[Aaron Side Story Episode 25]
3. The first dream (9)
The words to go together.
There’s no way Aaron doesn’t know what that means.
Sraagin said with a smile.
“I’ve been thinking about it for decades since I’ve been here. what it means to be truly strong If you use a sword better than others and kill people well, is that strong?”
“Did you know the answer?”
Aaron’s powerless question.
Sragyn nodded.
“I got my own answer. That’s why I suggested it to you.”
Sragyn held out his hand.
If you hold that hand, you can go back outside.
“Let’s admit it. And you just have to do the best you can. you worked hard No one is blaming you.”
that it is strong.
As for the complex meaning of the word, Sraagin set his own answer.
While Aaron was wandering in a maze without an exit, he got that too.
“I’m going back.”
Aaron muttered.
do you want to go
To the side of a colleague who is waiting for him.
in Taoni.
“What did I get?”
I asked myself.
Compared to Thragin, who had learned immeasurable things in the last 60 years, what he had learned.
there wasn’t
That I’m hidden that I don’t know.
That he can’t move forward in his life.
Just two for a long time.
Haha.
A laugh came out.
Aaron thought of Thragin as his best friend.
Sraghin had said something similar.
we are friends
‘A friend.’
It can’t be.
What does the word friend mean?
It means an equal relationship where you can give and receive help from each other.
this is not a friend
Everyone was just misunderstanding.
Aaron realized.
Aaron did not hold the outstretched hand.
unspoken answer.
“…Aaron.”
Sraagin’s expression changed moment by moment.
From anticipation to nervousness. from anxiety to sadness.
with resignation at the end.
“sorry.”
Aaron turned his head.
There is no going back.
I didn’t get any answers.
‘If I go back…’
What will his older brother and colleagues think of him who has not been able to get an answer?
will not be offended
Rather, it may sympathize with you and comfort you.
that it is strong.
Sraagin’s answer to that question was:
Adapting to reality and living the best life you can.
In the future, even if Sraagin encounters a stronger opponent than himself, he will not collapse like before.
There is no vain jealousy or seething envy.
Those feelings he will flow like water.
He will do his best with his life.
‘I…’ I
give up because it doesn’t work.
Satisfied with the given fraction, he lives as an ant.
I can’t understand this answer…
“That is your answer.”
Thragin smiled.
The emotion that arises there is resignation.
And it was heartfelt support.
“Then don’t give up.”
Thragin Igo turned his back.
The man walked without hesitation and disappeared through the dimensional door.
Whoops.
The dimensional gate is distorted.
The space trembled and then disappeared.
Now there is nothing left in the clearing.
“Hmm.”
The boy looked at Aaron as if it were nothing special.
Aaron said nonchalantly.
“Why is that?”
“It’s strange. That’s right. I thought you would go with me.”
“I haven’t got an answer yet.”
“Okay? That you had a hard time.”
The boy shrugged.
“You just missed a golden opportunity? don’t know when the next one will come It could be decades, hundreds of years, maybe even a thousand years. Are you okay?”
“It will be fine. maybe.”
“The answer is cool.”
the boy snorted.
“know?”
“What do you mean?”
“What will I do if you become a specter? You might have kicked your chance to get out alive?”
The boy’s heart is unfathomable.
is it a joke Are you sincere?
Aaron asked.
“I also want to ask. How are you all right?”
The boy seems unconcerned.
He must have spent hundreds and thousands of times longer here than Aaron.
“Are you asking now?”
“yes. Could you please let me know if it’s okay?”
“There’s nothing wrong with that.”
The boy didn’t hesitate.
“It means to me. I have a dream.”
“dream?”
“Isn’t it nice? I mean a romantic man.”
“…”
“Ah, did you just think that a man is an asshole for a kid?”
“no.”
“hey! It was written all over your face!”
“It is a misunderstanding.”
Actually, I thought so for a second.
Aaron chose not to speak.
* * *
70 year car.
After Sraagin left.
Aaron’s daily life became more secluded.
Sometimes the stories I shared with my friends became a cure for loneliness.
There is no sraagin now.
Aaron was left alone and speared all day in the gymnasium.
In a dark room, relying on a single candle, he read a tattered martial arts book that he had memorized and wrote a letter to himself.
* * *
80 year car.
In this distorted world, neither eating nor sleeping is necessary.
However, Aaron was forced to divide the day and night and live according to the plan.
I ate breakfast and dinner separately.
It is to stick the steamed leaves into your mouth.
If you look at the round shape, other materials must have been added to harden the shape.
This food the boy used to make in bulk and keep it in jars.
“This is the Byeokgokdan!”
“What is Byeokgokdan?”
“Oh, don’t you know that? It’s the food that freshmen eat.”
“fresh?”
“You mean people like us!”
Sometimes the two would gather at the same table and talk while eating Byeokgokdan.
Well well.
The boy stuffed several self-proclaimed Byeokgokdan into his mouth.
Swallow it in one gulp and shout.
“Kya! The taste head is rare!”
So does Aaron.
The first time I ate it, I had to spit it out several times.
How did you get used to eating it now?
‘because.’
Because I seem to forget.
that you are human.
Because I think I will forget that I have to eat to live.
so is sleep
Just cover yourself with a blanket and lie still.
No matter how many times I close my eyes, my consciousness does not break.
“haha! I still have to eat it, what can I do!”
Aaron laughed out loud.
And, following the boy, he forcibly inserted the Byeokgokdan.
Shall we eat?
If you just imagine it, it’s a labyrinth!
okay.
The first time I was summoned to the waiting room, I ate a lot of steamed potatoes.
what taste was it
what did it taste like
But what did the potato look like?
Oh right.
I remember Miss Jenna catching a deer.
The girl handed Aaron a ripe deer leg.
By the way, the girl’s name was Jenna.
jenny?
pass?
“…”
The boy’s expression changed in an instant.
The boy was staring at Aaron who was giggling and eating the Byeokgodan.
“I remember, I remember.”
Aaron laughed and said.
Aaron was so excited that it was hard to recall his usual personality.
“The venison made by Miss Ginny was excellent. The taste was just like that! It tasted earthy! But what was the deer? Were you born from dirt? Yes, the deer was friends with the potato! Ha ha ha!”
“…”
“I’m going to eat a lot of deer when I go back! Doesn’t it come out when you dig it out of the soil? Tear off a hind leg, grill it, dip it in salt and eat a bite! It tastes just like this!”
Aaron crumpled the wall cloth on the table into his mouth.
enough to explode the ball.
to the point of nausea.
“Cool! Cool cool!”
A violent cough leaks out.
But Aaron doesn’t stop laughing.
He is holding his chest with his left hand as if he is out of breath.
Tears welled up in the corners of his eyes.
“Delicious… cool! Knock!”
Drink water whole bottle.
I was able to pass Byeokgokdan only after drinking it several times.
“I didn’t know about this taste until now. Aren’t you stupid? It’s so delicious, but I haven’t eaten it in a while. You have to eat. You have to eat.”
Aaron is brainwashing without a break.
It didn’t matter if anyone listened or not.
“Brother, Gina, Iolna, and Yang! Even Billcast! Ha ha ha! So, so…!”
“stop!”
Courage!
The chair Aaron was sitting on was blown away.
The wooden dining table was overturned, and the glass dish containing Byeokgokdan was broken and fragments scattered.
The boy glared at Aaron.
“Do you even know what you just said?”
Aaron is tumbling down with a chair.
His face, which had been smiling all over until just now, was as empty as a piece of glass.
slowly.
very slowly
Reason fills the eyes stained with emptiness.
“That is strange.”
said Aaron.
A voice without emotion.
“Why am I here?”
“You chose to come here. why do you ask me that?”
“It is.”
The boy closed and opened his eyes.
“In 40 years, the second portal will open. ride it back.”
“…”
“If you’ve worked hard for 120 years, that’s all you’ve got. I don’t want to see you anymore.”
“…”
“The meaningless struggle only makes the surroundings miserable. If your colleagues and family saw you now, it would have been pretty funny.”
effort.
Effort without results.
It makes not only yourself but also those around you miserable.
Even the people who watch and support him make it difficult.
“This is the last time I accept your selfish desires. So somehow make it work. Either move forward or accept and understand your own weaknesses.”
The boy’s words stick like an awl.
“Think of the purpose Master sent you here.”
Did you send it because you wanted to give it a chance to become stronger?
Or did you send it because you wanted to give it a chance to give up?
probably both
It’s good if you go beyond your limits and become stronger.
Even if you fail, it doesn’t matter.
You just have to understand and accept it.
Aaron has failed in both.
I betrayed my brother’s expectations.
“If you are going to become strong, you will surely become stronger. If you’re going to fail, fail for sure. Now you are neither this nor me.”
the boy declared.
“If you can’t do it, I will. If you don’t get an answer by the time the next door opens, I’ll force you into the portal. I don’t want to hold a grudge against Master for killing one of his subordinates.”
“Is it 40 years?”
“You have to work hard. Is it shorter than you think?”
rattle.
Aaron removed the chair that was holding him down.
“Aaron, promise me.”
“…”
“It’s not a promise for you.”
Aaron noticed the meaning.
not for yourself
It comes to Aaron’s mind one after another.
Their faces, which had become blurred after being trapped for 80 years, became clearer.
The last thing that comes to mind is the only family.
‘Nina.’
miss you.
I wanted to meet that child.
The black emotions boiling inside
“…” had disappeared.
I just wanted to see.
the face of the family.
“All right.”
Aaron nodded.
“I promise.”
“What is the promise?”
“If I don’t get an answer in 40 years, I will… give up.”
“good.”
The boy held out his hand.
Aaron took it by the hand and stood up.
“work hard.”
“thank you.”
I replied in a bewildered state.
But one thing was certain.
That the answer must be obtained within 40 years.
One way or another, conclusions must be drawn.
With a firm thought in mind, Aaron drew the road ahead.