The Story of the Girl Forgotten by Everyone
The story of the girl forgotten by everyone was bewildering. 【Girl lost in irrationality, who has forgotten even herself.】 What was this black existence that called me a girl? I couldn't even confirm my own appearance. How could it know my form that didn't reflect in mirrors...?
【I will save you.】
Save me? Who...?
I was an existence forgotten by the world. No one remembered me—not even myself. Yet the man cloaked in pitch-black darkness spoke as if he knew me. He was surrounded by noble, intimidating black energy. But for some reason, his tone wasn't domineering at all. It felt like comfort instead.
[Do you... remember me...?]
I didn't want to believe it. It was probably a lie anyway. Why was I even asking...?
【Poor girl. I will return your memories to you.】
[Mem... ories...?]
With the black man's words, I was sucked into the hazy depths of my memories.
A village under a blue sky with warm winds blowing. A girl was running across the meadow with her friends.
"Hey! Hurry up!"
"Okay! Wait for me!"
The girl smiled brightly as she chased after her friend. She was happy. It was a small rural village, but she had a warm home with a kind mother. Lush green fields where she always played with her friends. That was everything, but it was more than enough for the girl to be truly happy.
"Haha! I win this time!"
"No fair, that's cheating!"
"Nuh-uh, no cheating!"
Until evening fell, the girl laughed and ran around with her friends.
"Let's meet here again tomorrow!"
"Yeah, you better come!"
She believed that this natural happiness would continue forever.
[First Night]
The next morning.
"Mom! I'm heading out!"
The girl stepped out the door with a radiant smile. She could see her friends from yesterday gathered at the playground.
"Guys! I'm here!"
The girl waved happily, but...
"...?"
Her friends didn't see her.
"Guys, yesterday was fun, right?"
"Yeah! Let's have even more fun today!"
"Of course! The three of us are always together!"
Three...? They'd always been four, including her. What were they talking about?
"What do you mean? I'm right here!"
But her friends showed no reaction. As if they couldn't hear her voice at all.
[Second Night]
"Mom, I'm heading out again today!"
"Oh? Who are you?"
"...What?"
Her mother's expression wasn't a joke or teasing. It was the look of someone seeing a stranger for the first time.
"Mom... it's me. Lora...!"
"I've never had a child with that name."
"...You're lying, right, Mom?"
"Now, go on. Your parents must be waiting."
"Mom... Mom!"
[Third Night]
No one in the village could see the girl anymore. Even when she spoke to passersby, no one responded. When she blocked their path, they passed through her like mist.
The girl was gradually being forgotten.
"Why is this happening to me...?"
No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn't understand.
"I... I didn't do anything wrong...!"
She'd just lived an ordinary life. Why did no one remember her anymore? Now, even her existence was invisible. She didn't reflect in mirrors. The girl left no footprints, no shadows, no sounds.
"No... I don't want to be forgotten... Is this punishment because I lived too happily until now...?"
The girl looked up at the sky.
"God...?"
But no answer came.
The girl hugged her knees and wept quietly in the empty space. A hollow void with no one around. There, the girl was slowly fading away.
Then, a strange voice echoed.
"...!"
"...Who... are you?"
The voice felt like a whisper in her ear. It echoed from afar. Soft yet grating, comforting yet cold—a formless, alien tone.
—Rustle.
Something began to take shape before her eyes. A twisted, pitch-black crimson form.
The girl was scared, but she didn't want to be alone anymore. In a world where no one acknowledged her, this was the only being that spoke to her. It didn't matter what it was. In her crushing loneliness, she just wanted someone by her side.
The moment she took its hand, Lora became the 'Forgotten One'.
[Is this... my memory...?]
I couldn't regain my senses amid the sudden flood of memories. The small village and blue sky. Friends laughing and running. And the days I slowly faded away.
Many forgotten things resurfaced, but for some reason, the final piece was missing. The most important one—my 'name'.
[Ah...]
What was it? How did it sound? But the more I tried to recall, the more it slipped away like sand through my fingers.
[I can't remember.]
'In the end, no one remembers me. What was I hoping for?'
No one calls my name.
A meaningless existence that can't even remember its own name.
[I'm a 'Forgotten Existence.']
With that realization, the crimson-black energy began to twist hazily. The domain of the Forgotten One filled the space more intensely.
At that moment.
Do you think everyone has forgotten you?
A low, deep voice resonated.
Lora. I remember you.
—Thud.
The moment I heard that name, time seemed to stop. My fading existence was forcibly anchored to this world. Light began to pierce the deep darkness of the Forgotten One.
'It's strange. It's a familiar word, yet somehow foreign.'
But definitely familiar. Lo-something. Lora...?
[My... name...?]
A trembling voice. Then, once more, an unforgettable resonance echoed.
Lora. You have not been forgotten.
My name was forgotten by the world. No one would remember it. How could that man say it?
'It's a lie.'
He's trying to trick me. Pretending to remember, deceiving me, just to push me back into despair.
'I won't fall for it.'
The Forgotten One retreated from the pitch-black man.
[...You're lying. You... you'll forget me too!!]
—Boom!
With her twisted cry, black mist surged violently, tearing the space apart. The Netherworld encroached more fiercely. The classroom warped grotesquely, and the floor caved in deeper.
[No one... no one remembered me...!]
[I... I did nothing wrong... Why... why exactly...!!]
The Forgotten One trembled and screamed. She'd desperately begged them not to forget her. She'd clung and cried, but no one remembered. And now they claimed to remember...?
[I'll be abandoned again. If I believe... I'll be betrayed...]
The 'existence that remembers her,' which she'd so desperately longed for, was right there. What made this frail girl, the Forgotten One, so afraid?
The betrayal and despair that followed trust. It was the girl's defense mechanism, knowing she couldn't endure experiencing it again.
[......]
Did the pitch-black man understand the girl's heart? He silently accepted her rejecting energy and slowly approached.
[D-don't... come closer!!]
—Slash!
The crimson-black energy became blades attacking the black man, but he didn't counterattack at all.
[Why...?]
Even if attacks didn't work, to not retaliate against an enemy striking at you. Stubbornly taking her fury with his body, the pitch-black man focused only on approaching her.
The man slowly extended his hand toward the Forgotten One.
[Don't come closer...!]
Lora.
[...Stop! Stop calling me!]
The Forgotten One desperately trembled in resistance. Every time she heard 'Lora,' her head felt like it would split.
It's okay. It's not scary. I won't hurt you.
A calm, low voice. It carried a gentle heart coaxing and soothing a frightened child.
[R-really... you won't hurt me...?]
To the girl's question, the man simply answered with wistful eyes. Feeling his concern in that gaze, the Forgotten One stopped resisting and waited quietly for him.
—Stroke.
Slowly and quietly, the man placed his hand on the head surrounded by crimson-black energy. The moment his touch reached her, the mist enveloping the Forgotten One began to clear.
As if returning to her 'original self.'
[...!]
It was warm. The first touch from someone who remembered her. Until now, the Forgotten One couldn't touch anyone. Because her very existence wasn't remembered.
But the pitch-black man touched her indifferently, as if such laws meant nothing.
At that instant, the sticky, distorted crimson-black mist wrapping the Forgotten One began to dissipate. The swirling black forms scattered softly, revealing the fragile girl within.
A small, delicate body. Soft golden hair and faint freckles. Sky-blue eyes shining, tears streaming from their corners. The 'Lora' who loved playing with friends and smiled so innocently and prettily.
Lora.
"......"
I remember you, Lora.
"...Do you really remember me? I'm... not forgotten?"
Thick tears fell from Lora's eyes.
Yes. Even if the world forgets you, I remember you.
The black man spoke in an emotionless yet somehow comforting voice. Only then did Lora realize it. This man with pitch-black hair, snow-white skin, and abyss-like eyes had come to save her.
He approached without any revulsion, even after seeing her grotesque former form.
"Ugh... waaah...!"
It's okay to cry, Lora.
"Hic... sob! Waaah...!"
Lora threw herself into the black man's arms and burst into tears. How long had it been since she cried? She'd thought all emotions were lost when she became a ghost story.
Childlike, pure tears. With her emotional dam broken, Lora sobbed in his arms for a long time. Warm hands simply patted her gently.
"Hic... huuuh... "
How long did she cry? Lora slowly lifted her head to look at the man holding her.
"Ah... who... are you...?"
She knew. Those deep black eyes held kindness and warmth. He matched the descriptions of 'that person' she'd sometimes heard in the village.
'Unlike his pitch-black form, this person holds a brighter light than anyone—'
"The Savior...?"
At that moment, light enveloped the girl's body, and she began to fade bit by bit. It meant her story was over, and it was time to leave.
The pitch-black man still patted her silently. Lora bid farewell to the one who saved her.
"...Thank you... for remembering me."
The girl's face looked utterly happy.
"My... Lord...!"
With a radiant smile, Lora melted softly into light and vanished.
A dark space. A girl standing alone there. The surroundings were endlessly dark, the space without apparent end.
"......"
Lora slowly bowed her head.
'It's... really over now.'
No matter how incomplete her memories, she'd erased too many existences. It was only natural she'd fall to hell. As she tried to force a bitter smile with that thought—
"Lora!"
"Lora!"
"Where are you!?"
Faint voices called. From very far away. Yet so clear. The sounds she'd longed for endlessly. The echoes she'd desperately wanted to hear.
Lora cautiously turned toward the voices. There...
"...Mom?"
Her always kind and warm mother who welcomed her was there.
"...Guys?"
Her friends with whom she'd run and laughed were there. Everyone smiled brightly at her, waving.
"Come on, Lora!"
"Seriously, you're so late! We've all been waiting!"
Lora could only stare blankly at the scene. No one had remembered her. She'd thought she'd fall to hell for erasing so many. But no.
The twisted story was mended, and Lora returned to that happy world.
The girl bit her lip, held back tears, and smiled quietly.
"...Yeah! I missed you all...!"
The moment Lora took a step in the dark space, light bloomed from her toes. The blackness vanished, revealing the meadow where she'd always played. Clear blue skies. The happy village of the girl. The warmest world she remembered welcomed her back.
"Welcome, Lora!"
"Why'd you take so long!"
With tears in her eyes and a smile, the girl ran with all her might toward her loved ones.
Into the voices calling her. Among the people who remembered her.
And so, Lora's story came to an end.