I Became My Ex-Boyfriend’s Concubine - Chapter 23

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 23

“A Helmet Device?”
“Found it in the Living Room.”
Hyun handed the helmet-shaped device to Som, who was looking up at him with a puzzled expression.
Som narrowed her eyes and examined it closely from all angles.
“It doesn’t look like an ordinary helmet.”
“I figured as much.”
“Yeah.”
Som nodded and fitted the helmet onto her head, glancing at herself in a mirror before removing it and setting it down. A crimson light shimmered across her palm as she held it.
“An ordinary helmet wouldn’t glow like this. And look at this.”
Som pointed to the right side of the helmet.
Hyun bent down, following her fingertip. There was a tiny button, no larger than a fingernail, affixed to that spot.
“What is that?”
“What does it look like to you?”
“…Decoration?”
“Maybe.”
Som stroked her chin slowly, lost in thought, as if unsatisfied with the answer. After a moment, she spoke carefully.
“There’s no reason to attach decoration like this to a helmet. It’s not even pretty.”
“Then what is it?”
“It looks like a switch.”
“A switch?”
At Hyun’s echo, Som pressed the button repeatedly, releasing it each time. With a soft clicking sound, the button depressed inward several times, yet the crimson light remained unchanged.
Just as Hyun was beginning to think the button had no function at all, Som murmured softly.
“Something’s off about this.”
“What?”
“It looks too similar to a game device we’re developing at the VR Game Company.”
“…A game device?”
At the unexpected word, Hyun stared down at the helmet in Som’s hands. No matter how he looked at it, it was just an unusually shaped helmet—how could it be a game device?
As that thought crossed his mind, a memory from a few years ago surfaced suddenly.
Danbi had been obsessed with games. Besides work, eating, and sleep, she’d spent virtually every waking hour immersed in gaming.
There had been times when Hyun felt jealous of those games. More than once, the words “Do you love gaming more than me?” had risen to his throat before he swallowed them back down.
It had started that day when he and Danbi were browsing through the Department Store and happened to pass by the Game Store.
Following the natural course of events, he’d been led into the store by Danbi’s hand, where he saw people engrossed in a VR Game.
At first, the sight of them wearing VR Goggles and waving their hands through empty air had been disconcerting, but now, a memory surfaced vividly—watching Danbi immerse herself in the game with more joy than anyone else, barely suppressing his laughter.
“Did something suddenly occur to you that made you happy?”
“Huh?”
“You’re smiling to yourself.”
“…Me?”
“Well, who else would it be?”
Hyun quickly composed his expression and cleared his throat. Som gave him a pitying glance before turning her gaze back to the helmet.
“Do you know what a VR Game is?”
“You mean something like VR Goggles, right?”
“Well, after living with that game fanatic for so many years, there’s no way you wouldn’t know.”
Som glanced once at Danbi lying in the Hospital Bed, then turned back to Hyun. She fitted the helmet back onto her head.
The flashing crimson light danced eerily across Som’s face.
“Originally, VR Goggles were the mainstream. They controlled only your field of vision. By capturing your sight, the brain would perceive other senses as if they were real.”
“Is that even possible?”
“It was popular enough that even you’ve heard of it. It did reasonably well in the market. So the next stage we were developing was this.”
Som tapped the helmet on her head with her finger. Through the transparent goggle panel, their eyes met.
“Electrodes inside the helmet make direct contact with your head, stimulating your nerves. Instead of just sight, it stimulates all five senses to make Virtual Reality feel completely real—literally making you feel as though you’re moving directly within that world.”
At Som’s matter-of-fact explanation, Hyun furrowed his brow. His first question was whether such a thing was even technically feasible.
As if reading that expression, Som shook her head.
“Right. Realistically, it’s still under research, so there are plenty of shortcomings. We’ve never achieved perfect success.”
“But you’re saying this looks exactly like what your company is developing?”
“At least the design is identical. As for performance…”
Som, still wearing the helmet, pressed the right button several times and released it before shaking her head.
“I thought something might work since the light came on, but it doesn’t seem to be functioning at all.”
“Wasn’t it you who brought it?”
“What? That’s impossible. We only finished the design—it doesn’t even function properly yet. The company has strict protocols against removing anything from the premises.”
“Then how did it end up in Danbi’s living room?”
“That’s exactly why I’m confused.”
It made no sense.
A device identical to the one Som’s company had been developing in strict secrecy sat carelessly in Danbi’s living room.
The red light still blinked, but the helmet remained utterly inert no matter how many times the switch was pressed.
Hyun stared quietly at the bed where Danbi lay.
Beep, beep—.
Only the monotonous hum of machines cut through the hollow silence.
The thought wouldn’t leave him: perhaps Danbi’s loss of consciousness was somehow connected to that helmet.
Hyun turned away without hesitation, leaving Som’s voice behind as he stepped out of the hospital room.
From the hospital entrance, he hailed a taxi without delay, heading straight for the security office of the apartment building where Danbi lived.
“……The CCTV?”
“Yes, I’d be grateful if you could help me with this.”
The moment Hyun entered the security office, he requested to see the footage of the corridor outside Danbi’s unit.
The guard refused several times, citing regulations. But when he caught sight of the money envelope Hyun held out, he let out an awkward cough and promptly surrendered his seat.
“My shift change is coming up soon, so take a quick look and get out of here.”
“Thank you so much.”
Hyun sat before the monitor and rapidly scrolled through the footage’s timeline.
Danbi had gone silent roughly a week ago. He started from the moment her outgoing call record to him had stopped.
Indeed, from that day forward, Danbi’s front door hadn’t opened even once. She must have been confined indoors the entire time.
Hyun slowly rewound the footage further. Whatever the case, if that helmet was inside the apartment, it meant the object had been brought in through some channel.
Even if nothing obvious appeared on the surface, surely something as suspicious as an object of that size would have been captured.
As he continued reviewing, a peculiar moment suddenly caught his eye.
‘Wait—just now……!’
Hyun quickly moved the cursor and rewound ten seconds. An empty corridor came into view.
Then, ten seconds forward again, and a delivery package appeared out of nowhere in front of the door where nothing had been.
Hyun narrowed his eyes and played the footage again. The delivery package suddenly materialized in the frame with no warning whatsoever.
As if someone had edited the footage itself, skillfully cutting and splicing different scenes together.

***

Danbi bit her lower lip hard. Her body, weighed down by relentless cold, had frozen solid and would not move.
She needed to lift herself off the ground somehow, but there was no strength left even to twitch a single finger.
Only her white breath, scattered from her lips into the air, proved she was still alive, clouding into nothing.
Through her hazy mind, she tried to piece together how much time had passed.
Since she’d logged into the game in the last session to craft the Rain Prayer Garment, she’d been trapped here ever since.
So many days had already elapsed in the game that a considerable amount of time must have passed in reality as well.
‘What must be happening to my real body by now.’
The thought kept slipping through her mind. While her consciousness was trapped in this false world, there was no guarantee her real body was safe.
“I wonder if I’m in some kind of coma…….”
Everyone would be worried.
The first face that came to mind was Hyun’s.
Even when he acted indifferent, after all these years together, she knew the sincerity beneath better than anyone.
The Hyun she knew would surely be frantic with worry by now.
Then suddenly, the image of his back as he turned away from her flashed through her mind, and her chest ached sharply.
But yes—that was only true of the Hyun she ‘used to know.’
At some point, Hyun had changed. The shift had been so sudden she couldn’t even guess why.
And now she was trapped in this game, never having even learned the reason.
“I want to see him…….”
She wanted to see Hyun.
Even just that cold back of his would be enough—she wanted to see it one more time.
If she’d known she’d end up freezing to death in a game like this, she would have held onto that back at least once more, held it tight.
Why was that so difficult.
Danbi slowly blinked. Her heavy eyelids began to close inch by inch.
Just moments ago, the cold had been bone-chilling. Now, strangely, her body was beginning to feel warm.
Then, from beyond the corridor, heavy footsteps drew closer.
Danbi forced her closing eyes open. Through her blurred vision, beyond the bars, she saw a familiar pair of feet come to a stop.
“Hyun……?”
But she could not hold on any longer. Her vision sank entirely into darkness.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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