Jasmine was still angry and ignored Rex completely.
Rex ran ahead and grabbed her hand.
"Didi, at least listen to me. You're the most beautiful girl in the world. Anger doesn't suit you. You're my cute sister."
But Jasmine didn't listen. She pulled her hand away and pushed him aside before walking off.
Because of the push, Rex lost his balance and fell to the ground.
As he tried to stand up, something felt wrong.
His ears went numb.
His vision started blurring.
He stretched his hand toward Jasmine and called out weakly,
"Didi…"
Before he could say anything else—
His body collapsed.
Everything went dark.
---
Rex opened his eyes again.
He was back in the nightmare.
"What just happened?" Rex muttered. "I was with Didi… how did I suddenly come here?"
A voice echoed from the void.
"Kid, I summoned you here. You are not dreaming. Your soul is inside my dimension."
Rex's heart pounded.
"I brought you back because I forgot to give you something."
Rex held his head.
"Maybe I've completely lost my mind…"
The voice responded calmly,
"I can read your thoughts, kid. You will find answers to your questions yourself. I am The Curse of Hollow Sight… and I wish to grant you something that will be useful."
Rex frowned.
"But you said you want to destroy humans."
"You will discover everything in time," the Curse replied. "The power I give you comes with a price. Every time you use it… someone close to you will die."
Rex froze.
"You are weak," the Curse continued. "You must train until your veins and blood turn black. Only then will you be able to wield your power."
Before Rex could respond, he felt something grab both of his arms.
Dark shadows suddenly appeared all around him.
Countless shadowy figures injected black substances into his head and entire body.
The Curse's voice echoed one last time:
"There will be some pain. Endure it. When the pain ends… you will return to your body."
Then the Curse disappeared.
What followed—
Was unbearable.
Rex felt as if every vein in his body was exploding.
The pain was beyond anything human.
Even the smallest nerves felt like they were tearing apart.
He screamed in agony.
"Just kill me! I can't endure this!"
But the Curse was gone.
Only small spirit-like entities remained, watching him writhe in pain.
One spirit whispered,
"He's in extreme agony… shouldn't we help him?"
Another replied nervously,
"Won't Pops get angry if we interfere?"
The first spirit looked conflicted.
"If this were the soul of a dead man, I'd enjoy watching him suffer. But this is a living human soul…"
The second spirit said,
"To help him, we'll have to return to Hell and bring Black Water. Without it, his body won't accept the injections. The pain may never end… and he's not strong enough."
Rex screamed again, voice breaking,
"Whoever you are… just kill me!"
The first spirit spoke gently,
"Human, endure a little longer. We will help you. It will take us one or two days to return from Hell."
And they vanished.
Now Rex was alone in that dimension—
Endlessly suffering.
---
Two days later, the spirits returned.
But they froze in shock.
Rex was gone.
The first spirit trembled.
"Impossible… how could his veins accept the transformation without Black Water? That shouldn't be possible."
The second spirit slowly said,
"We were gone for two days… right?"
"Yes," the first replied.
Suddenly something clicked.
"We spent two days inside Hell."
The second spirit's eyes widened.
"Time flows differently here. One hour outside equals one full day in this dimension."
The first spirit screamed in disbelief.
"What?!"
"That means…"
"…he endured forty-eight days of that pain."
Rex suddenly regained consciousness. The moment his eyes opened, he screamed loudly.
His body had already accepted the black water, so he no longer felt physical pain—but the memory of that unbearable agony was still etched deep inside him. And that feeling… it would stay with him until his last breath.
He looked around and realized he was in a hospital.
Hearing his scream, Jasmine woke up. She had been sleeping on a chair beside his bed. The moment she saw Rex awake, her eyes filled with tears. She immediately hugged him tightly and, in a trembling voice, said,
"Rex… you're finally awake. Do you even know how scared I was?"
The scene then shifts to what happened after Rex collapsed.
When Rex fell unconscious to the ground, Rimu and Rika saw everything. They rushed toward him and tried to wake him up by sprinkling water on his face.
At the same time, Jasmine was thinking that maybe Rex had gone home. She felt guilty about her rude behavior and thought she should apologize to him. But when she turned around, she saw Rex lying unconscious while Rimu and Rika were desperately trying to wake him.
"REX!" she screamed and ran toward him.
She was overwhelmed with emotion. Without wasting a second, she took Rex straight to the hospital, with Rika and Rimu helping her.
After Rex was admitted, Jasmine broke down in tears. She kept blaming herself, thinking it was all her fault—that because she had pushed him, he ended up like this.
Rika tried to calm her down.
"It's not your fault. We saw everything. After you pushed him, Rex stood up and was about to call out to you… and then he suddenly fainted. This isn't your fault."
Rimu added, "Rex will be fine. Please don't worry."
Just then, Uncle rushed into the hospital. Jasmine had called him and told him everything. When he saw her crying uncontrollably, he gently placed his hand on her head and reassured her that none of this was her fault.
Soon, the doctor arrived. Jasmine quickly asked, "How is my brother? He's okay, right?"
The doctor replied, "It seems he had suffered a serious head injury before. That might be the reason he suddenly lost consciousness. We'll keep him admitted until he regains consciousness."
The scene returns to the present.
Rex looked at Jasmine and said softly, "I'm completely fine, Didi. Why are you crying?"
Jasmine stared at him in disbelief. "Why am I crying? You regained consciousness after two whole days… and you're asking why I'm crying? Do you know I've already lost one brother before? I don't want to lose you too."
Hearing that, Rex's eyes also became moist.
"Didi… from now on, I'll never make fun of you again. Please forgive me."
Jasmine wiped both her tears and his, then said gently, "Forget about the past."
After calming down, she asked with a faint smile, "So… are we staying here all day, or are we going home?"
Rex nodded. "Yeah, let's go home."
Just then, the doctor entered again. Seeing Rex awake, he said, "Rex, the senior doctor wants to see you."
Jasmine frowned. "The senior doctor? Why? Rex is fine, right?"
"Yes, he's fine," the doctor replied. "The senior doctor just wants to speak with Rex alone."
Rex said calmly, "Alright. Take me to him."
The doctor began leading Rex toward the senior doctor's cabin. Jasmine tried to follow, but the doctor stopped her outside and asked her to wait.
She insisted at first, but Rex turned to her and said,
"Didi, please wait here. Whatever he says, I'll come out and tell you everything."
Reluctantly, Jasmine agreed.
And the doctor took Rex inside the cabin.
Rex walked into the cabin.
The senior doctor looked at him and said, "Rex… how are you? It's been a long time."
The moment Rex saw him, he recognized him. He was the same doctor who had treated him before and had given Uncle permission to take him home.
"I'm doing well, Doctor. When did you join here?" Rex asked.
"I joined recently," the doctor replied. "And I saw that you've been admitted again."
Rex frowned slightly. "I don't know what happened. I suddenly fainted on the road."
The doctor's expression turned serious. "Rex, I spoke with your uncle. He told me you don't remember anything from your past… that you've lost your memory."
He stood up and continued, "When you first suffered a head injury, you were in a coma for three years. After you regained consciousness, within just a few days, you received another severe blow to your head. Because of that second injury… your memory was erased."
Rex's voice lowered. "Do you know who I was before?"
The doctor shook his head. "No… I don't."
He sat down again and explained calmly, "Look… you suffered a very strong impact to your head. Your brain is physically stable, but your memory is temporarily blocked. Don't try to force yourself to remember anything. If you put too much stress on your mind, you might experience headaches, nausea, or even blackouts."
"For now, you're safe. We're observing your condition. No one can predict exactly when your memory will return."
Then he added, "That's all I wanted to tell you. Don't put too much pressure on your brain."
Rex nodded. "Alright. By the way… what's your name?"
The doctor smiled slightly. "Dr. Suresh."
"Okay, Dr. Suresh. We'll meet again. I need to see Uncle and my friends. And don't worry—I'll keep what you said in mind."
Dr. Suresh smiled as Rex said goodbye and walked out of the cabin.
Outside, Jasmine immediately asked, "What did the doctor say?"
"Nothing much," Rex replied casually. "He was just an old doctor who recognized me, so we were catching up. He only told me to take care of myself."
Jasmine looked at him carefully. He's lying so confidently… I heard everything they talked about.
But she decided not to pressure him right now. I'll find out myself who Rex really is… later.
She simply said, "Alright then. Take care of yourself. Let's go home. Papa is waiting for you."
They returned home and told Uncle everything that had happened.
That night, after dinner, Rex was sitting alone in the garden.
He stared at the sky, lost in thought.
There are too many things I need to figure out, he thought.
First, that thing—The Curse of Hollow Sight—summoned me and tortured me in the name of power.
Then the doctor said I had two major head injuries… What exactly happened to me back then?
He suddenly remembered Dr. Suresh's warning—Don't put too much pressure on your brain.
Rex immediately stopped thinking about it.
Just then, his eyes fell on the same girl who often came to the garden with her grandmother.
The girl noticed him looking at her and thought, What's his problem? He keeps staring at me… but the moment I look back at him, he turns his face away.
This time, she started walking toward him.
Rex noticed and quickly stood up. As soon as she approached, he hurried out of the garden.
After stepping outside, he placed his hand on his chest.
Why does it feel so strange? Why do I get nervous in front of her? Maybe I'm overthinking. I should just go home and sleep.
On the other side, the girl stopped walking and frowned.
He left as soon as he saw me coming. What does he even want? I'll have to teach him a lesson, or he'll keep bothering me like this.
Her grandmother called her, and she left with her.
The next day, Rex and Jasmine were walking to college, talking casually.
Suddenly, Rex noticed someone standing in front of them.
It was Zack.