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Silence descends.

Time passes as we face each other.

We stare at one another without uttering a word for quite a while.

No, it couldn’t have been that long.

It doesn’t seem like much time has passed, but in this heavy atmosphere, it feels like an eternity.

Swoosh.

As Taechon disappears, dust particles scatter in all directions, getting lost in the extreme light of the night sky.

Then, as two moons slowly point toward the two of us.

“Ah…”

The first to speak is the woman, Yeohwa.

What should I say? Where should I start?

In that fleeting moment, she ponders deeply, grappling with her thoughts.

How did she let that name slip out?

Did she perhaps recall something?

Is it true that the forgetting has been lifted?

While she struggles with countless questions she wishes to ask, she remains in silence.

“Yeohwa.”

“……!”

Gu Yangcheong speaks to her, his expression somehow weary.

“Is that your name?”

“…….”

Yeohwa, having heard that, gradually relaxes her widened eyes.

Feeling relieved by Gu Yangcheong’s words, she realizes something.

Her name is still Mu Myung (Nameless).

*

‘Remember just one thing.’

As all choices came to an end, the ancestor spoke to me.

‘If you return, just utter a single word.’

What word should I speak? As I gazed silently at the ancestor, unable to comprehend.

‘Yeohwa.’

A strangely familiar melody escaped his lips.

Yeohwa?

‘It’s Yeohwa.’

A name I’ve heard before.

Yes, this is a name. Someone’s name. As I repeatedly mutter it as if it were familiar, I turn to ask him.

‘What is this? Whose name is it?’

Whose name is it, really? The ancestor speaks with lowered eyes.

‘It is the name of the unfortunate one.’

‘The unfortunate one…?’

‘Yes, the name of the unfortunate one. Because it’s a name that no one will remember.’

‘What…’

‘Stop with the extra words and remember it. If you don’t fulfill this, I won’t respect your ‘choice’ either.’

‘…….‘

I had to nod my head at those words in the end.

It was nothing significant.

Just a single name to utter.

So simple, so straightforward that I nodded.

If that will do, I will do it as many times as necessary.

Thinking that way, I accepted it. When I opened my eyes, I instinctively blurted out the name.

“Yeohwa.”

Just two syllables. My eyes, hardly open. A word spat out in a painfully aching body.

What followed was an overwhelming darkness.

Is it night? It seems to have been night even before I lost consciousness.

As I judge that and try to open my eyes…

‘It’s cold.’

An unusually cold sensation enveloped my whole body. From where is this feeling coming?

How can it be so cold and dark?

It felt strange to merely call it night.

So, with a bewildered mind, I look around.

Splash.

A subtle sensation beneath my feet.

It’s water. The wet, splashing water flows abundantly under my legs. I feel discomfort as I gaze ahead, unable to grasp the situation.

Where is this water flowing from? I look toward the starting point, following the current.

A massive gate. A black iron gate that seems to be made of iron stands open, and the water bursts forth from inside.

‘What is this?’

What is this water?

Just touching it gives me a sense of vastness. Stumbling from the feeling of floating, I turn my gaze forward again.

Only then do I notice something standing in the distance.

Who is that? The one standing alone at the core of the water current.

They appear fragile, as if about to collapse. Yet they do not move.

As I watch that pitiful figure, suddenly—

Swish.

The woman who was standing there looks toward me. As our eyes meet, upon seeing her sorrowful gaze, she speaks.

“Yeohwa.”

Creak.

Clink.

The moment the words are uttered, a sound of something being submerged accompanies the clearing of my vision.

The dark space vanishes, and stars are shot into the sky.

Beneath the bright extreme light, the original world appears.

“…….”

And thus the darkness, which had vanished.

No, it hasn’t vanished. It looks like it did vanish, but once it cleared, it revealed even more darkness.

The rising darkness now draped over the woman’s body.

Swish.

The darkness covers her like flames. Upon closer inspection, it strongly resembles a cloak.

What could that be?

Aside from its unusual form, the purple eyes looking at me restore my senses.

‘Heavenly Demon.’

Heavenly Demon.

Though it takes on a distant and otherworldly form, she is indeed the Heavenly Demon.

“Is your name Yeohwa?”

Suppressing the discomfort coursing through me, I ask.

“…….”

No reply returns.

The Heavenly Demon widens her eyes at my words, and slowly begins to revert her expression.

Disappointment.

No matter how dull I might be, I can clearly tell what that expression means.

Why does she look so disappointed?

‘Yeohwa.’

What significance does the name the ancestor instructed me to call have?

“Who… are you?”

The one whom no one remembers.

Thus, did they call her an unfortunate being?

I want to ask.

Who in the world are you?

Hearing that question, the Heavenly Demon raises the corners of her mouth slightly.

“Nothing is more futile than the expectations you have.”

With a precise, dry smile, she speaks.

“Even though I know this very well, if I get my hopes up again, it just means I am still weak, regardless of how much time has passed.”

Swish.

The amount of flames flickering along the cloak draped over her shoulders grows.

“How did you know? No, you probably don’t need water.”

The Heavenly Demon speaks to me, as if she has discerned something.

“That’s what he told you inside you. If that’s consideration, then I would thank you, but tell him not to do it again next time.”

“…….”

It was a strange sensation. The more I heard, the more it felt.

The more I looked at that form.

“……You.”

The being currently before me is.

“You are the Heavenly Demon.”

Not the innocent woman I had come to know in this life.

But the Heavenly Demon I recognized in my previous life.

As I realize this and speak, a smile forms on the woman’s lips.

“That’s enough.”

“Enough for what? Who are you? What is going on here?”

The Heavenly Demon of the previous life.

Facing her brings clarity. Yes, that is it.

A presence vastly different from her current form.

Exuding allure yet arrogance. Alongside that, she carries the pressure of a supreme being while emitting an inconceivable energy.

“There are times when not knowing is necessary.”

“……You’re talking nonsense. That’s not what I asked. What the hell is your identity?”

My face contorts as I speak. The body that utters these words feels somehow empty.

A broken vessel. It seemed that it was that way because it hadn’t been properly restored.

“Why did you bring me back? No, did you originally have the memories?”

Did I have memories from my previous life? If so, why act like you didn’t know?

Moreover, what was the reason for bringing me back?

As I question her like this, the Heavenly Demon smiled bitterly, just as before.

“There was no other choice. It was the only way.”

“……No other way?”

The only way was to send me back.

The words from the Heavenly Demon twisted my expression.

How nonsensical that explanation is.

“That’s not an excuse.”

The only way to send me back, she says.

What kind of ridiculous excuse is that?

“What do you want from me? What’s your purpose?”

I’ve heard from the ancestor.

The one who had the greatest influence when my predetermined fate was twisted was the Heavenly Demon.

This is not a coincidence but inevitability.

The Heavenly Demon, knowing everything, urged me to make that choice.

I could not comprehend it.

“……Why?”

Why did you carry out such a deed? With what intention did you do that?

No matter how many times I ask, the Heavenly Demon’s reaction remains the same.

Just a dry smile and an enlightened expression.

Yet I did not cease my words.

“Whatever. Whether you changed my fate or whatever, that’s fine. But.”

I glare at the Heavenly Demon.

“How do I know you?”

You called me Yeohwa.

It seems that is her name. But.

‘I know this.’

I knew the true name of the Heavenly Demon.

I should’ve known, even if I didn’t understand it exactly.

But I don’t know. Yet I need to know.

This contradictory feeling culminates in discomfort.

‘Why don’t I know this?’

Why am I unaware of this?

Not knowing is driving me absolutely mad.

That made me overly sensitive.

I frowned and said, “Do I know you?”

“…….”

At my question, the Heavenly Demon closes her eyes.

In an instant, silence passes.

“Well,”

The Heavenly Demon says.

“Everything you are asking… I cannot answer.”

She shakes her head. With each nod, the haze dissipates.

“You need to recall it yourself. Otherwise, there’s nothing I can explain.”

“……Then who should provide the answers? Who should inform me of what I don’t even know?”

The Heavenly Demon listened to my words and laughed without answering.

And then—

“You know.”

She uttered words entirely different from my question.

“I don’t have much time, so…”

She certainly appeared composed, yet there seemed to be a quivering in her tone.

“Could you call me just once more?”

“What?”

What could she possibly want to be called?

I didn’t think long.

It felt absurd for her to request that in this situation, and claiming there wasn’t enough time sounded ridiculous as well.

To say something like that in this moment?

I felt taken aback, my face contorting in bewilderment.

Yet, amusingly, my mouth spoke otherwise.

“Yeohwa.”

I calmly uttered the two syllables.

“Yes.”

At those words, the Heavenly Demon said,

“Thank you. I missed you too. We’ll meet again later.”

“What….”

As I was about to respond to her unexpected words.

Crash!

The pressure surrounding the Heavenly Demon dissipated, causing her to collapse.

“……!”

Before she hit the ground, I rushed forward and caught her.

At that moment.

Rumble!!!

I heard a ripping sound, and someone appeared, tearing through dimensions.

…….

A silent woman with brown hair.

Yarang.

 

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