Vol 7 Chapter 63

-Game will terminate. Please wait until all codes are completely removed.

The familiar logout guidance sound resonated in his head as his whole body's sensations returned to reality. This was always the moment when he became aware that he was lying in a narrow, dark capsule after leaving the vast game world, giving him the feeling of waking from a dream. It was also when he most keenly realized that the space he had been standing in until just now was fiction.

As he waited with his eyes closed, the electrical cords connected to his entire body detached and retracted into the capsule with loud sounds.

-All codes have been removed. You may get up. The door will open.

He sat up while looking at the familiar ceiling revealed through the capsule door that opened with a whir. Somehow the room seemed darker than it should be for this time of day.

'Is the weather bad outside?'

Just as he was thinking he should check if it was raining and standing up to support himself on the capsule to get out.

Throb.

Suddenly a burning pain flashed through his knee and his leg buckled involuntarily.

'What...'

"Ugh!"

He collapsed and rolled onto the floor. More than his shoulder and hip that had hit the ground, he couldn't breathe from the pain that felt like the joints in his knee were splitting apart and his whole body's muscles were cramping, tightening and releasing.

'This is... surely...'

It felt like the pain in his leg that he had felt since eating dinner with Master, Master's wife and Je-hwan at the kendo dojo yesterday evening had intensified. He had definitely applied hot compresses after returning home, and even taken a painkiller just in case before logging into the game...

'It was fine then. Why suddenly now...'

"Ugh... kugh..."

It was terrible pain. Feeling like his airway was blocked, he desperately tried to breathe by opening his mouth wide to take in air. His panting breaths echoed in his ears like sounds from far away.

While clutching his knee, he first tried to raise his upper body by supporting himself on the ground with his hands to get out the door. His whole body kept convulsing just from that small movement. Even his head hurt as if someone was pounding it with a hammer, making it difficult to open his eyes.

The hand he had barely managed to extend to push the door flailed a few times before dropping again. Though he clenched his molars to endure the pain, he couldn't help the suppressed groans that escaped.

"Kugh..."

Though he barely managed to hold back screaming, it felt like everything below his knee would detach from his body. There had never been anything like this among the pains that had occasionally visited until now. How long did he endure in that prison of sensation that felt like bones splitting and muscles tearing, just holding his right knee tightly while suppressing his groans?

Only after what felt like an eternity did the convulsing muscles throughout his body gradually subside and the pain in his knee begin to fade. Only then did the tension that had stiffened his body slowly release.

When he slowly raised his head that had been buried against his knee, he felt severe muscle pain in his neck though he hadn't been hit anywhere. Still, thinking it was somewhat more bearable now, he carefully raised his upper body again. Cold sweat ran down his spine as his body seemed to creak with every small attempted movement.

Even after the convulsions subsided and muscle pain began to set in, his knee continued to throb. It seemed impossible to walk on his own in this state. After taking a deep breath, he crawled to open the door and went out to the living room while trying his best not to put strength on his right leg. His dragging leg hurt enough to make him clench his teeth just from lightly bumping against furniture or walls.

"Huff... huff..."

Though he succeeded in reaching the kitchen sink area connected to the living room while wiping away cold sweat beaded on his nose bridge, a new problem arose. The shelf where he kept the painkillers was located too high up.

'No... choice. Have to stand up...'

He stood up by grabbing the sink and dining chair while trying his best to support himself only on his left leg. His whole body felt like it would collapse again at any moment from lack of strength. He quickly snatched the painkiller bottle from the shelf and grabbed as many white pills as he could see from inside.

The bottle kept rattling irritatingly as his hands wouldn't stop trembling while shaking it. To make matters worse, there weren't many pills left which made them harder to grab. Though a couple fell to the floor, he swallowed the painkillers while feeling his parched throat tear, with no time to pick them up. Though his mouth felt bitter as if he had chewed mugwort, it seemed irrelevant in the face of the greater pain.

After swallowing all the pills, he collapsed back to the floor and caught his breath. Though it would have been nice to reach the bed or sofa, he had no strength left to move further.

"Ugh..."

When he barely rested his head against the dining chair and closed his eyes, his vision spun. His mind that had barely regained some rationality worried that he might have taken too many pills at once, but the worry soon disappeared due to his knee starting to throb sharply again.

'Should I, contact the hospital.'

Though he really hated going to the hospital, the fact that such thoughts occurred showed how much more serious the pain was than usual.

'Je-hwan...'

The face of the guy who had asked yesterday if he wouldn't go to the hospital flickered in his mind. Hadn't he said to contact him if it hurt? He smiled despite the pain at the ridiculous thought that perhaps he had predicted this situation in advance.

The sky outside the kitchen window that he glimpsed was heavily overcast. Though he wanted to see the exact weather outside better, his eyes soon burned hot from the recurring pain.

"Kugh..."

He quickly exhaled again while burying his head in the chair cushion. His unhealed forehead wound hurt a bit whenever it touched the chair. He became aware that his fingers in the cast were also severely tensed from the pain, but it was hard to relax them. Though he remembered the doctor saying not to move violently, he felt he couldn't complain even if the bones healed wrong at this rate.

'What... time is it now.'

Though he belatedly wondered what time it was, his mind was becoming slightly hazy as if the medicine was starting to take effect. He opened his mouth while repeatedly blinking to try to see clearly.

"Computer... current, time."

[ The current time is 3:12 PM. ]

Three o'clock. When had it gotten so late? Thanks to the painkillers' effect, his body's sensations began gradually dulling. Though he had always thought it was an unpleasant sensation normally, right now just not feeling the pain in his right knee that had felt like a knife digging between fragmented bones made him feel like he could live.

He stayed sitting like that until the pain decreased enough that he could walk somewhat, then painfully made his way to the bedroom. His dragging right leg felt like useless baggage.

When he threw his body onto the soft bed, sleep soon washed over him as if his body, exhausted in such a short time, was demanding rest. His head was spinning. Just before falling asleep, he heard the sound of rain coming from far away. So this sudden pain was all because of the weather after all. With that thought, he closed his eyes, yielding to the approaching drowsiness.

[To be continued in the next volume.]