Dictator From Outer Space

Chapter 3: Vegetative State

A hospital room in Gangnam, Seoul.

A middle-aged woman was sitting by the bedside of a single-patient room.

She held and caressed the hand of the man on the bed, whispering.

“Ji-ha… Why haven’t you opened your eyes yet? If you wake up, Mom will take care of everything…”

“I won’t nag you about those things anymore… “Sob”

Her voice was filled with longing and sorrow for her son.

However, her son remained unresponsive, and she buried her face in the bed, sobbing.

How much time had passed?

She wiped away her tears and changed her son’s clothes and cleaned his body with a towel.

Meanwhile, a reconnaissance micro drone, about one meter in size, attached itself to the window of the single-patient room.

[Test Subject’s Biological Mother. She has been taking care of her son in a coma stage 7 for three years.]

– Three years? What a waste of time.

[Women in this era give birth to their own children, so they have a strong attachment to them.]

–Attachment, huh…

He was born from a bio-bag and raised in a childcare facility of the Mega-city.

He had biological parents, but he didn’t know who they were, so he had no sense of blood ties.

Yet, he felt something from his mother, who sincerely took care of him.

–It would be sad if she found out that I’m not her real son…

[That will never happen.]

–That’s how it should be. But for some reason, I feel dizzy.

[Data update in progress. It will be completed in five minutes.]

Currently, Yu Ji-ha’s consciousness resided in the Soul Exchange Device. If it were uploaded to the test subject’s brain, he would be in a state of complete unawareness. 

Therefore, there was a need to update the information collected by Arma.

Meanwhile, Yu Ji-ha looked down at the man, puzzled

 Despite being relatively tall, his body seemed fragile, as if it would break with a slight touch.

–Is it because he has been in a coma state? He looks so weak.

[According to past records, there doesn’t seem to be a significant difference. It seems his physique was naturally small. Being of East Asian descent could also be a factor.]

In contrast, most citizens of the United Human Federation had larger physiques, and Colonel Yu Ji-ha was no exception. 

With a height of 195 cm and a muscular body, he stood out wherever he went.

–I should do some exercise once I wake up.

[We are preparing the physical enhancement drug for you. Once your health is restored, we can administer it to you.]

–Good. But who is this man… Yu Ji-ha, the Korean test subject? Can you tell me more about him?

[It will take some time to explain.]

–It’s fine. Since we have to update the information anyway, tell me. I need to get used to him from now on.

Arma summarized and explained about Yu Ji-ha, the Korean test subject.

[He is the heir of the Silla Group, a family-controlled business group known as a chaebol in Korea.]

[He was hailed as a genius when he was young and carried the expectations of those around him. However, as he grew up, he faced challenges and realized that he was not a genius, which made him frustrated. He began to lose his direction.]

[He joined his father’s company and took on various research projects, but he couldn’t achieve significant results. Meanwhile, he was lured by his fiancée, who introduced him to the temptations of alcohol, drugs, and women.]

–Some people feel frustrated when they realize they are not as great as they thought they were. 

–What about his personality?

[He had an authoritarian personality, which was covered up by people around him. After the drug scandal and sex scandals, he became known as a disgraceful heir of the Silla Group.]

–Was there any specific incident that led to this state?

[According to media reports at the time, he caused an accident while driving under the influence of alcohol. He was lucky that he didn’t hurt anyone else.]

Colonel Yu Ji-ha’s assessment was simple.

–What a foolish guy.

[He was expected to be the first Korean to win a Nobel Prize in the scientific field when he was young… It’s an award given to individuals or organizations that have outstanding achievements in science. He had such potential.]

[However, after entering university and losing his genius status, the media’s interest faded. Politicians and scientists no longer sought him out.]

–He must have realized that he thought the world was his but it wasn’t, and felt despair.

[He showed signs of self-harm related to that. Although he gave up on suicide attempts due to his mother’s persuasion, he instead fell into a life of indulgence.]

He seemed like someone who carried the worries and concerns of the world all by himself.

At the age of 15, he enlisted as a soldier and fought in countless battles.

He couldn’t understand him, the one who had a brilliant mind and a good family in an era of peace.

But he had to try to understand.

From now on, he would continue his life for him.

Arma reported.

[The consciousness upload is ready. Once this woman leaves the room, I will transmit the synthesized display.]

That way, the people in charge of this treatment facility would see a fake screen instead of the actual scene.

[However, we are short on time. With your permission, I will add some noise to the surrounding traffic signals to buy us some time.]

—As long as it doesn’t cause too much trouble. 

[Yes.]

…

“Please, take good care of my son.”

“Of course, ma’am. We’re always watching over him.”

Lady Jung Hye-won said goodbye to the nurses and got into the car that the driver was waiting in.

As the mistress of the Silla Group, she could easily afford to hire nurses. 

But after an incident caused by a nurse two years ago, Lady Jung Hye-won insisted on taking care of her son herself.

She couldn’t bear to see her precious son being mistreated by strangers ever again.

“Let’s go home.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She sat in the back seat of the car, lost in thought, as usual.

It had been three years since her son had fallen into this state, but there was no sign of improvement at all. 

The doctor could only say that they couldn’t predict when he would wake up, and every day was a living nightmare.

‘If only he would open his eyes, even if it’s just to look at his mother.’

She didn’t even hope for him to live a normal life like before. 

Even if he had to spend his whole life in bed, she was determined to take care of him.

If only he would wake up…

Jung Hye-won gazed sadly at the night view of Seoul and noticed something odd.

It seemed like they had been driving for a long time, but they hadn’t even reached Yangjae Street yet.

“Is there a lot of traffic today?”

“It’s not the usual time for congestion, but it seems like the signals are causing delays. I’m sorry.”

“Why are you apologizing? It’s not your fault. Just be careful, anyway.”

“Yes.”

She arrived at her home in Hannam-dong 30 minutes later than usual.

Unlike other mansions owned by chaebols, this mansion had a simple interior and no household staff.

She believed that a home should be a comfortable space for a family to live in.

But today, the house felt strange to her.

There was a smell of alcohol in the dark house.

Her husband must be drinking again.

Usually, she would have ignored it, but today, Jung Hye-won felt irritated for some reason.

Some people came to change Yu Ji-ha’s clothes, but her husband was busy drinking.

She opened the door and started scolding him.

“Have you lost your mind? Yu Ji-ha is lying there like that!”

Her husband, Yu Kyung-seok, who was also Yu Ji-ha’s father, looked at her with bloodshot eyes.

“I don’t know why you’re suddenly acting like this, but just stop it today.”

“What do you mean, stop it? Are you addicted to alcohol? You’re the one who knows why Yu Ji-ha ended up like this!”

Yu Kyung-seok’s face contorted.

He had scolded his son harshly before he caused an accident while driving under the influence, turning Yu Ji-ha into a vegetative state.

The root cause of all this was probably the harsh words he said to his son.

If he said things like “you shouldn’t have been born,” it must have hurt him even more.

“It was just a wake-up call. You know that too. You know what he has done.”

At that time, Yu Ji-ha was in and out of the detention center as if it were his second home.

His reckless behavior even affected the Silla Group’s stock price.

The only reason he wasn’t arrested was because of the money of the Silla Group.

Yu Kyung-seok, as a business owner and a father, couldn’t tolerate his son’s behavior.

But he admitted that the severity of his scolding was too much.

His son was already suffering from severe depression and undergoing treatment, and his words only made it worse.

But Jung Hye-won didn’t want to think about that.

To her, only her son mattered.

“You think it’s okay to say such cruel words as a ‘wake-up call’? You might as well have wished him dead.”

“That’s not what I meant. You know that.”

“I don’t know anything. Oh, but there’s one thing I do know. You were deeply disappointed in Yu Ji-ha. Was he only smart when he was young? Seeing him stray a bit as he grew up made you feel like he wasn’t our son anymore.”

She accused him with a bitter tone, and Yu Kyung-seok stood up, his emotions rising.

“Are you done talking?”

“What if I’m not?”

The atmosphere turned tense, and they glared at each other before looking away.

It was always like this.

Even when Yu Ji-ha started going astray, their relationship wasn’t this bad.

But ever since he became a vegetative state, their marital relationship had worsened to the point of hostility.

She didn’t want to blame herself for their son’s condition.

This tense atmosphere also affected the management of the company. 

Lately, Silla Group faced a major crisis.

The reason Yu Kyung-seok had been drinking at home today was also because of that.

“I don’t want to stay in this damn house.”

Yu Kyung-seok stormed out, leaving Jung Hye-won in tears on the bed.

It was a tragic situation, but there was someone, or rather something, that enjoyed it.

…

Arma.

She controlled the microdrones and cut the wiring to prevent Jung Hye-won’s car from starting.

Of course, there were more than one car in this house, but it would give her some time.

[Mission accomplished. Initiating procedure.]

A walker transformed grotesquely and entered the hospital room where Yu Ji-ha lay still.

“…”

[Master, are you awake?]

Deep in Yu Ji-ha’s subconscious, he met something.

It was a beautiful woman with creamy hair and a slender figure. She sat on a chair and then bowed politely.

[I have added various languages, including Korean, to your language circuit. For now, I will make sure that only Korean is used. You can speak it as it appears on your retina.]

Was the procedure already done?

In fact, as soon as Yu Ji-ha heard the report that Arma was about to initiate the procedure, he lost consciousness.

He asked, his voice shaking.

―Was the procedure… successful?

[I apologize, I should have informed you about that first. The procedure was successful, and you, Master, are currently inside the original body. However, you have not yet awakened from your coma.]

―That’s good… But I can’t just wake up like this. I need knowledge.

He needed a comprehensive understanding of common knowledge as a Korean and knowledge about his family relationships.

Even though he entered a new body, acquiring that knowledge naturally was impossible.

Fortunately, it seemed that Arma had prepared thorough measures.

When she snapped her fingers, images began to flow in Yu Ji-ha’s vision.

It was a cinematic presentation of the information collected about Yu Ji-ha, the Korean man he had replaced.

Thanks to that, he could learn in detail who he was in his previous life.

―He was a shameful person, it seems. Considering how often he visited law enforcement agencies.

[He had a lot of trouble. Nevertheless, maybe because he was their only child, his parents protected and ignored it.]

–Will they scold me if I wake up?

[If you show a different side, their evaluation will change dramatically. They’ll think, ‘He has changed for the better.’]

–Please don’t use difficult Korean.

During this exchange of consciousness, he continued to receive and assimilate new information.

From Yu Ji-ha’s usual way of speaking to his habits and attitudes towards his family, it was quite extensive.

It was impossible to immediately accept and apply all of this.

–I’m sure I’ll look awkward. What should I do?

[It’ll be fine. No one will be harsh to someone who used to be in a vegetative state. And there are rumors of partial amnesia, so that helps too.]

–Don’t use difficult words. What’s this ‘rumor of partial amnesia’?

[It means having an excuse that can be used anytime. If someone in a vegetative state claims to have amnesia, people tend to be sympathetic and understanding.]

[Even if you act as usual, people around won’t suspect much. It’s common for people to go through significant changes after a major accident.]

–Well, that’s convenient for me then.

At that moment, a provocative video played.

It was a video of the original Yu Ji-ha engaged in sexual activity with a woman.

The conversation revealed that their relationship was nothing more than casual.

[She’s his fiancée. This woman played a big role in leading the original down to a decadent path. She introduced him to the pleasures of sex and drugs, which he knew nothing about besides studying.]

–That’s self-destructive behavior. If he had a sane mind, he should have resisted such temptations.

[It seems that the original Yu Ji-ha had a very sensitive and fragile heart. Being in a state of despair and hurt, having a woman show him the pleasures of sex and drugs completely broke him.]

–So, what kind of person is this woman?

[I’m still gathering information due to the lack of data. However, she is undoubtedly someone who has a status comparable to the original.]

–She’s called a fiancée, so she must be from a powerful family. Isn’t that odd? If she’s from a wealthy family, you should know about it.

Arma was an artificial intelligence specialized in massive data processing and computations. 

By now, it would have digitized and collected all news articles related to influential families. 

The fact that it didn’t find any information suggests that there’s something fishy.

[I’m currently investigating the possibility of her being an illegitimate child… and searching for their call records by hacking the telecommunication network.]

–Well, it doesn’t really matter. Since their engagement is already over, it’s just history.

No woman would continue the engagement with a man who had become a vegetative state.

After watching the video for a while, I could somewhat understand the original Yu Ji-ha.

He had a grown-up body with a childish mind.

[That’s why, even if you show a slightly more mature side, people will think that you have grown up.]

–I should say that my head hurts if anyone doubts me. Is this what they call partial amnesia?

[You’ve become a true Korean. By the way, your mother got in the car. She’ll arrive here within an hour.]

Yu Ji-ha and Arma spent an hour frantically finishing the character design.

And when Jung Hye-won entered the hospital room, everything went back to normal.

“Phew… I’m sorry, son. Mom had a little fight with Dad and came here.”

She sat by the bed as always, talking to him.

Arma, who had been observing it through microdrones, sent a signal.

[I will gradually awaken your body.]

–I’m ready. Begin.

[Administering the awakening agent…]

The awakening agent, which had been in the body in capsule form, activated it.

Yu Ji-ha’s fingers twitched slightly.

But Jung Hye-won, even though she saw it, didn’t think much of it. 

The doctor had said that various reactions could occur, including sudden movement. 

In fact, over the past three years, her son had shown many reactions beyond just finger movement.

It would probably be the same this time.

As she held her son’s weak hand, she could hear his heartbeat, especially strong today.

“How long are you going to keep your mom waiting—.”

At that moment, Yu Ji-ha opened his eyes.

His pupils moved, and when Jung Hye-won noticed it, her mouth dropped open.

“No way…?”

“Mom…?”

It was the voice of her son, whom she had longed to hear.

Yu Ji-ha, who had been in a vegetative state for three years, had now awakened.

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