I opened my eyes in a dull small room of about 3 pyeong.
Looking around, I could see the familiar arrangement of furniture.
It must be the virtual reality space where I spent seven years while trapped in the capsule.
“Is this my home? I really lived in such a shabby place.”
Struggling here won’t change anything.
If I wait and wait, eventually that door will open.
Anyway, Astarte doesn’t really have the power to control a physical body, so it won’t take long.
And now there’s one more reason to wait slowly.
I made eye contact with the woman who had just revealed her face by lifting the blanket from the bed.
Her two pupils, beneath long lashes, shimmered like a full moon reflected on a lake.
It certainly was the color of a pitch-black night, but it created an illusion as if I were under a bright Milky Way.
Her thin limbs and pale skin contrasted with her dark hair, giving a delicate impression that she might fly away if the wind blew.
The woman smiled innocently with a charming smile, her cute fat rising under her eyes.
“Would you like to come and lie down with mom?”
It wasn’t easy to resist the temptation spoken with a voice like a nightingale.
I crawled onto the bed and lay down next to her, looking up at the ceiling.
“Seol-ah’s hands are warm…”
The intertwined hands were no longer cold like a corpse.
*
“Natural weather phenomena are called natural disasters, while disasters caused by humans are called man-made disasters.”
I spoke slowly and distinctly so that she could understand.
The Seol-ah I created in my unconsciousness listened to my story.
“So what about disasters created by a being closer to nature to destroy humanity? Which category do they belong to?”
“Natural disasters?”
“Yeah. I think so too.”
Since all I had was time, I told Seol-ah the long story of my past life.
“The seed of erosion called the Maripja stimulates our human nature and devastates everything around the host. Moreover, even if the host dies, it seeks other nearby hosts to parasitize?”
“Whew… that’s scary…”
“Exactly. They’re tougher than cancer cells.”
I diligently followed my master’s last words and created six clones of myself that castrated my nature into the ‘Akashic Records’ and transferred all the erosions into empty shells.
Even though I entered a body where all memory and self were gone, the erosions forming their own personalities and acting like humans was almost grotesque.
“I’ve never thought that cancer cells are life, mind you. Since they’re my creations, I had to take responsibility and kill them.”
After countless efforts, I was able to deactivate all seven erosions and seal them within a single body.
That grand plan was completed when Hiasen took my life.
“Maybe it was then that I decided to treat young children well.”
Unlike the erosions destined for destruction, humans have free will and infinite possibilities.
“So did you treat them well?”
“In my own way? I don’t know how my friends thought of me, but I think I did my best.”
“If Na-me thought so, then that’s enough.”
“Is that so…?”
The childhood games at the academy can’t last forever.
In the end, I am still a rolling stone that has been carried along since my past life.
Whether reincarnated or remembering the past life, the distance with my friends will gradually grow.
Especially after the Academy Competition, I felt it a lot.
Apart from those who sincerely congratulated me, it was clear that everyone else found me difficult to get along with.
It felt similar to the gazes I received in my past life.
“Na-me, can I ask you one thing?”
“Yeah.”
“What is Adella to you?”
“Hmm…”
I closed my eyes and continued my long contemplation.
I recalled the process of meeting Adella.
Why couldn’t I give up on Adella, who was merely an NPC until the end?
Was it just that I didn’t want to admit I was weak?
Perhaps the sympathy I felt for her was due to the slight guilt arising from the process of forcibly ‘collecting’ the erosions.
“Neither of us has ties to this world. We have to help each other to survive.”
“Friends then.”
“Yeah… friends. Seol-ah is right…”
“Our Na-me is really lucky to have a good friend like you!”
“Hey, Seol-ah.”
I turned my head to meet her gaze.
Her smiling face was so beautiful.
I wish I could have seen such expressions more when she was alive.
“I might be Seol-ah’s daughter, but I might not be Seol-ah’s daughter as well.”
“Yeah.”
“Actually, I’ve lived longer than Seol-ah. I’ve been older than Seol-ah before.”
“Yeah.”
“So honestly, I’m… too afraid to face Seol-ah properly. I might be a bad witch who has taken over your daughter’s body…”
“Na-me!”
“Ah! You startled me!”
Seol-ah squished my cheeks with both hands.
My lips pouted out like a duck, all round and puffy.
“No matter what anyone says, you are my daughter. That’s an unchanging fact.”
“Are you really hearing me out? I have memories from my past life…”
“So what does that matter?”
“…?”
“Can’t we both just be my daughters?”
What nonsense…
As I furrowed my brow, Seol-ah pulled my head close to her chest.
“Na-me, just imagine. If we lived normally, I would prefer having a mature daughter like you, wouldn’t it be nice? A friend-like daughter, a friend-like mom, isn’t it wonderful?”
“Ah…”
“And moreover, the only reason you could be rescued from the capsule was because of the memories from your past life. Our daughter survived so well and that’s why we can talk like this now.”
“If you say that…”
“What you experienced in your past life and what gazes you received don’t matter. Right now, Na-me, you’re just a cute, spoiled daughter to me. For sure.”
Suddenly, I felt a tightening in my chest.
A hot pain traveled from my throat to my head.
“I…,”
My lips trembled, and my vision blurred.
“I… I must have wanted to hear that so much…”
My voice quivered.
As I repeated to myself that I must hold back my tears, they flowed naturally when Seol-ah gently patted my back.
Tears soaked her chest.
“I wonder… if mom were alive… would she have said exactly the same thing to me?”
“Yes. I’m sure she would have.”
“Mom… I miss you so much… I finally found a new life… and I can finally breathe…”
I wish this wasn’t all just a fantasy.
I wish all her warm words, her soft embrace, were real.
I wanted to cast aside all the complicated thoughts about my identity and freeze time in this state of being foolishly hugged by my mom.
“You’ve been through so much…”
“It was so scary… like… sniff… bad seniors… sneakily using forbidden magic on me… and then denying it… sniff… Aura Heart… I worked so hard to reinforce it! I couldn’t let it break! I had to quickly drain the mana… but my arm wouldn’t stop bleeding… sniff… it really hurt…”
The young child was mentally fragile,
A little bit of shaking could make her emotions pour out like a cup filled with water.
With every gentle touch from Seol-ah, I crumbled helplessly.
But then, the door’s crack began to open, and Seol-ah started to fade.
“Na-me, you need to stop crying. It’s time to go now.”
“If I had cried over something like this… I wouldn’t have been able to endure the hellish world of my past life. Right now, I’m just mom’s daughter… simply that…”
But this is my own room that no one knows about.
I could sob sorrowfully without worrying about anyone’s gaze, and it felt so comfortable.
“And Na-me, you’re not without ties to the world.”
“…What do you mean by that?”
“Look over there. There are so many people waiting for you.”
“Ah…”
Seol-ah lifted me to my feet and pointed out the window with her long slender finger.
Soon, as the door opened wide, a refreshing breeze ruffled my hair.
In the space where green foliage stretched endlessly, I saw familiar faces.
“Our Na-me isn’t going to be lonely without me.”
*
It was early dawn when the deep blue sky began to brighten.
“Yes, grandpa. I’ll be waiting at Exit 3 of the express terminal, so please contact me before you arrive. Minwoo, Ah-rin! Hurry up and wake up and get dressed!”
Baek Ho-chan, the CEO of Bio Akashic, had just finished speaking with Grandmaster Baek Bong-gon and was waking the drowsy children.
“Umm… where are we going…?”
“We’re going to visit Na-me. Na-me is really sick right now.”
*
“Hello… I’m Daniel from the Korea University School of Music, I called earlier. Are you Shin Yeon-ho?”
[Yes, I am Shin Yeon-ho.]
“Excuse me, may I ask for Ban So-wool’s contact as well? It’s regarding Na-me…”
[Yes, just a moment-]
[She’s right next to me. Is it because of the hospital visit?]
“Yes? Oh, yes…!”
[We’re also on our way to the hospital now, so let’s meet up on the way and go in together.]
The call abruptly disconnected, and Yoon-seul, who couldn’t hide her anxiety, started shaking her legs.
“How is it? Are they coming…?”
“Yeah. It seems they started right after seeing the message I sent earlier.”
“Call everyone you know.”
“I’m such a loner that I don’t know many. Our professor…? Is that a bit over the top?”
*
“What kind of police investigation did you go through all night? I thought you were dragged off to the National Intelligence Service.”
Principal Gu On-yu, sitting in the upper seat of the sedan, asked Professor Cheon, who was driving.
“Shut up.”
Professor Cheon replied coldly, gripping the steering wheel.
His disheveled appearance only added to his severity.
The homeroom teacher Jacqueline Carroll was dragged along, seated in the passenger seat, enduring the uncomfortable atmosphere between the two war heroes.
‘Haa… I hope Na-me is okay…’
*
“Astarte…? Aren’t you talking about Asteria?”
“Oh yeah! That’s Na-me’s favorite LoL champion.”
“Did she really lose her memory or something? Making people anxious for no reason…”
“Driver, please take us to Seoul XX Hospital.”
Yu-shia, who was the clan member who first partnered with Na-me, caught a taxi with her clan members.
“Do you have any information? Even a hint would be good.”
“The reports are all over the place. Starting from there are no health issues to claims it’s critical… everyone has different things to say.”
“What about Na-me… sniff… I hope she doesn’t forget us…”
In such a heavy atmosphere where even jokes couldn’t be made, only the sound of tires rolling down the main street echoed.
*
“Hey, Lee Ha-ru, open the door.”
It had already been three days since I lost contact with Na-me.
Even back at the academy, Lee Ha-ru merely ate absentmindedly.
His older sister Lee Bo-reum, who was to visit the hospital as a manager, decided to bring her younger brother along.
“We’re going to see Na-me, so come out. I’ll give you a ride.”
