Chapter 3 – Slave and the Monarch
The king woke up from his dream.
Dream and reality.
Everything was jumbled up, and the king slowly became aware of himself.
‘I’m awake.’
The king was motionless as he clenched then opened his fist.
The man, who represented him inside the dream, had been in denial even after he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He even called the woman he had parted with. When he thought about the man’s feeble-mindedness, a chill ran up the king’s spine. The despair and pain felt by Hahn-suhjin was so big that it pressed down heavily on his chest.
He had spent 10 days inside his dream. However, only 20 minutes had pa.s.sed in reality.
“You majesty. You are awake.”
“You are still sitting here?”
Thankfully, his loyal va.s.sal hadn’t left, and he continued to keep vigil in the same spot.
“There is a problem.”
“Is it about the situation you spoke about previously?”
“Yes. In my dream, I’m suffering from cepa-coiiner. The disease has already spread to my other organs.”
Cancer. In the language of Lenorjian, it was called cepa-coiiner.
The old man, who was his va.s.sal and an Archmage, was confused.
“Then that shouldn’t be much of a problem?”
“The world of my dream is quite different from Lenorjian.”
The king let out a bitter laugh as he gave an explanation.
“In this place, the disease is cured when a low rank priest gives a blessing… However, it’s almost impossible to be completely heal the disease in that place.”
The old servant’s face hardened. The king continued to speak.
“It is a disease where only 5 out of a 100 people survive the disease. Moreover, I seemed to be suffering from one of the more severe form of the disease.”
“You are in danger.”
The old servant’s eyebrows quivered.
“The end of the dream means the curse will be complete. If you die inside the dream, it’ll affect your majesty’s esteemed health.”
If one died in the dream, then one also died in reality. The traitor casted the curse even with his life on the line. When the endless nightmare runs its course, the soul was dismantled, and one’s eternal cycle of life would be severed.
Angels, devils and even G.o.ds were afraid of the curse for this reason. Usually, death was a new beginning. However, the curse made death an eternal end.
“We shouldn’t be prioritizing awakening your majesty in your dream. It is more urgent to prevent your dream from ending.”
“I agree with you. Do you have any suggestions?”
“We’ve gathered the best magician and priests. They are researching night and day. We might be able to find a way. We will intervene in your dream, so your majesty’s illness is healed..”
“……is that even possible?”
“Although, I have been incompetent up until now, I will use all my power to stop the dream from ending. Please believe in me.”
His old faithful subject bowed his head.
The king replied in a calm manner.
“Please do me this favor.”
Section chief Park-haechul was annoyed since the morning.
“Again? You can’t contact him?”
“Yes. His phone is always off.”
“Jeez. He’s never acted this way, so what happened to this fellow?”
Hahn-suhjin didn’t come to work yesterday, and he was also absent today without giving them any notice. If he came to work today, Park-haechul planned on giving him a stern lecture regarding his unexcused absence yesterday. However, they still weren’t able to contact him yet.
“He’s been diligent for the past 4 years, so why is he suddenly being like this?”
“He’s receiving his treatment at an outpatient clinic. Maybe something went wrong?”
“Something went wrong, my a.s.s. He said there wasn’t any problems.”
“Still, that is the only explanation I could come up with. As section chief already knows, Hahn-suhjin never missed a day of work for the past 4 years. This fellow wouldn’t skip work without contacting us..”
As time pa.s.sed, even section chief Park-haechul started to get worried. He really started to think something might have happened.
However, Hahn-suhjin appeared around 2 in the evening. Park-haechul was a bit relieved, but his relief turned into displeasure.
“Mr. Hahn-suhjin. Do you think of your job at this company as a joke?”
“……I’m sorry.”
“Why didn’t you answer your phone? If your body is really sick, you should have told the company and you should have taken a sick leave. How can you turn off your phone for two straight days? Did you learn from somewhere that you can act this way in your company life?”
Hahn-suhjin silently listened to his words, then he pulled out a white envelope. Section chief Park-haechul was taken a bit aback, but soon, he put on a stern expression as if nothing had happened.
“I didn’t know you were this kind of a person. After being absent without notice, you think everything will resolve itself if you hand in your resignation letter? Company life isn’t that easy. You should already know that, Mr. Hahn-suhjin. What are you trying to pull? Is this some form of a protest?”
“It’s been determined I have late stage pancreatic cancer.”
“Pancreatic…… What?”
Park-haechul was about to start another round of verbal a.s.sault, but his expression quickly changed.
Hahn-sujin couldn’t say anything as he looked at the other man. Then he continued speaking with a trembling voice.
“I’ve gone to three hospitals and they all confirmed the diagnosis. It’s already spread to various locations. It’ll be almost impossible to treat it.”
“T…then…….”
“They told me to do what I want with the time I have left.”
“Ah……. I’m really sorry. I didn’t know…….”
“No. I should have at least called in once. I wasn’t thinking at the time. I’m sorry for worrying both of you.”
“No. No. My man. The phone call isn’t the problem right. If I was about to die, I wouldn’t even think about calling in….”
Park-haechul was too taken aback, so he kept repeating he was sorry. He was only a normal salaryman. Hahn-suhjin had a terminal illness, so how could Park-haechul berate for missing one day of work?
“Please take care of my letter of resignation for me.”
“Ah. I understand. Wait a moment! Don’t go to your house immediately. Please stay and rest in the break room for now.”
Hahn-suhjin thought it was weird, but he said he will. After giving his reply, he went to the break room to rest. It felt strange to think today would be the last time he would be coming to this place.
After an hour pa.s.sed, section chief Park-haechul and another employee came to meet him.
“I’m the head of the human resources, Jung-choongshik. I’m sorry. It is quite unfortunate.”
“……thank you for you consolation.”
Hahn-suhjin bowed his head, and a strange thought came to him. Why did the head of the human resources come here?
“I came here…. I wanted to express my regret for your unfortunate circ.u.mstance as a representative of our company. I’ve prepared a compensation benefit for one year. You will as...o...b.. receiving a severance pay. Moreover, instead of a resignation, we will put you down as being dismissed. Then you will be able to receive unemployment benefits.”
“Really? Thank you.”
His mother eloped with a man and she had taken all his saving as she went into hiding. This was why he was penniless right now. With the 1 year compensation benefit, severance pay and the unemployment benefits he would be able to do something with the time he had left. He could get treatments to prolong his life or he could straighten out his life.
The eyes of the head of human resource shone brightly.
“Instead… Could you sign this?”
He presented a legal doc.u.ment. Hahn-suhjin didn’t know what it was, so he kept staring at it.
“It is an agreement stating you won’t sue for damages regarding your occupational health. For giving you a bonus, I would like you to put your signature here.”
“Occupational health?”
He had never thought about such things, so Hahn-suhjin was confused.
From the side, section chief Park-haechul spoke with an apologetic expression on his face.
“Mr. Hahn-suhjin. As you probably know, our company is currently in trouble with retired employees, who developed leukemia. You might ask what the chemicals from the process of making semiconductors have to do with your pancreatic cancer…. Still, as a company, we have to tie the loose end. Please be understanding.”
“…….”
“Ah. You know how it is. The environment where Mr. Hahn-suhjin works has very minimal contact with chemical agents. Even if you did, could it really cause pancreatic cancer? Of course, I know Mr. Hahn-suhjin isn’t like the retired employees, who are causing trouble. Mr.Hahn-suhjin is a breed of man rarely seen these days. You are strongly devoted to your company. You don’t have to think too hard on this. Just sign here. Then I’ll down an additional year worth of benefits.”
Hah-suhjin looked alternately between their two faces. Park-haechul eyes were indicated he was asking this as a request. The head of the human resources boldly met Suhjin’s eyes.
It was a gaze saying, ‘what are you going to do about it?’
During his company life, he had seen countless eyes like his. At first, he felt uncomfortable by it, but he got used to it soon. As a laborer of 4 years, Hahn-suhjin had gotten used to the gaze long before today.
He didn’t know why.
Hann-suhnjin was a bit bothered by the eyes of the department head of human resources. Then he was surprised by the fact he had such thoughts.
“……I’ll sign it.”
For the first time, the head of the human resources put on a friendly smile.
“You made the right choice. Thank you.”