, who was half out of his mind.

Strange chats lined up on the game result screen.

Coach Jang Seok-hwan, having synthesized the results, noticed what had happened.

‘Did Prisoner collapse?’

Prisoner is a terminally ill patient.

It's not strange for him to collapse right now.

Since Prisoner collapsed, it was natural for Li Zixuan, who was already obsessed with Prisoner, to be half out of his mind.

"For now, I'll call everyone I know. Maybe someone is in contact with Prisoner."

He said that to reassure Li Zixuan for now, but it wouldn't be a very effective method if he thought about Prisoner and their end.

‘Still, it's better than doing nothing.’

In any case, isn't it a matter of life and death?

‘I'd better call 119 first. Although the only clues are the game ID and the cell phone number… It's better than just standing by.’

It was while Coach Jang Seok-hwan was busy calling around with his cell phone.

Thump-

Li Zixuan dashed out of the dormitory door without even wearing his coat.

"Where are you going all of a sudden!"

Coach Jang Seok-hwan was busy chasing after Li Zixuan, but the elevator had already left.

"Damn…"

Li Zixuan ran out of the dormitory recklessly.

It wasn't a planned action.

It's not a rational behavior either.

A terribly impulsive and instinctive action.

Li Zixuan ran down the street to find Prisoner, whose location he didn't even know.

"PrisonerPrisonerPrisonerPrisonerPrisonerPrisonerPrisonerPrisonerPrisonerPrisonerPrisonerPrisonerPrisonerPrisonerPrisonerPrisonerPrisonerPrisonerPrisonerPrisoner…."

Li Zixuan wandered the streets.

"Where… are you…!"

To find Prisoner, whose location he didn't even know.

Just, he kept wandering.

* * *

It's not unfamiliar to lose consciousness.

However, what is unfamiliar is the feeling when I open my eyes again after losing consciousness.

A strangeness different from when I woke up from sleep.

In that strangeness, what I faced was the light of a dimly lit bedside lamp and my mother's face, who was watching me with a worried expression.

“Ummm….”

“Yujin! Are you okay?”

My head throbs, perhaps because I heard a sudden loud voice.

“…Where am I?”

“Where else? At home.”

Only then does the surrounding scenery come into view.

At first, I naturally thought it was a hospital room, but it was surprisingly in my room.

“The doctor came by. He said it's probably because it's the first time. …I’m so glad. Really, when you collapsed, Mom…”

“…First time?”

First time for what?

And what's so fortunate?

I can't speak well because my throat is sore, maybe because I just woke up.

“Well, it’s… It’s not the first time I’ve raised a daughter, and I don’t know what to say.”

My mother awkwardly cleared her throat in an unfitting manner.

“Yujin.”

“Yes?”

“Don’t be too surprised.”

“Uh… okay.”

What in the world is she trying to say?

Maybe… am I really dying?

As all sorts of thoughts were clouding my mind, my mother finally spoke with a determined face.

“The doctor said you’re okay, even though you have a little bit of anemia. You don't have to worry too much. You'll be fine if you rest.”

“Yes.”

“So, that’s….”

The way my mother hesitated while saying she was okay was very awkward.

Even though she said I wasn't dying, was there something that would make my mother this flustered?

“…You had your period.”

My brain pauses for a moment.

What did I just hear?

“……Uhh?”

As an unfamiliar word, which is more than twenty years for me living as a man, suddenly popped out, one question naturally came out.

“Me? Why?”