The sound of pots and dishes clanking had ceased soon enough. Han stretching his back as he proudly looked at the piles of now squeaky clean dishes.
He then proceeded to mop the floor, wipe the tables, arrange all the cutlery before finally closing the shutters to the restaurant.
He took out his phone and looked at the time.
1 AM.
He looked at the bright LED panel for a long moment before finally shoving it back down his pocket. Letting out a small yawn, one that was more tired than drowsy, he walked into the house, making sure to be as quiet as possible.
Both his parents had already long gone to sleep. It was only natural, they were both very hardworking people. Even while long passing the age which they should have retired on—even having enough wealth to live comfortably for the rest of their life, they still preferred to pass their time working on their family restaurant.
It was from them that Han had gotten his hardworking, almost overworking, habit from.
He let out a light scoff as he looked through the fridge for a drink.
Some good it had done him, being a hardworking person.
Here he was, doubting if he was finally descending into insanity due to not resting enough. That too, because of worrying about something stupid like how time had gone behind by a whole hour on a random Tuesday.
That was a when a particular thought surfaced on his mind.
He paused for a moment, blinking.
Then, quickly grabbing a bottle of orange juice, he headed towards the stairs upwards, the one that led to the attic.
The attic itself was nothing extraordinary. If anything, it was even more dingy and cluttered than an average one, having accumulated all the things that had ceased to be useful for their household. It was mostly filled with piles of old crockery, a lot of comics and novels that Han had accumulated in his childhood, and a variety of other stuff that his parents were reluctant to part with.
He scrunched his nose at the stingy scent of the dirt that had accumulated over time, then slowly walked to a particular corner, using the flash light of his phone to make sure he wasn't going to step on anything that would tear his legs open.
When he finally spotted the particular pile of books he was looking for, he carefully kneeled next to it, untying the plastic cover that had been wrapped around it.
He sifted through the pile, only stopping when he found the particular book he was looking for.
He dusted off the old thing, almost choking from the dust that flew off of from it.
He shined the flashlight of his phone onto the book, staring at it for a moment.
It was an old leatherbound book that looked nothing out of the ordinary. The only special fact about it being that even while being a fully fleshed out novel, it lacked a title. The leather cover was left blank minus the embroidery, the first pages held no info on what the name of the story was, or who had written it.
It checked all the boxes for being a proper piece of being lost media.
And for why Han had come found this thing in the middle of the night?
It had to do with what the content of this novel was.
He sucked in a slow breath, staring at the unassuming book in his hands.
It was around when he was 14, that he had found this book in their attic for the first time. Being the bookworm he was, he had instantly snagged the thing for himself.
The weird thing however, was the fact that none of his parents had any idea on how it had gotten there. They hadn't bought it from anywhere, nor did they remember receiving it from anyone. Finally, the conclusion they came to was that the previous residents of this house must have left it behind, forgetting to retrieve the book from the attic before they left.
The situation, however, only got stranger from here.
Han quickly realised that this work, for an unassuming fantasy novel, was strangely detailed.
No.
It was almost too detailed.
It had been unnerving, especially for a 14 year old who thought too much about unnecessary things.
The story was set in modern day Seoul. Starting exactly on the date of March 21st, 2097.
"Two days from now." Han whispered, his brows scrunching in confusion.
Well, one day, considering it was already 1 am.
The implications sent a shiver down his spine.
He let out a groan.
"I'm so going insane..."
The novel followed the view point of a protagonist named Ikfiw Kmnbi that was a regular resident of their city. Well, until the good old apocalypse arrived. It was a weird story, following the same old premise about mana beasts and a system that wanted the protagonist to save the world. However, Han had been strangely obsessed with it, most likely because of the realism it offered. It had let his young mind go crazy with the possibilities, his imagination running wild in a story that truly had no bounds.
'Wait.' He paused.
Han tilted his head.
He felt like he had forgotten something important.
He blinked, racking his mind, trying to figure out what the sense of wrongness was.
A moment passed in silence.
Nothing came to mind.
Shaking away the strange confusion, he turned his focus back to the nameless book.
Thinking about it now, what was truly the most strange about this story, however was that this story had no ending.
Literally.
As meticulous as it was, it abruptly stopped midway through. Right around the time when the protagonist was supposed to ascend into a higher being.
He clenched his jaw, and let out and exhale. Letting his thoughts soak in the darkness that surrounded him, letting the strange uneasiness that he was feeling flow past him.
Finally, after a long moment, he let out a dejected sigh.
He laid down on the floor, rubbing his face with a hand.
"I'm so losing it." He groaned.
Han felt like he needed to go see a doctor about this.