149. Confrontation (6)
At some point,
Mijung, who had been holding my hand tightly, disappeared from my side.
Instead, Mijung, standing in the middle of the forest far away, came into my view.
Mijung, frozen as if time had stopped.
Soon, the pause was released.
The sound of the wind that had stopped came rushing in, and the bushes and leaves fluttered.
Mijung also walked quietly and entered the deep forest.
“Mijung! Mijung! Hey!”
“Ugh, uhh······.”
No matter how much I called out from behind, there was no answer.
Mijung just kept looking ahead and moving forward.
In the dark forest where I couldn’t see an inch in front of me, she relied only on a single candle.
[It’s no use. This is just a manifestation of memory, so there can be no output value other than the data in the subject’s head. No matter how much you try to interact, nothing will change, so just watch.]
“Is Mijung watching this too?”
[Yes. I stopped rewinding and started playing again, so from now on, I’ll be watching this scene through my old eyes.]
That means Mijung is in there now.
Trapped in a body that moves on its own.
She has no choice but to watch what happens from now on.
“Gasp, gasp! Gasp······!”
Mijung continued to dig through the forest without rest.
She seemed familiar with the forest, skillfully stepping over fallen trees and passing through bushes.
Following behind her, I realized belatedly.
These trees.
This terrain.
It’s definitely Sancheong Forest.
However, I don’t feel as much yin or magic as the current Sancheong Forest.
It’s just an ordinary forest that’s just lush.
Nothing more, nothing less.
The unexpected fact that Sancheong Forest was so refreshing just 10 years ago came as a shock.
It makes sense that the pleasure city Cheonan was built to suppress the yin, but it didn’t exist at this point.
Then how did all that yin come about?
“I found it! Moonhwan Flower!”
At that moment, Mijung climbed onto a large rock and her face lit up.
There was a small flower bud between the cracks in the rock.
Soon, the dark clouds cleared away.
A large full moon illuminated the rock, and the flower bud bloomed.
A round, silvery-white flower like a full moon.
Moonhwan Flower.
It’s one of the highest-grade medicinal herbs, an ingredient in the elixir.
“With this, my mother’s illness will be cured······ Huh?”
At that moment, Mijung’s body stiffened.
At the same time, my instincts reacted.
Before I knew it, I was standing in front of Mijung, on guard.
Even though I knew it was useless to block her······.
“Ugh?”
In front of me.
A cave inside a sheer cliff.
An enormous amount of magic was flowing out from inside.
“I’ll go check it out.”
Leaving Mijung, who was trembling and frozen, behind.
I slowly stepped into the cave.
It’s a familiar place.
This is definitely where Guiho trained Mijung, Sogong, and me.
However, the owner of this magic is definitely not Guiho.
But for some reason, I feel a familiar magic.
The owner of this is······.
-My child······-
A faint voice made me frown.I will never forget.
A voice that strangely resembles Myeong-i’s.
Kali’s voice is heard from the depths of the dark cave.
-You’re out of luck. How dare you touch the flower I raised······-
Kali clicks her tongue.
In the darkness, blazing red eyes are raised.
Two gazes run towards me.
I immediately drew my sword and swung it, but the black figure with red eyes was not affected.
It passes through me.
“No······!”
It’s a stray dog.
A stray dog that has turned into a vampire.
The dog quickly escapes the cave and crawls onto the rock······.
“Gyaak?! Aah! It hurts! Ah!”
It attacks Mi-jung and bites her thigh.
Watching the scene.
I couldn’t do anything.
Mi-jung just wails in pain.
The blood drains from her skin and she gradually turns pale.
I can only watch her eyes turn red.
“Ah, ah······.”
The stray dog lowers its head at the sound of the whistle and returns to the cave.
A long time later.
Mi-jung is puzzled to see that the bleeding has stopped, and she stumbles back the way she came.
“No. Don’t go. Mi-jung. Stop, please······.”
Not knowing that she is dead.
Not knowing that her body is getting cold, Mi-jung desperately heads home.
Mi-jung’s body, which has become a vampire, jumps over trees and rocks with ease, passing the road much faster than when she came.
“I’m here······.”
Mi-jung arrives in the village in an instant.
She finds a faint light and sighs in relief,
On the way to her house.
“Hmm······?”
She stops for a moment at the sound of something inside the fence.
Mi-jung tilts her head with her pupils glowing red.
The foreign body disappears from her pupils, and Mi-jung crosses the fence as if possessed and grabs the cow and bites it.
“Oh my! What’s going on! What are you doing now!”
“Prey······.”
“Oh, what?! Get away! Get away!”
Mi-jung kills all the cows.
She also bites the neck of the farmer who runs out in surprise at the sound of the cry.
Leaving behind the slumped cows and the farmer, Mi-jung heads home in a daze.
The farmer opens his eyes with his eyes turned red.
The farmer also loses his foreign body and enters his house, where screams echo.
The scream that was one spreads to two and three as the red light spreads here and there.
Vampires spread throughout the village in an instant.
However, Mi-jung doesn’t care about that.
She just heads home.
Holding a white flower tightly in her hand.
Mi-jung, who finally finds her house, opens the door wide.
Inside the open door.
Mi-jung’s family, who had woken up from their sleep, gets up with a fuss, and Mi-jung smiles.
“Mom······ Dad······.”
A hoarse voice comes out of Mi-jung’s mouth.
For a moment, it seems like she regains her sanity, but that’s only for a moment.
Mi-jung is quickly drawn to the vampire’s instincts and runs.
“Aak?! Why are you doing this! Why! Why! Aah······!”
“Sister, come to your senses! Sister! Euaaa!”
The white flower falls to the ground.The flower bud that lost the moonlight closes its path.
In the dark, suffocating room, the bud struggles for a long time and bleeds.
However, there was no blood on the inside of the flower that had already closed.
The fierce resistance stopped.
When Mijung’s family was scattered and became cold corpses.
Belatedly, Mijung’s sanity returned and she hesitated.
“Ah, ah······.”
It’s panic.
Confirming the tragedy before her eyes.
Mijung’s mind is collapsing, realizing who did this.
I want to wrap her up right away, but my arms can’t reach Mijung and just pass through.
“aaa!!!”
Mijung screams and runs out.
In the meantime, flames are soaring all over the village.
The horrific scene of people biting and killing each other unfolds here and there.
Mijung, who had already satisfied her bloodlust, regained her calm reason.
Even though she wants to blend into this madness, she can’t.
Mijung alone cries and despairs in the situation caused by the plague she brought.
In the midst of the chaos, a huge spider monster crawls out of the darkness.
He stretches his arms into Mijung’s house, picks up a white flower bud, and slowly disappears.
Her teeth are chattering.
This whole tragedy was caused by that bastard Kali.
“Because of me······! Because of me······. aaa!!!”
Despite Mijung’s desperate screams, the ghouls ignore them and leisurely roam around looking for their next prey.
No one cares.
No one cares for the maddening Mijung.
The creepy sound of ghouls coming from all directions sounds like a curse on Mijung.
In pain.
In agony.
And in guilt, Mijung is gradually dragged down into the abyss.
The face that was full of emotion gradually fills with despair.
The screams stop and the expression hardens.
It’s really a painful scene to watch.
Mijung closed her mouth and hid her emotions.
She could never laugh out loud again.
This is how Mijung became Mijung.
“Are you going to leave it like that······.”
I couldn’t just stand there knowing the future.
My body moved on its own.
Even though it was clear that I couldn’t reach it, I reached out.
I reached out to Mijung, who looked unusually small today.
I know it’s already happened.
I know that nothing will change the past no matter what I do here.
Still, I didn’t stop.
That moment.
Something in my bag seemed to ring and then stop.
My hand touches Mijung’s shoulder.
“Mijung.”
“Yes······?”
Did the wish come true?
Instead of passing through, the hand gently lands on Mijung’s shoulder.
A trembling vibration is transmitted.
The cool sensation unique to ghouls is transmitted.
Since she became a ghoul not long ago, there is still some warmth left.
[How is that possible! How? How did you touch it? This world is just a manifestation of memory······!]
Ignoring the old man who was startled and glowing, I hug Mijung, who looks up at me with empty eyes.
I share the warmth of my arms.
I breathe into Mijung’s heart, which she lost long ago, the warmth that has not yet died.”It’s not your fault.”
I wanted to say those words.
I only wanted to convey those words.
Because I knew that any other words would only hurt her.
“It’s not because of you. It’s not your fault······.”
I couldn’t tell her not to be in pain.
I couldn’t tell her to be happy either.
I was the one who brought back this memory that had traumatized Mijung.
From Noble mtl dot com
I was the one who made Mijung face this painful memory again.
I couldn’t say such hypocritical words.
There was only one thing I could do.
Just hold Mijung quietly in my arms.
Let her know that I was here, and that I would be here in the future.
No matter how painful it was, I would be on Mijung’s side.
No matter what happened, I would help Mijung.
I just wanted to let her know that with me, she could face any past and overcome any future.
“Sob, sob······ Ugh······.”
Her face, which had been expressionless, began to contort.
Her stiff muscles relaxed.
She began to frown and cry.
“Uwaaah!”
And Mijung buried her face in my arms and cried.
She cried sadly.
Shedding the last of her tears.