Chapter 298

I opened my eyes in a small, three-pyeong room that felt very dry and empty.

Looking around, I saw familiar furniture arranged in a way I recognized.

It seemed like a virtual reality space where I had spent seven years while trapped in a capsule.

“Is this my home? I really lived so poorly.”

No matter how much I struggled here, nothing would change.

If I just waited and waited, someday that door would open.

After all, since Astarte didn’t really have the power to control a physical body in reality, it wouldn’t take long.

And I just found another reason to wait slowly.

When I lifted the blanket from the bed, I met the gaze of a woman whose face was now revealed.

Her two eyes, under long eyelashes, shimmered like a full moon reflected in a lake.

Though they were undoubtedly the color of pitch-black night, they created an illusion of being under a bright Milky Way.

Her slender limbs and pale skin contrasted even more with her black hair, giving off a fragile impression as if she could be swept away by the wind.

The woman gave a sweet smile, with dimples forming in her innocent eyes.

“Do you want to come over and lie down with mommy?”

It was hard to resist the temptation offered in her song-like voice.

I crawled onto the bed and lay down next to her, looking up at the ceiling.

“Seol-a, your hands are warm…”

The hands that were intertwined were no longer cold like a corpse.

* * *

“I call natural weather phenomena natural disasters, while I call disasters caused by humans man-made disasters.”

I spoke slowly and clearly so she could understand.

The Seol-a I had created in my subconscious listened to my story attentively.

“Then what about a disaster created by a being closer to nature to destroy humanity? Which category would that fall into?”

“Natural disaster?”

“Yeah, I think so too.”

Since time was all I had, I shared long stories from my previous life with Seol-a.

“The seeds of erosion, called Maripja, stimulated our human nature and devastated the area around their hosts. Furthermore, even if the host dies, they seek other nearby hosts to parasitize?”

“Eww… that’s scary…”

“Right. They’re tougher than cancer cells.”

I faithfully executed my master’s last wishes by creating six avatars that had their natures castrated through the ‘Akashic Record’ and transferred all the erosion into empty shells.

Even though I entered a body where memories and ego had completely vanished, the appearance of erosions forming their personalities and acting like humans was almost grotesque.

“I never thought of them as living beings. Since they were creations of mine, I had to be responsible and dispose of them.”

After immense effort, I managed to deactivate all seven erosions and seal them within a single body.

That grand plan was completed when Hiasen took my life.

“Maybe it started from then. I decided to treat children well.”

Unlike erosions whose future was inevitably doomed to destruction, humans were granted 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 tried my best.”

“If Name thought that, then I think it’s enough.”

“Is that so…”

The playtime at the Academy couldn’t last forever.

In the end, I was a rolling stone that has been rolling since my previous life.

Whether one had reincarnated or remembered their past life, the distance between friends would gradually widen.

Especially after going through this Academy 대항전, I felt it deeply.

Aside from a few close friends who genuinely congratulated me, I could clearly sense that everyone else found me difficult to approach.

It felt similar to the gazes I received in my past life.

“Name, can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“What does Adella mean to you?”

“Umm…”

As I closed my eyes, I continued my long contemplation.

I recalled the process of meeting Adella.

Why had I never given up on Adella, who was merely an NPC, until the very end?

Was it simply because I didn’t want to admit that I was weak?

Perhaps the sympathy I felt for her stemmed from the slight guilt born during the process of forcibly ‘collecting’ the erosions.

“That child and I don’t have any ties to this world for now. We should help and live for each other.”

“Friends then.”

“Yeah… Friends. You’re right, Seol-a…”

“Name is really lucky to have a great friend like you!”

“Hey, Seol-a.”

I turned my head and made eye contact with her.

Her smiling face was so beautiful.

I wished I could see such expressions when I was alive.

“I’m Seol-a’s daughter, but I might not be Seol-a’s daughter.”

“Okay.”

“In fact, I lived longer than Seol-a. There were times I was older than her.”

“Okay.”

“Because of that, the truth is… I don’t have the courage to face Seol-a properly. Maybe I’m a bad witch who has taken over your daughter’s body—”

“Noname!”

“Ah, you surprised me!”

Seol-a pressed both my cheeks with her hands.

Her lips curled in a round shape, sticking out like a duck.

“No matter what anyone says, you are my daughter. That’s an unchanging truth.”

“Did you really understand what I’m saying? I have memories from my past life…”

“So what?”

“…?”

“Can’t we just make both of you my daughter?”

What nonsense…

As I frowned deeply, Seol-a pulled my head and embraced me.

“Name, imagine this. If we lived normally, I would like to have a mature daughter like you. A daughter who is a friend, a mother who is a friend—wouldn’t that be wonderful?”

“Ah…”

“And the reason you could be rescued from the capsule was all thanks to the memories from your past life. You’re our daughter who bravely survived so we can talk like this.”

“If you say that…”

“What you experienced and what gazes you received in your past life don’t matter. Right now, you’re just a cute and spoiled daughter to me. Yes, definitely.”

Suddenly, I felt a tightness in my heart.

A hot pain flowed down from my throat to my head.

“I…”

My lips trembled, and my vision became blurry.

“I… I think I really wanted to hear that…”

My voice was shaking.

I kept telling myself to hold back my tears.

As Seol-a gently patted my back, tears began to flow uncontrollably.

Tears splashed onto her chest.

“I must have lived all this time to hear those words… hic…”

It truly felt like my tear ducts were broken.

Seol-a wiped the corners of my eyes with her thumb.

Each time she did, tears flowed freely again.

“If my mom had been alive… would she have said the same words to me…?”

“Yes. Without a doubt.”

“I miss you… Mom, I really miss you… I finally found a new life… I can finally take a breather… hic…”

I wish this was all a fantasy.

I wish her warm words and soft embrace were all reality.

I wanted to shake off all the complicated thoughts about my identity and freeze time in this state, foolishly embraced by my mother.

“You’ve had a tough time…”

“It was so scary… like… hic… bad seniors used their magic to sneakily break the rules on me…! Then they just make excuses… Aura Heart… I spent so much effort making it with iron rods, but it shouldn’t break… I have to quickly extract mana… but my arms just wouldn’t stop bleeding…! It really hurt… hic…”

The little child was psychologically too fragile.

Like a cup filled with water, it only took a little shaking for her emotions to spill out.

With every gentle touch from Seol-a, I crumbled without any defenses.

But slowly, the door opened a little, and Seol-a began to fade.

“Name, stop crying now. It’s time to go.”

“If I cried over this… I wouldn’t have endured that hellish world in my past life. Right now, I’m just mom’s daughter… that’s all…”

But here was my lonely room, unknown to anyone.

It felt comfortable and good to cry sadly without anyone watching.

“And you, Name, are 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-a helped me up and pointed outside with her long, slender fingers.

As the door swung wide open, a refreshing breeze tangled in my hair.

In a space where lush greenery stretched infinitely, I saw faces I recognized.

“Our Name won’t be lonely even without me.”

* * *

It was early dawn when the dark blue sky began to brighten.

“Yes, grandpa. I will come to meet you by exit 3 of the express bus terminal, so please contact me before you arrive. Min Woo, Arin! Get up quickly and change your clothes.”

Baek Ho Chan, CEO of Bio Akashic, had just finished talking with Baek Bong Gon and woke the drowsy children.

“Um… where are we going…?”

“We’re visiting Name. They say Name is very sick right now.”

* * *

“Hello… I’m Daniel from the Korea University College of Music, who contacted you earlier. You must be Shin Yeon Ho, right?”

[Yes, I am Shin Yeon Ho.]

“Would it be okay to ask for Ban So Wol’s contact as well? I reached out regarding something related to Name…”

[Yes, just a moment—]

[She’s right next to me. You’re going for a visit, right?]

“Is that so? Oh, yes…!”

[We are also on our way to the hospital, so let’s meet halfway and go in together.]

The call ended abruptly, and Yoonseul, unable to hide her anxiety, started shaking her legs.

“Did they say they were coming…?”

“Yeah. It seems they left right away after seeing the message I sent earlier.”

“Call up every connection you know.”

“I’m a loner, so I don’t know many. Our professor…? Is that a bit too much?”

* * *

“What police investigation did you stay up all night for? I thought you got dragged into the National Intelligence Service.”

Principal Gu On Yu, sitting in the front seat of the sedan, crossed his arms and asked Professor Cheon.

“Shut up and drive.”

Professor Cheon, gripping the wheel, responded coldly.

His disheveled look only added to his ferocity.

Meanwhile, Jacqueline Carroll, the homeroom teacher who had been caught up with them, had to endure the awkward atmosphere between the two war heroes sitting in the front seat.

“I hope Name is okay…”

* * *

“Astarte…? Aren’t you talking about Asteria?”

“Ah, right! That’s the lol champion Name used to love playing!”

“Did you lose your memory or something? Stop making everyone anxious…”

“Driver, please take us to Seoul XX Hospital.”

The clan member who had first partnered with Name, Yoonseul, gathered the others and flagged a taxi.

“Don’t you know anything? At least something from the driver.”

“The driver is completely flustered. They started saying there’s nothing wrong with their health and then suddenly mentioned terminal illness… everyone has different stories.”

“What do we do about Name… hic… what if we forget each other…?”

In this heavy atmosphere, where even jokes fell silent, the only sound was the tires rolling on the main road.

* * *

“Hey, Iharu. Open the door.”

It had already been three days since contact with Name was lost.

Iharu, back at the academy, had barely been eating.

His sister, Eborum, decided to take him along for her visit as his manager.

“We’re going to see Name, so come out. I’ll drive you.”