In the Name of God - vanish into fiction

Under a messy, tangled mop of hair that barely let his eyes be seen, his face, which had originally been pale, now carried a corpse-like pallor. Only the area around his eyes was flushed from fever, but the deep, sharply sunken dark circles under them made it hard for anyone to believe he was alive.

It was not just his face that was the problem.

His body, perfectly described as skin and bones, was so thin that I immediately thought he would need to eat five meals a day.

Wearing shabby clothes stained with dried blood on such a body, anyone who saw him would probably think he was a beggar on the verge of death.

“Did I really go around looking like this?”

-Didn’t you notice? Everyone looked at you with extreme pity.

So that was why I sometimes felt sympathetic gazes.

My lifespan had been extended by a week, which was why I looked better now. Then how pale must the inspector have found me earlier, compared to my pre-death state?

‘Better than I looked before I died, but at this rate, I’ll have to be careful in combat.’

If I tried to fly around like in my prime, my limbs would probably break first.

“Hoo… this isn’t easy.”

I sighed and brushed back my frustrating bangs.

First, I needed to fix this messy hair.

***

In the early dawn of that day, thick darkness hung low.

A long shadow appeared in front of Seong Do‑yoon’s old, dilapidated house.

Click-

The sound of a lock turning came from the firmly closed front door.

Finally, the door opened cautiously.

Screech.

A chilling friction sound slowly echoed through the old house.

A large figure, completely clad in black from head to toe, stepped inside.

With a black hat and mask, he looked like a thief at first glance.

The man silently closed the door and glanced around the dark living room for a moment, then headed straight to Seong Do‑yoon’s room. Again, he opened the door slowly to avoid making noise.

Inside, Seong Do‑yoon lay asleep in comfortable clothes. He was lying straight without moving, the blanket neatly covering his chest.

The man looked down at Seong Do‑yoon with a strangely curious expression and quietly sat beside him.

Rustle.

He gently ran his hand through Seong Do‑yoon’s neatly combed hair. Since the money received from the association had been used to fix the messy hair, his face was now clearly visible unlike before.

The man then slightly pulled back the blanket covering Seong Do‑yoon. Moonlight streaming through the window without curtains faintly illuminated his body.

The man began checking Seong Do‑yoon’s body under the moonlight. He lightly held or lifted his thin arms, lifted the shirt to press his ribs and slim stomach, ensuring nothing was wrong.

Only after checking the legs and feet did he look relieved.

After finishing, he straightened Seong Do‑yoon’s clothes and pulled the blanket up to his neck. Then he gently patted Seong Do‑yoon’s chest a few times in rhythm. He was confident that this would not wake the sleeping Seong Do‑yoon.

The man did not stay long.

He stood, looked back at the room a few times with apparent reluctance, and finally left the house completely.

As if no visitor had ever come, he silently disappeared from Seong Do‑yoon’s home.

A few minutes later.

I slowly opened my eyes.

I looked at the doorway with sharp focus, as if I had never been asleep. The old door remained motionless.

Echo, curled up next to my pillow, raised his head. Even though the intruder was right next to him, he did not notice Echo’s presence.

-Why were you pretending to be asleep?

Unlike the slow-reacting Seong Do‑yoon, who wouldn’t notice if someone carried him away while asleep, I had nerves so sensitive that I opened my eyes at the slightest sound or movement.

Just the click of the front door lock opening made me instantly alert, all senses on edge.

I pretended to be asleep on purpose.

“Because I have to act like Seong Do‑yoon.”

A sane thief would not have entered a house like this to steal anything.

The most likely intruders were the three men I had met during the day. If they had followed me with a grudge and intended revenge tonight, I would not forgive them.