What on earth is the principle behind reincarnation?
If you dig into it scientifically, there are definitely numerous points to criticize.
Sure, if we define the ‘soul’ as a fictional concept that can easily leap over space and time, everything would be hunky-dory, but that’s just a rather convenient way of thinking, much like saying the sun revolves around the Earth.
Plus, dragons—who are said to actually traverse dimensions—strongly deny the existence of souls.
In the end, the more I contemplate this, the more I get embroiled in theories of neuroscience.
Replicating the human brain is nearly impossible, so is it even feasible to integrate them to prevent collisions between different synapses?
And when exactly does this integration occur?
Is it from the time of separation from the placenta? Or maybe during implantation? Perhaps from the time of germ cells?
Hence, reincarnation is an unscientific concept. That’s the best conclusion I could come to.
“Over here.”
An elderly woman at the columbarium’s information desk guided me to the memorial room.
Contrary to my expectation of some commotion, there was not a single soul in sight.
“Lysianthus, Tulip, Dahlia. Am I right?”
She said as she looked at the bouquet I was holding. She seemed to know her flowers well, aside from just chrysanthemums.
“That’s right. Isn’t it pretty? I’m going to give it to my mom.”
The old lady slowly nodded and then turned back to the way we came.
[No Seol-ah: Feb 21, 2022 – June 11, 2045]
I took a deep breath in front of the urn containing Seol-ah’s ashes.
In the fourth slot from the bottom.
I placed the bouquet I brought into the empty space and made sure to set the group photo we took at the hospital next to it.
Life returned to the desolate space. My heart felt heavy yet a smile crept across my face.
Thank you so much, really…
I won’t disturb you anymore.
Enjoy your time with mom. It’s me.
[IWC schaffhausen – Reminiscence]
[Output log: 7]
I pulled out the Light Transmutation Circle Inscriber I received as a birthday present from my pocket.
I didn’t need the bitter memories of the distant past or the hazy ones right now.
I suppose I thought that facing this wholly as Seol-ah’s daughter was the only way to express my utmost respect for her.
[2nd Circle Activation: Cerebral Cortex Reconstruction]
[4th Circle Activation: Lateral Septum Activation]
[Encoding: Neurotensin Receptor 1]
[Constraints: Episodic Memory]
[Stagecraft: Estasha Type II – Schadenfreude]
*
Mom! Mom!
Do you know, Mom?
I, you see…
Actually have the memories of my past life?
Right now, I can’t remember it well, but anyway, I was a really strong, beautiful, and kind princess.
That’s why people keep saying I’m a genius!
When I solve difficult problems in a second, everyone looks shocked, and when I cast hard spells, they applaud and everything.
The truth is, I’m not smart; I just have memories of my past life!
But I felt so good being praised.
It’s been four months since I last visited; I hope you’re not upset.
What else should I tell Mom?
Right! Last time I saw you, Professor Chun told me to check out the academy.
I went for an interview and got accepted on the first try!
During it, some uncle behaved oddly, so I had to teach him a lesson with magic. I did well, didn’t I?
I made some really good friends at the academy, too.
My desk partner is a guy named Si-hoo, and his parents must force him to study a lot. He’s much smarter and more mature than me, and I don’t think he has memories of his past life.
Looking closely, it seems like Si-hoo likes Yuna? So, he teases her all the time. It’s so funny that I honestly don’t want to stop. What if they end up dating for real? I still want to keep teasing him.
Yuna is a girl a bit taller than Si-hoo, but her hair is weirdly red. I heard that if you get an Aura Heart transplant, your melanin can change like that.
Actually, Yuna is nice too, but at first, she had a hard time because her friends didn’t like her.
Later I found out her mom was really sick, so Yuna studied hard to get a scholarship.
Thinking about how her mom was sick reminded me of my own mom, so I just healed her using the Akashic Records!
I was a bit scared that my Aura Heart might break, but luckily, it was just a chemical formula I was used to. If Mom found out, she would have worried a lot, right?
But using magic means you have to pay; that’s why I bravely worked hard to earn some money and finally went back to streaming!
I made an avatar that looks just like I did in my previous life, and when people complimented how beautiful I was, I felt happy but a little jealous too.
Will I be able to grow up like that too? But at our academy, I’m the smallest…
No! My mom is the most beautiful in the world, so I’ll be much more beautiful than that princess!
While playing a game, I met an NPC named Adella, and every time I see her, my heart races, and I feel like I can’t leave her alone, so I tried to save her.
I wonder why I thought like that back then.
I have no idea, hehe.
So, Adella must be having fun in my Private Room after escaping safe and sound from the game.
But during the process of rescuing her, I came across the laboratory where my mom and I were.
Did we really exist to create artificial intelligence through experiments?
If the day comes when I find out the truth, I will definitely take revenge on the bad people who imprisoned my mom. I’m not scared at all.
But no matter how hard I think, I can’t find anyone around to help me. Plus, I worked really hard to gather evidence, but they didn’t even look at it…
That’s why I entered the Game Tournament!
I thought that if I became super famous, everything would be solved.
Why a game tournament, you ask? Because it’s simply fun…!
And it’s what I’m best at… magic isn’t something I accomplished by myself.
In truth, this is a real secret, but… seeing all those compliments from people in chat felt so good. That was probably my biggest motivation.
There were really so many things that happened, but they all just made me want to share more moments with my mom.
The pajama party I had with Yuna and Ha-ru, the day Adella and my sister Kariri went to the amusement park—how wonderful it would have been if Mom were with us for all those moments!
I feel like I’m living in overflowing happiness like this,
Kind big sisters and brothers, plus friends loving me so much, and even though it might be selfish…
I just want to see… Mom.
I want to play with her and sleep next to her at night.
I wish Mom could come to the parent-teacher meeting, and I want her to praise me when I do well on tests.
Like Mom said, I worked really hard and managed to survive. I’m trying my best to live on behalf of Mom too.
But since Mom’s not here…
It hurts…
Why did Mom have to make sacrifices…?
She must have been terrified of dying too.
How could she decide to throw away her own life just because I’m her daughter…?
If I had just done a little better, would Mom still be here by my side?
Even the smart sisters don’t know that part.
I’m so sorry, Mom…
I promised myself to only show you happy moments today, but I keep saying things like this.
This is a picture I took today. The room is packed, right?
So don’t worry too much, Mom…
I’ve worked really hard for these four months, and I’ve made so many friends!
Actually, in my past life… uh, in my past life…
That’s right. In my past life, I didn’t have many friends.
If I take my personality out of it, I was rather bad.
I think it’s all thanks to Seol-ah that I was able to meet such wonderful people.
I may still be stoic, but compared to before, I feel like my personality has become much more positive.
Thank you for letting me be born as your daughter, Mom.
I’m the proudest to be your daughter in this world, and I promise this feeling will never change.
Please keep watching over me.
Even if it’s not my birthday, I’ll come visit like this from time to time.
I love you…
Once is not enough to express it.
I genuinely love you.
*
“Why are you out already? Where’s Na-me?”
The person dragging their feet and walking slowly down the hallway was Lee Bo-reum.
While Professor Chun and Lee Bo-reum waited in the reception room, Na-me had gone to the memorial room first, with a flower bouquet in her hands.
Then, Bo-reum followed Na-me with some delay, but her expression didn’t look good at all.
“Ah… I just thought being there would be a nuisance.”
Bo-reum couldn’t help but mumble whatever came to her mind in response to Professor Chun’s question.
The girl, who looked like she wouldn’t bleed even if pricked by a needle, was quietly sobbing so sadly like a child her age would.
The sight left Bo-reum quite shaken, and without looking back, she stepped out first.
She bowed her head and expressed her gratitude to Professor Chun, who offered her a cup of Americano.
“Thank you… But, sir, are you…?”
“Hmm?”
Bo-reum tilted her head for a moment.
“Aren’t you a bit famous in our country…?”
Sipping her coffee, Professor Chun frowned at her words.
Wondering if she had made a mistake, Bo-reum hurriedly searched on her phone.
Then, she found something on V-tube and showed him a video with 3,500 views.
“Isn’t this you…? The person in this video…?”
[(Re-upload – 2013) 4th National Martial Arts Tournament High School Division Semifinals: Ham Cho-rong vs. Cheon Byeong-ho]
Seeing the title, Professor Chun’s eyes narrowed.
“Isn’t it? I’m sure of it.”
That was exactly the moment Na-me appeared.
“Sorry for taking so long. Shall we go for dinner now? I’m starving since I barely ate lunch. You’re going to eat too, right, Bo-reum unni?”
“Na-me says she’s hungry. Let’s go quickly.”
“Ah, sure…!”
Bo-reum looked toward Na-me, who was holding Professor Chun’s hand.
Her expression was almost unchanged from the moment they entered the columbarium, but I could see her eyes were slightly moist.
“Is there anything you want to eat?”
“I… I can eat anything!”
“Neither do I plan to be picky today.”
“Then shall we just walk around and find somewhere to eat?”
“Yes!”
The two girls nodded confidently.
The car was still parked in front of the columbarium as the three of them entered the food street.
Before they knew it, the sun was setting gradually, and the scarlet glow illuminated the corners of the buildings diagonally.
Young men and women enjoying their dinner and drinks stepped onto the street one by one to smoke.
Laughter from the crowd and songs spilling from pubs formed a cacophony of sound.
In the midst of this ordinary city scene, a small anomaly occurred.
A good-looking man raised his arm high and shouted.
“…Im!”
Everyone in groups talking closely turned their attention to him.
“NoName!”
The person who finally reached Na-me’s group, cutting through the throng, was someone more familiar from V-tube than from reality.
“Who…?”
Professor Chun said, positioning himself in front of Na-me.
The well-groomed young man promptly bowed at a ninety-degree angle.
“Yes, I’m Han Yong-cheol, a Twish streamer!”
“A streamer…?”
Na-me stepped out to clarify for Professor Chun, who had a poor perception of internet broadcasters.
“Oh! He’s a teammate from the game tournament we did together. Small world, huh?”
“Yes! That’s me! I’m not that weird of a person! But what are you doing here…?”
“Just going out to eat.”
“Really? You just happened to be here? Wow, that’s amazing!”
Han Yong-cheol still didn’t understand why everyone was surprised.
It was Bo-reum who made a guess.
“Could it be… the Twish tournament after-party is happening here?”
With her long experience as a manager and living as a viewer of other streamers, she was acquainted with such events.
“Yes! It’s right in front! Such coincidence! Oh, Na-me, would you like to come? Everything’s free!”
“But I thought it was a bar.”
“Bar? Ah… it’s a bar on the outside! But we don’t drink at all! Just wait a moment…!”
Yong-cheol hurriedly reached for his phone.
Then he popped back up with a bright smile, trying to persuade Na-me.
“There’s something to eat, right?”
“Oh, there’s a ton! Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Western food, even luxurious steak and sweet desserts!”
“Sweet desserts?”
“Oh, you like sweet things! There’s a huge chocolate fountain, macarons, brownies, tiramisu, waffles, gelato… what else?”
“Professor Chun, let’s go. It’s free!”
Na-me, who had drawn close to Yong-cheol, made her decision quickly.
The resolve was remarkably swift.
*
[>>2051-1 Twish & LetterBox Afterparty Chat Room<< (132 members)] [Han Yong-cheol: Aah, everyone looking at their phones, pay attention!] [Han Yong-cheol: Immediately throw away all alcohol!] [Delete: ?] [Han Yong-cheol: Hurry hurry hurry hurry.] [Insert: Shouldn’t you explain things instead? Telling us to just throw things away makes no sense.] [Dal-tori: Why? What’s going on?] [Han Yong-cheol: NoName showed up.] [Delete: No kidding? For real? They’re coming here?] [Han Yong-cheol: Yup.] [Shinsim Man: When?] [Han Yong-cheol: 10.] [Delete: 10 minutes? But you said you were going outside to smoke! When did you get there?] [Han Yong-cheol: 9.] [Han Yong-cheol: 8.] [Han Yong-cheol: Right in front of the store now.] [Hyebam: Kyaaaaa!!!] “Is NoName coming?” At that news, over a hundred streamers hastily took out their phones and quickly turned on their streams. They were all individuals with a strong professional spirit.
