Chapter 5 (2/2)

There were endless questions to be asked, and not a single answer to be found. Se-young re-examined the surrounding area in the bright morning light, once again sticking his head over the roof’s railing to glance at the ground. Under the bright sun, it was clear that the neighboring buildings likely had nothing to do with the incident. The structures to the villa’s left and right were too different in height to jump safely. One was as tall as Se-young’s villa, while the other was a three-story commercial building. In front of the building was a two-lane road with a car speeding through, and the back of the building was a construction zone with a hole that was nearly 4.5 meters deep.

Don’t get curious. Don’t ask questions.

However, Se-young’s urge to see and touch the mysterious sword was already eating at his heart. He hadn’t even realized that he had been staring at it for several hours already. Even more shocking, was the fact that he remained outside in bright daylight, ignoring the passing of dawn and the early morning entirely.

If Bora, the doctor responsible for Se-young’s regular checkups after the accident had seen this, her eyes would have popped out of her head. Ever since he was discharged from the hospital two years ago, Se-young had never taken a single step outside the front door.

Even when an evacuation was ordered due to a fire in the next building.

Even when a robbery escalated into a hostage situation in the house below.

Even when gangsters were accidentally signed on as tenants, terrorizing the entire building.

During the fire, when Se-young did not listen, two firefighter’s broke down the door with an axe and entered his house, only to see that he had blocked the entrance and exit routes with luggage boxes. They ended up cutting off the spread of the fire with water hoses, all while watching over Se-young, who was still in the building.

After the robbery, a court order and subpoena were not issued, so a detective in charge of the case simply volunteered to leave a letter detailing the events outside of the rooftop room.

When the gangsters who went around beating on each tenant’s door started knocking on the iron gate leading to the rooftop room while loudly screaming profanities, all the gangsters were arrested that very day with a few clicks of the mouse and a single phone call.

They were all charged with the mass distribution of illegal pornographic materials. The police, who were dispatched after receiving an anonymous call, found terabytes upon terabytes of pornographic videos concealed within the school uniforms in their quarters. The story of the largest pornography stash found in Korea was broadcast all over the news that day.

Though the 10 homes in the building switched tenants as frequently as 3-4 times in quick succession, the only thing anyone knew about the landlord was that he lived in the rooftop room. No one saw even a hint of his shadow, let alone his face.

Even Se-young could barely recognize himself sometimes.

Now, faced with the mystery of the sword, his sense of curiosity overrode the indifference and apathy which had defined his previous two years of existence. However, Se-young reached his limit with the passing of noontime.

The back of his neck was swollen, his limbs tingled, and his entire body was weighed down by fatigue.

From Se-young’s perspective, some unknown figure had just appeared and shoved the sword into his life, creating the legend of Excalibur on his rooftop.

Feeling as if he was about to die of exhaustion, Se-young stumbled back into his house and collapsed onto the bed. Even in his sleep-deprived haze, he remembered to lock all the doors, before finally falling into a deep slumber.