Ch.298293 – True Feelings

I woke up in a small, bland 3-pyeong room.

Looking around, I could see the familiar arrangement of furniture.

This must be the virtual reality space where I spent 7 years while trapped in the capsule.

“So this is my home. I really lived quite modestly.”

There’s no point struggling here. Nothing will change.

If I wait and wait, eventually that door will open.

Anyway, Astarte doesn’t have much power to control a physical body in reality, so it shouldn’t take too long.

And I just found another reason to wait patiently.

My eyes met directly with the woman who peeked out from under the blanket on the bed.

Her eyes beneath those long eyelashes rippled like the full moon reflected in a lake.

Though they were as dark as the blackest night, they created an illusion of being under a bright Milky Way.

Her slender limbs and pale skin contrasted sharply with her black hair, giving her a fragile impression as if she might fly away with the wind.

The woman gave me an innocent eye-smile, her aegyo-sal rising.

“Come lie down with mommy?”

It wasn’t easy to resist the temptation offered in that nightingale-like voice.

I crawled onto the bed and lay down next to her, both of us staring at the ceiling.

“Seol-ah, your hands are warm…”

Our interlocked hands were no longer cold as a corpse.

* * *

“Natural disasters are weather phenomena that occur naturally, while man-made disasters are catastrophes caused by humans.”

I spoke slowly and clearly so she could understand.

The Seol-ah I created in my subconscious listened attentively to my story.

“Then which category would disasters created by nature-like beings to destroy humanity fall into?”

“Natural disasters?”

“Yes. I think so too.”

With time to spare, I told Seol-ah the long story of my previous life.

“The seeds of mana particles called ‘Corrosion’ stimulated our human nature and devastated everything around the host. And even if the host dies, it finds another nearby host to parasitize?”

“Huu… that’s scary…”

“Right. They’re truly more persistent than cancer cells.”

I faithfully followed my master’s last wishes and created 6 clones of myself with their nature neutered by the “Akashic Record,” then transferred all the Corrosion into empty shells.

Even though they entered bodies without memories or self-awareness, the way the Corrosions formed personalities and acted like people was rather grotesque.

“I wasn’t exactly someone who believed that cancer cells deserve life. Since I created these beings, I had to take responsibility and kill them.”

After tremendous effort, I was able to deactivate all seven Corrosions and seal them in one body.

That grand plan was completed when Hiasen took my life.

“Maybe that’s when I decided to be good to children.”

Unlike the Corrosions with their predetermined doom, humans have free will and infinite possibilities.

“So were you good to them?”

“In my own way? I don’t know how my friends thought of me, but I think I did my best.”

“If NoName thinks so, then that’s enough.”

“Is it really…”

The childish play at the academy couldn’t last forever.

After all, I’m an outsider who rolled in from my previous life.

Whether it’s the reincarnated side or the side remembering past lives, the distance between my friends and me will gradually widen.

I felt this especially after the recent academy competition.

Apart from sincerely congratulating them, I clearly felt everyone except a few close friends becoming intimidated by me.

It’s similar to how people looked at me in my previous life.

“NoName, can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“What is Adella to you?”

“Hmm…”

I closed my eyes and continued my long contemplation.

I recalled how I met Adella.

Why did I never give up on Adella, who was just an NPC?

Was it simply stubbornness, not wanting to admit my weakness?

The sympathy I felt for her might have been due to a slight guilt from forcibly “collecting” the Corrosions.

“Both of us don’t really belong in this world, so we need to help each other survive.”

“So you’re friends.”

“Yes… friends. You’re right, Seol-ah…”

“Adella is so lucky to have such a good friend like our NoName!”

“Hey, Seol-ah.”

I turned my head to meet her eyes.

Her bright smile was so beautiful.

I wish I could have seen this expression more when she was alive.

“I am your daughter, but I might not be your daughter.”

“Mm-hmm.”

“Actually, I lived longer than you. There were times when I was older than you.”

“Mm-hmm.”

“So honestly… I don’t have the courage to face you properly. Maybe I’m an evil witch who took over your daughter’s body—”

“NoName!”

“Ah! You startled me!”

Seol-ah firmly squeezed my cheeks with both hands.

My lips puckered out like a duck’s bill.

“No matter what anyone says, you are my daughter. That’s an absolute fact that will never change.”

“But did you actually hear what I said? I have memories of my past life…”

“So what about it?”

“…?”

“Why can’t you just be both my daughters?”

What nonsense is this…

When I frowned deeply, Seol-ah pulled my head into her embrace.

“NoName, imagine this. What if, just what if, we had lived normally? I would have loved having a mature daughter like you. A daughter who’s like a friend, a mother who’s like a friend—wouldn’t that be wonderful?”

“Ah…”

“Besides, you were only rescued from the capsule because of your past life memories. My daughter survived bravely, and that’s why we can talk like this now.”

“When you put it that way…”

“It doesn’t matter what you experienced in your past life or how people viewed you. To me, you’re just my adorable, spoiled daughter. Yes, definitely.”

Suddenly my heart felt tight.

A hot pain traveled up my throat and into my head.

“I…”

My lips trembled and my vision blurred.

“I… I think I really wanted to hear those words…”

My voice shook.

Even as I kept telling myself to hold back the tears…

When Seol-ah gently patted my back, the tears came automatically.

Teardrops soaked her chest.

“To hear those words… hic… I’ve been… living all this time…”

My tear ducts seem truly broken.

Seol-ah gently wiped my eyes with her thumb.

Each time she did, tears streamed down again.

“If mom were alive… would she have said the same things to me…?”

“Yes. Without a doubt.”

“Mom… I miss my mom so much… I finally found a new life… I can finally catch my breath… hic…”

I wish none of this was an illusion.

I wish her warm words and soft embrace were all real.

I wish time would stop right now, with me foolishly nestled in my mother’s arms, casting aside all complicated concerns about my identity.

“You’ve been through so much…”

“I’m so scared… hic… those mean seniors… pettily using forbidden magic on me secretly…! Then denying it… My Aura Heart… I worked so hard putting in steel wires to make it… I needed to drain the mana quickly so it wouldn’t break… But the blood from my arm wouldn’t stop flowing…! It hurt so much… hic…”

A child is emotionally fragile,

Like a full cup of water that spills with the slightest shake.

I collapsed helplessly with each of Seol-ah’s touches.

But the door gap began to open slightly, and Seol-ah started to fade.

“NoName, stop crying now. It’s time to go.”

“If I were the type to cry over something like this… I wouldn’t have survived that hellish world in my past life. Right now, I’m just your daughter… that’s all…”

But this is my private room that no one knows about.

It felt comfortable and good to be able to sob sadly without worrying about anyone’s judgment.

“And NoName, you’re not disconnected from the world.”

“…What do you mean?”

“Look over there. So many people are waiting for you.”

“Ah…”

Seol-ah helped me stand up and pointed to the window with her long, slender finger.

As the door opened wide, a refreshing breeze tousled my hair.

In the space filled with endless green vegetation, I could see familiar faces.

“Our NoName won’t be lonely even without me.”

* * *

It was early dawn, with the dark blue sky just beginning to brighten.

“Yes, grandfather. I’ll meet you at Exit 3 of Express Bus Terminal Station, so please call before you arrive. Minwoo, Arin! Wake up and get changed quickly.”

Baek Hochan, CEO of Bio-Akashic, had just finished talking with Teacher Baek Bonggon and was waking up the half-asleep children.

“Mmm… where are we going…?”

“We’re going to visit NoName. She’s very sick right now.”

* * *

“Hello… I’m Daniel from the Music College at Korea University, I called earlier. Are you Shin Yeon-ho?”

[Yes, I’m Shin Yeon-ho.]

“If it’s not too much trouble, could I also get Ban So-wol’s contact information? I’m calling about NoName…”

[Yes, just a moment—]

[I’m right here. You’re calling about the hospital visit, right?]

“What? Oh, yes…!”

[We’re on our way to the hospital now, so let’s meet halfway and go in together.]

The call abruptly ended, and beside him, Yoon-sul anxiously shook her leg.

“Well? Are they coming…?”

“Yeah. Looks like they left right after seeing the message I sent.”

“Try calling everyone else you know too.”

“I’m a loner, so I don’t know many people. Our department professor…? Is that too much?”

* * *

“What kind of police investigation takes all night? I thought you’d been dragged off to the National Intelligence Service.”

Principal Gu On-yu, sitting in the back seat of the sedan, asked Professor Cheon with crossed arms.

“Just be quiet on the way.”

Professor Cheon, at the wheel, replied coldly.

His haggard appearance made him look fiercer than ever.

Teacher Jackie Carroll, who had been dragged along, had to endure the uncomfortable atmosphere flowing between the two war heroes from the passenger seat.

‘Sigh… I hope NoName is okay…’

* * *

“Astarte…? Don’t you mean Asteria?”

“Oh yeah, that’s it! That’s the LoL champion NoName always played.”

“Did she really lose her memory or what? Making everyone worried for nothing…”

“Driver, please take us to Seoul XX Hospital.”

Yoo Si-a, who had done her first collab stream with NoName, hailed a taxi with other clan members.

“Do you know anything? Any news articles?”

“The articles are all over the place. Everything from ‘there’s nothing wrong with her health’ to rumors that she’s terminally ill… everyone’s saying something different.”

“What’s going to happen to NoName… hic… what if she doesn’t remember us…?”

In the heavy atmosphere where even jokes couldn’t lighten the mood, only the sound of tires on the highway echoed.

* * *

“Hey, Ha-ru. Open the door.”

It had been three days since contact with NoName was lost.

Even after returning to the academy, Lee Ha-ru barely touched her food.

Her sister Lee Bo-reum, who was going to visit the hospital as NoName’s manager, decided to take her sister along.

“We’re going to see NoName now, so come out. I’ll give you a ride.”