SWNOVELXO Chapter 3 - What, Doctor, My Eyes?! (2)
Chapter 3 – What, Doctor, My Eyes?! (2)
Bzzzzt-!
“Huh?”
The phone screen quickly changed to a different display with a vibration.
The name ‘Cheon Se-jeong’ was displayed on the phone screen.
Cheon Se-jeong.
Si-un’s very close female friend.
Just thinking of this name made his throat tighten.
A friend who had always been exceptionally pretty and charming, receiving love from everyone around her since childhood.
Men always swarmed around her.
However, Se-jeong never dated ordinary men.
She only dated men who had their own distinct charm.
That didn’t mean she was frivolous.
She was more the type to love people sincerely.
Bzzzzt!
The vibration continues.
Si-un was torn between answering the phone or not.
In his past life, he remembered crying his eyes out because of Se-jeong, to the point where his stomach turned.
To Si-un, Se-jeong was more than just a friend.
Though he wasn’t sure if Se-jeong felt the same way.
“Sigh…”
With trembling heart, he answered the phone.
“Hello.”
– Hey! Why aren’t you answering your phone?
Her clear and bright voice.
His heart skipped a beat.
‘Let’s forget about the memories of the past life.’
Si-un cleared his throat and said,
“Ah, did you call?”
– Do you know how many times I’ve called you over the past two days! You punk.
“Ah, sorry, sorry. I was sick so I couldn’t look at my phone for a while.”
– Sick?
“Yeah.”
Her scolding tone changed completely at the mention of Si-un being sick.
– What’s wrong?
“Just my eyes…. They were strangely hurting. I couldn’t even keep my eyes open, let alone look at my phone.”
– You fool! You’ve been playing games non-stop at PC cafes since you got discharged from the military, right? That’s why your eyes are strained!
“Games? Me?”
– Yes, games! You’re a gaming addict. Don’t pretend you’re not when you used to love games more than women.
Si-un tried to search through his memories.
In the hazy memory, what was his twenty-three-year-old self like?
He was the type who would be so absorbed in gaming that he wouldn’t notice even if someone slapped his ears.
Since becoming a Hunter was too difficult…
He found vicarious satisfaction through games where he could become a Hunter and roam the world.
“Ah, that’s right.”
– What do you mean ‘that’s right’?
“Ah yes, that’s right.”
‘I’m not thirty-four now, I’m twenty-three. Get it together, Lee Si-un, you bastard.’
– Take better care of yourself, you fool… How come you never contacted your noona after being discharged? Do you know how hurt I was?
“Ah, I’ve been out of it.”
– Tch. Anyway, did you go to the hospital?
Se-jeong’s caring nature, worrying about him like a girlfriend.
He felt his body naturally becoming relaxed.
This kind and thoughtful consideration was Se-jeong’s greatest charm.
“Yeah… I went.”
– What did the doctor say?
“Well, just that I need to rest well for a few days and use eye drops, then I’ll get better.”
– That’s good. I was thinking of meeting up today or tomorrow if you weren’t sick.
“That’s too bad.”
– When you’re all better, let’s definitely meet up. Noona will treat you to something delicious.
“Yeah… I miss you.”
– Pfft. Fool. Anyway, contact me when you’re feeling better. Got it?
“Got it.”
– Then get some rest! Noona’s going to work now.
Click.
“Haah…”
As soon as the call ended, Si-un let out a sigh.
Just as he was about to reminisce about his days with her, he had already reached his stop.
When he arrived home, it was six in the evening.
He put the prescribed eye drops in his eyes.
After that strange phenomenon earlier, he barely felt any pain in his eyes.
‘My eyes definitely don’t hurt anymore. But why did they say there was something wrong with my optic nerve?’
Now that the tsunami-like pain had subsided, he finally felt like he could live.
But the doctor’s words kept coming back to him.
– Mr. Lee Si-un, your optic nerve appears strange, as if it’s developed dramatically.
And he was also concerned about what happened in the subway earlier.
‘Let it go. As long as my eyes don’t hurt, it’s fine.’
After organizing his thoughts, Si-un sat down in front of his room’s computer and gently pressed the power button.
Whirr-
He was planning to surf the web about optic nerves.
The portal site appeared on the Internet Explorer screen,
Si-un felt something unfamiliar.
“What’s this?”
The countless letters of numerous articles in news, entertainment, and lifestyle sections on the portal site caught his eye at once.
What was even more surprising was.
In just one second,
All those articles’ contents were completely embedded in his mind, floating around.
Si-un blinked.
And he searched for the word ‘optic nerve’ on the portal site.
The numerous letters and contents containing information about the optic nerve,
Were being collected and read in his mind.
‘This is impossible!’
Normally, for humans to put text into their heads, they need to move their eyes to look at and read each character one by one to input it into their minds.
How could so many characters enter in just one second?
‘Wait a minute. If I can put all these characters into my head at once?’
He shifted his gaze to the bookshelf on the desk.
A novel caught his eye on the bookshelf.
-Double Amazing
It was a fantasy genre novel.
Unconsciously, Si-un started turning its pages.
‘Whoa, th-this is impossible!’
Si-un finally figured out the cause of this strange feeling.
After experiencing reading a book of over 200 pages in just 3 minutes.
Amazingly, the contents of the book he read were perfectly stored in his memory circuits.
“This book’s content is about the protagonist Kim Seo-hyun who was born with an iron man’s physical abilities and falls into another world called Tersan, where he meets his companion Jane and… … … … … …”
He was reciting the plot of the 200-plus page book exactly 3 minutes after reading it.
He was amazed at himself.
It wasn’t like he had skimmed through the book.
At Si-un’s normal reading speed?
This amount would take at least one to two days.
But it took 3 minutes. 3 minutes.
‘Both hitting the home run earlier and being able to read books like this are thanks to the optic nerve.’
Si-un recalled.
The strange, reddish shape of his optic nerve that the doctor had shown him on a chart a few days ago.
‘If I use this well… this life could be amazing?’
His hands started trembling.
So in this life, he’s a hunter going to another world.
***
At a famous studio in Gangnam.
Cheon Se-jeong struck a pose wearing a black sleeveless top that clearly showed off her smooth cleavage, a black button skirt, a fresh denim jacket, and canvas shoes white as blank paper.
“Okay, good! Another pose.”
Click!
A burst of camera flashes.
Porcelain-like skin.
Se-jeong, with her fist-sized face, calmly brushes down her long hair.
She seductively changes her pose by twisting her hips and moving her thighs.
Her gaze is mesmerizing and provocative.
It looks natural.
“Okay, good! Ms. Se-jeong, next pose~”
The director kept firing the camera flash, capturing model Cheon Se-jeong in photos.
After pressing the shutter a couple more times,
The director smiled with satisfaction.
“Great! That’s all for today’s shots. Good work! Ms. Se-jeong.”
“Thank you for your hard work.”
Cheon Se-jeong adjusted her clothes and walked out of the studio set with repeated small bows.
After shooting photos that would grace the magazine’s main pages as a model for the famous luxury brand Doubles, the director approached the staff member who was retouching the photos.
“Miso, how is it? This cut is killer, right?”
“Yes. Since Se-jeong’s natural appearance is so perfect, it won’t need much retouching.”
“Hehe, as expected… Great! It’s the harmony between my skills and Se-jeong’s visuals.”
Director Dong-woo gestured for Se-jeong to come over.
“Hey~ Take a look at these photos. Are you satisfied, Ms. Se-jeong?”
“They’re fine….”
“Good, good. Now that the shoot is over, Se-jeong, let’s all have dinner with the staff.”
“Ah, I have somewhere to go.”
“What?”
Dong-woo’s face stiffens.
“Unless it’s an important prior engagement, try to cancel it. Our staff worked hard… let’s have some soju together and unwind. That’s how business works, right? It would be a shame to part like this~”
Dong-woo pressed Se-jeong with a sly expression.
Using the dinner as an excuse to make a move.
‘Sigh…. Here we go again.’
Though Se-jeong’s natural inclination was to snap back with a sharp retort, she forced herself to endure it, knowing it wouldn’t be good to get on the bad side of Dong-woo, who was well-connected in the modeling industry.
This wasn’t the first time Dong-woo had been clingy with Se-jeong.
Dong-woo would get excited at the sight of any pretty model.
He was already famous in the industry as a ‘horny dog.’
Horny dog.
Short for a male in heat.
The number of models who had suffered from his advances was countless.
If he would even act this way towards Se-jeong, who had strong backing…
“Um, my driver is waiting… Thank you everyone for your hard work!”
Se-jeong neatly brushed her bangs forward and walked towards a man who had been silently watching the scene.
“Hey! Hey, Se-jeong. I’m really disappointed? Is your prior engagement so important that you have to skip the company dinner?”
Se-jeong nodded.
“Are you really doing this? Your cuts today came out so smoothly thanks to my hard work… This feels really unfair. What’s this prior engagement?”
“I made plans to have dinner with my family after a long time.”
“You can have dinner with your family any other day. You see them every day anyway. Come on…”
“I’m sorry.”
“Wait, just a moment. Se-jeong!”
Se-jeong passes by Dong-woo without a single glance, maintaining an expressionless face like an impenetrable wall.
Dong-woo swallowed hard and watched Se-jeong’s retreating figure with disapproving eyes.
‘That bitch. Acting all high and mighty… I need to get her drunk somehow today and have my way with her.’
Just as Dong-woo was about to follow and speak to Se-jeong again,
A well-built man waiting for Se-jeong approached and blocked his path.
The man slightly lifted his chin and stared at Dong-woo with intense eyes.
A look that warned him not to bother Se-jeong anymore.
In that moment, he couldn’t approach any further.
“Ahem!”
Dong-woo turned away in displeasure.
Click. Click.
A man in a suit walked towards Se-jeong, his heel making clicking sounds.
“Miss, the Chairman would like to have dinner with you today.”
“Ah, my head is complicated today, and I don’t want to go home.”
“But… the Chairman made time after so long…”
The chauffeur guided her to the luxury foreign car parked outside.
After getting into the back seat, she said,
“I’d like to go to the bookstore to clear my head. Please take me there. You know where it is, right?”
***
The destination was the large bookstore she always headed to.
Inside, many people were absorbed in books.
She walked around the bookstore, examining books that caught her eye.
‘Phew…’
Only when reading here does she feel like all her worldly worries are lifted.
That’s why she always comes here when her mind and body are tired from her tight schedule.
‘Should I relieve some stress by reading today too?’
While scanning through the many books on the shelves,
She stopped abruptly upon spotting someone familiar.
“Huh?”
The person she saw was crouched awkwardly with dozens of books piled beside them, completely absorbed in reading.
Thwack!
When Se-jeong tapped his shoulder, the man who had his face buried in a book jumped in surprise.
“Hmm?”
“Yanma! Lee Si-un! What are you doing here?”
Finally, it was the moment when she and he had their first encounter in Si-un’s third life.