Chapter 357
My steps are heavy.
My body should feel lighter now that my level has increased.
Still, my running feet feel way too heavy.
This must be because the emotions weighing on my mind are so burdensome that even my steps feel sluggish.
I ran.
If it were up to me, I’d smash everything in my way and break through, but even if I’m crazy, that’s still impossible.
So I simply ran.
I was a bit worried about Moyong Hi-ah, whom I left behind, but there was nothing I could do about it.
People around me looked at me with surprised eyes.
Is my expression really that odd?
I have no clue.
Right now, nothing comes to mind.
The place was crowded with people.
It was a location set up for treating others, and once again, the doctors from Shinryonggwan were tirelessly moving around.
I walked past them.
After taking a few more steps, I spotted the person I was looking for.
“Ha…”
I caught my breath while glancing at the person lying down.
She wasn’t even lying on a proper bed. Those were already occupied by the more severely injured.
This girl, with no significant health issues, was simply resting on a piece of indistinguishable cloth.
I approached cautiously.
Just as I was about to step closer, she began to lift her body.
Slowly rising as if she was tired, she casually swept her hair back with one hand.
She was dazzling.
The chaotic surroundings, the noisy atmosphere.
Just her presence made everything feel meaningless.
Should I say she radiated light?
She had that kind of power.
It was the same in my past life.
She was so radiant that someone like me didn’t even dare to come near.
Would it be different now?
No, it wouldn’t be any different now.
I’ve just changed to be less bothered by that kind of thing.
If you were to ask me if that’s a good thing.
I still don’t know.
“Ha…”
I’m not sure why I’m so out of breath even though I didn’t run much.
Even though I have a body that wouldn’t tire no matter how many days I run.
Strangely, my breathing was rapid.
Thump.
I took one more step.
Amid the commotion, she must have heard my footsteps because her gaze turned this way.
Our eyes met.
Meeting her large eyes made the thoughts I had been trying to piece together fade into the background.
“…”
“…”
We simply stared at each other without saying a word.
What should I say?
Even while walking, I contemplated it a thousand times. I rolled over words in my mind that would sound the most natural and were easier to express.
However, no words came out.
I came all the way here and still hesitated like a fool.
“…Did you run here?”
Eventually, since I couldn’t speak first, she started the conversation.
“No, not really. I just came to check if something happened while I was training.”
Trying to maintain some semblance of pride.
What a lunatic.
What kind of pride is necessary after coming all this way? This annoying personality will probably torment me until I die.
At least the good news is that she laughed at my words.
Anyone could tell that it was a ridiculous excuse.
If I was gonna get caught anyway, why not just be honest?
I couldn’t understand why I couldn’t do that myself.
“How’s your body?”
I approached, managing to steady my racing heart.
“I’m okay.”
Hearing her answer, I knelt slightly.
“If there’s anything, say it quickly; the doctors are busy, so we need to inform them in advance.”
“I’m really fine.”
“That’s a relief.”
After hearing my words, she looked at me and asked.
“Gongja, are you okay?”
“I’m fine…”
As I was about to respond, suddenly, my thoughts wandered back to the title she used.
Not “Young Master Gu,” but “Gongja.”
It’s only a one-word difference, yet the weight of that difference felt incredibly significant.
Did she notice my startled gaze?
The woman smiled bittersweetly in response.
“…Shall we go outside?”
The words came out so naturally. It must be the same voice.
Does she sound more mature and stable? Or is it just my imagination?
“Where to?”
“To a place where we can have a chat.”
She stood up as she spoke.
It would have been clever to just stay here, but feeling that she wanted to go, I followed without saying a word.
We stepped out into a tranquil forest.
It had been a day since the attack, and the dark veil had lifted, revealing a clear sky.
“The weather is nice.”
“Uh-huh.”
“I think it’s been a while since I’ve looked at the sky.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I haven’t had the chance to appreciate things like that.”
The woman, who had been gazing intently at the sky, turned her eyes toward me.
“You and I… neither of us had that chance, did we?”
“…”
That’s true.
I never had a moment to gaze up at or appreciate the sky.
Who would have time for that while wandering through hell?
That’s why I found it hard to understand Ma Geum-hu, who merely stared blankly at the moon.
But now…
I could vaguely grasp what the Demon Sword Master was seeing on the moon at that time.
Could it be that my emotions had mellowed?
Only then did I start to notice her face a bit more.
Her eyes seemed slightly lower than usual.
The smile I was used to seeing had faded, replaced by a serene atmosphere.
It was a different, more familiar, and somewhat sad sight than the Wi Seol-ah I had come to know in this life.
Feeling this way, I asked.
“Since when…?”
“Wait a moment.”
Just as I was about to ask my burning question.
She interrupted me, blocking my words.
Curiously, I wondered what she was up to.
“I have something to say first…”
“What is it?”
I was curious about what she wanted to say.
Is she about to say something she couldn’t before?
If that’s the case, I could accept it.
Just a tiny bit of venting… as long as she doesn’t pull out a sword, I’m good.
At that moment.
“I’m sorry…”
She offered me an apology.
“What?”
“I’m really sorry…”
Such unexpected words.
The very notion of her apologizing shocked me.
“Why the sudden apology?”
“…I’m sorry…”
“Why are you doing that?”
As I looked at her trembling eyes, she seemed like she wanted to cry.
I felt utterly lost on how to respond.
Why is she crying all of a sudden?
“No, why are you acting like this…?”
“I realized too late what you, Gongja, had done for me.”
“…!”
“…I apologize. I’m really sorry even now…”
My heart sank hard.
It felt like a long knife had flown straight into my heavily oppressed chest.
‘How?’
Her words sent my mind racing in circles.
How did she find out?
No, what exactly does she know?
How far does she know?
“…What are you talking about? Please don’t cry and calm down.”
Is she referring to the situation in the ‘Demon Realm’?
No, that couldn’t be, as no one but me remembers that.
And I had hoped that nobody would remember.
If not that, did she know about the war?
Regardless of what it is, I wanted her to be completely unaware.
“What do you mean? I… I don’t understand.”
“…I’m sorry for making it tough for you.”
“No, I said stop apologizing.”
“…”
She looked at me sorrowfully upon hearing my words.
What is the meaning behind that gaze?
My head started to throb.
How much does she really know?
‘Is it possible she knows that too?’
No, it can’t be.
It shouldn’t be.
She must not know.
That I became like this for her sake.
I desperately wished she wouldn’t find out.
“Stop apologizing… I don’t want to hear that from you.”
“…”
That’s not the way I wanted to address this.
I had thought it was something someone had to do.
I figured it was just my bad luck that I got caught up in it.
I kept regretfully repeating why I had to do this.
In the end, I felt it was okay.
As long as the person standing before me was a little more comfortable, that was enough.
“…It’s all in the past.”
“…”
The woman flinched at my words.
It’s all behind us now.
Nothing happened.
It’s going to stay that way.
“So it’s something we just need to stop now.”
“…”
With every word I spoke, her expression grew sadder.
Why is that?
What’s with that expression?
I couldn’t figure it out.
I don’t know what she knows, but I hope that thing never happened.
That’s what my current life was meant for.
“Gongja…”
“Hmm?” “Are you happy now?”
“…What’s with the sudden question?”
“Yeah.”
The intention behind her question wasn’t clear.
“Are you happy out of the blue like that?”
“Happiness.”
I asked myself that, but it was challenging to form a definitive answer.
“I don’t feel very happy yet.”
Honestly, I don’t really understand what happiness is.
I haven’t had the chance to think about it peacefully, either in my past life or this one.
It’s a world where nothing is concluded.
For me to contemplate these things…
After all the mounting problems are resolved.
When it’s time to release my pent-up feelings and take a slow look around.
That’s when I could likely begin to ponder such concerns.
“What about you? How do you feel?”
“Me?”
Upon hearing my question, she smiled.
“I’m happy… at least for now.”
Her smiling face had a beauty that made my heart jump!
But there was a nagging thought that maybe the smile was somewhat forced.
Looking at that smile reminded me.
“I have a question.”
I now wanted to get to the core of things.
After all, there were so many things I wanted to ask.
She seemed to notice my intent and changed her expression.
Seeing this, I asked.
“…Since when?”
The meaning behind this question was unquestionably straightforward.
Since when had she felt this way?
Since when has it been her?
When she wasn’t the current Wi Seol-ah.
It was likely around the time I became the divine sword in my past life.
I felt it certainly wasn’t since the moment we first met.
The girl who handed me the potatoes back then had a look of cluelessness.
“I want to know when it truly became you.”
“…”
After hearing my question, Wi Seol-ah closed her eyes quietly for a moment.
It seems she was gathering her thoughts.
After a few seconds, she opened her eyes again.
And spoke to me.
“It must be a few days after you, Gongja, arrived here.”
“…A few days?”
Just a few days?
That’s not much difference from my birthplace. I suppose that’s why.
Finally, I could understand a bit of the uniqueness that Wi Seol-ah had shown thus far.
Slowly, the pieces of her moments that bewildered me began to fit together in my mind.
‘How on earth?’
Does this mean Wi Seol-ah is a regressor like me?
‘Then in Sacheon too…’
It was related to breaking through the Jincheongyeon-ga’s secret techniques.
Everything that had been hidden was suddenly fitting into place.
“It’s different.”
“…Huh?”
Just as I was sorting through my thoughts.
Wi Seol-ah quickly expressed her dissent.
Did she read my mind?
“What do you mean ‘different’?”
“I… am different from you, Gongja.”
“What makes us different?”
Sorting through her thoughts, Wi Seol-ah continued.
“I’ve completely turned back time and fused with my current body, unlike you… I’m just a parasite in this child.”
“A parasite?”
“The owner of this body still belongs to her. I’m only borrowing it.”
To put it simply:
The current Wi Seol-ah remains the same.
Does this imply that the soul of the divine sword from my previous life resides inside her, similar to how Shin Noya does with me?
“…That’s…”
What exactly is the difference?
If the soul had reversed to its original body.
Wouldn’t that still ultimately be regression?
If you look more closely, yes, it’s different. But I thought the broad picture was similar.
‘Wait a minute.’
Then suddenly, another thought popped into my head.
Wi Seol-ah seemed to have an understanding of what happened to her.
I don’t know how she attained this state.
It feels like she leveraged some kind of power to appear like this.
If so…
“…Did you cause my regression?”
The reason I was able to turn back and return to the past.
Could that be attributed to the power of the divine sword?
At my question, Wi Seol-ah widened her big eyes with surprise.
But soon after, her expression turned sympathetic.
“No… I wasn’t able to do that.”
‘So it seems that isn’t the case.’
I had hoped to learn the secret behind my regression, but apparently, Wi Seol-ah couldn’t help me.
Should I consider this fortunate?
I was beginning to question if I should think of it that way when Wi Seol-ah continued speaking.
“Honestly… I would have poured everything into making it possible, but… I didn’t have the capacity to handle that much karma. Sending me in this state was all I could manage.”
Certainly, the divine sword was the best in the world at that time.
The only person to defeat Cheonma, who single-handedly killed the Three Lords.
But if even that divine sword couldn’t accomplish such a feat…
‘Who the hell then?’
The World Tree has denied it being her.
What I do know is that the World Tree has previously caused Yeonilcheon to regress.
Thus, it’s conceivable.
Essentially, only someone as powerful as the World Tree, referred to as the master of the world, could make a single human regress.
‘So, who the hell is it?’
I still didn’t know.
I understood this world anticipates something from me.
How could I not realize, given the circumstances unfolding in front of me?
The situation was already irritating enough, but realizing that added further frustration.
The only silver lining was…
Having seen the person in front of me at least once again.
Just as I was about to push on and think about this later.
“Do you want to know…?”
Wi Seol-ah’s words made me pause.
“…What did you say?”
“Do you want to know who turned back the time for Young Master Gu? Are you curious?”
“You… know who caused my regression?”
“I do…”
Her eyes were wide open as she spoke.
How on earth does Wi Seol-ah know that?
But if she did know, I wished she would just tell me.
“If you want to know, I can tell you.”
“Please tell me…”
“But… if you hear it, you might regret it.”
Just as I was about to press her for the information right away.
Wi Seol-ah’s warning caused me to frown.
“Regret?”
Noting the expression on my face, Wi Seol-ah slowly approached me and spoke.
“Well… will you listen?”
“…”
It was funny how I hesitated at her words.
The idea that I might regret learning something caused me to wonder.
What could possibly lie behind my regression that would lead me to regret?
While her remark sounded intimidating…
It didn’t take me long to push aside my apprehension and come to a decision.
“I guess I have to listen.”
I’ve had more than a few regrets so far.
I’d grown tired of fleeing out of fear long ago.
I needed to keep moving forward.
“I figured you would say something like that.”
After hearing my answer, Wi Seol-ah’s expression mirrored that of someone who anticipated my response.
“Let me tell you.”
Just then, while I awaited Wi Seol-ah’s words…
Whoosh…
A breeze swept in from behind.
It was a spring breeze.
“The one who turned back Young Master Gu’s time… wasn’t me.”
As the breeze tousled her hair, Wi Seol-ah began to weave her story like the wind.
On the third spring after my return…
I finally learned the identity of the being who caused my regression.
“Cheonma.”
I discovered who it was that turned back my time.
“That’s her.”
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