NAPE - 37

“I’m going to break your world.”

Doyoon uttered the prophecy casually.

“I have a feeling. I’ll smash it for you.”

At his firm words, Bibi held her breath for a moment. Looking into those eyes, clearer than clear yet deep, she couldn’t help but feel he was right. Just as she lived by the principles of a hunting dog, he lived by his own set of standards.

The human Kwon Doyoon was ambiguous yet steadfast and solid. Being with him brought chaos, and doubt spread like poison, with thoughts chasing their own tails.

Could it be that everything she had considered absolute was actually... abnormal? What if she too could have a free and knowledge-filled life like the humans she saw during the day?

Even when she squeezed her eyes shut, she couldn’t push away the questions that arose like sins. They crashed in like waves. As the night deepened, Bibi was being tossed about violently. Her identity was crumbling, and the world she had firmly protected was gradually sinking. It was the first time she wanted to see the trainer, even though she didn’t feel lonely.

Bibi wanted to see him and ask directly.

Who the hell am I?

________________________________________

Normally, March should still feel so cold that one hardly senses spring, but strangely, this year the air warmed early. The fact that cherry blossoms were already preparing to bud spoke for itself. The coats of people walking the streets had noticeably thinned.

Doyoon became as busy as the early spring. Now that winter break was over, he had to go to school every week to give lectures. The only one who hadn’t changed was Bibi.

She still hadn’t spoken since that day. The last time she had spoken was in early February, so it had already been almost a month since she had fallen silent.

Bibi’s routine consisted entirely of sitting by the window all day, lost in thought as she watched the humans passing by outside. When she sat in the sunlight, her skin shone as white and soft as a snowflake. With her hair hanging long and her gaze fixed on the distant, she looked like an imprisoned princess. However, she didn’t exude the gloomy atmosphere of someone confined.

Bibi wasn’t depressed or happy. She was simply bound by her own rules and principles.

Having reunited with her former master, Bibi seemed to have a stronger awareness of herself as a hunting dog and no longer entered Doyoon’s bedroom. To preserve herself within the world she belonged to, she avoided unnecessary contact with others. She also stopped pestering him for kisses since she hadn’t eaten the rabbit.

“Do you want pudding? Something spicy?”

“......”

“Shall I give you some blood?”

“......”

“Are you going to keep not talking?”

Doyoon wasn’t just going to sit idly by and watch. He wasn’t the type to wait. Every day, he tried to elicit a response from Bibi by talking to her. He considered forcibly opening her mouth, moving her tongue, and stimulating her throat, but instead chose to coax her.

The first thing he tried was games. Doyoon remembered that Bibi had shown great talent in Tetris and bought a console game.

“Okay, this is the directional pad. Press this to jump. From now on, you’ll be playing from Ethan’s point of view. As I said before, it’s the story of a human named Ethan who lived as a god’s slave for ten years and is going to rescue his family.”

Sitting on the sofa with the joystick in her hands, Bibi listened attentively to the explanation, her large eyes rolling around. Doyoon carefully observed Bibi’s reaction. It might be a bit difficult for a beginner to play an RPG, but there was a reason he had deliberately chosen this genre: immersion.

For someone who has been brainwashed to emerge into a different world, humanistic insight and diverse experiences are necessary. The former has the powerful advantage of forming new thoughts as one gains understanding and re-establishes values one by one, but it has the disadvantage of taking a lot of time.

Therefore, Doyoon decided to indirectly provide diverse experiences. By following the story of a protagonist in a similar situation to Bibi’s, she would come to see that the world she had known was not everything, and she would similarly receive a shock.

“Take your time playing. I’ll be back from school.”

Bibi accepted the game controller with a pure expression, unaware of Doyoon’s intentions. As he had said, the gameplay wasn’t easy. Unlike the simple screen she was used to on her phone, the realistic, elaborate, and complex scenery made her head spin.

It took her an hour just to get used to the controls, and another hour to understand the initial story and the protagonist’s goal.

Only after gaining some understanding was Bibi able to immerse herself in the game. The game’s story was about a man who lived as a slave, went out into the world to carry out his master’s errands, and then coincidentally realized he was a descendant of the old king and set off to find his family.

Facing the truths that unfolded one by one, the protagonist moved forward while being thrown into confusion. While playing, Bibi felt a slight sense of detachment.

The protagonist in the game and she were too different. He had a goal and a family, so he had no time to be discouraged.

But Bibi... didn’t know where her roots were. She didn’t want to become like the protagonist. She didn’t want to face the truth. She was afraid of how much would collapse if she acknowledged what she had been deprived of, what she had lost, and that the one she had unquestioningly believed to be absolute might be a different being.

Everyone knows who they are and lives accordingly. Bibi was the same. ‘The trainer’s hunting dog’ was the only word that could define her. Not speaking was her belated effort to maintain her identity.

Bibi played the game, thoroughly separating herself from the protagonist. Whatever else, killing monsters and finding her family members one by one was definitely fun. She was so engrossed that she didn’t even notice Doyoon returning. The next day, the day after that, and the day after that, Bibi continued to play the game.

After about four days, Bibi reached the ending. The game ended with the protagonist regaining his family and becoming the king of a new kingdom. When the thing she had been engrossed in for days without sleeping or eating properly ended, a strong sense of emptiness washed over her. The gap between the game and reality was enormous.

Maybe she shouldn’t have played the game in the first place.

Bibi felt resentful towards Doyoon. He wanted her to realize something. But the real place of the protagonist in this game wasn’t as a slave, but as a noble royal.

In contrast, she... might be a descendant of the main culprit who started the war. In a precarious position, treated as a heinous criminal and possibly facing immediate execution.

Living as a hunting dog under a master seemed much more comfortable. At least she wouldn’t be lonely with a master. She wouldn’t have to rot alone in the dark.

“Let’s go to school with me tomorrow.”

While eating the pudding she had put in the refrigerator and trying to clear her mind of distracting thoughts, Doyoon, who had returned from school, approached and made an unusual suggestion.

Bibi put the spoon in her mouth and looked up at him. She felt vaguely uneasy, and a sense of rebellion arose. What was he trying to show her now?

She had been satisfied with her life as a hunting dog, but one day Doyoon suddenly intruded and was trying to overturn everything, saying it was all wrong. He ignored her efforts to uphold the principles and said she had been brainwashed. She hadn’t asked him to do any of that.

Bibi turned away with a distrustful expression and went to sit in front of the television. Doyoon had also bought various retro games, and there were simple, fun games instead of profound and annoying stories. The advantage of these games was that they didn’t make her think. She pressed the start button familiarly, and soon the living room was filled with beeping electronic sounds.

Doyoon chuckled and stared at Bibi. It felt like just yesterday she had set the microwave on fire and hid in the closet, but now she was skillfully operating the game console like a seasoned NEET. Was it incredible learning ability, or outstanding adaptability?

“Bibi.”

At Doyoon’s call, Bibi didn’t answer. She didn’t even make eye contact. It seemed she had decided to pretend not to know. She didn’t say anything out loud, but she was strongly insisting that he shouldn’t change her perception and thoughts.

Doyoon quietly sat down next to Bibi. He tried to make eye contact with Bibi, who stubbornly refused to look at him, but gave up and looked at the television screen.

Unlike reality, a small character was running around the map in the television. A cat character that resembled Bibi was diligently moving around, collecting tuna cans and coins.

One puzzling thing caught his eye. Bibi wasn’t leveling up in the usual way; she was aimlessly wandering around various parts of the map. He wanted to ask her why she was doing that, but since she was observing a vow of silence, it was difficult to expect an answer.

While Doyoon was pondering, Bibi’s character unnecessarily went into a pond and splashed around, then looked up and intently watched the sky. After that, she zoomed in on an NPC standing near a tree and flowers in a field.

Doyoon glanced at Bibi. Her eyes were full of curiosity. It was the expression she showed when she was interested in something.