“Wow, it’s snowing outside······!”
“Mi Jeong.”
“Yeah?”
“Do you remember? We rode through here together.”
“When are you talking about? It’s not like it’s a road we took just once.”
A deep valley covered in snow.
The transcontinental train was crossing the bridge over the strait connecting the Northern Continent and the Southern Continent.
Mi Jeong pressed her face against the window, amazed by the view, then turned to me with a smile.
It’s a sight I’ve never seen before.
Normally, Mi Jeong would just sit quietly, spacing out while staring outside.
But right now, she looked like a little kid, filled with joy.
“I feel like I’m seeing a different side of you.”
“But even if I’ve seen it multiple times, it’s still cool, right? Plus, this is the first time coming here with snow falling!”
“Huh······.”
No wonder she’s been staring out every time we pass the strait.
I see now she was genuinely enjoying it inside.
I felt a bit sad that I hadn’t seen this side of Mi Jeong until now.
I closed my eyes for a moment.
Just in case, I called up the stats window.
But, just in case, I found that the Guardian Knight was still not activated.
“Mi Jeong.”
“What now?”
“Do you want to regain your memory?”
“Me? I don’t know. I’m really happy right now, but if I go back······ um······.”
Giggles echoed as Mi Jeong grabbed my hand.
She really looked happy, that kind of face.
Mi Jeong closed her eyes and leaned against me.
“But if Yoo Jin needs me······ it’s okay to turn back. The happiest I am is when you need me.”
“If I hear that, I can’t turn back.”
“Oh, really? Hehe. Sorry, Yoo Jin. I didn’t mean to make you feel guilty. It’s strange, right? Memory is just a collection of information. Even if I erased some memories from long ago, I’ve turned into a different person······.”
Mi Jeong’s fingers slipped between mine.
She sniffled softly, wiped her nose, and looked at me with those bright red eyes.
“Turn it back for me, Yoo Jin. Past me would want that too.”
“And what do you want?”
“That doesn’t matter, does it?”
“······.”
Mi Jeong mumbled her answer with a smile.
It didn’t matter.
That was true.
Thoughts of someone who would soon disappear are worth absolutely nothing.
It’s true, but still······.
.
.
.
“This is the place. Here, we can use magic to revive the memories stored in the brain.”
“What······? Do we really need such a grand machine for this?”
“Because it’s the brain of a Blood Ghoul, it requires a more intricate and complicated process than that of a human.”
“Wow······.”
In the underground of the White Magic Tower.
At the end of a long corridor, a door opened, revealing a room entirely covered in white tiles.
Mi Jeong’s mouth dropped open.
“Let me introduce this: it’s a device called ‘Alma.’ Originally meant to peer into a person’s soul, but with adjustments, it can also look into the brain. This facility was constructed to materialize the memories we view. Once we identify and materialize the memory you wish to restore, I will recover it for you instantly.”
“Do we really have to materialize it?”
“It’s a necessary process.”
“······.”
Yoo Jin’s expression twisted.
Temurlen secretly snickered as he gazed at Yoo Jin.
Of course, that was a lie.
Reviving memories was relatively simple and didn’t require any materialization.
‘What will you do?’
Once the memory is materialized, the erased memories will vividly unfold as they were at that time.
Could this Blood Ghoul proudly display her past?
If this person truly is a Great Demon, would they be too afraid to use ‘Alma’ for fear of being exposed?
If not, they would step up boldly.
“Don’t worry. Nothing seen here will leak outside. That goes without saying.”
“I find that a bit unpleasant, but fine. I am the one asking, so I have no choice.”
Unexpectedly compliant, Yoo Jin seemed to have no hidden agenda.
Perhaps there was just not much crucial information buried in this Blood Ghoul’s memories.
Being cautious was vital.
The tactics of intelligent monsters invading from another realm were truly beyond imagination.
In the case of the Spider Monster, they attempted to seize the World Tree, and for the Necromancer, they nearly destroyed the Holy Kingdom’s old capital while pretending to be a cardinal.
No one could predict what new tactics might emerge.
“Lie down here and connect to Alma. We’ll accelerate from the present to the past. Be prepared, as you might receive some shock during the process.”
“Huh······. Yoo Jin, I’m scared······.”
“You’ll be fine. It’ll be over quickly.”
“Can you hold my hand?”
“Alright······.”
“It’s also possible to connect together. If you have a weak spirit, speeding up the restoration to the past is much harder. If someone who can reassure you connects with you, it will go more smoothly.”
“Then we will go in together.”
I fell for it.
Temurlen secretly cheered inwardly.
When the two of them connect, the materialization of their shared memories becomes easier and more detailed.
Although they are peering into the memories of the Blood Ghoul girl, they will be able to reverberate specific information about that man’s past.
“Then, let’s begin.”
The two held hands and lay side by side.
Wires rose from the floor, squirming to attach electrodes to their heads.
Soon, their eyes slowly closed, and the Alma panel lit up, beginning to ‘materialize’ past memories.
.
.
.
Materializing memories······.
I imagined it would be a simple hologram or something displayed on a screen.
But what unfolded before us was entirely different.
“What the······.”
The surroundings, which were just white panels, began to change.
A dense forest.
The sounds of chirping birds and rustling leaves in the wind filled the air.
Sunlight streamed down through the vibrant leaves.
I slowly moved my body.
And then my body naturally began to rise.
I soon found myself face to face with my ‘lying self.’
It felt like I had experienced an out-of-body experience.
If that’s the case, then the me lying down is the real self, and this body means I’ve been manifested by some illusion magic······.
The sensation was so vivid that it was hard to believe.
‘Not just the five senses; even the sixth sense······.
It’s not just the sights and sounds, but every touch I feel is just as real as reality.
And not only that, I could feel the magic flowing all around us, along with the Flow of Demonic Energy.
If I had opened my eyes here without knowing anything, I surely would have mistaken it for reality.
“Yoo Jin······!”
At that moment, I heard a clear voice coming from beyond the bushes.
Mi Jeong rushed towards me and wrapped her arms around me.
My body trembled.
She seemed much more startled by the unexpectedly realistic ‘materialization’ than I expected.
[This is a place to adjust sensitivity. How is it? Do you feel any differences from reality?]
“Not at all. There’s no way to distinguish it from reality. If I get trapped here, I wouldn’t even think about escaping and would just die.”
[Hehe. That’s only natural.]
A voice of an old man echoed from the sky.
No, to be more precise, it came from everywhere.
I couldn’t pinpoint the source of the sound.
It felt like the voice resonated from deep within me.
[Now let’s rewind the memories. You two should make contact with each other.]
“Okay.”
“Yeah······!”
[I meant to say hold hands, but······. Whatever works.]
Mi Jeong tightly bit my arm.
With her mouth full, feeling safe, Mi Jeong’s trembling calmed down.
Now we were ready.
As I gently stroked Mi Jeong’s head with my other hand, the scenery of the surrounding forest began to shift.
‘This is······.’
Time started to rewind.
We, lying down, got up and walked backward, exiting ‘Alma.’
We rode an elevator up and then walked backward out of the White Magic Tower.
As the speed of rewinding gradually increased, at a certain moment, the scenes rushed by so quickly that it was hard to follow with the eyes.
In between, just for a brief moment.
Memories of times spent with Mi Jeong flashed by like a lantern.
‘This is why I hated it······.’
What an unpleasant feeling.
Viewing myself through the eyes of others is more uncomfortable than I expected.
Looking back now, I had been treating Mi Jeong dearly since the days when I claimed I wouldn’t grow attached.
There wasn’t a single moment I looked at her as a mere object since we met.
It felt like all my bare emotions were laid out for viewing.
“Please rewind faster!”
The speed accelerated even more.
Now the scenes reversed so quickly that they were unrecognizable.
Strangely, however, some moments were still perfectly captured and flew by.
The commonality of those scenes was that they were all moments spent with Mi Jeong.
As if some kind of attraction was selectively grabbing those scenes.
I had no choice but to face them, even if I didn’t want to see.
Even if I closed my eyes or covered my ears, those memories were seared into my mind and forced to reflect.
Moments when Mi Jeong lit up the dark dungeon with her magic.
Moments when Mi Jeong drank my blood, just ordinary daily occurrences.
Moments when Mi Jeong trained with intense expressions in formation.
Moments when Mi Jeong escaped from Kali’s Heavenly Armor Plate, crying as she hugged me.
Moments when we first met.
Those moments melded together to create a single picture.
There weren’t any gloomy memories within this.
“What are these strange scenes left as afterimages while rewinding? What is this?”
[Don’t worry about it. Usually, just one or two scenes might remain, it’s a natural phenomenon, so no need to worry.]
“But we’ve already surpassed hundreds of scenes, and this is what’s happening?”
[Huh? That’s a bit strange······. The scenes that remain as afterimages during the rewind are memories your target especially cherishes.]
“······.”
Then it dawned on me.
How Mi Jeong, with erased past memories, retained such a cheerful personality.
Since starting to be with me, Mi Jeong had cherished each day as a precious memory.
At that moment, the videos that rushed by like a lantern came to a halt.
The rewind stopped.
Even the rustling grass and birds frozen mid-flight, everything became still in some village.
At that strange village, time had come to a standstill.
[From here on, it’s about the past memories buried deep within the subconscious, erased from consciousness. If you peer beyond this point, the memories will resurface into consciousness. Both memories time has washed away as well as those painful memories one may refuse to accept will all resurface, and once revived, they can never be erased again. What will you do?]
I felt a tight grip on my hand.
Turning to the side, I saw Mi Jeong, with her eyes tightly closed, slowly opening them.
Her pale and white face was now filled with Blood Energy.
Her bright crimson pupils had morphed into a pitch-black hue.
Before becoming a Blood Ghoul.
In other words, her living human form.
That Mi Jeong gently released her grip on my hand and softly held it, whispering.
“Let’s go, Yoo Jin.”
Once we pass beyond here.
The cheerful Mi Jeong will disappear.
She either knew that or not as she merely regarded me with an awkward smile.
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