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Heavy steps echoed in the air.

My body should have felt lighter now that my realm had ascended.

Yet, my legs felt as heavy as lead.

It was likely that the emotions weighing down my heart were making my every step feel like a struggle.

I ran.

If it were up to me, I would have loved to smash everything in my path.

Yet, even I, a crazy fool, knew that was impossible.

So I just kept running.

I couldn’t shake the thought of Moyong Hi-ah left behind, but there was nothing I could do about it.

People around me stared with wide, shocked eyes.

Was my expression really that strange?

I couldn’t tell.

At this moment, nothing else was on my mind.

I reached a place where a crowd had gathered.

A spot prepared for healing others, with the physicians of Shinryong Temple tirelessly at work.

I moved past them.

After just a few more steps, I spotted the person I was looking for.

“Hah…”

I steadied my breath, examining the one lying down.

She wasn’t even on a bed. The proper ones were occupied by those who had been injured long ago.

This girl, whose body seemed sound, was merely lying on a piece of cloth.

I approached cautiously.

Just as I took a step forward, she began to rise.

Slowly, with a tired expression, she pushed herself up and swept her hair back with one hand.

Radiant.

The chaotic surroundings and the noisy atmosphere all felt insignificant in her presence.

It was as if she was shining.

She had that power.

It was the same in my previous life.

So bright that I didn’t dare to get close.

Was it any different now?

I doubt it was.

It seemed like I had simply changed to not care about such things.

If you ask me whether that’s good or bad…

I still don’t know.

“Hah…”

Even without running much, I found myself out of breath.

Though I had become a body that wouldn’t tire even after days of running.

Yet my breathing was unnaturally labored.

Step.

As I took another step, I realized she must have heard my footfall through the bustle, as her gaze turned toward me.

Our eyes met.

Staring into those large eyes made my drifting thoughts blurry.

“…”

“…”

We stood there in silence, just looking at each other.

What should I say?

While moving forward, I mulled over it a thousand times. What would be the most natural thing to say? I rolled over words in my mind that would be even a little easier to voice.

But nothing actually came out.

It was frustrating to find myself hesitating after coming this far.

“…Did you run here?”

In the end, unable to initiate a conversation myself, she spoke first.

“No, it’s not that. I just thought I’d check if you were up after training.”

I tried to maintain my pride.

What a madman I was.

Who needs pride when you’re here? This troublesome personality will be my bane till death.

But thankfully, she smiled upon hearing my words.

Anyone could tell my excuse was absurd.

Since it would have been better just to be honest.

I didn’t even understand why I couldn’t do that myself.

“How are you feeling?”

I approached while trying to calm my wildly beating heart.

“I’m okay.”

Hearing her response, I half-kneeled down.

“If there’s something wrong, say it quickly; the physicians are busy and need to be told ahead of time.”

“I’m really okay.”

“Well, that’s good to hear.”

She looked at me, then asked.

“Are you, Gu Gongja, okay?”

“I’m fine….”

I was about to answer when suddenly her way of addressing me caught my attention.

Not as Gu Gongja, but simply Gu Gong.

It was just one character’s difference, yet the weight it carried felt impossibly heavy.

Did she see my eyes waver?

The woman smiled bitterly in response.

“…Shall we step out?”

Her words came out so naturally. Was it the same voice as before?

Or was it just my imagination that it seemed more mature?

“Where to?”

“To a place where we can talk.”

As she spoke, she got up.

I could just use energy to create a barrier, but since it seemed she wished for something else, I followed without a word.

Once outside, I stepped into the peaceful forest.

It had been a day since the ambush, and the oppressive barrier had vanished, revealing a clear sky.

“The weather is nice.”

“Yeah.”

“It feels like it’s been a while since I looked up at the sky.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah. I didn’t have time to admire things like that.”

The woman, who had been gazing intently at the sky, turned her eyes toward me.

“Neither you nor I… had that kind of time?”

“…”

She was right.

I hadn’t had time to look at the sky or contemplate anything.

There hadn’t been a moment to enjoy such things while walking through hell.

That’s why I couldn’t understand the Demon Sword Queen, who was dazed staring at the moon.

Now…

I could somewhat comprehend. I finally understood what she must have seen in the moon at that time.

Perhaps the emotion now shared that context.

Only then did her face come into sharper focus for me.

Her eyes looked slightly lower than usual.

That face, which always seemed to be smiling, now wore a calm expression.

This was a side of Wi Seol-Ah I had learned in this life, different from the one I knew, yet more familiar and tinged with sadness.

Feeling that, I asked.

“Since when…?”

“Wait a moment.”

Just as I was about to ask what I wanted to know, the woman interrupted me.

I looked at her questioningly, wondering what she was doing now.

“I have something to say first…”

“What is it?”

What was she planning to say?

Was she going to unleash some insult?

If so, I could handle it.

Some insults… As long as she didn’t pull out a sword, I could manage that.

At that moment…

“I’m sorry….”

She offered me an apology.

“What?”

“I’m truly sorry…”

That was unexpected.

The very notion of her apologizing to me was shocking.

“Why are you apologizing all of a sudden?”

“…I’m sorry…”

“Why are you saying this?”

Seeing her trembling eyes, as if she was about to cry, left me at a loss.

Why was she about to cry suddenly?

“Why are you doing this…?”

“Gu Gongja, I realized far too late all that you’ve done for me.”

“…!”

“…I’m sorry. Even just now, for this… I’m really sorry.”

My heart sank heavily.

It felt like a long dagger pierced through my already burdened chest.

‘How?’

Her words turned my thoughts into a whirlwind.

How did she know?

No, what did she know?

How far did her understanding go?

“…What are you saying? Don’t cry, just calm down first.”

Is she referring to what happened at the Demonic Gate?

No, because no one else should remember that besides me.

I had hoped no one would.

If not that, perhaps it was something from the time of the war?

Whatever it was, I wished desperately that she knew nothing.

“What are you talking about? I… don’t really understand.”

“…I’m sorry for causing you distress.”

“No, stop apologizing, will you?”

“…”

She looked at me with those pitiful eyes.

What variety of meaning could be hidden in that gaze?

It gave me a headache.

How much did she know?

‘Could it be she knows that too?’

It couldn’t be.

It shouldn’t be.

She must remain unaware that I became a demon for her sake.

I hoped desperately she wouldn’t know.

“Stop apologizing… I don’t want to hear that from you.”

“…”

I never intended to hear such things.

I figured it was something someone else should have taken care of.

It seemed like just bad luck that I got caught up in it.

I regretted immensely that I had to bear that curse.

But in the end, I thought it was fine.

If that person in front of me found some comfort in this, then that was enough.

“…It’s all in the past now.”

“…”

The woman flinched at my words.

All of that has passed.

It was gone and forgotten.

It should be.

“Now we can simply ensure it doesn’t happen again.”

“…”

With each word I spoke, her expression grew sadder.

Why?

What kind of face was that?

I couldn’t tell.

I didn’t know what she understood, but I hoped it too was forgotten.

That was the reason for this life now.

“Are you okay, Gu Gongja?”

“Hmm?”

“Are you happy now?”

“…Out of the blue?”

“Yeah.”

I couldn’t decipher the intention behind her query.

Suddenly asking me if I was happy.

‘Happiness.’

I asked myself, but I found it difficult to answer.

I hadn’t even had a moment to peacefully ponder what happiness really was, in this life or the last.

This world was far from finished.

To contemplate such matters, I needed every puzzle piece to be resolved first.

Only when all the piled events had unraveled would I slowly be able to look around.

That would be the moment I could truly reflect on such questions.

“How about you? How do you feel?”

“Me?”

Upon hearing my question, the woman smiled.

“I’m happy… at least for now.”

Her smiling face was so pretty that it would make my heart skip a beat.

But I felt her smile was slightly forced.

As I observed that smile, I said.

“I have something to ask.”

Now I wanted to get to the point.

My mind was buzzing with questions I wanted to ask.

Perhaps sensing my intent, she adjusted her expression.

I asked her while watching.

“…Since when?”

This question was as straightforward as it appeared.

When did she become who she was now?

Not the current Wi Seol-Ah but the one who had once wielded the Divine Sword in her past life.

I figured it must have been long before we first met.

The girl who had handed me the potato then hadn’t known anything.

“Since when have you been you? I want to know.”

“…”

At my question, Wi Seol-Ah closed her eyes for a moment.

She was organizing her thoughts.

After a few seconds, she opened her eyes once more.

And then she said to me.

“The day Gu Gongja arrived here… only a few days had passed.”

“…A few days?”

Just a few days?

Not much different from her original self. Maybe that’s why.

Now I began to understand the strange behavior she had been exhibiting all along.

Little by little, her oddities that had made me dizzy began to piece together in my mind.

‘What on earth?’

Did that mean Wi Seol-Ah was a returnee just like me?

‘Then during the war….’

She had broken through the formation of the Geumcheon Clan’s Biwaegun and all that was beyond…

“It’s different.”

“…Huh?”

While I was busy piecing everything together, Wi Seol-Ah suddenly rejected my conclusions.

Did she read my mind or something?

“What do you mean it’s different?”

“I… my situation differs from yours.”

“How so?”

As if needing to clarify her point, Wi Seol-Ah continued.

“Unlike how you’ve completely harmonized with your present body through time reversal… I’m just inhabiting the body of this child.”

“Inhabiting?”

“The body still belongs to this child’s spirit. I’m merely using it for the time being.”

So what that meant was that the current Wi Seol-Ah remained intact.

And the soul of the Divine Sword from her previous life was somewhat like Shin Noya clinging to my body.

“…What does that mean?”

What’s the difference?

If her soul had returned to her original body through time, wouldn’t that still be considered a regression?

To be precise, she was different, but fundamentally, I thought they were essentially the same.

‘Wait a second.’

Suddenly, a thought struck me.

It felt like Wi Seol-Ah had some understanding of what had happened.

While I didn’t know how she managed to get into this state,

It seemed she had some agency over it.

If that were the case…

“…Did you make me regress?”

The reason I had returned to the past could be because of the power of the Divine Sword.

Wi Seol-Ah widened her eyes as if surprised by my question but quickly looked at me with a pained expression.

“No… I wasn’t able to do that.”

‘So that’s not it.’

I had hoped to uncover the secret of my regression, but it appeared Wi Seol-Ah wasn’t the answer.

Was I relieved or was it disappointing?

Ruminating on that brought Wi Seol-Ah to continue speaking.

“If it were up to me… I would have given everything to make that happen… but I wasn’t a vessel strong enough to bear that karma. Sending me here in this state was my limit.”

Truly, the Divine Sword was the best of the best back then.

The only one to defeat the Heavenly Demon who had vanquished the Three Eminent Beings single-handedly— no wonder.

But if even she couldn’t manage it…

‘Who could?’

The World Tree said she wasn’t it.

One thing I understood was the World Tree had a history of regressing Yeon Ilcheon, meaning it was indeed possible.

That line meant that the being capable of such feats must be as powerful as the World Tree, often called the Master of the World, to regress even a single human.

‘So, who exactly?’

I still had no idea.

I knew deep down that this world wanted something from me.

How could I not realize it when the ongoing situation was laid out so clearly before me?

What a dire predicament I had stumbled into; it only frustrated me further.

Yet thankfully, I still had the opportunity to see the person in front of me once more.

I signaled to put that part on hold when she suddenly asked.

“Do you want to know…?”

I halted at the reply from the Divine Sword.

“…What did you say?”

“Do you want to know who it was that turned back Gu Gongja’s time?”

“Do you know who turned my time back?”

“I know…”

Her words made my eyes widen.

How does Wi Seol-Ah know that?

But if she did know, I wanted her to tell me.

“If you want to know, I can tell you.”

“Then of course…”

“But… you might regret hearing it.”

Just as I wanted to urge her to speak, I scrunched my face at her warning.

Regret?

What could possibly intermingle in my regression that would lead me to regret anything?

That statement felt rather ominous.

When I finally chose my answer, it didn’t take long.

“Still, I must know.”

I had regretted things many times already.

I was tired of running away out of fear of those regrets.

I needed to keep moving forward.

“I expected you’d say that, Gu Gongja.”

She seemed to know my answer even before I said it.

“I’ll tell you.”

Just as we awaited Wi Seol-Ah’s words, a gentle breeze wafted in.

A spring breeze refreshing the air.

“The one who turned around Gu Gongja’s time… isn’t me.”

Hair fluttering in the wind, Wi Seol-Ah began to speak heavily of the matter.

On this third spring after my regression, I finally discovered.

“It was the Heavenly Demon.”

The one who caused my regression was none other than her.

 

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