⁜ Episode 2. The Debtor of Another World
Was I standing here… dreaming?
To check, I slapped my own cheek. The sting made me jump.
Not a dream. Then—where was this place? What was this place supposed to be?
No, wrong question. The important thing wasn’t what this place was, but how I was supposed to get back. I was still in my pajamas, for crying out loud.
There wasn’t going to be a door just lying around in the middle of a field and forest.
Should I try going into the woods?
After hesitating, I turned around, crouched down, and groped blindly at the ground. Maybe I’d find something invisible—hallelujah.
I actually grabbed something. My hands fumbled until they closed on a doorknob. I pushed.
Step by step, half crawling, I passed through.
Light burst in front of me again—and when it faded, Grandma’s house stood before me.
What the heck was that?
I turned. The tiny fence gate was shut tight.
No one else would even know there was a gate there. To other eyes it was just a decorative fence. Only someone like me, who used to roll around this garden, would know.
Better test it again.
I opened the little gate and crawled through. With my legs outside and my torso inside—it was just the vegetable patch.
So my whole body has to go in?
I crawled back out, only then realizing I’d just rolled around in dirt after showering and changing into pajamas.
“Damn it.”
Well, too late now. Might as well experiment further.
This time I just stepped over the fence. On the inside, it was still Grandma’s ordinary vegetable patch.
Fine. I went back, opened the fence gate again—this time tying my pajama belt to it as a marker before stepping through carefully.
Light flared. The vast plains appeared again.
But now—
Why the hell is it night?
A moon hung in the sky. The astonishing thing was how bright it was.
No lamps, no city lights—yet the moonlight was bright enough to see everything clearly. Not like daytime, but enough to read by.
I remembered a tidbit from some boring liberal arts class: Kim Jong-seo once read a letter by moonlight before being assassinated. At the time, I’d scoffed: “How do you even read by moonlight?”
Now I understood.
Turning back, I saw my pajama belt dangling in midair. Thank goodness. Otherwise, I’d have had to grope at empty space again.
At least now I knew where the gate was. I’d go back, wash up, sleep, and…
That was when the moon’s light suddenly fixed on me—like a spotlight.
Only me.
[ Returnee detected. Transferring to Immigration Program. ]
Words floated in front of my eyes. Then, just like before, a blinding flash.
—
When I came to, I stood in a white void.
Above, below, all around—just endless white. The wrongness hit me instantly.
I should never have stepped through again.
Too late now.
[ Initiating Immigration Program for Returnee. ]
Immigration? What did that mean? Moving to another country? Wasn’t this still Korea?
The letters dissolved, then re-formed.
[ Do you refuse immigration? ]
“Of course?”
[ Then will you switch to the Repayment Program? ]
Repayment? Like paying back a loan? Why would I need that?
“I don’t have any debts.”
[ You are a soul of District 14. Yet you were born illegally in District 88. Thus, you must repay the incurred fee. ]
What nonsense was that? District 14? District 88?
[ But if you immigrate to District 14, the fee will be waived once. ]
“What happens to the me in District 88 then? Actually—where even is District 14 or 88? Who are you? Where am I?”
[ The you in District 88 will be deleted. ]
I asked four questions and got one terrifying answer.
“Deleted? What does that mean? Show yourself! Why drag me here? My m—my mom will worry, you know! She’ll call the police! Just send me back!”
In truth, Mom probably hadn’t even noticed I was gone. Still—who else could I cling to in a moment like this?
My eyes burned. I prayed desperately that my words would matter.
The reply came.
[ Deletion means you never existed. No one will remember you. ]
Not even Mom.
Would she be happy? She’d never looked glad to have had me. Maybe this would be a relief to her.
But still, Mom… I…
I clenched my teeth and glared at the floating text. There was no one else to glare at.
“I don’t want immigration or repayment. Just send me back to District 88 and I’ll never come here again.”
[ Impossible. ]
“What if I don’t choose either?”
[ Then you will remain here until you do. ]
Here? In this blank, sterile void?
No. I couldn’t.
I took a breath.
“All right. How much is the fee?”
[ Complete ten divine decrees in District 14, and your debt will be repaid. ]
“Divine decrees?”
[ Will you select the Repayment Program? ]
The cold certainty radiated from mere words.
“If I repay, I get to go back?”
[ Correct. You will return to District 88. ]
So District 88 was my Earth. District 14 was this world.
“I’ll take repayment.”
[ You have voluntarily chosen the Repayment Program. Therefore, you will receive a Blessing. The gods are conferring. ]
Voluntarily? With only two choices? Sure.
I sighed. Fine. Do the ten decrees, pay the so-called debt, go home.
Positive thinking.
The floating text flickered again.
[ Three gods have blessed you. ]
The God of Wisdom and Knowledge, Gerka, blesses you.
You will easily comprehend and remember all things. Truth and secrets of the world will yield to you.
The God of Medicine and Healing, Bamildo, blesses you.
You will be healthy. No poison or illness shall harm you. To kill you, one must strike your heart or sever your head.
The God of Fortune and Prosperity, Attila, blesses you.
Luck will always follow you. Compete in fortune, and you will almost always win. You will grow influence and wealth with ease.
Remember the three gods who blessed you. They always watch their chosen.
A warmth spread through me, impossible to describe.
But the words “always watch” made it feel less like comfort and more like surveillance.
Still, I memorized the names: Gerka, Bamildo, Attila. Definitely not anywhere close to Korea or Japan.
[ Soon, you will be integrated into the Otherworld. Remember: you must receive and fulfill ten divine decrees. ]
So the gods who blessed me would also be the ones giving orders? That made sense. I was about to ask when—
Light engulfed me again, this time gold.
A rapture unlike anything I’d known swept over me. I closed my eyes as if embraced by warm water.
—
The warmth vanished. Harsh light poured in like a flood. From a hot spring to an ice bath in an instant.
“What—” I tried to speak.
But what came out was:
“Waaah! Waaaah—!”
A baby’s cry.
It took me a moment to realize that was my voice. Muffled and tiny, as if heard underwater.
When I stopped, a hand smacked my backside.
Hey! That hurt!
“Uwaaaah!”
The cry burst out again.
Someone lifted me up.
I tilted my head, stunned. A woman looked down, her face gentle.
Was this my new mother? Had I… been born?
So “Otherworld transfer” meant actual birth? Not possession?
What the hell! I had to start from “Waaah”?
“Our young lady is healthy. Such a cute cry.”
“Let me see her, quickly.”
“Yes, sir. Here, carefully.”
The woman handed me to a man.
And my “father”… was a bearded, middle-aged man who promptly burst into tears.
“At last, my child is born!”
Touching, maybe—but shave, old man. Your tears are getting caught in your beard.
“Her name shall be Arian.”
As he declared it, glowing letters appeared in the air.
[ The God of Wisdom and Knowledge, Gerka, delivers your First Decree: Before the age of twenty, you must marry Count Hamilcar. ]
Of course. The so-called gods—really just debt collectors.
A laugh slipped out before I could stop it.
My “father” immediately panicked.
“Arian must’ve soiled herself! Look at her expression!”
And just like that, I was handed back to the nursemaid.
…What a nightmare.
