In the Name of God - vanish into fiction

Lee Sunho’s eyes, which had looked gentle just a moment ago, turned terrifying in an instant. It felt as if the version of him that contemplated breaking my ankle in the dungeon was about to resurface if I insisted on following.

I raised both hands to shoulder height in a gesture of surrender.

“Fine. I will stay quietly at home.”

He gave a beaming smile, seemingly pleased with that. Perhaps because I had seen it so often now, even the eerie sense of dissonance in that smiling face felt familiar.

Lee Sunho grabbed my shoulders and forced me to lie down on the bed. He settled the back of my head onto a fluffy pillow and pulled the thick duvet all the way up to my neck.

Finally, having cupped my injured ankle with his hand to dull the pain once more, he felt my forehead.

“Do you want to take some fever reducers?”

“It is just a little heat. I am fine, so just hurry up and go.”

A fever is something that rises as naturally as eating a meal whenever I strain my body a little, anyway.

I sent him a look telling him to leave quickly, but for some reason, Lee Sunho did not exit the room easily.

After appearing to contemplate for a moment, Lee Sunho covered both of my eyes with his hand.

“I am uneasy, so I will leave once you fall asleep.”

“Why are you so obsessed with making me sleep? I told you to go.”

“I still have plenty of time. It is okay, so go to sleep.”

“Sigh.”

This guy is being a bit strange today.

Feeling as though he would not back down easily even if I resisted, I quietly relaxed my body.

‘It must be uncomfortable for him to leave an injured person alone.’

Was his heart similar to mine back when I could not easily log out whenever my Apostle returned exhausted from a long battle?

‘Back then, I often overdid it and ended up being late for my next login, probably.’

What did my Apostle say back then?

I cannot remember.

‘Damn it.’

Once again, the desire to quickly regain the memories regarding my Apostle took precedence.

Along with that, realizing how much Lee Sunho must be worried to act like this, I decided to tolerate this overprotectiveness.

“Alright. I am sleeping, I am sleeping.”

I closed my eyes calmly and pretended to try to fall asleep.

When in the middle of a war or performing extreme missions, one often had to fall asleep in a short amount of time to conserve physical strength. Thus, I intended to fall asleep instantly to send Lee Sunho on his way.

‘Wait, something is strange?’

The sensation was odd.

Normally, instead of entering a sleep state rapidly, I would keep my nerves awake. That way, I could immediately prepare for any sudden ambush or emergency.

Unless I fainted, there was no way I would fall into a deep sleep, yet strangely, as soon as I closed my eyes, I felt a sensation of my consciousness being dragged deep down below.

‘What is this? Is my body failing because of accumulated fatigue?’

Perhaps I had reached my limit after habitually getting nothing but light sleep. I had indeed overworked this weak body lately.

Eventually, as my consciousness blurred, I felt Echo, which had been sitting blankly in the corner of the bed, disappear.

‘It is going to cry again.’

Thinking of Echo, which has been subjected to forced unsummoning like a daily routine lately, I drifted off into a deep sleep. As if I had fainted.

***

Seong Do‑yoon described it as “as if I had fainted,” but in reality, he actually had fainted.

To be precise, he had been forcibly dragged into the boundary of a deep subconscious world.

<Interference by ■■■ ■■ regarding the mental body of □□□ has been confirmed.>

<Checking interference authority…>

<Confirmed.>

Lee Sunho stared at the blue system window floating before his eyes.

<The consciousness of □□□ is temporarily stored in the critical layer of the ‘Otherworld’.>

<Undersynchronized shadow fragments will be forcibly synchronized upon the expiration of the time limit.>

<Forced synchronization applies immediately to the physical body regardless of whether the mental body is stored.>

<Remaining time : 03:11:47>

Beyond the system window, he saw Seong Do‑yoon sleeping as if dead.

Lee Sunho carefully leaned over Seong Do‑yoon.

Lightly, their lips touched.

He felt a breath so faint that it would not be noticed unless one’s entire nerves were focused. He also felt a bit of warmth from the touching lips.

Lee Sunho gently stroked Seong Do‑yoon’s cheek.

‘What a relief.’

Thanks to the battle today, his lifespan had doubled, and his complexion had improved even if only by a little. Although a fever was inevitably rising as a consequence of pushing his body too hard, it would subside soon as long as he remained in a deep sleep like this.