Alex felt as though his body were sinking to the bottom of a dark, freezing sea. The voices outside slowly faded away, turning into faint, incomprehensible echoes. His head felt heavy, as if thousands of memories were being brutally forced into his brain.
Childhood, school, bullying, a woman's sobs. And… the vicious face of a drunken man. Everything blended together like a storm.
Then—
CRASH!!
A deafening boom exploded in his ears. Alex's body jolted violently.
An unbearable pain slammed into his right leg, choking off his breath. The smell of blood and smoke filled his nose. His head throbbed as if it had been struck repeatedly with a hammer.
"Aghhh…!"
Alex's eyes flew open.
The first thing he saw was shattered glass scattered everywhere. Streetlights flickered dimly through the night rain. His bicycle had been thrown far away, who knew where. A vehicle alarm wailed deafeningly in his ears.
Alex gasped for breath.
His chest heaved rapidly.
"What… is this?"
His awareness was a mess. Had he entered the simulated life? Seeing a place he didn't recognize instead of the Sunrise Entertainment building from a few minutes earlier, he stared in shock at the expanse of stars overhead.
Just a few seconds ago, he had still been inside Sunrise Entertainment's white capsule pod. But now, he was sprawled on the cold asphalt.
The people nearby immediately crowded around him.
"Oh my God, his leg is bent! Is it broken?"
Hearing the panicked shout, Alex immediately felt the pain coursing through his right leg.
He reflexively lowered his head. His shinbone was broken, bent off to one side. Seeing how bad it was, no wonder the pain was so intense. But… wait a second!
Wasn't this simulated life supposed to make him be reborn? He wasn't supposed to remember anything from the real world, and he was only supposed to feel the pain as though it were part of a dream. Why did it feel so real?
Alex fell silent, his brow furrowing. Every person who had ever been put to sleep for this simulated life had always said it felt as though they had just woken up from a dream. They never remembered that it had been nothing more than a fake life.
Then why was his case different?
Alex gritted his teeth. While the people crowding around him hurried to call an ambulance and look for help, foreign memories began flooding his mind. His father's name in this world, his education, his home address, his friends. Everything felt real.
He lived in a broken family. His father's face, his mother's, and those of his two younger sisters were the same as in his real life. Unfortunately, here, his father wasn't the loving man he had once been.
The man got drunk and gambled every day, beat his wife, and kicked his daughters. A year ago, he had left with a widow, taking the family's meager savings with him—the money they had spent years saving for his mother's medical treatment.
Alex felt like crying. The father he had loved so dearly had been tainted with a terrible image by the live-broadcast crew. His father was already gone, and they had deliberately written a vile storyline to portray him that way.
"So this is… my simulated life?" Alex's breath came in ragged gasps.
"The patient's having trouble breathing!"
The panicked voice immediately broke through the crowd.
Alex's body jolted again. His chest felt heavy, and his breathing came in short bursts as pain continued pounding through his right leg and head.
The rain was still pouring down. Red and blue emergency lights began reflecting off the wet road in the distance. Before long, the sound of an ambulance dominated the night.
At the same time, a cold, mechanical voice suddenly appeared inside Alex's head.
[DING!] [Host detected in a life-or-death situation. Primary consciousness successfully synchronized.] [I am the mystic jade within your veins. Greetings, Master Alex.] [Current physical status: right-leg injury, severe tibia fracture, severe concussion, blood loss: 12%. Immediate medical attention required.]
Alex's eyes widened.
The mystic jade in his veins?
No…
This had to be part of Director Sebastian's design.
"Damn it…"