The World after the Fall

'10 year old?'

Jaehwan frowned as he brought his finger up to his head. 10 year-old? Why was he a 10 year-old? How was his mother here? Why was HE here?

Why… am I… who am I?

"…What did I do wrong to him?"

"I never said you have done anything wrong."

"My kid is fine. He's good at school, he has many friends… and even his teachers…"

"Some delusional disorders are hard to notice as the symptoms are the same as regular activities."

"NO! He is fine! He was just… he was just triggered! It's all his fault… because of him… my kid… he just…"

"I'll show you, Ma'am."

The doctor then brought Jaehwan to the small table at the corner of the room and pulled the curtains. It was very thin and simple that it had no effect on cutting the sounds out. The sound of a woman's tense breathing came through. The doctor spoke to Jaehwan.

"Jaehwan. Can you answer a few questions for me?"

Jaehwan nodded.

"How old are you?"

"…I forgot."

"Forgot? And why is that?"

"I've lived too long for that."

"Too long? How long is that?"

"10 billion years."

A woman gasping could be heard beyond the curtain. The doctor glanced toward the curtain and continued with his questions.

"So what have you been doing until now Jaehwan?"

"I was fighting with Big Brother."

"Is Big Brother your 'father'?"

Jaehwan did not answer. The doctor wrote something on his paper and continued to ask.

"So why did you fight with Big Brother?"

"To destroy the System."

"System? And what is that? Can you explain it to me?"

Jaehwan felt a heavy headache as he tried to remember what System was, but it didn't work. The doctor then nodded knowingly and gave a pen and piece of paper to Jaehwan.

"Jaehwan, can you draw it on here?"

Jaehwan began drawing something on the paper. It didn't take him long to finish his picture. The doctor received the paper back from Jaehwan.

It was a giant tree. A giant tree with dried roots and branches. The doctor looked at it intriguingly.

"Is this tree the 'System'?"

Jaehwan did not answer as he became dizzy. He could hardly breathe, but the doctor kept on asking his questions.

"…So, there's a thing called a 'tower' at the root of this tree and it kidnaps people from Earth to send them up the tree?"

"Yes."

"And that is [Cultivation]?"

"Right."

"And you survived the [Cultivation] and moved up to the top of the tower?"

The questions kept coming and Jaehwan kept answering. Adapters and Awakeners. <Chaos> and <Depth>. Gods and Followers. Jaehwan wasn't sure why he knew all that, but he focused on answering the doctor's questions.

"I see. So, the 'unique world' is some form of imaginary space that is created by one's dream. Is that right?"

"Similar."

"And when you get many to believe in it, then it becomes a 'reality'?"

Jaehwan nodded. He then saw a figure dwindling beyond the curtain. Every time he answered a question, he felt his mother's breathing growing shallower.

It was a strange feeling. Each time Jaehwan answered to make his world more detailed, the history he had lived on was being trampled upon, but Jaehwan wasn't sure what it was.

As doctor kept on asking, Jaehwan saw him changing eerily. It wasn't his expression, but his face was covered by complicated words and numbers. It was those that Jaehwan saw from the man that he stabbed.

Voices kept on speaking to him.

Stab. Stab him and kill him.

Jaehwan shook his head as he bit on his lips.

'No- I cannot do that. Mom will become sad.'

Jaehwan crouched to hide from the voices arguing over him. The questioning stopped. Blood dripped from his lips and the doctor was shocked, dragging Jaehwan up.

"Oh, no! Nurse!"

The doctor quickly picked up Jaehwan and laid him down on a bed. He then called a nurse to look over Jaehwan's wound. The doctor then called Jaehwan's mother to a separate room. She was pale as ever and was barely breathing.

Doctor sighed. He saw the woman's world tearing apart from what she just witnessed.

"J-Jaehwan loves reading… he reads all kinds of novels and comics. That probably…"

"Ma'am."

"He's just too smart! He can't…"

"Ma'am."

She burst into wails. The doctor waited until she calmed down a bit.

"I will have to ask you to excuse me for asking such questions."

"…Yes."

"Was Jaehwan ever harmed by his father in any way?"

The woman gasped for a second and answered, "N-no."

"Is that true? You have to be honest with me, ma'am."

"…NO! I'm telling the truth. He never laid hands on his son!"

The mother's denial even felt desperate.

"But I can see traces of violence that his father inflicted on Jaehwan. All of his symbols depict his father."

The doctor spoke as he showed drawings and the records that he obtained from Jaehwan. There was a tree, a tower, and a stick man stabbing toward the sky.

"Tree and the tower. All the images point to 'heightening.' And the 'stab'… don't you think they all have a similar image?"

"…I am not sure."

"In psychology, these are all symbols of a male penis."

"P-penis?"

"Yes. I am shocked to see such a perfect example of a case that depicts it all with one image."

The doctor scratched his head as he continued to explain. The woman quietly listened to the doctor. He described with countless words and psychological theories. The woman couldn't understand even half of what the doctor said but barely managed to understand that the situation was very serious.

"Do you think he had harmed Jaehwan when I was not aware?"

"We cannot say for sure, but we are seeing a trace of such violence from Jaehwan and it will directly impact his mental growth."

"What should we do…"

The doctor then tapped on his desk and spoke reassuringly to the desperate woman.

"But don't worry too much. Not everything about Jaehwan's current diagnosis is bad."

The woman was surprised.

"What do you mean?"

"Jaehwan's symbolic images are more vivid and specific than any other patient or research records that I have ever seen and they are interconnected with each other. It's not just matter of his imagination… it's even to the point of literary…"

The doctor then tried to find the words to describe and continued.

"It feels like such a world really did exist when I hear his stories. He's just a 10-year-old kid and…"

The woman frowned angrily.

"Are you mocking me?"

"No, it's not that. Jaehwan is in serious condition, but if he can overcome this, his disorder might even help him in an artistic way."

"Artistic way?"

"Some think that delusional disorder and the savant syndrome are closely related."

"…Savant… what? What is that?"

The doctor shook his head. He understood that the woman did not understand any of the professional terms that he just used.

"Ah, it's a disorder that is common with geniuses. I'm just letting you know so you can rest assured."

The doctor then folded his patient file in a folder and concluded the meeting. "We'll have to have Jaehwan stay away from his father. I suggest you visit us for further treatment. Jaehwan needs it for his future."