The World After the Fall

[I wanted to see the impossible story unfold. I wanted to see that impossible story become a reality. Maybe this is why I consider this novel to be within the modern fantasy genre.]

-Author's thought on [The World After the Fall]

Episode – World after the fall

The Fall always comes from everywhere.

Only a few people witness the Fall and warn people around them to ask for help. But in most cases, there is no help because to most people, such a Fall is not a Fall at all.

To hell with a Fall.

To the people of the world, just any kind of a Fall is not a Fall. But people do not know. Most 'falls' that people face are results of their death that comes from 'any Fall'. And the ten-year-old Jaehwan was also a victim of such a Fall.

"Stop it! I will call the police if you don't stop!"

"I'm taking him! What makes you have the right?! Do you even have a job? Or-"

"Jaehwan is MY kid!"

Jaehwan felt a headache as he heard the shouts.

'…Where am I?'

He brought his ten-year-old self up. His cheek that had slumped over a small desk was pulled out from the surface. There were dirty, used notebooks with scribbles and formulas.

As Jaehwan looked closely, it was more of a drawing then a scribble. It was hard to tell at first but after looking at it for a while, it became clear. It was a stick man figure holding something that looked like a knife, and it was ripping apart Jaehwan's homework and formulas with its sword.

It was then that many memories shot past his head. It was way too long in the past that it shook his ten-year-old head and made him fall into a seizure-like state.

'What?'

'Why am I here? Where is Big Brother?'

'Mulack?'

'Where is this place?'

...

I see. So this place is… this is the Nightmare of the Beginning.

...

Nightmare of the Beginning? What was that?

He became confused from all kinds of memory. His ten-year-old lungs moved quickly as he felt dizzy. It felt like as if he saw something floating around, and he came to realize that there were various objects being thrown. And with the sound of some clash, he heard a woman's sharp scream. Jaehwan looked down at the broken dish. As he saw the shattered sharp piece of the dish, one word came to his mind.

Stab.

Jaehwan held the piece without realizing. It made a small cut on his small ten-year-old palm. It hurt him, but it was not painful.

"AAAAAH! Let go of me! LET GO!"

He heard the woman's screaming again. Jaehwan turned to the scream and saw a woman he did not know. …a woman?

"Mom."

Jaehwan spoke the word without knowing, and became shocked that he had said such a word.

'Mom? Did I have a mom? I… I was alone for 10 billion years. How can I even have a…'

And with the painful headache, Jaehwan walked over to the woman with the shard of a dish in his hand. Jaehwan then saw a man threatening the woman by raising up a small chair against her. Jaehwan couldn't see the man's face. He walked closer and was able to see the man's face more clearly.

'Ah-ah.'

Young Jaehwan stopped on the spot as he felt some kind of jolt through his body.

'That's…'

He felt another sharp pain in his head as he clenched the shattered piece.

The man did not have eyes, a nose, or a mouth.

As if it was covered by something, the thing that covered the face was small numbers that was really small. Jaehwan then remembered scribbles and formulas written in the notebook. That face had the formulas. That face was…

The System.

As the word popped up in his mind, Jaehwan shouted as he charged. He saw the pale, fear-stricken woman's face and the man backing away in shock. He then moved his right hand in powerful motion and heard someone's screaming. He smiled faintly.

'I did it. I DID IT! I killed [Big Brother]!!'

And in next moment, Jaehwan's body became rigid.

'Big Brother? What is that anyway?'

The scream was then mixed up with another person's scream. If felt like the world had flipped and in the next moment, Jaehwan felt someone hugging him from his back. It was his mother. He was in his mother's embrace after all these years. Jaehwan's body swung helplessly like a doll within his mother's embrace.

He saw a man down on the ground, bleeding from his arm.

The man was screaming. The man was... Jaehwan saw the man's wounds. There was blood flowing out from the wound.

Jaehwan then looked down onto his hand where he had been holding on to the shattered dish piece. His ten-year-old hand was bloody. Why? The question gripped him.

'Why? Why is it not a silver color?'

"Jaehwan… Jaehwan…!"

The woman kept on calling her son's name without knowing what to do. Jaehwan looked up.

"Mom…"

And as she met her son's eyes, she became pale.

"Ah… ah-ah…"

At that moment, Jaehwan was not her son. To her eyes, Jaehwan looked like a monster, a demon that was not from this world. That demon was smiling weirdly.

"Mom. The blood is red."

"It's a delusional disorder."

The doctor with a white lab coat and silver eyeglasses spoke.

"It can happen with a kid at this age with a combination of Schizophrenia, but I think it is a bit severe in Jaehwan's case. It might even lead to a developmental disorder."

It was a bit lacking as a description, but it sounded convincing enough to a woman who did not have any knowledge regarding psychology. It was also reassuring to see many awards and plaques showing various achievements and researches made by the professional doctor.

Whatever he said, it must mean that the kid was in serious condition.

That was the only thing she can make out of in his description. She wished her choice of words met the professionalism of the doctor and asked, "I-is Jaehwan in that serious condition?"

"We can say that. Haven't you seen it with your own eyes? The incident itself is…"

The doctor stopped talking but she understood what he did not say. Sometimes, it was more effective to not say things out loud.

Jaehwan felt faint shaking in his mother's hand that touched his shoulder. If Jaehwan was a bit more of his self, it was enough to make him get angry. It was enough to argue with the doctor for treating the patient in such a demeaning way. But Jaehwan was in no state to do such a thing. Besides, he was only a ten-year-old kid.