BXBX NOVEL Chapter 63 – Rudine Eckhart (2)
Chapter 63 – Rudine Eckhart (2)
“What on earth…”
Her hand passed through it.
She was sure her fingers had touched the passerby’s body, but it was as if it were a phantom with no substance.
No, perhaps the one with no substance was herself.
“I can’t touch anything…”
Neither the dirt strewn across the ground, the people passing by without a glance, nor the mysterious metal objects moving through the streets.
No matter how desperately she reached out, she couldn’t touch anything.
“What the hell is going on?”
She let out a laugh in disbelief.
She couldn’t understand the language, and she couldn’t touch anything properly either.
Rudine couldn’t believe this reality.
She had finally escaped a completely frozen world, only to be treated like a ghost in this one.
What on earth happened to me?
She had merely crossed through the black mist and ended up in a world she had never seen before.
And in the process, she had somehow become a ghost.
“Ha.”
Rudine pondered seriously.
Should she find a way back?
Or should she adapt to this new situation?
The choice didn’t take long.
“Let’s walk a bit…”
Yes, let’s move first.
At least this world wasn’t frozen in time.
And the most important thing was to quickly gather quality information about this world.
Then she would be sure.
What kind of world this was.
And what she needed to do next.
At that moment.
Zzt—
The moment she made up her mind, a sharp pain like a high-voltage electric shock enveloped her entire body.
Rudine twisted her body and collapsed.
A soundless scream echoed, and simultaneously, her vision flashed white.
‘I’m, I’m going to die…!’
Her head spun and her stomach churned.
Rudine gasped for breath and coughed as if she was vomiting.
And when she opened her eyes.
‘Where is this…’
Everything around her had changed.
‘…Where am I?’
Rudine blankly looked around.
Neatly paved brick roads as if measured by a ruler.
Countless people passing by on those roads.
Merchants selling unidentified food under canopies.
People forcing leaflets with incomprehensible writings onto passersby.
‘…’
The clothing of the people passing by was also somewhat unfamiliar.
Ordinary cotton tops focused solely on practicality, devoid of any decoration.
To Rudine, who had lived her whole life as royalty, such clothing was quite unfamiliar.
‘Why are there so many people?’
It felt like a dream.
Everything she saw was new.
And most importantly.
‘I can hear them.’
She could hear the conversations people were having.
It was clearly a language she had never heard before, but in her mind, the meaning was automatically translated.
How is this possible?
Confronted with overwhelming confusion, Rudine swallowed hard.
And at that moment, she felt a strange presence brush past her.
Who was that just now?
Before she knew it, she was following a man.
She raised her eyes slowly.
The unfamiliar presence was a man with black hair.
And soon, Rudine’s eyes widened in shock as she stared at the man.
A face that seemed somewhat languid.
Shoulders set with precision and fierce, upturned eyes.
A sharp sensation pierced through her mind.
It was a face she knew all too well.
“…!”
Kyle Winfred.
A man who looked exactly like him was walking down the street.
****
Lee Seung-jun.
The man in front of her resembled Kyle so much that it was astonishing.
But at the same time, he was different.
His way of speaking, his gait, his personality.
All the pieces that defined a person’s identity were clearly different from Kyle’s.
Specifically, he resembled the completely changed Kyle she had seen at some point.
The numerous fragments of memories embedded in her mind began to find their place.
The memories fitting together like a puzzle were somewhat unfamiliar.
Suddenly, her chest tightened.
‘So it was swapped after all.’
She felt cold sweat running down her back.
Rudine barely held onto her fading consciousness.
“…”
She stared blankly at his back.
Suddenly, a thought crossed her mind.
How did he come to possess Kyle’s body?
Is the black mist a passage connecting dimensions?
Then who exactly is this Lee Seung-jun she’s seeing now?
Is this a time before he possessed Kyle?
Countless speculations, close to delusions, flashed by.
She barely swallowed the myriad of questions rising to her throat.
‘Then what about me…?’
What should I do from now on?
Do I just continue to wander the world like a ghost? Without any promise of resolution?
Everything was confusing.
Her chest felt tight with growing anxiety.
At that moment, the man turned around.
In the brief moment their eyes met, he smiled lightly.
A perfectly clear and transparent smile.
The sight made her chest tingle for a moment.
He called out to someone.
Turning her head quickly, she saw another man approaching Lee Seung-jun.
‘…It wasn’t me.’
Rudine stood there, listening to their conversation.
Their relationship could be summarized in two sentences.
They were friends.
Quite close ones at that.
‘What on earth are they saying?’
Elective courses, ETA, coins…
Surprisingly, none of it made any sense to her.
They continued their conversation as if conspiring, laughing like villains.
Rudine watched them with a hollow laugh.
Was he always like this?
What could they be talking about to make them wear such playful expressions?
“Kyle Winfred.”
No matter how much she called out, her voice didn’t reach Kyle.
It merely dissipated uselessly in the air.
In despair, Rudine followed him.
The mixed crowds.
The breathtaking cityscape she had never experienced before.
None of it registered.
Rudine pursued Lee Seung-jun relentlessly.
After winding through several alleyways, they arrived at a house with a rather peculiar architectural style.
Rudine followed him without hesitation, passing through the front door.
‘It’s so cramped.’
The structure reminded her of a familiar underground interrogation room, a narrow space with a dull color scheme.
A room decorated with white wallpaper and all sorts of antiques… with signs that someone had recently lived there.
‘Does he live here?’
Rudine slowly looked around.
There were frames everywhere containing images of Lee Seung-jun as a child.
Too vivid and realistic to be mere paintings.
But that wasn’t the important thing.
‘Kyle…’
Lee Seung-jun’s childhood appearance was strikingly similar to Kyle’s childhood.
Just as she remembered him from the Palace.
The voice of young Kyle asking her to be his friend echoed like a phantom in her ear.
And then.
‘…!’
He casually tossed his outer clothes on the floor and threw himself onto the bed.
She was momentarily startled by the sight of his firm skin.
Lee Seung-jun rummaged through his pocket and soon took something out.
Rudine’s gaze sharpened.
She stared wide-eyed at what he held.
‘What is that?’
A small, thin, black object with a smooth, shiny surface that fit perfectly in his palm.
Lee Seung-jun began tapping the front of the object with his fingertip.
At that moment, a bright light accompanied by intricate, complex images appeared on the flat surface.
“What? The rewards are already full.”
Lee Seung-jun chuckled and continued tapping.
And a moment later.
Colorful and elaborate images appeared on the screen.
“…”
Rudine focused on the screen, forgetting even to breathe.
And soon.
‘This is…’
An unbelievable scene unfolded.
Isabel Yustia.
Luna Winfred.
Rudine Eckhart.
Portraits of familiar faces.
And names she knew all too well.
A moment later, the images on the screen changed rapidly again.
The collusion between the Royal Family and the Papal See.
The encroachment of the black mist.
And the fierce confrontations among the characters.
All scenes from her memories.
The weather, the mood, the conversations of that time.
She remembered them all.
And those vivid memories were playfully depicted on the black screen.
Every single one.
Without a single mistake, exactly.
Yes.
As if it were already a story with a predetermined ending.
The hairs on her skin stood up.
She hid her trembling hands by clenching them tightly.
If my guess is correct.
This is…
This must be…
‘Insane.’
A sharp warning rang in her head.
Her face turned pale at the sudden realization.
Her heart felt like it was going to explode from the horrific understanding. Kyle muttered in a low voice.
“What the hell, why is Rudine’s favorability like this?”
She covered her mouth, stunned by his voice that seemed to reverberate in her throat.
Goosebumps rose on her skin.
Her mind momentarily froze, overwhelmed by the situation far beyond her comprehension.
Oh, so that’s it.
The world I lived in.
Was just inside that tiny screen…!
‘I…’
What…
What on earth have I been…