Her (10)
Hiss hiss hiss—
I gazed at the Divine Perception of the Wind and the Divine Perception of the Earth.
At the same time, I felt the wind that the Divine Perception of the Wind blew across my face.
“…The Sim Clan is a difficult one.”
I wanted to offer condolences, yet nothing had been left to me, nothing entrusted to me.
I could only remember her in my heart.
With Gyeongchang, I had attended the funeral and offered my condolences, but for her, I could not even find the body. It was doubtful whether I could even hold a proper funeral.
Therefore, I merely offered my condolences to her through the Divine Perception of the Wind, in the form of the wind itself.
“…Did I kill her?”
I turned toward the voice coming from my side.
It was Kim Young-hoon.
He seemed to have been watching our match.
“…Could you tell me about her?”
“Of course I do. She was one of the opponents I have trained against for ten years.”
Kim Young-hoon pulled out a bottle of alcohol from somewhere and poured it for Yeon, who stood nearby, then handed me one as well.
I did the same, poured for the place where Yeon had stood, and we sat together on a nearby rock.
“I’ll tell you about Yeon.”
He set down his cup and poured for me while telling me about Yeon.
From the beginning, it was said that the only Haebok Clan member left in Sam-mok-chong was her.
The title “the strongest of the Haebok Clan” might have been given precisely because there were no other Haebok Clan members.
It was said that she had originally been unable to reach Sam-mok-chong with her own clansmen.
Her skin was so frail that it would burn even in sunlight, making her a species that required management by the higher races.
The few Haebok Clan members she had rescued were all burned alive because they could not be properly managed in the Three Wood Grove.
It was said that she had rescued her abused clansmen, but the ones she actually rescued hated her and burned to death.
Her parents and siblings had been abused to death by the giant race, her friends had all burned to death under the sunlight in Sam-mok-chong, and the only one left for her was Gyeongchang, who had accompanied her.
Now that Gyeongchang was gone, she had simply followed him.
“Both she and Gyeongchang possessed unique afterlife beliefs. With their souls having entered the Soul Ranking to a certain degree… they would occasionally claim to have reached the realm of Sitting Liberation and Standing Death, saying they had seen the ‘Paradise’.”
“Paradise…?”
“Yes. Beyond the clouds… higher than that sky.”
“…”
“They both followed the religion of the giant race. As members of the Small Person Clan, they had fought against the giant race their entire lives… so perhaps they were influenced by the giant race’s afterlife beliefs. The giant race worship the Snake of Wisdom, and according to that religion’s doctrines, those who die bravely in battle will be able to fight forever in the world beyond the clouds. It is said that the giant race themselves also hold such afterlife beliefs.”
He poured another cup and handed it to me.
“For them, death was not the end, but a new beginning.”
“A new beginning…”
I drank the alcohol with a bitter smile.
“I hope so.”
Gyeongchang and Yeon…
May you find happiness beyond that.
I stayed with Kim Young-hoon all night long, guarding Yeon’s place and offering my condolences to her.
Since she had no clansmen, it was I who held her funeral.
I dug up the soil where Yeon had died and placed it beside Gyeongchang’s grave.
A small mound was formed.
* * *
I sent Sword Qi across the entire Gwanghan Realm day and night without rest.
Kugugugu!
The peak experts of the Sim Clan’s highest council, who had become as good as my inner dan, swept away the corpses that the Sim Clan had invaded across the Gwanghan Realm with the power I relayed to them.
Chwaaaak!
While I protected the entire Gwanghan Realm day and night, no one dared to casually challenge the Sim Clan.
It was said that the Heavenly Race investigators who abused the slave race had become fearful of when my Sword Qi would turn on them, and currently, apart from one person, no one committed acts of slaughter.
That one person was Goe-gun.
‘I should finish Goe-gun too.’
Now I had the power to do so.
Of course, a Sword Qi sent from such a distance could not defeat Goe-gun, who was at the level of Jun-sachukgi.
I would have to go and finish him myself.
Of course, I could not go looking for him right now while clearing out the corpses, but…
On the day Baek-woon recovered, I planned to immediately go after Goe-gun.
‘He was given much by me, but he is ultimately a murderer and a madman.’
Even if he had strength, I could not leave him.
I sat in Sam-mok-chong and repelled the corpses while waiting for the day Baek-woon would recover.
* * *
Time passed quickly.
Ten years had passed since I began sending Sword Qi across the Gwanghan Realm from Sam-mok-chong.
It had been twenty years since we arrived in Sam-mok-chong.
Kim Young-hoon had been working tirelessly for Hollow-Sundering.
Jeon Myeong-hoon had focused his training on manifesting the Lightning Tribulation Sword, which had been embedded in the Saint’s ship back then.
Oh Hyun-seok and Hong Beom had finally reached the Integration realm!
Especially Oh Hyun-seok had inherited Changhoza’s own name sword art after Changhoza no longer had the time to teach him, and taught him his own original sword art.
Gol-maek had repeatedly visited Kim Young-hoon, saying he wanted to help Oh Hyun-seok reach the realm related to the rabbit race—Ogijowon and Deungbongjogeuk—and that Kim Young-hoon should teach him the True Heaven Twin Hands Gong.
Kim Yeon had not appeared in the martial arena alongside Buk Hyang-hwa lately.
She would occasionally come out, and when she did, it was usually while walking with Buk Hyang-hwa.
Buk Hyang-hwa’s condition had visibly worsened with each passing day.
Her eyes had become hazy, and the loss of her senses was clearly evident.
Yet after ten years, I had found no way to break the curse of the Gwi-mun-beom.
And at that moment.
I encountered Ryeo-hwa, who had come to find me.
* * *
“Teach me one move, Venerable.”
“…Are you mad?”
I glanced at her while sending Sword Qi from the highest pine tree in Sam-mok-chong, just as I had that day.
Ryeo-hwa shook her head with a faint smile.
“I left the position of deputy master to the Later Heir. You need not worry.”
“…That is not the issue.”
“What is the issue?”
She spread her arms wide with a faint smile.
“In this world, one cannot advance without staking something precious. That is the principle.”
It was now the twentieth year since we came to Sam-mok-chong.
I sighed deeply while facing her sincere resolve as the deputy master.
“Let us spar once.”
“…You might die.”
“Do you still not understand? Even after sending off two Senior Brothers like Gyeongchang and Yeon…”
Her eyes blazed.
“Do you think you can reach the peak of this realm with a clear mind? The Sim Clan is a group of insane people. One cannot reach the peak with a clear mind. Except for Young-hoon Venerable, everyone I have seen has not had a clear mind.”
Tztztztz—
Cold energy began to erupt from her body.
“You are no different, Venerable Seo. We are all madmen, and we have ‘reasons to die.’ Is it not so!”
Her words drew a groan from me.
“Many Heavenly Race investigators view us as madmen who burn their lives for higher realms or who become insane from killing their opponents. But that is wrong.”
Uuuung!
Gradually, a cold aura flowed from her withered body and soaked into my bones.
“Gyeongchang sacrificed his life for everyone, and Yeon sacrificed hers because no one was left. From the beginning… when we reached this far, we each had at least one reason to throw our lives away!”
Kuang!
When she stomped her foot, the ground around her sank.
I looked at her for a moment and said,
“…In the past, I took those who had given up on life and immersed themselves in revenge as my precious people.”
“Really?”
“I shouted countless times that I could do nothing for their desire for revenge, and somehow managed to save them. But later… only when I lost my own loved one and burned with revenge did I realize that sometimes I must throw my life away to soothe this heart.”
“You have gained some insight.”
“So it is. But… when I came to the Sim Clan realm, I felt differently.”
I looked into Ryeo-hwa’s eyes and asked,
“Is staking everything and exchanging one’s life for the ‘top’ truly meaningful…?”
I looked at her with bitter eyes.
“And… if I kill you, what will become of the hearts of those left behind…?”
Gyeongchang burned for those left behind.
Yeon burned for those who had no one left.
They threw their lives away.
Yet they were mistaken.
I, who killed them, was the one left behind.
In the end, at the last moment, we shared our hearts, and those hearts were deeply imprinted on me.
And those deeply imprinted hearts have all vanished.
Because of me.
“Can we not simply share our insights through swordplay or words? If we do not fight to the death but instead spar with some leeway, would it not be better?”
She hesitated for a moment at my words, then smiled.
“We would not meet often, Venerable. This is the third time we have met. The first was the day you arrived in Sam-mok-chong and awakened. The second was after coming out of closed-door training. And the third is now.”
“I see.”
“Before I speak, I will tell you a secret that even Master did not notice. This secret is known only to Master, and to… no, only to the Younger Brother.”
At her words, I was startled.
“The lifespan of our Hwacho Clan is three months. No matter how high we reach the realm, it is at most ten years… even if we eat a mountain of spiritual medicine, we can barely live twelve years.”
“What…!”
“Let me introduce myself again. Younger Brother. It is my pleasure to meet you. My name is Ryeo-hwa. This is the ninth generation of Ryeo-hwa.”
“…”
I stared at her in bewilderment.
What on earth was this saying?
Nine years ago?
A lifespan of three months?
That meant…
“…All of the first, second, and third Ryeo-hwa are different people…?”
“That is correct. Would you like me to explain the origin of our Hwacho Clan?”
Her explanation began.
“Our Hwacho Clan is nothing special. We are simply the flowers of the flower field that the Heavenly Race investigators improved through magical arts to present as gifts to their lovers. Thanks to the magical arts, for three months we bloom as the most beautiful flowers in the world and die.”
I looked at her head.
A beautiful flower bloomed there.
“Among those flowers, the ones whose spirits were stimulated by the magical arts and gained reason became us. Because our lives are very short, when the time comes to die, we find a suitable flower to pass on our memories, spirits, and lives, and then die. A group like that is collectively called the Hwacho Clan. And one of them is the existence known as ‘Ryeo-hwa’.”
“…”
I gazed at Ryeo-hwa.
It was a rather familiar story.
‘Takhon Mancheon…’
“…All of those Ryeo-hwa are the same person?”
“No.”
“Um…?”
I felt a faint unease and asked, but she neatly denied it.
“Rather, because we pass on memories and lives, we can know. We are all different existences.”
Yet I felt even more strange at her words.
“How is that possible…? Memory does not prove existence?”
“Memory proves existence… Many people think that. But that is not it. If information defines oneself, would all the sect members of the same sect be the same person?”
“…That is not the case.”
“That is correct. I also have the memories given to me by the first Ryeo-hwa, and I also have the memories of when I was just a plain flower. And I clearly have the memories of when I received memories from the previous Ryeo-hwa. Of course, because I received too many memories of the previous Ryeo-hwa, my identity as the ‘original me’ has become somewhat vague… but I am still me.”
I asked after pondering.
“Then you are the one who reached Sitting Liberation and Standing Death after nine years with memories that are not your own… meaning the Throne One?”
“Hehe, it is one of the insights of the ‘first Ryeo-hwa’. After all, the hearts of existences are created through mutual influence. If you receive certain words from another, and merely accept them, they become yours in the end. I accepted the memories of the previous Ryeo-hwa as my own.”
While listening to her words, I felt a strange feeling.
“Wait… does that mean that if the existence called ‘Ryeo-hwa’ continues, that existence is going to fight me before it even continues…? It sounds like you are severing the will of ‘Ryeo-hwa’…”
Yet she smiled instead.
“No. It is the opposite.”
Tztztztz!
The cold energy erupting from around her scattered white clouds.
“I want to connect ‘Ryeo-hwa’ to Venerable-nim and challenge you right now.”
“What…?”
I opened my mouth in bewilderment.
If it had been someone like Seo-hul or Yuk-rin, they would have been killed on the spot.
Sending memories was, in a way, a form of Takhon Mancheon.
It was no different from boldly declaring that I would stake Takhon Mancheon on myself.
I thought for a moment, then said to her,
“…Would it not be better if you simply told me the story of the life of ‘Ryeo-hwa’?”
“Do you know that, Venerable?”
“What?”
“After all, this world will end in ten thousand years.”
“…”
She seemed to know about the end.
“Even the smallest possibility of overcoming the end is, at the very least, for Venerable-nim. And countless ‘Ryeo-hwa’ have decided that at least sixty thousand years of time are necessary to move to the next stage. That is why I ask this of you.”
Twaaaraa!
Ryeo-hwa offered me an ice spear with a serious expression.
“Please accept ‘Ryeo-hwa’.”
I looked at her for a moment.
“…If I accept it, does that not mean I become you?”
“No. I can say this with the pride of Ryeo-hwa. It is simply that I want you to accept this existence of mine a little more deeply.”
“…”
I took out the Colorless Glass Sword.
But I did not point it at her; I simply let it hang down.
“…I too… do not find pleasure in killing someone.”
Kwaak!
I clenched my chest and spat the words out.
“I am not a madman steeped in slaughter… Every time I kill someone, my sword becomes a little heavier….”
I glared at Ryeo-hwa.
“It is not about killing an evil person unrelated to me, but about killing my own beloved with my own hands… that is extreme suffering for me.”
I growled and continued,
“Why should I suffer the pain of killing you? Tell me.”
And she smiled faintly.
“If you do not want to kill, you do not have to.”
“What…?”
“Actually, our Master has killed seven of his disciples. But after that, he has not killed.”
The next moment.
Kwa-cheong!
An enormous amount of cold energy came crashing down toward me.
“Why? Because at that time, the gap between us and Master had already widened immeasurably, and even if we all rushed in together, we would have been suppressed without killing.”
“What…?”
“From then on, I gave up. But you, Venerable-nim, are different. You are still quite immature. So… no matter what, spar with us. Everyone is rushing toward you with their own reasons and their own hearts!”
“That is nonsense.”
Twaaat!
I glared at the ice spears flying again and cast the All-Heaven Sword on my body.
Thanks to the ability to transform ranks, my body rose straight into the Soul Ranking.
Shu-ruu—
The ice spears pierced straight through my body.
“…I will not oppose it.”
[You must oppose it.]
“…”
I opened my eyes wide at her continued change.
‘Her… her…’
[Ryeo-hwa has inherited ‘Ryeo-hwa’ through thousands, tens of thousands of lives. Along with memories, her remaining life and stamina are also taken. That stamina accumulates, accumulates, and accumulates… Right now, I am like a Venerable of the Earth Race….]
Kugugugu!
An enormous amount of power surged from her.
The form of the aura itself was nothing more than Dan-sugi.
She apparently did not know how to refine the aura to advance beyond Qi Condensation.
Perhaps because plant race Venerables were rare, and the Longevity Clan never leaked their own techniques.
Yet the amount of aura…
‘Jun-sachukgi…!?’
I was dumbfounded by the enormous power and took up a defensive stance toward the Ryeo-hwa rushing at me.
[I am a cultivator of the Six and Heart who possesses both Earth and Heart…! You cannot defeat me while showing mercy!]
The enormous power distorted the space.
Because the entire space warped regardless of rank, I had no choice but to dodge.
Kwa-deudeuk!
I was forced to begin sparring with her.
Unlike Gyeongchang or Yeon, who finished with one strike, she was the type who sparred with delicate skill.
-Hwahon
The will of her soul rang out in the Soul Ranking.
Her tongue, called Hwahon, spurted out cold air cold enough to freeze the soul.
-Mugung-han-chang
When her Hwahon activated, an enormous amount of cold energy enveloped me.
‘This cold…’
The moment I felt the cold energy, I understood its essence.
‘Loneliness…’
Ice spears flew in from all directions.
I scattered the All-Heaven Sword all around and blocked the ice spears.
But the moment I blocked them, I realized that cold energy remained in my heart.
No matter how hard I pushed away or blocked, the cold energy that would never be erased by her attacks the moment it touched remained.
The essence of the cold energy was loneliness, and also yearning.
Chwaaaa—
Blue will materialized as ice and began to cover the heavens and earth.
I cut off her body.
Chwororuk!
She regenerated her body.
The side I had cut was even colder.
-Why lonely.
Snowflakes fell.
While feeling my body freezing, I continued to block her Hwahon.
-You have companions, do you not.
We conversed through our wills.
-There are people who remember you. In your mindscape, there is Jang Ik’s profound art, which remembers all Ryeo-hwa, do you not.
She smiled and began scattering more cold energy around her.
-Existence is not proven by memory, you said. Then what is it proven by?
Chwaaaak!
The more I faced her, the more I sensed my soul freezing, and I looked at Ryeo-hwa.
-Existence is proven by who has loved you. By who has received your heart… All Ryeo-hwa are born while receiving infinite love from the previous Ryeo-hwa. That is why it does not matter whether I live as Ryeo-hwa or as myself. But… I can only give this heart to the next Ryeo-hwa.
Tuung, tuung, tuung!
She spun in place three times and extended twin palms at me.
Her attacks became blizzards and pressed against me.
-Others receive disciples and pass on this heart. But I have no one to pass my heart to except the next Ryeo-hwa. All Ryeo-hwa… That is why Ryeo-hwa wanted to pass this heart to another. But in the end, I realized that the only one who can receive my heart and pass it to others is the Venerable who has reached Sitting Liberation and Standing Death.
Her eyes burned with cold energy.
-In other words… you want to turn your story into a martial art and pass it on. So that everyone remembers Ryeo-hwa…?
-That is correct.
-That is foolish. That is the end of Ryeo-hwa…
-If the story of Ryeo-hwa is passed to you and loved by everyone with Venerable-nim’s hand… that alone is enough.
She became winter.
A winter where flowers could never bloom enveloped me.
To defeat her, I would have to cut down winter itself.
‘Can I not cut her down?’
Can I suppress her without cutting her down…?
I took out my domain.
I took out all curses and all techniques.
Hwa-ruru-
But I understood.
The winter in front of me was gradually growing larger.
She was burning her entire power on herself.
She rushed at me without caring that her body would explode.
‘This…’
I must cut her down.
Without killing her… suppression is impossible.
Even though I had reached Sitting Liberation and Standing Death, I shouted the fact that I could not suppress the opponent without killing them.
Even now… my skill is only at the level of a thousand.
In an instant, she burned all life and somehow reached the Soul Ranking through a shortcut.
‘I see…’
Because she reached the Soul Ranking in an instant, it was impossible to adjust ranks and cut her without killing.
I gritted my teeth and delivered the strike that best suited her final moment.
Dan-ak Sword Art
Twenty-fifth form
Uihye Eunsan (Ocean of Righteousness, Mountain of Grace)!
The single strike infused with everything, including my soul, poured down from the Soul Ranking toward her winter.
The sword of starlight and the winter born from the flower met.
Chwaaaaar!
The sword of starlight, carrying Ten Thousand Phenomena Affinity, pierced the flower winter straight through.
My sword pierced Ryeo-hwa, but at the same time, cold energy remained in the sword and the Ten Thousand Phenomena Affinity.
Then I pierced her with Uihye Eunsan and looked behind me.
Tztztz—
It was an extremely beautiful spring following the winter.
Hwahon
It was the name of the moment when the heart gathered by Ryeo-hwa was passed to the next Ryeo-hwa behind the winter.
Chwarararak!
The story of her entered my heart.
From the first Ryeo-hwa to the present one.
She was an existence that wanted to give love to all Ryeo-hwa.
But ordinary Hwacho Clan members died after living only a few months, and even that survival rate was low, so their average lifespan was short.
That was why there was no Hwacho Clan member who could converse with her at the true position of Ryeo-hwa.
Even other Sim Clan members could not understand her.
The will of Ryeo-hwa, who lived for ten years and passed to the next, was not something anyone could easily know.
She wanted disciples even though she was not a plant.
She wanted to pass on the will and emotion and love that had continued from the first Ryeo-hwa through her disciples.
She had even tried to kidnap Longevity Clan members and teach them.
But the Longevity Clan were idiots who only had water and Baek-woon Saintess in their heads.
They could not even understand her teachings.
She could not love anyone.
It was impossible to pass it with words.
Hadn’t it been said that it could not be written?
How was it possible to pass the heart that continued from the first Ryeo-hwa with words?
Perhaps Jang Ik’s fighting spirit would have been possible.
Sitting Liberation and Standing Death, Jang Ik’s fighting spirit—Venerable-nim would have been able to receive this heart and ‘teach’ it.
That was why Ryeo-hwa had challenged Jang Ik.
But Jang Ik suppressed her without a scratch and rejected her proposal.
Because the entire Sim Clan was on his shoulder.
Because if his mind went mad from receiving her memories, he could not protect the Sim Clan.
She had no choice but to kneel.
That was why she had been lonely.
Her heart…
The heart of wanting to pass love to someone, which had continued from the first Ryeo-hwa, could never be passed to anyone except the next generation of Ryeo-hwa.
So she waited and waited.
One day, while endlessly passing on Ryeo-hwa.
Hope appeared before her.
“…Are you happy?”
I asked the Ryeo-hwa, who had turned into powder and melted into the snow.
She smiled.
“Thank you.”
“…”
The existence called ‘Ryeo-hwa’ had ended.
But her will…
I would be able to continue it by transforming it into a martial art.
This generation’s Ryeo-hwa had given her memories and her life to me.
Ryeo-hwa was over.
But…
She would be reborn inside me as the name of martial arts.
And someday, she would continue again inside the person who inherited this martial arts.
I watched Ryeo-hwa’s final moment.
Embracing her loneliness, I awakened the Divine Perception of the Cold.
It was my third Divine Perception.
Hwarruk!
Her Hwahon burned inside me.
At the same time, I was startled.
‘It is Takhon Mancheon…’
The seal of Takhon Mancheon suddenly began to thrash.
Kugugugu!
Purple mist rushed toward the memories of all Ryeo-hwa inside the Hwahon.
I tried to control it, but instead, the Hwahon, like meat in water, rushed toward the Takhon Mancheon I controlled and was absorbed.
The moment when the two that had naturally merged from the beginning were seen.
“!”
The Takhon Mancheon began to change.
‘This…’
The purple Takhon Mancheon began to shine radiantly.
At the same time, I sensed that the seal inside the Takhon Mancheon was changing.
It was the seal about Ryeo-hwa’s life.
At the same time, I sensed that the Takhon Mancheon, which I had not properly controlled until now, had completely melted into me.
“This… is Takhon Mancheon…”
I felt the true nature of the Takhon Mancheon and let out a hollow laugh.
Takhon Mancheon had not been something I could master simply by practicing it.
Takhon Mancheon was a secret art that was completed through inheritance.
Just as the nature of the Heart Language was similar to the nature of Takhon Mancheon, Takhon Mancheon was a secret art for passing something to someone.
‘It is not evolution…’
It was not a secret art for evolution, but a secret art by which someone in the past passed their heart to someone in the distant future.
And such Takhon Mancheon had been completed as the heart of the past Ryeo-hwa was passed to me.
‘Then I should change the name.’
This was no longer Takhon Mancheon.
A secret art completed with the heart of Ryeo-hwa.
It should be Hwahonmancheon (Flower Soul Filling the Heavens).
Chwarararak!
I absorbed the Hwahonmancheon.
The purple mist of the Hwahonmancheon was naturally absorbed into the mist of the Ten Thousand Phenomena Affinity.
Parararak!
When the Hwahonmancheon entered the Ten Thousand Phenomena Affinity, past moments flashed as if turning a book page.
‘Is this my past…’
Through the power of the Hwahonmancheon, I realized that I could summon the ‘heart’ of my past into reality and pass it on to others as ‘inheritance’.
“Ah…”
I cried.
I was able to recall the hearts of the past Cheong-mun Ryeong.
I was able to pass the hearts of the Star Shattering Changhoza to the current Oh Hyun-seok.
The memories themselves had to be given their lives like Ryeo-hwa to be passed on, but…
The ‘hearts’ that followed the memories could now be inherited at will.
I looked up at the sky while recalling past hearts by summoning them with the Hwahonmancheon.
‘Now… I will not be able to forget.’
Because I could remember even hearts, not just information, I would never forget anything anymore!
“My heart… will never, never be forgotten!”
And the Hwahonmancheon shone on a certain past moment.
In a corner of Seo-ak Village.
The moment I had spoken with the child [Waiting for Older Sister].
“…Eh?”
When I came to my senses, it was Seo-ak Village.
I had returned to the moment when I was reading a fairy tale to the woman in front of whom Hong Beom’s mother had lost her older sister.
“…What?”
My brain refused to accept.
At that time, when I could not understand the situation.
The woman smiled faintly and ran toward somewhere behind me.
“Ah! Older Sister is here! I’ll go play with that older sister!”
The child ran toward the back of me with light steps.
So eagerly did she run to welcome her older sister that she had even dropped the fairy tale book she usually cherished.
“…Older Sister?”
Had she not been eaten by Hong Beom’s mother?
I swallowed and asked the child meeting her older sister from the back.
I did not turn around.
“…Kid, did you say your older sister went over that hill?”
At my question, the woman shouted as if she found it strange.
“What are you saying, Uncle! I told you that older sister went to work for a while at the house at the foot of the mountain!”
“…”
Strange.
Through the Hwahonmancheon, [memory had been clear].
The older sister of the child had gone to where Hong Beom’s mother lived and died.
Gulp.
I observed my body.
My domain remained the same.
In other words, I had not been in a hallucination where I went through an enormous journey while insane.
I had been pulled into the past.
“It seems the traveler was dreaming.”
The [Older Sister] said to the child.
“Go play at home.”
“Older Sister~”
I felt [her] approaching me.
Cold sweat gradually formed.
Now I remembered.
In the next loop, I had forgotten her existence.
[She] said from behind me.
“Please pick up the book.”
I picked up the fairy tale book and handed it over without looking back.
“Thank you. For playing with that child… If you have any questions, ask. For example… about why people who look into hearts more than a certain level crave suicide…”