"Yes Hye-Na, you died in your original world and got reincarnated into the web novel world that you currently live in"
Hye-Na remained stunned after she heard what Michael just said, still processing if she should believe this quote on quote her guardian angel.
"Died? Reincarnated?" Hye-Na asked Michael doubtfully.
"You seemed to had forgotten how you died in your original world. Since you're quite the clever one, I'm gonna give you some clues so you can figure things out. First of all, what happened to you before you woke up in this world?" Michael asked.
"I was- huh? I was... I did..."
'Wait, why can't I remember what I did before I woke up in this world?!' Hye-Na internally panicking.
"You can't remember, huh? Guess that build-up stress that you hold really affected your mind that much. Well, long story short you were punished due to your grades were significantly dropped after you entered middle school and punished you to study in the orphanage's 'detention room' for the rest of the weekend. And not only that, they starved you and just used iv bags to filled your daily nutritions and they use analeptics on you whenever you're about to fall asleep so you can continue studying without sleep. After the weekend was over, you died on Monday morning due to build-up psychological stress which forces your body basically shut down. So, in conclusion, you died from overworking yourself physically and mentally" Michael explained as he showed Hye-Na a holographic image of her past self died in the orphanage's detention room.
"That is me..." Hye-Na said, still in disbelief that she saw her corpse with her very own eyes.
'Despite all these years that I've been freed from that wretched place, the feeling of that small cramped room, accompanied with the sound of the ticking clock and the sound of me continuously writing on my notebook with a pen still lingered in my mind' Hye-Na thought to herself about all the experiences she felt on that 'detention room'.
TW: Disturbing imagery about Hye-Na's past (mental and physical abuse).
(Imagine it's Hye-Na)
"I got to say, you were quite the beauty despite you were living in a place like that even before you got reincarnated," Michael said as he showed another holographic image of Hye-Na's past appearance.
"What I look like before does not matter! Anyway, based on what you just told me, it does make sense considering I can't return to my original world like Dan-I despite us being in the same world as her because I'm already reincarnated as a character in this web novel world" Hye-Na said to Michael.
"That's correct, and also just a side note, the gods above only grant reincarnation to someone who has lived a miserable life up until their death. And also-"
Michael halted his words when the sound of a church bell echoed through the room.
"Well, guess we'll leave it at that for the time being. I'll tell you more about it the next time we met, the gods above seemed to have realized that I used my time manipulation power without their permission and wants to seek an audience with me. Until we meet again, Kang Hye-Na" Michael said as he waved his right hand to Hye-Na.
"WAIT! I'M NOT DONE ASK-"
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"SHE'S UNDER THE TRUCK!!"
"ARE YOU OK, MISS?!"
"You almost got killed"
Hye-Na woke up, realizing that she is under the truck that was about to hit her.
'Guess he put me under here after he saved me to make it more believable. Gosh, my back hurts' Hye-Na thought to herself as a random person lend their shoulder for Hye-Na to grab on.
"HEY, LET'S GET THE FUCK OUT HERE BEFORE THE COPS ARE HERE!!" The senior said as the rest of his underlings (including the one who pushed harmed Hye-Na).
Suddenly, the truck driver got out of his driver's seat and started to scold Hye-Na.
"YOU IDIOT!! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!! WHY DID YOU THROW YOURSELF ONTO THE ROAD?!! YOU ALMOST MADE ME A MURDERER!!"
Hye-Na was about to talk, but her voice won't come out no matter how much she tries.
'Is my body still in shock? My voice... I can't talk' Hye-Na thought to herself while still trying to make a sound.
"Please calm down, sir. I saw that she fell onto the road by accident while trying to defend herself from a delinquent who was trying to take her phone. Are you ok, miss? Do you need to go to the hospital?" A random passerby defended Hye-Na
"N... No- I'm fine... Thank you" Hye-Na said to the random passerby.
'The only hospital near here is where my parents work at. I don't want to disturb them, they're on a couple of surgeries today. And I'm quite fine since I can somewhat talk again' Hye-Na thought to herself.
"What do we do? That boy is breathing really hard"
"He was fighting with those delinquents, right? Did they hit his lungs?"
After hearing that, Hye-Na immediately turned around and saw Eun-Hyung crouched on the ground while holding his chest with a pain-filled expression.
"EUN-HYUNG!! PLEASE LET ME THROUGH, HE'S MY FRIEND!!! IS THERE A DOCTOR HERE?!!" Hye-Na screamed as she pushed her way onto the crowd to reach Eun-Hyung.
"Excuse me, I'm a doctor. I think he's hyperventilating, is there anyone who has a plastic or a paper bag?!"
"H-Here! You can use mine"
"Slowly breath in and out..."
Eun-Hyung slowly breathed in and out of the paper bag and immediately calmed down when he saw a glimpse of Hye-Na's worried face.
"How is he now, doctor? Is he gonna be ok after this?" Hye-Na asked the doctor.
"His breathing is already stable now so he should be fine. But, has he showed any kind of symptoms like that?"
"No, never as far as I know"
"Hyperventilation can a be a symptom of a physical or a mental condition. But, if this is the first time, then it could be that he was under a lot of stress, which caused this to happen"
"As the car kept going towards the main road, an accident happened. They said a garbage truck slid off the street because of the rain..."
"Looking at the car's condition, the driver's seat looked fine, without a single scratch"
"But the passenger seat where my mom sat, was destroyed without a trace...".
'It's because he thought I got hit by that truck that he's hyperventilating, it reminded him of what happened to his mother' Hye-Na thought to herself as looks at Eun-Hyung with a saddened look on her face.
"Are you ok, miss?" The doctor asked Hye-Na.
"No, I'm fine. Thank you so much, doctor. Is there any way that I can pay you?" Hye-Na asked the doctor.
"No, it's ok. If he kept hyperventilating after he woke up, please go to the hospital immediately for further treatment"
"Thank you very much, sir," Hye-Na said and bowed her head in gratitude towards the doctor.
1 MINUTE LATER
After about a minute, Eun-Hyung woke up and immediately stood up when he saw Hye-Na looking at him with a worried expression.
"Hye-Na?!! You're ok?!! How?!! I swear I saw you got hit by that truck..." Eun-Hyung said as he looks at Hye-Na while tightly gripping her shoulders.
"I-I'm fine, don't worry. It seems that I fell down right in the middle of the truck, so didn't got hit and woke up under the truck. There are some scratches on my face, but I'm fine overall" Hye-Na explained as she wiped some dirt from his face.
After hearing what Hye-Na said, Eun-Hyung suddenly hugged and buried his face onto Hye-Na's chest.
"What are you!-"
"You are alive, I can feel your heartbeat. Thank goodness... I don't know if I would be able to forgive myself if you did got hit" Eun-Hyung said as he hugged Hye-Na tighter.
"YOU!! THE BRUNETTE!! YOU WILL BE INVOLVED IN A CAR ACCIDENT SOMETIMES SOON!!"
'If I'm Dan-I is the one who went out instead of me, is she gonna get hit for real? Is the author trying to kill her by doing this? And since I replaced Dan-I's place, I was gonna die in her stead if Michael didn't save me back then?' Hye-Na thought to herself as she cried and hugged Eun-Hyung back.
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YEO-RYEONG'S APARTMENT
After Hye-Na knocked on the front door of Yeo-Ryeong's apartment, Eun-Hyung and her immediately got greeted by Dan-I, Ji-Ho, Ju-In, and Yeo-Ryeong's surprised and worried expression seeing how much of a mess they're in, especially Hye-Na with a visible scar on her face.
"What happened to you guys?! And what's with this scar on your face Hye-Na?!!" Yeo-Ryeong asked as she worriedly checked Hye-Na's face.
"We should treat her scar first, where's the first aid kit?!" Dan-I asked Yeo-Ryeong.
"It's in my room, this way Hye-Na," Yeo-Ryeong said as she and Dan-I escorted Hye-Na towards Yeo-Ryeong's bedroom.
"Who did this to you guys?" Ji-Ho asked as he looked straight into Eun-Hyung's green eyes.
Before neither Eun-Hyung nor Hye-Na could answer him, Ju-In joined in and said in a cold tone, "Is it that senior who confessed to Yeo-Ryeong? Hwang Si-Woo?".
"That guy? He attacked you and Hye-Na?" Eun-Hyung suddenly walks in with a rage-filled expression on his face.
"Yeah, he attacked me with his underlings and one of them seemed to attacked Hye-Na. She managed to kick the attacker, but she fell on her feet onto the road and almost got hit by a truck" Eun-Hyung explained.
"So... What will you do after this?" Ji-Ho asked Eun-Hyung.
Before he answered, Eun-Hyung paused for a couple of seconds and said, "His foolish antics almost cost Hye-Na's life. Which I say we should end their foul act which they started in the first place. By completely destroy him and make him feel double the amount of pain that Hye-Na felt today".
Out of nowhere, Yeo-Ryeong appeared and said, "I won't be satisfied until I saw down on the ground and beg for Hye-Na's mercy with a pathetic look on his narcissistic ass face".
"WHAT THE- WHERE DID YOU COME FROM?!!" Ji-Ho angrily shouted at Yeo-Ryeong.
"You guys are planning something to destroy that fucker, right? I was thinking that I will use the 'German Suplex' that my brother's friends thought me" Yeo-Ryeong said with a malice-filled tone of voice.
"That's a great Idea, Yeo-Ryeong! Maybe we can ******* him and then we ******** him which gonna make him ********. Or maybe-" Ju-In said which got immediately interrupted by Ji-Ho.
"OK HOLD IT! Jeez, calm down and let's think this through. Don't-"
"NO! I CAN'T CALM DOWN WHEN THEY HURT MY PRECIOUS FRIEND AND ALMOST GOT KILLED BY A TRUCK!!! I CAN'T JUST SIT DOWN CRYING AND NOT DOING ANYTHING" Yeo-Ryeong loudly stated.
The four heavenly kings were stunned by Yeo-Ryeong's determination and stared at her. Suddenly, Ju-In broke into a confident smile.
"Don't worry, I've come up with everything that we will do, down to the smallest detail!"
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A FEW MINUTES AGO, YEO-RYEONG'S BEDROOM
After Yeo-Ryeong finished treating Hye-Na's wounds, she immediately stood up and ran out of her room, leaving Hye-Na alone with Dan-I.
"Where is she going?" Hye-Na asked Dan-I
"Never mind that, can you tell me what happened?" Dan-I asked Hye-Na back.
'Oh yeah, I should tell her about Michael and what he told me' Hye-Na thought to herself.
"So..."
A FEW MINUTES LATER
After Hye-Na told everything, Dan-I looked stunned and speechless by what her friend just said.
"So, the reason why you can't return to our original world is that you've already died and got reincarnated as a character in this world? This makes sense now" Dan-I said as she put her thumb onto her chin.
"Yeah, It sounds crazy. Even I'm still processing the fact that I live a second life now" Hye-Na said.
"But, about your orphanage's 'detention room' which you died in. What's going on with that orphanage, Hye-Na?" Dan-I asked Hye-Na.
"Well, let me tell you the story of a parentless young girl who once lived in a politician funded 'genius children factory'".
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Next chapter you guys will finally learn more about Hye-Na's life before reincarnation. And there are some things about Hye-Na's reincarnation that will be explained when Michael appears in future chapters.
And also...
Thank you for 30K reads! Still can't believe I've reached that amount of numbers, thank you all so much! Although I still made some mistakes in my writing (and my inconsistent upload schedule), I will try my best to improve.
And for any of you who plays Genshin Impact, are you guys excited for Ayato? I definitely am (quiet obvious from my profile picture 👀💙) And I'm really want to make a fanfiction about him, maybe in the future who knows 😅.
See you guys in the next chapter... ᐠ( ᐛ )ᐟ