Haaa...
So it was that damn novel after all.. sigh
He sat in the hospital bed, expressionless, staring at the tv playing the news about the new S rank Yin Healer who was being celebrated after awakening. Apparently, he was the first one in Emerald city in 80 years and the person who happened to be the main character of that cheesy BL story that he had read months ago after his friend practically begged him to.
His mind was racing, all over the place, trying to come to terms with what he knew of reality and what was currently happening to him.
He woke up a week ago in this very hospital room. His body was weak and he could barely move, but he was alive. The last he could remember was fainting in his doorway after barely making it back home to sleep after days of being up working overtime. He assumed he must not have even made it into his house for someone to have called emergency services and sent him to the hospital.
But no matter how tired he was, no matter how long he had been unconscious there was no way for his body to change this drastically. Whichever way he looked at his body, it just wasn't right.
His body was definitely smaller and much thinner than he had been since a teenager, and the mole that was on his left hand ring finger was all of sudden missing and his hands were so small and pale. The scar on his wrist was also missing...
Panic set in. He pushed the call button.
The nurse came rushing to the door., with a smile. "Mr. Acero! Oh my! You're finally awake! How are you feeling?"
He paused. "I'm sorry, what?"
"Hm? What's wrong, are you in pain?"
"No" He quickly shook his head. "No, I mean what did you call me?"
The nurse, titled her head in confusion "Mr. Acero? Would you prefer I call you Grey?"
He frowned, "I think you have the wrong person, that isn't my name..."
"Huh? You're not Grey Acero? That can't be right? We have your chip information and have already spoken with your family, so you are indeed him. Hmm.. is your head hurting or something?"
"Look, miss, I"m telling you but I am not Grey. My name is... My name is...Argh! " A sharp pain hit the moment I tried to mention my name, stealing both my breath and making it difficult to do anything.
"Oh no! You must have also had some head trauma! Let me call the doctor!" The nurse had fussed and ran from the room.
Alone, he sucked in a breath and tried to calm himself down. Something was extremely wrong. He got up and walked to the bathroom to wash his face only to stop dead at the face he saw in the mirror. This was NOT his face. This was not his body.
Things that had once been confusing suddenly started to make sense. People looked at him as if he were someone else because now he was no longer in his own body.
Don't they call this shit possession? What happened to his real body? What happened to the person this body belonged to? What was he supposed to do now?
The nurse came back with the attending doctor who examined him and bombarded him with many questions, all he couldn't answer except that he wasn't in pain at the moment but he had no memory how he ended up there.
They told him about gates and the monsters that poured out of them, about Yang Hunters and Yin Healers and about how he himself had awakened as a Yin Healer. It was all like some horrible joke until the moment he saw that news update and his world came crashing down around him.
The fact that this was a world within a novel didn't hit him until the main character, Reo Maren made his appearance. The fact that this world was now his very real reality forced it's way into his mind as he watched reports on the Hunters, saw the clips of their fights and felt the tremors of the earth shaking from their battles.
But what did this mean for him? As far as he knew, he was not a character in the story.
"The Hunters' Salvation" was about Reo Maren, a poor orphan struggling to get by when he awakens late as an S-rank Yin Healer and thinks that his life will finally get better. He is put in charge of 5 S-rank Yang Hunters and each of them take turns tormenting him in their own possessive and cruel ways. All forms of toxic shit like confinement and assault, Reo is constantly pushed to his limits until he is broken and decides to kill himself. The Hunters, devastated from their loss of him, realize their feelings too late and lose their minds trying to find a way to bring him back.
Of course, as all cheesy ass stories go, an item in a dungeon appears that will allow the user to make one wish with no limitations. The 5 decide to use the item to turn back time to before the moment he killed himself. The 5 are sent back with their memories to the time when they are first introduced to him and they all vow to love and treasure him for the rest of their lives and THEY LIVE HAPPILY EVER AFTER.
Gag. It was gross.
He thought back to the very moment his friend had asked him to read the story and then his reaction after he gave his really hard review:
----
"Sigh, listen. I know you hopped on that toxic ML trend-which I'm all for but what I'm against is going from one extreme to the next. Even in the fantasy world, that shit doesn't fly. People don't realistically change so drastically that they basically go from psychopaths to saints. It's jarring and feels forced. I'm just saying, shitty people are shitty people and that's ok. It's ok if they treat the ones they love well, but when it goes from torture to princess treatment it just doesn't make sense. And... you had all the MLs toxic, you didn't even mix them up. It was basically the same dude with five different names so they weren't all that memorable. I've already forgotten their names because they were all the same. And why is the main character always poor and struggling? At least you didn't give them debt and have loansharks after them but still.. it was all pitiful. It was hard to read for the majority and then all of sudden it turned into a D*sney production with all those rainbows and sparkles for the ending. Bleh."
He froze, realizing he was a bit harsh and coughed in embarrassment and he said with a gruff voice, "Happy now?"
"Wow, that was brutal." His friend smirked and then shrugged as if it couldn't be helped.
"You asked."
"I did ask. It was harsh as fuck but I get what you were saying. So when the time comes, you should shake things up. Do your own thing, ya know? It would probably be a thousand times more entertaining. I'm really looking forward to it."
"Huh? What are you talking about? Are you high? You're speaking gibberish." He tilted his head, his eyebrow raising and scrunching up in confusion.
"Nothing. Just thanks for your review! I'm off to send it to the editor! " His friend smiled brightly and stood up, heading towards the door.
"Wait, so I basically read it all for nothing since you aren't even going to make any changes?" He hurried to catch up, evading tables and chairs.
"Yep~"
"Ahhhh my precious brain cells and weekend, I wasted them for nothing."
----
He frowned when remembering his friends words 'to do things his own way because it would probably be more entertaining'. Did he know this would happen to him? Was he the reason I ended up here?
He was barely able to remember all the details but knew the gist of the story and the main points. No matter how much he racked his brain, he couldn't recall a character with his name so he assumed that he was just some random extra.
After all the shit that had happened, that thought alone was his only comfort. If he had to possess someone, an extra was perfect. He would have rather walked off a bridge than be the Main character in this shit show of a novel. All the trauma that character would experience was not something for the faint of heart and he had zero intentions of getting involved in that mess. No thanks. Thank whatever power that made him an extra. That was perfectly fine with him, all he had to do was stay away from the main character, Reo.
Easy enough.
But what would he do now? Whatever he wanted to do, that's what.
Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.
He learned a lot about himself (this body) from the doctor and nurse. His name was Grey Acero, the eldest son of Acero Family of Emerald City, 29 years old and had been in a coma for the past 4 months after awakening as a Yin Healer. It was clear, from the fancy single VIP room he was in, that he came from money and that after spending a week without one visitor, no one in his so called family cared for him. If he were the original character, how depressing would that reality have been?
He found it difficult to understand after seeing his reflection in the bathroom mirror. Who couldn't love this face?
The smooth porcelain skin, lush pink full lips, and mesmerizing teal eyes ringed in gold around the pupils were a stark contrast against his soft and sparkling midnight hair. He had stared for quite a while before realizing that the face he had been staring so hard at had now become his own. It was a very androgynous look and he could very well be mistaken for a woman. It was beautiful, something those in the entertainment industry would have killed over; it was just that ethereally beautiful. He couldn't remember his old face but he knew he wasn't considered attractive in his world. He knew that being attractive didn't always bring good things and now, instead of being treated terribly for being unattractive, he would now have to deal with the opposite: those who would be excessive with trying to get his attention. Well it was all annoying either way.
Seeing how beautiful his face was, how shitty was his personalty that not one person came to see how he was doing? He had not one visitor or one call/message on his phone for the entire week since he had woken up.
He wasn't upset that no one cared, in fact, this was actually a blessing. That just meant there was no one who would notice that he was no longer the original Grey. But, that also meant he would have to figure out his financial and living situation on his own. Well, he was originally alone in his other world so it wasn't like he couldn't take care of himself. It's just harder to start from scratch. At least, since he had awakened as a Yin Healer, he had a guaranteed way to make money once he was discharged from the hospital. He wasn't sure he was up for all that came with purification but he would deal when it came time.
What he definitely had to do was check out his money situation. Considering the estrangement from this body's family, his bank account was probably just as lonely. He was a bit scared to see it considering his own account in his world was quite healthy from his hard work. Seeing something less than what he had would probably be quite upsetting. Looks like step one after discharge was going to the bank. Yep.
It was after this moment that he heard the soft slide of his hospital room's door and an extremely tall and intimidating man stood in the doorway. Grey stared at the man who very well could have been a model for designer suits and then frowned when the man made no move to enter and stared at Grey with an expressionless face. Even with that gorgeous and perfectly sculpted face, his cold stare and menacing aura made it hard to welcome him.
Seeing as the he never had visitors before, Grey assumed the man had come to the wrong room.
"Hello. This is a single room so perhaps the person you are looking for is in a different room. If you check at the reception desk, around the corner, they can help you find who you are looking for."
The man stared and furrowed his brow but didn't make a move to leave. Grey sighed, believing that maybe his face might have captivated the man since even he, himself, had stared at his own reflection for a long time the first time he saw it, so it wasn't impossible. He coughed and leaned back against his bed, trying again to get the man to leave.
"Um, sir. I apologize, but would you mind shutting the door? I'm a bit tired so I would like to rest now."
This time the man sneered, "What's this now? Are you trying to be funny? It's not the least bit cute."
His voice was deep but rough, reminding him slightly of thunder as the rumble raised the hair on his arms. It would have been a voice he rated "sexy as fuck" but the expression, tone and words he used were not and definitely not easily ignored.
The man stared down coldly but again didn't make any other moves. Grey, breathed out hard and stealthily pressed the call button.
Who the hell is this asshole? What a waste of that handsome face and sexy voice!
"Are you not going to answer me, what are you scheming?" He crossed his arms and basically growled at Grey.
But just before he could ask what the hell that man was smoking, the nurse came and Grey smiled and waved her.
"Mel! Yes, could you please ask that man to leave? He's just staring at me and speaking weird shit, it's creeping me out. Do you think he's high or something? You should probably get security. What kind of crazy person starts growling at people he doesn't even know?"
Mel, the nurse, gasped and quickly looked towards man who raised his eyebrows in shock before turning back to Grey and quickly replied, "Ah! Grey, this man is your fiancé Mr. Darren Stur."
"Huh? ..... Fiancé? ME?" He gestured towards himself until she nodded and then pointed to the man. "And this man?" Again she nodded.
"Since when was I engaged?!" He practically shouted in shock.
The man named Darren scoffed, "What is this performance now?"
"Oh, Mr. Stur! It seems you didn't get our message. Grey, here, has amnesia. He has no memories of anything before waking up here in the hospital. It was already confirmed by Yang Hunter Troy with the mental ability. So please be patient as he truly doesn't know you or anything about you."
"Haaaaaaa... how convenient for you. Let me see the report from Yang Hunter Troy, I want to read the details myself."
"I am sorry, sir, it is confidential. I am unable to give it to you even if you are his fiancé."
"Give it him." Grey said indifferently, interrupting them. "I don't mind. Let him see everything. And once he finishes, he can leave and we can call off the engagement."
"What?" Stur stepped fully into the room and stood over Grey. "What nonsense are you spewing?"
"What? Why are you so shocked? It is very clear that you have zero affection for me. Me, who is supposedly your fiancé and is also a patient in recovery. Who acts the way you do to someone they will spend their life with? No one. So isn't this something you should be happy about?" He looked at Darren with a face like he had no doubt about his words and continued:
"I don't know you but I also can tell you're not someone I wish to know. So what reason would I have to stay engaged to someone like you? I don't. So I'm not. Simple. Congratulations, you're a single man again. Although, I am quite sure that would have never stopped you from being with other people to begin with anyway. I can tell, you definitely aren't the loyal type and doubt you would even know the meaning of the word. Anyway, I've said my piece. Give him whatever he wants to see so he can get the fuck out and I can rest."
Darren stared with his mouth slightly agape before closing it and scowling. He turned to leave but stopped and commanded Mel. "Get me the file."
"Y-yes, I'll get it now." She basically sprinted from the room and Darren headed to the door but paused and looked back over his shoulder.
"Be ready to sign the contract to end the engagement. I don't want to hear any excuses when you come crawling back saying that you have no memory of this and I am still your fiancé. I'll never take you back and don't think for a second that any of your schemes will work on me."
"Are you done? Just bring the contract. The faster the better."
Darren stared for a moment longer before turning away and walking out, closing the door with a harder force than when he opened it. Grey stared at the door and then rolled over, pulling the covers over his head and closing his eyes. He was already exhausted and he hadn't even done anything.
Darren Stur.
That name sounded familiar but he couldn't recall in what way. The man was sexy but his personality was absolute shit. You could tell that man used and discarded people without a conscience or caring of the hearts he crushed and Grey had no interest in joining those who had been discarded by that man. No thanks. Besides, he may have been gay in his world but Darren truly wasn't his type, sexy or not.
He sighed once again and then drifted off to sleep.
-------
Darren stood outside Grey's door for quite a long time after he closed it and listened to the sigh of the man in the room before all sound ceased and his breath evened out. He had fallen asleep. But what shocked Darren the most was that he found it difficult to move away from the door even after leaving.
His brows scrunched together and his mouth dropped down in frown as he stood in the empty hallway. It wasn't until he heard the hurried footsteps of the nurse heading towards him that he finally forced his feet forward. Once he turned the corner he reached his hand out as the nurse stopped before him.
"Here you are sir, this everything we have on Mr. Acero."
She paused and took a peak at his expression before turning her attention back to the file in his hands.
"Due to his age, it is believed that he was meant to awaken at 20 but for some reason his body had continued to seal his Yin energy until it had built up too much and finally overflowed. His body just couldn't handle the strain and received a lot of internal damage from the release. But since he is a Yin Healer, his body was able to heal own it's own but it seems the after effects were severe, especially his memory loss."
"What made you all decide to call in Yang Hunter Troy?" Darren interrupted, it wasn't normal procedure to have an amnesiac patient examined by a Yang Hunter.
"Yang Hunter Troy was brought in to see the extent of the damage since he had no memory of anything including himself. Usually, we can give some hope to those dealing with memory loss because overtime, majority, gain their memories from people, environments or experiences that triggers their recollections naturally or with the more severe cases we call in the help of specialists like Yang Hunter Troy that can find the dust or remnants of the memories and help reintegrate them in a non-traumatic fashion. However, Grey had nothing at all, it had been completely wiped without anything left over -as if there were never memories there to begin with. So there is nothing we can offer for treatment other than relearning everything from scratch. So please be patient. He is like a newborn, everything is new to him including your relationship and past. It will be a slow pace moving forward."
Darren's frowning expression deepened as he examined the papers in the file. It was clear that Grey wasn't acting and he truly didn't know him or their past. The fact that he asked for their engagement to be dissolved proved it. But it still felt unreal.
However, he couldn't deny that the very vibe and impression of Grey was completely different than the Grey he knew before. He was sharp, decisive and indifferent, like a beautiful and sharp sword glistening in the moonlight. He had looked at Darren as if he was nothing special and that he couldn't be bothered to deal with someone like him.
It was such a completely different reaction than the Grey who practically screamed and begged for Darren's attention, constantly clinging to him afraid that he was always with someone else.
It was suffocating. He should be relieved that he was finally getting rid of the pest that was forced upon him by his family, and yet...
He clenched his fist and then made a call.
"Contact my lawyer. Have him prepare the papers for the dissolution of my engagement to Grey Acero and bring it to the hospital in an hour. "
Either way, he wasn't going to let this moment pass.
