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Anael’s list contained quite a few intriguing items.

And among them, the one that piqued my interest the most was…

“Research on magic…?”

The study of the criteria for magic.

The exploration of the collective unconscious.

Aren’t both topics related to Park Jinseong?

Magic is naturally related to Park Jinseong, while the collective unconscious is linked to Danbi, his former companion.

“Asha…”

It comes to mind.

The futile end of Anastasia before her rewind.

How did Anastasia die before the rewind?

Did she not turn to dust while attempting to explore the collective unconscious?

The overload from the witchcraft she used devoured her whole, and Anastasia’s soul and spirit were consumed by the collective unconscious…

I don’t know her purpose for exploring the collective unconscious, but she ended up dying just like that.

At that time, Park Jinseong had these thoughts.

He thought he had grown accustomed to the deaths of his comrades during his mercenary days, but perhaps that wasn’t entirely true.

Did he feel sadness then?

Did he feel a sense of loss?

Did he harbor different feelings than when he sent off other comrades long gone?

Perhaps he did.

Perhaps he did not.

Well.

I can’t be sure.

It’s not a trivial matter, and it still lingers in my mind.

Could time’s winds simply bypass memories?

The emotions felt then evaporated in an instant, disappearing into thin air, leaving behind only the bare minimum to maintain objectivity. It’s so imprecise and fleeting that it’s more unreliable than reading letters scratched onto paper, making it something I can only cling to.

Just like letters carved in sand, emotions are blown away by the winds of time, leaving no trace, meaning memories later come to mean the same as information…

But thinking back, it seems that if I squeeze out the memories of that time, I can think of something like that.

Yet, death is so close and empty, and thus, one cannot overcome the mortality named time. Time is too short, and the environment may change unpredictably, with death always lurking nearby. Hence, people cannot help but strive to draw out their lives.

I feel that’s the kind of thought I had.

Perhaps I understood Anastasia’s death a little during that time.

Or maybe it was much later.

I don’t know the exact timing, as my memory is vague.

Well, does it really matter?

“If life is a painting, it must be worked on to be completed. But if it ends without being painted, does that mean it holds no value?”

There’s a famous sculpture called the ‘Venus de Milo.’ But it’s hard to view this work as complete.

It’s because it has no arms.

According to what is known, it was missing arms from the time it was excavated — although some say it originally had arms that were broken and lost, others claim it was an unfinished piece or that it was initially created without arms. It’s a work surrounded by many tales.

However, despite all of these opinions, no one says, “This statue has no arms, so it has no value.”

The death of Anastasia before the rewind was the same way.

Like old myths, her life began in tragedy.

She was traded for a sister named Ella by a shaman obsessed with heroes, who brought her into the world. A girl who was not evil but merely lacking in ability was sacrificed to death, giving birth to a talented girl with a rare ability.

What thoughts did she have, having consumed the lives of her sister?

As she existed trying to explore the collective unconscious within her sister’s body, what thoughts crossed her mind when she was unwantedly summoned into the world at the cost of her sister’s life?

Well.

I can’t know, as I’ve never heard any stories related to that.

Perhaps she might have thought of Ella’s potential existence within the collective unconscious and driven by guilt, sought to explore it. Or she might have grown fond of the collective unconscious, which was her home for a long time, finding peace there. Or perhaps she despised the reality of living at the cost of her sister’s life. Or maybe, for no specific reason at all, she was merely driven by pure curiosity to explore the collective unconscious.

“Perhaps I was trying to help find magic, or I could have been developing my abilities to make mercenary work easier.”

Just guesswork. How can one be sure they know a person’s inner thoughts?

No matter how many times they’ve crossed swords, shared warm bodies, or engaged in long conversations.

One cannot fully grasp their own self, how can they claim to understand others completely?

“But the time has twisted and rewinded, and the tragic hero has disappeared.”

Yes.

The first thing to notice is, that would be good indeed.

Park Jinseong selected “The Study of the Conditions of ‘Humans’ Based on the Collective Unconscious” from the list displayed on the monitor.

“From ancient times to modernity, numerous geniuses have devoted their lives to proving the existence of the collective unconscious.

From ancient philosophy to paranormal psychology, humanity has dedicated its life to exploring the unknown realm of the collective unconscious.

We have walked along the path laid out by those before us who devoted their lives, and we will continue to advance forward.

Now, it is our turn.”

As Park Jinseong made his selection, a string of text appeared.

It was a preface that exuded ambitious resolve.

And beyond that preface, he saw content listing the difficulties of researching the collective unconscious.

“…Shamans affirm the existence of the collective unconscious. However, their methods of approaching it are mostly non-scientific, using trance states through meditation or drugs, lucid dreaming, and the like, relying on traditional methods devoid of scientific integration.

Of course, traditional methods are not without effect. However, one major issue is that it cannot be distinguished whether they truly approached the collective unconscious or merely experienced hallucinations…”

A lament about how it’s impossible to know whether it’s a dream, a hallucination caused by substances, or true access to the collective unconscious. And a record of harrowing failures in verifying brainwaves, energy detection, and employing ability users.

The results of the brainwave measurements only showed waves similar to those when dreaming.

Energy could show changes or lack thereof, thus yielding no meaningful results.

Even using ability users, they felt nothing particularly unusual.

They tried to seek cooperation from shamans, but the numbers were small, and finding their whereabouts proved difficult—making contact itself a challenge. Even when they managed to reach out, they couldn’t secure proper negotiations and were rejected.

“…The research to prove the collective unconscious has proven to be a more complex challenge than searching for Atlantis…”

A statement hinting that they’d rather flounder in search of Atlantis than wallow in this mess.

This document that Park Jinseong was perusing could truly be called a record of hardships and adversities.

“…In the end, we were unable to find a method to clearly distinguish between hallucinations and the collective unconscious. Rather than using traditional methods, we were forced to rely on extensive contact to statistically determine the differences between visions and the collective unconscious…”

“…We began seeking effective methods. We categorized the experimental groups into three types: meditation, hallucinogenic substance ingestion, and dreams, and further divided them separately…”

“…The conclusion drawn from various experiment results was that meditation is an inefficient method. Unless one is a shaman, approaching the collective unconscious through meditation…”

“…The drug made from mushrooms containing psilocybin and muscimol proved to be the most effective. It allowed the fastest entry into a trance state with small doses, and common testimonies began emerging from those who ingested it. If we can identify the commonalities in these testimonies, we might be able to gather meaningful statistics…”

“…Approaching through lucid dreaming did not have a high probability of success. However, there was someone who succeeded in contacting the collective unconscious within that experimental group…”

“…A graduate student named Mary Taylor claimed she succeeded in reaching the surface of the collective unconscious and had a dialogue with a shaman there. To verify her claim, we attempted to reach the shaman she mentioned and received a positive response…”

“…Mary Taylor’s contact with the collective unconscious only lasted a very short time. This seems unavoidable due to the mediating property of dreams, but…”

“…During brainstorming, a good idea arose.”

“…We obtained Mary Taylor’s consent and placed her into a long-term catatonic state…”

“…For four months, Mary Taylor remained in this catatonic state but suddenly slipped into brain death, and after one year and three months, she never regained consciousness and passed away…”

The subsequent content recorded the pitiful conditions of an experiment conducted to explore the collective unconscious.

Forcing graduate students to undergo hallucinogenic substance exposure, maintaining their dazed state for extended periods, directly tampering with their brains, or forcibly inducing narcolepsy.

It was a series of records that could hardly be described as ethical.

The text repeatedly stated, “The experiments were conducted with the enthusiastic consent of the hardworking graduate students,” but anyone reading it could see it as “subjects undergoing unethical experiments against their will.”

“But neither the writer nor the readers would care about that.”

Blindfolded and oblivious.

It’s probably because there was no dire need to conceal the truth.

“…Through various results, we could conclude one thing.

Only humans can approach the collective unconscious, and the condition of this ‘human’ does not differ greatly from the human conditions that present humankind generally envisions…”

“…Hence, our research team could formulate one hypothesis.

Perhaps the collective unconscious is a collective of commonality and one of the elements that allows current humanity to form society.”

“…Our humanity may be establishing a sense of species homogeneity through the common perception of universality and forming a domain of exclusion to create society.”

 

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