Ch.13646. The Truth of Memory (3)

Hong-ok stared at me blankly.

She who had always looked at me with distant, sorrowful eyes. Even now, her gaze seemed somewhat similar.

But this wasn’t the Hong-ok from my subconscious imagination. Just as she had embraced me moments ago, Hong-ok had substance.

So the Hong-ok before me felt like a clear human being, not a ghost. I couldn’t understand what was happening at all.

Still, in this completely unfamiliar place, I felt reassured that the first person I met was Hong-ok.

‘Come to think of it, Hong-ok. You’re shorter than I expected.’

I had thought Arin was quite short, at about 157cm. Hong-ok, who seemed even smaller than Arin, appeared to be around 154cm.

‘No. That height might be normal.’

Hong-ok, the Vermilion Bird’s egg. So Hong-ok wasn’t human but a Gear, closer to a divine beast.

If Ju Seohwa was Hong-ok’s past life and true form, and if that woman existed during the time of the Eastern Empire.

Hong-ok must actually be from a very long time ago. That height might have been above average for that era.

‘Wait, that’s not what’s important right now…’

Hong-ok, now facing me, grinned broadly. Then suddenly, she started crying profusely.

“You… with you… like this again… hic… sob…”

She wept torrents of tears. She kept wiping her eyes with the long sleeves of her priestess robe, but once started, her tears wouldn’t stop easily.

‘What on earth is going on?’

This seemed more bewildering than standing before the Great Demon. Come to think of it, Hong-ok had just told me something.

‘She definitely called herself my lover, right?’

It was obviously an absurd statement.

There are people who cherish Ancient Gears like their lives, but I’d never heard of a hunter dating a Gear.

‘To begin with, Gears that manifest with specific forms and will like Hong-ok… probably hardly exist.’

Even comparing with Windcutter, another Gear, Windcutter didn’t have a human form like Hong-ok. It was more like a spirit whose will could only be vaguely sensed.

Anyway, Hong-ok’s tears showed no sign of stopping. Unable to decide what to do, I hesitated before reluctantly approaching her.

“Maybe you should calm down a bit…”

I carefully embraced her and patted her back. Her crying seemed to pause momentarily.

“You… you embraced me!”

And after saying that, just as she had embraced me from behind earlier, she nestled strongly into my arms.

“Sob… I… even if I were to die now… in your arms, I would have no regrets…”

As she started crying again, I could only remain still.

‘Was Hong-ok always like this?’

She was like a younger girlfriend acting spoiled with her lover. And Hong-ok had inexplicably referred to herself as my lover.

Though I didn’t understand why, this might be normal for the current Hong-ok. I had no choice but to continue comforting her.

“…… Still… just crying like this would be a burden to you. I’m sorry. But I can’t stop my feelings…”

Saying that, she lifted her head from my chest and gently closed her eyes.

‘Don’t tell me she wants a kiss?’

I couldn’t keep up with Hong-ok’s behavior at all.

For me, I had just emerged from the secret cave in the Mythic Religion temple. Meeting Hong-ok so suddenly was perplexing enough.

But somehow, the atmosphere made it feel wrong to refuse. We were in an unfamiliar field, and if I wanted to get any clues about this place, Hong-ok was my only source.

As I lowered my head slightly, I could see Hong-ok’s small face and lips. Her red lips trembled slightly.

For someone who had boldly demanded a kiss, she seemed extremely nervous. Since she was considerably shorter than me, the way she desperately tried to match my height seemed both pitiful and cute.

‘What on earth is happening?’

Reluctantly, I lightly pressed my lips against hers. Hong-ok’s body trembled, perhaps in surprise.

But she nestled even deeper into my arms. I quickly pulled my lips away.

“Mmm… why… why did you pull away so soon?”

At that moment, our eyes met. Her tear-stained red eyes sparkled. She looked slightly angry.

“You had no problem sharing deep kisses with women like Yuri Tarkovskaya and Yeon Soso or Seong Arin! Am I not allowed?”

And then, names of three people I never expected to hear from her mouth.

Just as Hong-ok said, like an obsessive lover, she urged me to kiss her. Rising on her tiptoes, she quickly wrapped her arms around my neck.

“Oop…”

Soon, her tongue crossed my lips first.

Her warm and soft tongue quickly intertwined with mine. And so, the two of us shared a brief kiss while standing.

***

Hong-ok and I left where we had been and walked side by side.

It was a place I had never been before, so I had no idea where to go, but Hong-ok kept walking without stopping.

“Hmm~ Hmm~ Hmm~!”

She even hummed an unidentifiable tune. And she absolutely refused to let go of my hand, which she held tightly.

Since my stride was wider than hers, I walked slowly while Hong-ok walked relatively quickly. Perhaps because of this, she seemed very excited.

It wasn’t easy to start a conversation with Hong-ok, who looked so happy.

No, whenever I tried to make eye contact to speak to her, she avoided my gaze, perhaps embarrassed by our recent kiss.

‘I didn’t know she had such a shy personality.’

Hong-ok had always been desperate to save me. And always, her will transmitted through the Mana Heart was full of sadness.

I had thought of Hong-ok as having quite a mature personality.

‘Come to think of it, I still don’t know her age.’

The woman called Ju Seohwa I saw in my memory, probably in a temple of the Eastern Empire. And Hong-ok, who was likely her reincarnation.

There was no difference in appearance between Ju Seohwa and Hong-ok. Perhaps she had sealed herself as the Vermilion Bird’s egg exactly as she had been as Ju Seohwa.

‘According to the Shanhai Classic, that ancient text.’

Ancient Gear, called Ancient Divine Weapon in Mu Kingdom language, has will embedded in it. So there are cases where souls or wills that were originally human are sealed as they were, according to the records.

I thought Hong-ok might be such a case. Until then, Hong-ok, who had only been humming and silent, suddenly spoke to me.

“Um… by the way… my lord. Don’t you think it sounds too old-fashioned when I call you ‘my lord’?”

I hadn’t thought so, but it did feel a bit awkward.

“You can call me whatever feels comfortable. But Hong-ok, aren’t you older than me? Like… a few thousand years?”

Hong-ok was startled by that. She exclaimed.

“No, absolutely not! It’s true that I’m older than you now, but when I decided to become the Vermilion Bird’s egg, there wasn’t much age difference between us.”

“So you were in your early twenties, something like that?”

“Yes! That’s right! After becoming the Vermilion Bird’s egg… until you found me again, I was asleep. I didn’t age in that state.”

“But you’re still older now, right?”

Hong-ok fell silent at that. Then she carefully said to me.

“Do, do you dislike older women? But… you… I mean, in your past life… you were definitely older than me…”

Hong-ok lowered her head. She looked somewhat dejected. In truth, I didn’t care whether Hong-ok was older or younger.

She was just a precious Ancient Gear, no, a person who had sacrificed everything for me.

Like my memories with other women, I found myself thinking of her with affection. I interlaced my fingers with hers and said.

“Well, either way is fine. You are you… you’re just Hong-ok to me.”

“Can I take that in a good way?”

I nodded. Hong-ok smiled shyly with a happy expression, her face turning red. Then she carefully said.

“But it’s a bit strange for lovers to use such formal terms… so… I’ll call you gege (哥哥).”

Gege was definitely an old-fashioned term used by women in Mu Kingdom to address their lovers. It felt awkward to me too, but I had no intention of objecting if it was Hong-ok.

‘Hong-ok is my lifesaver after all.’

Without her, my Mana Heart would have collapsed long ago, and I would have died.

And right after entering this space, I felt much closer to her than I had perceived Hong-ok in reality. Perhaps Hong-ok knew about my past life.

The connection with the woman called Ju Seohwa in that past life seems to have been very deep.

‘Right. I came here to find clues about that past life.’

Hong-ok gripped my hand even tighter. Then she said.

“Then to help you recover the memories you want to know about… I’ll guide you, gege. And also…”

Hong-ok looked into my eyes and continued.

“And please call me Seohwa instead of Hong-ok. Ju Seohwa. That’s my true name.”

I nodded to Hong-ok, no, Seohwa. The two of us continued walking.

***

We hadn’t walked long, but it quickly grew dark around us.

However, neither of us was perturbed. Not far from the field was a large castle.

A massive Oriental-style castle, not Western. It looked similar to ancient Chinese dynasty castles. There were guards blocking the gate.

But the two of us passed through the gate without any trouble.

“Can those people not see us?”

“Yes, gege. This space is… created by a mixture of our memories, and the Vermilion Bird’s power that remained in the ancient temple of the Mythic Religion.”

I quickly checked the system. The system’s notification window flows and displays time just like in reality.

But now that clock was stopped. As Seohwa said, this place seemed to have no connection to reality.

Inside the castle, it was as bright as day. The castle grounds were vast enough to contain an entire city.

With lights illuminating the entire place, it was literally a city where lights never went out even at night.

“This is the capital of the Eastern Empire that existed in our past lives. And it was so prosperous that the market lights never went out even late at night, but…”

However, though the lights were bright, soldiers stood at every corner with weapons, wearing extremely tense expressions.

It wasn’t ordinary tension. It was a terrible fear, as if facing imminent death. That fear was evident in the soldiers’ expressions.

KYAAAAAAAH-

At that moment, a massive roar echoed throughout the castle. It wasn’t a simple roar. The soldiers involuntarily fell to their knees at the sound.

“Ah, no!! The Red Dragon… The Red Dragon has really appeared!”

My eyes widened at the mention of the Red Dragon. Red Dragon. That name was another term for the apocalyptic evil god that would manifest on Earth.

I looked at Seohwa. She nodded.

“The Red Dragon… your past life… no, the curse of that evil god that continues to you even now…”

And a terrible storm of demonic energy swept through the area.

“Seohwa!”

I grabbed Seohwa tightly. And to prevent her from being blown away by the wind, I embraced her.

Then I looked up at the night sky again.

“That’s the Red Dragon…”

A massive red dragon had appeared there, looking down at the ground.

And the moment my eyes met the dragon’s ominously sinister pupils, I felt a terrible headache.

Memories of my past life began to return, bit by bit.