At some point, I wonder when it started.
Mi Jeong, who had been holding my hand tightly, is gone from my side.
Instead, I can only see Mi Jeong standing in the middle of the forest, far away.
Mi Jeong stands still, as if time has stopped.
But soon the pause is released.
The sound of the wind that had stopped rushes in, and the bushes and leaves rustle.
Mi Jeong lightly steps deeper into the forest.
“Mi Jeong! Mi Jeong! Hey!”
“Hmph, hrumph…”
No matter how much I call from behind, there’s no response.
Mi Jeong just keeps moving forward, eyes fixed ahead.
In the dark forest where I can’t see a step ahead, relying only on a single candlelight.
[It won’t help. This is just a manifestation of memory, so nothing outside the data in the target’s mind can be produced. No matter how much you try to interact, nothing will change, so just watch quietly.]
“Is Mi Jeong watching this too?”
[Yes. She stopped rewinding and has started playing again, so now she will be watching this scene through her past line of sight.]
So Mi Jeong is really inside there.
Trapped in a body that moves on its own.
Having to silently watch what happens from now on, unable to move.
“Huff, huff! Hah…”
Mi Jeong keeps digging through the forest without a break.
With movements as if she’s familiar, she leaps over fallen trees and passes through underbrush.
Following behind, I realize late.
This foliage.
This terrain.
It’s definitely Sancheong Forest.
However, it doesn’t feel like the current Sancheong Forest, filled with ominous energy or demonic energy.
It’s just an ordinary forest, lush but nothing more, nothing less.
The surprising fact that Sancheong Forest was this clear just ten years ago hits me hard.
Of course, the pleasure city Cheongnan would suppress the ominous energy, but it didn’t exist at this point.
So how did all that ominous energy come about?
“I found it! Moonflower!”
Just then, Mi Jeong climbs onto a large rock, her face lighting up.
There, nestled between the rocks, is a tiny flower bud.
Soon, the dark clouds clear.
The full moon shines down on the rock, causing the flower bud to bloom.
A perfectly round, silver-white flower.
Moonflower.
It’s high-quality medicinal material, one of the ingredients for elixirs.
“If I have this, mom’s illness will be cured… huh?”
At that moment, Mi Jeong freezes.
At the same time, my instincts react.
Before I know it, I’m standing in front of Mi Jeong, on guard.
I know it won’t matter if I try to block it… yet…
“Huh?”
Ahead.
In the cave within the sheer cliff face.
A tremendous amount of demonic energy is flowing out from inside.
“I’ll check it out.”
Leaving the trembling, frozen Mi Jeong behind, I slowly step into the cave.
It’s a familiar place.
This is definitely where Gui Ho trained with Mi Jeong and Seo Gong.
But the owner of this demonic energy isn’t Gui Ho.
Yet, for some reason, this familiar demonic energy feels comforting.
The owner of this energy is…
|Hey…|
A chilling voice makes my brow furrow.
I can’t forget it.
A voice oddly similar to Nameless.
Kali’s voice echoes from the dark depths of the cave.
|What a stroke of bad luck. How did you end up touching the flower I raised…?|
Kali clicks her tongue.
From the darkness, red eyes suddenly open wide.
Two eyes dart towards me, charging in.
I immediately draw my sword and swing it, but the shadow of the red-eyed figure passes right through me without effect.
“Don’t!”
It’s a wild dog.
A wild dog that has transformed into a blood ghoul.
In an instant, the dog escapes the cave, climbs onto the rock, and…
“Ahh?! Ah! It hurts! Aah!”
It leaps at Mi Jeong, biting her thigh.
Watching that scene, I can do nothing.
I can only watch as Mi Jeong screams in pain.
As blood energy leaks from her skin, she grows increasingly pale.
Her eyes fill with red light, and I can only stand and watch.
“Argh, aah…”
The wild dog raises its head at a whistle and returns to the cave.
After a while, Mi Jeong, puzzled by the cessation of bleeding, staggers back the way she came.
“Don’t go. You can’t go, Mi Jeong. Please stop…”
Unaware of her own death.
Unaware of her body turning cold, Mi Jeong desperately heads towards home.
Now a blood ghoul, Mi Jeong leaps over trees and rocks, moving much faster than before.
“I’ve arrived…”
In a flash, Mi Jeong reaches the village.
Upon discovering the faint lights, she lets out a sigh of relief and proceeds to look for her home.
“Hmm…?”
She pauses for a moment, seeing a cow inside the fence.
With her pupils glowing red, Mi Jeong tilts her head.
The strange glimmer disappears from her eyes, and she crosses the fence, grabbing the cow and begins to bite.
“Oh no! What’s happening! What are you doing right now?!”
“Prey…”
“Hey, wait?! Get away! Get away!”
Mi Jeong finishes off the cow.
The farmer, startled by the sounds of crying, rushes out only to have his throat bitten.
Leaving behind the limp cow and the farmer, Mi Jeong, dazed, moves back toward home.
The farmer’s eyes turn red, and he awakens.
Just like that, he enters his home, and screams echo from within.
The single scream multiplies into dozens as the red lights scatter across the village.
The blood ghoul spreads quickly throughout the village.
Yet Mi Jeong remains oblivious.
She only continues on her path to her home.
Clutching the white flower tightly in her hand.
Finally reaching her home, Mi Jeong flings the door open.
Inside, Mi Jeong’s family awakes from their slumber, stirring, and a smile spreads across Mi Jeong’s face.
“Mom… Dad…”
The thick, hoarse voice spills from Mi Jeong’s throat.
For a moment, she seems to regain her reason, but that lasts only briefly.
Drawn by the instincts of a blood ghoul, Mi Jeong lunges.
“Ah?! Why are you doing this! Why! Whyyy! Aah…”
“Sis! Snap out of it! You! Aaaaagh!”
The white flower drops to the ground.
The petals of the flower, devoid of moonlight, close back up.
In the room filled with darkness, a struggle ensues, and blood splatters onto the now closed flower.
However, no blood could stain the flower that had already closed.
As the fierce resistance halts,
As Mi Jeong’s family falls lifeless to the ground,
Mi Jeong finally regains her reason, staggering in shock.
“Ah, ah…”
Panic sets in.
As she sees the carnage before her.
Realizing who caused this mess, Mi Jeong’s mind breaks apart.
I want to wrap her in an embrace so badly, yet my arms can’t reach her, only passing through.
“Ahhh!!!”
Mi Jeong screams and rushes out.
Everywhere in the village, flames surge high.
Horrific scenes of humans biting each other unfold everywhere.
Having fulfilled her thirst for blood, Mi Jeong regains her calm reason.
Yet she finds herself unable to blend in with this madness.
Alone, Mi Jeong cries in desolation over the disaster brought forth by the plague she carried.
In the chaos, a massive spider monster crawls out of the darkness.
It reaches into Mi Jeong’s home, clutching the white flower bud, and disappears quietly.
The sound of grinding teeth echoes.
This disaster happened all because of Kali.
“It’s my fault…! It’s my fault…! Ahhh!!!”
Despite Mi Jeong’s desperate cries, the blood ghouls ignore her, wandering off in search of the next prey.
No one pays her any attention.
No one embraces the crumbling Mi Jeong.
The chilling sounds of the blood ghouls resonate around, as if they’re cursing her.
In pain.
In anguish.
And consumed with guilt, Mi Jeong gradually spirals downwards.
Her previously filled face becomes gradually dominated by despair.
As her screams cease, her expression hardens.
It’s truly a painful scene to watch.
Mi Jeong closes her mouth and hides her emotions.
She can no longer laugh joyously.
This is how Mi Jeong became Mi Jeong.
“I can’t just let this go…”
Knowing the future, I can’t just stand by.
My body moves instinctively.
Though I know I can’t reach her, I stretch out my hand.
I reach out to Mi Jeong, who appears especially small today.
I know it’s already happened.
I understand that whatever I do here won’t change the past.
Yet, I don’t stop.
At that moment,
I feel something in my bag vibrating, ringing, then it stops.
My hand touches Mi Jeong’s shoulder.
“Mi Jeong.”
“Yes…?”
Is this my wish being granted?
The hand doesn’t pass through; instead, it gently lands on Mi Jeong’s shoulder.
A trembling vibration travels through.
The peculiar chill of a blood ghoul reaches me.
Is it because she just became a blood ghoul? There’s still a hint of warmth left.
[No way! How? How did you touch her? This world is just a manifestation of memories!]
Ignoring the old man who is frozen in shock,
I embrace Mi Jeong, who looks up at me with hollow eyes.
I share the warmth of my embrace.
I offer back the warmth Mi Jeong lost long ago, breathing life into her still living heart.
“It’s not your fault.”
I want to say this.
I just want to convey this one message.
Because I know all other words would just cause more wounds.
“It’s not because of you. It’s not your fault…”
I can’t say “Don’t suffer.”
I can’t say “Be happy” either.
It’s my fault for reviving this memory that became a trauma for Mi Jeong.
I’m the one who forced Mi Jeong to face this painful memory again.
I can’t say such hypocritical words.
There is only one thing I can do.
Silently holding Mi Jeong in my embrace.
Letting her know that I’m at her side, that I will be here in the future as well.
No matter how much she suffers, I will be on Mi Jeong’s side.
No matter what happens, I will help Mi Jeong.
I can assure her that together we can face any past and navigate through any future.
“Ugh, huh… ugh…”
Her emotion-filled face begins to contort.
Tense muscles relax.
As she frowns, tears begin to form.
“Aaaahhhh!”
Then Mi Jeong buries her face in my arms and cries.
She cries sorrowfully.
Pouring out the last of her tears.
