Chapter 36: In What World? (1/2)

The college entrance exam was three days away. I've been awake for a week now.

This was all because Xiaomei's agreed to be my girlfriend on the condition that I enter the same university as her.

Shuo Men University.

A student would need an average of 629 points to be accepted.

This was her goal, and now, mine as well.

My average score was 550 but I've been improving tremendously over these past few days.

I'm not sure how many cups of coffee I've taken but I've been without sleep for a week.

I've basically memorized the whole syllabus of language studies.

I constantly pushed myself and I am on the verge of exhaustion.

I picked up a cla.s.s photograph from my table.

Fourth row, eighteen from the left.

That's my Xiaomei.

She's really beautiful.

I'm all ready now and all that's needed was a restful sleep.

But I wasn't tired at all.

I slowly got up and walked toward my bed.

The moment I took a step, I experienced vertigo.

Everything turned black and I instantly lost my vision.

I couldn't feel my limbs.

My body leaned forward slightly and I lost balance.

I was fully conscious but I had no control over my limbs.

I collapsed forward onto the bed.

My head slammed heavily onto the spring mattress.

I wanted to scream for help but realized I had no voice.

I was definitely clear-headed, however.

Am I paralyzed?

That was my first thought.

Soon after, a second thought popped into my head. What's going to happen to Xiaomei and I if I can't get into the university?

I had to recover.

I rationalized the situation. Was I dreaming? I had experienced something like this before in a dream.

I quickly dismissed the idea since my line of thought was too logical and clear.

All was black but I could still hear.

I was unable to move but I could feel someone pressing down on the bed.

Would everything be alright once I wake up from a sleep?

I sorted out my emotions and got rid of all negative thoughts.

I decided to a.s.sess the situation after a nap.

But I couldn't fall asleep.

It's been a week since I last slept, yet I simply couldn't fall asleep.

Is this sudden death? The thing that happened to those who spend nights gaming in an Internet cafe?

I realized I was no different from those gamers.

While they were busy playing, I was busy studying.

The phrase 'death from overstudying' entered my mind.

I knew for sure that I was going to appear on the headlines the next day.

Just like that, I lay down for three hours until Mom came in to call me out for dinner.

She called my name repeatedly, flipping my body over.

Her shouts grew louder but I was unable to respond.

All I heard was my name.

She then tried strangling and slapping me.

It hurt so bad but I couldn't do anything.

She pried open my eyelids and light entered my field of vision.

However, I was unable to focus and couldn't get a clear glimpse of Mom's face.

I wasn't blind, just paralyzed and hence unable to open my eyes and see.

So, am I in a vegetative state?

Would I be okay when I'm awake?

Aye, wait.

What am I to do if I can't wake up?