"What is this?" Gina mumbled as soon as they tered the cave.


    It wasn''t a cave, but a nest. Everywhere their eyes wt, all they could see were eggs. Dozs upon dozs of Hydra eggs. Most eggs had small cracks on them as if they were ready to hatch.


    "This is bad…" Anna whispered.


    Everyone''s reaction was the same. They didn''t ev want to think about the chaos the eggs would bring once they hatched.


    The swamp was already a dangerous ce to be, but with these creatures added to the mix, they could forget about killing the Hydra. Hell, ev stepping out of the swamp alive would be impossible.


    "No wonder the quest said to survive for two days," Yeji mumbled. "These eggs would hatch by th. I don''t ev want to imagine what will happ th..."


    "We need to destroy them now," Lysandra insisted.


    But that was easier said than done. If they destroyed the eggs, the Hydra could learn about it. Th it could either appear before them or go into hiding, making it impossible for them to hunt the Hydra.


    But, if they didn''t destroy the egg, they''d get swarmed by Hydra-lings. Neither of those options was good, by Lucifer decided for them by idtally falling on an egg, crushing it.


    "Oops…" Lucifer covered his mouth, nodding toward the eggs.


    "Smash the eggs!" YuWon instructed the rest.


    Without hesitation, they began destroying the eggs. But as the eggs got crushed, a strange gre gas hissed out from them. The gas th mixed with the fog and filled the air with an unsettling odor.


    "What is this smell?" Gina asked, quickly covering her nose.


    Since she had the best sse of smell in the group, she knew something was wrong. But everyone ignored her. They couldn''t afford to stop with so many eggs left to destroy.


    "Keep going!" YuWon ordered, ignoring the gas.


    But a momtter, YuWon''s vision blurred. He tried to stay awake, but couldn''t.


    "Guys, I—" he tried to say, but everything wt ck.


    ***


    YuWon oped his eyes, but the ce was awfully bright suddly. It didn''t feel like he was in the cave. As he sat up, he found himself in a strangely familiar ce, bathed in the orange glow of a setting sun.


    "Where—?" YuWon mumbled, looking a. "No..."


    YuWon''s eyes wided as he recognized the ce. It was the college rooftop, the same ce where he was nning to d his life.


    "This… can''t be!"


    YuWon yelled as he tried to stand, but his legs buckled beath him. His leg was brok, just like before he had awaked to his powers.


    "No, no, no…" he muttered, pping his leg in frustration. "This can''t be happing!"


    YuWon''s breathing became unev as his heart began pounding in his chest. Everything he wt through.., that couldn''t be a lie.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The memories came flooding in, though they were hazy, as if something was erasing everything, like he had wok up from a dream.


    "This isn''t real… right?" he whispered.


    Th the doubt crept in. What if  of what he wt through was real? He remembered taking pills to help him take thest step to d it all. But what if it knocked him out and made him have a dream instead?


    As much as YuWon didn''t want to believe it, that seemed to be the only believable answer. After all, how could monsters arrive in their world? Those things only happ in movies and novels. Not in real life.


    "All of it," he whispered. "Was everything... fake?"


    Tears welled in his eyes as he tried to hold on to his memories, but they were slipping away, reced by old sces of him being bullied, mocked, and beat. The life he had forgott about had caught up to him... but there was more.


    Suddly,ughter echoed from the stairwell, snapping YuWon out of his thoughts. A momtter, Hoon and his gang arrived at the terrace, acting like they owned the ce.


    "Hey, look at this!" Hoon sneered. "What''s this loser doing at our spot? Either way, it''s good timing. Your dumbass stepsister refused to kiss me again. Now you''ll have to pay for it."


    YuWon was still on the g but looked up in disbelief. It was just like before. He was the weak one, always had be, and always would be.


    It was as if all the strgth and confidce he had gained while fighting monsters never existed. But maybe... he was living a dream.


    "Get lost," YuWon muttered weakly.


    "What was that?" Hoon raised an eyebrow, stepping closer. "Come on, say it again, bitch!"


    Before YuWon could do it, Hoon kicked him on his side. The kick st YuWon stumbling as pain shot through his ribs, and he gasped, clutching his side. But it was just the trailer for what was toe.


    "This bitch thinks he''s a tough guy?" Hoon mocked.


    Th, he stomped on YuWon''s hand, grinding his knuckles into the concrete.


    "You''ve always be a pathetic piece of trash. What makes you think that''s ever gonna change, huh, bastard?"


    YuWon winced and tried to fight back, but Hoon''s gang held him in ce. Th it happed, all of them began beating him. Every muscle and every bone in his body screamed in pain.


    "Let''s see how much you can take," Hoon sneered, joying the sight of YuWon in pain.


    The fists hit his face, and the kicks beat the little defiance he had in him. YuWon curled into himself, trying to protect what he could, but the blows kepting.


    "Stop it..." he muttered weakly, trying to resist.


    But the confidt YuWon was gone. All that remained was the weak, brok college studt—a nobody who couldn''t ev protect himself.


    Memories of fighting monsters, taking revge and feeling unstoppable faded away. And got reced by familiar memories of humiliation and pain from everyone''s hands.


    This was his reality.


    Being beat by a bunch of guys who joyed tormting him. That was his reality. Not ying some monsters and having a harem.


    Those were the things he desired. But they wer''t real.


    "It was all just... in my head," YuWon whispered as despair took hold. "I was never anything more than this... maybe... it''s time to d it all."


    Just th, he heard a voice, a familiar feminine voice.


    "Get up, YuWon," the voice echoed in his mind. "This isn''t real."


    Not real? Th how can I feel this pain? No... this is real.


    But the voice kept urging him.


    "Wake up..." the voice called again. "Goddamn it, just wake up and I''ll let you do whatever you want to me!"