Chapter 2
Lee Cheomcheom stared blankly at the pages of the counseling log floating in midair.
“…Ah. I don’t want to do this.”
Given that it was related to psychology counseling and also something she was forced to complete, it wasn’t much different from a college assignment.
But what could she do? If she didn’t complete it, serious trouble would follow.
Like a student sitting at a desk to do an assignment, she wore a miserable expression and flipped through Toledot.
The counseling log itself was closer to a quest, but there were benefits to be gained from completing it.
“This alone is enough, though.”
Since she couldn’t just sit in silence after calling someone in under the pretense of counseling, Lee Cheomcheom spoke to Ha Yan in a perfunctory manner.
“Besides insomnia, do you have any other issues?”
Ha Yan thought for a moment before speaking.
“Lately, I’ve completely lost my appetite. Even when it’s mealtime, I don’t feel like eating. My taste seems to have changed…”
Good. From here, the conversation should continue naturally.
“Pregnancy seems possible.”
“I’m male.”
“Do not challenge the authority of my diagnosis. Next.”
“…If I had to name something, I’ve been feeling easily hurt by people around me. I know it’s petty, but I feel like I’m not receiving as much as I give emotionally…”
“File a complaint with the Fair Trade Commission. Anything else?”
“….”
“Nothing? Understood.”
That should have been enough small talk to build rapport with the client. Maybe she had gotten too close…
“What was that just now? Were you talking to me?”
“….”
“Counselor?”
Lee Cheomcheom shifted her gaze back to Toledot.
[Opening the list of counseling effects that can be applied to the client.]
Counseling Effects List
Stage 1 (Initial):
▸ Deep Sleep
▸ Attention Fixation
…
Verbal counseling was merely a smokescreen—the real core was these counseling effects.
Beneficial effects that could be granted to the client, essentially “buffs.”
Since this was still the early stage of counseling, the effects she could grant were weak…
[Deep Sleep]
The moment the will to sleep arises, the person falls asleep.
They remain asleep for 8 hours without waking.
Ha Yan’s insomnia could be resolved with this alone.
[Applying “Deep Sleep” to the client.]
Ha Yan would sleep soundly for a full 8 hours tonight without waking, even if a bomb exploded outside his house.
With this, Lee Cheomcheom’s job was done.
“It seems there are no major issues.”
Thus, just five minutes after starting the session, she began to prepare to wrap things up.
At that moment, Ha Yan cleared his throat.
“Cough. Counselor.”
“Yes.”
“Counselor… how have you been lately?”
He wanted to keep talking? How much rapport did he intend to build?
However, as a counselor, she had to accept the client’s attempt to continue the conversation.
“Do I look like I’ve been doing well?”
“Pardon?”
“What, does my face look like I’m doing well?”
Lee Cheomcheom’s gentle counter-question made Ha Yan open his mouth slightly.
“…Did I upset her?”
Naturally, to Ha Yan, it sounded like a challenge.
“Where did I go wrong? She’s got the same dead-fish eyes as always—should I have asked if she’s not doing well instead?”
Ha Yan’s timid thoughts churned, but he soon took a deep breath.
“Let’s not misunderstand. The counselor isn’t in a bad mood… she just has a bad personality.”
Through three weeks of counseling, Ha Yan had come to understand Lee Cheomcheom to some extent.
“Her first impression was really the worst.”
Ha Yan faintly recalled their first meeting.
Three weeks earlier.
“Is this really okay…?”
Standing restlessly in front of a small teahouse, Ha Yan bit his lip.
“You still can’t sleep?”
“…Hey. Do I look bad?”
“You look like a 19th-century writer with tuberculosis.”
“….”
“Tch… why don’t you try getting counseling?”
That suggestion came from a coworker who couldn’t stand watching Ha Yan wither away due to insomnia.
“Someone who can treat abnormal conditions?”
After receiving the contact information of someone called a “counselor,” Ha Yan deliberated and then sent a message.
[Excuse me.]
[I was referred by a friend who said you do counseling. Would it be possible for me to receive counseling as well? I’m suffering from insomnia.]
[I’m not a strange person.]
[Counselor: Tuesday 14:00 is available]
[Huh?]
[Counselor: Would 2 PM this Tuesday work for you?]
[Ah, yes…]
It was reckless to contact someone without any proper vetting, but arranging the appointment so smoothly afterward was not part of the plan.
“Damn it. I was too sleepy to think straight.”
At the time, he was in such a state that he would’ve accepted anything if it meant he could sleep.
But now, standing at the meeting place, his rationality was slowly returning.
“To think I’m going to get psychological counseling from a stranger…”
What a foolish thing.
Putting aside the recent surge of cult-like groups exploiting psychological counseling, there was no way a status abnormality caused by the catastrophe could be cured by something as simple as counseling.
[Sorry, something came up, so I won’t be able to attend the session…]
“Are you the one who requested counseling?”
Damn, he was already here!
“Y-Yes…!”
Ha Yan quickly deleted his unfinished message and looked up.
Then he froze upon seeing the person’s face.
No way. This person is…
“I’m Lee Cheomcheom, the counselor you contacted.”
“This person looks absolutely terrible.”
A rude first impression, but completely opposite to the friendly image of counselors portrayed in media.
“Please come in.”
Ha Yan followed Lee Cheomcheom into the teahouse in a daze.
Inside, there were no customers. As if arranged in advance, the staff at the counter continued their work despite noticing the two.
“The place has been reserved. We can’t conduct counseling in an open environment.”
Ha Yan was surprised by how thorough the preparation was.
“At this point, I feel like I should pay a cancellation fee…”
Just as he was about to sit in an empty seat—
“That’s not the place.”
“Pardon?”
Creak.
Lee Cheomcheom walked across the teahouse and opened a door in the corner labeled “Staff Lounge.”
“This is it.”
Ha Yan followed hesitantly and blinked.
As soon as the door opened, a cheap air freshener smell hit him.
The small room, crammed with stacked supplies, looked like it could burst at any moment.
This was clearly a storage room, not a lounge.
“Don’t tell me this is the ‘reserved space’…”
Rejecting reality, Ha Yan’s eyes caught something.
“W E C U R E M E N T A L I L L N E S S”
A banner that looked like something a shaman would hang during a spiritual ritual fluttered on the wall.
Beside the stunned Ha Yan, Lee Cheomcheom added:
“They rented this out much cheaper than the teahouse.”
“….”
“Counseling matters more than the space, so I didn’t pay much attention to the location.”
No. You should pay some attention.
Lee Cheomcheom sat in a worn-out chair with most of its cushioning gone.
“Let’s begin the counseling.”
Her pale, almost lifeless eyes stared at Ha Yan.
“…Haha.”
Ha Yan quietly reached behind him and grabbed the doorknob.
“Let’s run.”
This person was either a quack—or completely insane.
…
However, while one could come and go as they pleased, that wasn’t always the case.
“Would you like some mint tea?”
“Y-Yes…”
Ha Yan had tried to escape by pretending to go to the restroom, only to be caught and brought back.
“Mmm…”
As Lee Cheomcheom crouched on the floor and boiled water with an electric kettle, Ha Yan sat trembling, staring into space.
Though only D-rank, Ha Yan also possessed Toledot as an Apostle.
Flap—
Pages of Toledot fluttered around him as if warning him.
[Status Abnormality – Regret Beneath the Eyelids]
Whenever you try to sleep, long-forgotten regrets resurface.
No one can escape from you.
This was the cause of his insomnia.
Ha Yan was under a curse.
“Mr. Ha Yan. Would you be interested in participating in a trial clearance event in the United States? We need someone to act as a contact since participants will be operating separately. Compensation will be quite generous.”
Ha Yan had recently participated in a trial clearance. As a D-rank Apostle without combat abilities, he had little experience, but he had no choice but to join at his supervisor’s request.
Out of at least some sense of responsibility, his supervisor had lent him high-grade protective gear…
“I-it’s a mental-type catastrophe!”
But since the catastrophe attacked the mind itself, the protective gear he wore was useless.
“Hm. Who would’ve expected a mental-type catastrophe to appear there?”
“Ugh… ah… aaah…”
Ha Yan suffered a seizure after being attacked by the mental catastrophe. Though it wasn’t particularly powerful, antipsychotic medication stopped the seizures at the time—but the current condition remained as a side effect.
The symptoms were simple, yet terrifying.
The moment he closed his eyes to sleep, negative memories would flash before his eyes like a life review—endlessly, vividly, and repeatedly.
“…Hah!”
Ha Yan simply could not sleep.
