“…In…, …Jane!”
The voice calling me, the hands shaking my shoulders, brought me back to my senses. When I opened my eyes, a man was holding me against the sun. The light shattered into fragments, filling my vision, making it blurry. It felt like oil covered my eyes. The sharp sunlight and cool air stung, but the arms holding me were warm. I felt like I could fall asleep like this.
He shook me, and when he saw my eyelids open, he sighed with relief.
“Oh, thank God.”
His voice was trembling terribly. Though his expression was hidden in the shadows, I quickly recognized him.
Liam Moore. He repeatedly checked my pulse and lifted my eyelids, finally relaxing.
Why is he like this? I’m fine. When I tried to speak, my voice came out raspy. My head throbbed. My tongue felt dull, as if numbed. Moving slowly, I managed to utter his name, though my pronunciation was mangled.
“…Liam.”
The man lifted his head.
It was pale. His face looked parched. His lips were chapped and bloody, and his strong shoulders were trembling badly.
Is he crying?
When I placed my hand on his twisted cheek, he closed his eyes for a moment and then buried his face in my hand. His eyelashes were wet. Is he really crying? What on earth is happening?
Next to him was Mary. Thank goodness she’s safe, although her eyes didn’t look good. She was wiping her swollen face with the curtain, sniffling quietly so as not to startle me.
“You fell and didn’t get up for a long time….”
Did I?
I don’t remember. Did I faint?
A headache surged, and when I reflexively lifted my other arm to touch my head, excruciating pain shot through it. Ouch! I screamed. The sensation was dull. Only then did I realize my arm was splinted. This can’t be happening.
“Your arm took the brunt of the fall.”
Liam Moore whispered somberly, his tear-filled gray eyes fixed on me. He hadn’t let go of my waist and kept mumbling. He seemed distraught. Yeah, given what he saw, it’s understandable.
“I ran over, but you didn’t wake up.”
I can imagine it. He must have rushed over frantically. Even when I was about to jump, he had a look on his face like the world was ending.
It’s easy to imagine how devastated he must have felt seeing me not get up. I ended up causing Liam Moore unintended distress. I get the feeling he won’t leave me near a window again.
I managed to sit up, feeling like I’d been hit by a truck. I wanted to grasp the situation around me. The man supporting my back was talking nervously.
“You were officially dead for two minutes.”
…Sorry. I suddenly wanted to lie down again.
Liam’s explanation went like this:
When I fell, there was a terrible sound. It was like something breaking. He immediately checked on me, but I was limp and showed no sign of movement. Since I had been holding Mary tightly, it seemed my arm hit the ground first.
When he checked my state, my pupils were dilated, unresponsive to light, and my breathing was faint. There was no response. While checking my pulse, it happened. My weakly fluttering pulse stopped! Despite attempts at emergency care, it was no use. That continued for two minutes.
I came back from death at the moment Liam had almost given up on reviving me.
“…I thought you were dead.”
Sorry.
I mumbled, trying to offer an excuse.
“…I knew it was dangerous, but….”
“I thought I had lost you forever.”
Liam lifted his head. Mary, now somewhat calmed down, chimed in.
“That’s right, miss. This gentleman was so worried.”
I felt guilty. I ended up comforting Liam and apologizing for a while.
Liam Moore, who had been looking at me with a complex gaze, eventually relaxed his shoulders with a sigh. He looked suddenly exhausted.
What should I say? I stayed in a strange place. Was I in a coma? I looked for you, but you weren’t there. I came out covered in someone else’s blood. Something was there. Not just me, something else. If this happens again, will I go back there?
But I couldn’t say any of that. I couldn’t tell him I’m not from this world, that I might disappear, that going home is my only goal. I didn’t want to add to Liam Schofield Moore’s burdens today.
I leaned my forehead against his shoulder. He shivered.
“I’m tired. Let’s go home.”
A smile appeared on Liam Moore’s face, as if painted there.
“…If that’s what you want.”
＊ ＊ ＊
Christine Besson was not in any danger. Throughout the journey back to London, she seemed fine except for being a bit tired. Though she slept the whole time in the sleeping car, Liam assured me her health wouldn’t be affected.
I updated my save file.
A doctor on the train examined my right arm and concluded I needed to keep it bandaged for about a month. Other than that, I had no bruises or internal injuries. He said it was as if the heavens had helped.
With two injured women, Liam couldn’t leave my side and stayed right next to me.
Mary… decided to come with us. She said she would look for a job in London until her brother regained his health. She didn’t want to give up and spoke cheerfully.
The further we got from that house, the brighter her face became. Was Amelia Jokins not the only one wasting away there? Mary looked out at the swaying scenery, and as we neared London, she exclaimed in awe. She looked like a girl her age.
As for me…
…‘I’ felt dazed. There was no pain. The status screen showed no abnormalities. Yet the surreal experience earlier left an unsettling feeling. My mind wavered, then settled, like ripples in a pool of blood. Because of ‘me’.
The face reflected in the window now seemed natural. If someone asked who I was, ‘I’ could answer Jane Osmond. It felt similar to identifying with a game character. But it was more like Jane Osmond was taking over my place, erasing ‘me’.
Memory. Memory. My memories are intact. I have parents, grew up in a peaceful and ordinary family, and have no siblings.
I always wished I had a sibling. My parents raised me with utmost care and didn’t want to burden me. The only thing they opposed was gaming? They didn’t want my eyesight to worsen. So I felt a bit bored and lonely, thinking it might be better if I had siblings.
I didn’t get into a university in Seoul. I wasn’t outstanding like the protagonist of some novel or drama, only interested in what I wanted to learn and do, so my grades were average. Just average. Enough to get into a national university.
And…
I can’t remember. What I liked, what foods I enjoyed, people, books, songs I liked or disliked, none of that comes to mind. It’s like my desires were castrated, as if a part of my brain was cut off.
My face too. I remember the black hair and black eyes typical of Asians, but nothing else. Mom. What did Dad look like? Now when I think of my parents, I see an unfamiliar foreign couple. When I think of ‘my’ face, I see a foreign woman with brown hair and green eyes.
Who am ‘I’?
No one in this world remembers me, so even I seem to be forgetting myself.
I laughed a little. The woman in the window laughed too. Jane laughed. I laughed. When I turned my head, she moved with me.
Liam Moore was looking at me.
“Liam.”
I murmured. He approached, bending his waist.
“Who am I?”
The moment I impulsively asked, I immediately regretted it. His expression froze, showing concern that I might have amnesia due to the head injury.
I took out my notebook and opened the last page.
Christine Besson was not in any danger. Throughout the journey back to London, she seemed fine except for being a bit tired. Though she slept the whole time in the sleeping car, Liam assured me her health wouldn’t be affected.
A doctor on the train examined my arm and concluded I needed to keep it bandaged for about a month.
Nothing happened, and I just closed my eyes.
I want to go home.
—–
this chapter had me hooked every line while translating, i really cant wait to see more of Liam’s pov…!