Dream Breaker

"Moon-soo."

"Huh?"

"Are you sick? You haven't been talking since earlier."

I slightly shook my head in response to my friend, who dreams of becoming a president, and denied it.

"No, I just have a lot on my mind."

My head was complicated because of the overly realistic nightmare.

"Moon-soo, do you have any desired aptitude?"

I had been asked this question before and in my dream.

What did I answer?

'...Ah! Right. I said I'd be happy with any job that makes a lot of money.'

Since my father passed away suddenly and I was left alone, I had always been obsessed with money.

Money! And money! More money!

An indispensable value in a capitalist society.

Living without worrying about money is a 'dream.'

But,

"I'll be satisfied if I don't get a strange job like a shaman."

"Shaman? Oh, it's understandable that you'd hate it after watching Yoo Il-am's show."

"Do you know Yoo Il-am?"

"Of course. He's famous. There are rumors that he's a scammer, but there are many witnesses who have seen him exorcising ghosts."

"I see."

His character may be terrible, but he seems to be a skilled shaman.

"I want to be a president."

"I didn't ask."

Regardless of my answer, my friend's wish remained unchanged.

"I'll be the future president!"

"Sure."

"...Moon-soo."

"What?"

"What will you do if an unwanted aptitude comes out?"

"......"

My friend's words were the same, but I couldn't just let them pass like before.

Unwanted aptitude.

Having already experienced it in a 'dream,' I answered seriously.

"I'd have to struggle. I can't just completely entrust my fate to a machine made by someone whose identity I don't even know, right?"

"I see..."

"What about you? What will you do if you don't get the president as your aptitude?"

"I... I don't know. I'm going to think about it after seeing the aptitude test results."

"Don't worry. You'll definitely become a president."

"Thanks, even if it's just lip service."

"I'm serious."

Because I saw it in my dream! It felt so realistic that I could even believe it was the near future.

'That's why I'm worried.'

The anxiety that I might get 'shaman' again, just like in the nightmare.

And the face of shaman Yoo Il-am, who casually kicked a female student on the rooftop, kept coming to my mind.

"Next student!"

"Huh?"

"Is there no next student? Song Seon-young, student! Come to the test room!"

"...What?"

The nurse who came out of the medical bus was looking for the student with a tired voice.

'That's strange.'

There was no such incident, right?

The aptitude tests had proceeded without a hitch in my dream.

"Seon-young didn't take the aptitude test."

"She went to the infirmary because she was sick."

"She said she would pay for it separately later."

The students still waiting for the test explained to the nurse.

"Thank you for letting me know. The next student after Song Seon-young, come in."

"Yes!"

There was a slight disturbance, but the aptitude test proceeded as usual.

"It's strange."

"Right. It's common sense to take extra care of your health for three days before taking the aptitude test."

"True."

The aptitude test result is a very important matter recorded on the resident registration card.

Although it's an unfounded superstition, if something happens to your body due to a natural disaster or accident, the results might not be satisfactory, right?

So in my dream, all the students took care of their bodies, and no one missed the aptitude test due to health issues.

"Moon-soo."

"What?"

"It seems like the other kids are done too. Let's go eat."

"...Okay."

The development was slightly different from the dream, but it seemed to be going smoothly.

* * *

One day, another day...

At first, I couldn't distinguish between dreams and reality, so I was lost for a moment, but then it was smooth sailing.

However,

"It's too similar."

The development was so similar to the dream that it gave me goosebumps.

Everything from the teachers' teaching methods, the school newsletters without guardians to deliver them to, part-time jobs, and news matched perfectly, even down to the smallest details.

Was it really a dream?

"Ah, what am I thinking..."

I laughed bitterly.

Isn't it obvious that it was a dream?

According to the general theory of relativity by genius physicist Albert Einstein, when applied to cosmology, time in the expanding universe cannot be stopped or reversed.

Another piece of evidence is-

"Ah!"

"She's here!"

"Everyone, take your seats!"

My scientific insight was shattered by the noisy atmosphere in the classroom.

'Has it arrived?'

The homeroom teacher, carrying a handful of envelopes with the 'aptitude' that will be engraved at the top of the lifelong resident registration card, entered the classroom.

This development was also the same as in the dream.

Everything was the same, except for the incident where one student refused the aptitude test.

"Everyone, have you been waiting long?"

"......"

"......"

"Yes!"

Everyone was silent with tension, but I responded cheerfully. I've really been waiting for this moment.

"Number 1, Kang Moon-soo."

"Yes!"

As soon as I received the envelope containing the aptitude test results, I took a deep breath.

'There's no need to worry.'

The memory of getting an occult aptitude unrelated to my family history or me was undoubtedly a nightmare.

Reality would be different.

'Alright.'

My mind gradually accepted it through rational analysis and insight.

I'm done preparing with this.

Swoosh-

I carefully examined the contents of the envelope, which I was afraid to open.

"...Huh?"

Thud!

And immediately closed it.

'Why?!'

Are my eyes deceiving me? I rubbed out the dust in my eyes and looked again.

"Will Moon-soo become a president too?"

"He likes science, so maybe a technician or a researcher."

"I'm getting excited for no reason!"

"Maybe an astronaut..."

This time, too, my classmates showed deep curiosity about my aptitude test results, their eyes twinkling.

"Moon-soo, tell us."

"What's Moon-soo's aptitude?"

"Hey, hurry up and tell us."

I found them ridiculous for being so interested in someone else's life.

'How can they say the same thing without missing a single word?'

Shouldn't the future change because I'm acting differently from the dream?

I had that question, but,

"Is it hard to tell?"

Seeing even the dedicated homeroom teacher uttering the same lines, I gave up thinking.

"My aptitude is..."

Maybe the shock was less because I was experiencing the same situation for the second time?

Thud.

I flipped the aptitude test result sheet and shouted.

"I'm a shaman!"

Somehow, I'll manage.

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