episode_0147

Temulen.

With all his past veiled except for being from the northern region, he suddenly appeared one day.

With a faintly grayed beard, he unexpectedly showed up one day and surpassed all young magicians to graduate as the top student from the academy.

His graduation thesis shattered several existing theories and shook the academic world.

Numerous attempts were made to recruit him.

However, Temulen rejected all wealth and honor, declaring that he would build a tower of magic.

The established Blue Tower and Red Tower strongly opposed this decision.

An inexperienced newcomer in the academic world, building a brick house and tarnishing the name of the tower sparked protests.

Despite the opposition, Temulen’s tower, painted white, was eventually erected.

Temulen soon began to invest substantial funds to gather resources and people.

It was a somewhat unexpected topic at the time, delving into the study of souls.

After about five years had passed.

The research results of the White Tower began to be revealed to the world.

And the study of souls, believed to be useless by all, shook the entire magical world.

The fundamental definition of magic changed.

The principles of magical action were altered.

Everything had to be uprooted and rewritten from the ground up.

As a result, the protests from the Blue Tower and Red Tower ceased abruptly.

The magical community officially recognized Temulen as the White Tower Master.

Temulen quickly rose to fame.

Despite receiving various awards and honors, Temulen never showed his face anywhere.

At that time, he was hidden underground in the White Tower.

Building on the research results of the tower, he finally reached a new level.

“Now… I can see souls!”

A vision that only some spirits could be seen.

He had gained the ability to see souls.

Some souls were clear.

Some were murky.

Some were bright, while others were dark.

Initially, just observing various souls brought joy to Temulen, who would lay sky observation magic and spend time looking down from above.

Then one day.

He discovered the owner of a unique soul that could not be found anywhere else.

“What are you doing?”

The color of the man’s soul was diverse.

The expression ‘colorful’ was not accurate.

His color was not ‘combined’ but ‘overlapping.’

It seemed as if several souls were gathered in one place.

He even suspected that the man had acquired the ability to see souls like him and had taken others’ souls.

But the way the souls overlapped so naturally made it seem too effortless to be someone else’s soul.

It was as if the same individual had lived multiple lives.

“Let’s observe for a while…”

Several months passed.

And the man gradually increased the frequency of looking up at the sky.

As if he had noticed the ‘gaze’…

And this time, the place the man was heading towards was none other than here.

The White Tower.

Temulen trembled with excitement.

“You’ve come!”

He was caught.

He finally caught sight of this extensive observation magic that no one had noticed.

Excitement and thrill spread throughout his body.

He had been conducting preliminary investigations from a distance, afraid to approach first.

But the subject came to him first.

Feeling his heart race at the thought of studying that peculiar soul, Temulen exclaimed, “They still don’t know me well. Do they remember? My expertise is not something so trivial. Me, and what the White Tower is studying. That is none other than the soul.”

“Soul… What do you mean?”

“What do you think is the criteria for distinguishing people and defining one person?”

“I think it’s memories.”

“Interesting opinion. But you’re wrong. It’s the soul.”

“If souls are the same, does that mean the person is the same?”

“That’s exactly right.”

“…”

“Seems like you can’t agree.”

I can’t agree.

Just because souls are the same doesn’t mean they are the same person.

In every iteration, Jil, Yuri, and Yerina were different people.

Each made different choices in the same situations, went through different processes, and faced different outcomes.

Memories with each of them are precious.

But they are no longer here.

Apart from my memories, there is no trace left of them.

Those kids who have already disappeared will never come back.

Just because souls are the same doesn’t mean they are the same person.

I can assert that with certainty.

“The soul is bound to the body itself, but memories are stored in a specific organ called the brain. The soul lingers for a while even after the body dies, then dissipates and flies through the dimensional wall to the afterlife, but memories vanish along with the brain. Memories are just data, nothing more or less. The soul is more fundamental.”

“That may be true. But my opinion remains unchanged. It’s not a conclusion reached by sitting at a desk and using a calculator, but an experiential conclusion.”

“You’re quite stubborn. That’s why you came to me thinking I’m a ‘memory expert.’ What do you want from me?”

“I want to retrieve the lost memories of this child.”

“…”

The old man’s eyes softened.

A look of surprise on his face.

What did he expect…?

“If the memories were physically erased due to brain damage, there’s nothing I can do.”

“It’s okay. It’s a psychological issue. The memories are undoubtedly in this head.”

“Then it doesn’t matter. Can I start the procedure?”

“Please. What is the price for…”

“Haha. Fate is fate, so there’s no price. It’s not a difficult task, so don’t worry about it.”

“…”

He’s known for being busy, yet he’s offering it for free?

Doubts start to creep in.

Come to think of it, this old man.

There’s something unsettling about the way he looks at me.

It’s a ‘look’ that I’ve felt somewhere before…

When people look at someone’s face, they usually focus on the eyes or the bridge of the nose.

But this old man’s gaze is strangely focused as if he’s looking inside me.

‘Gwiho?’

Taesu Gwiho was exactly like that.

When he looked at my soul and licked his lips with anticipation.

After a moment.

The old man’s focus slightly shifts.

And then he looks straight into my eyes.

“Follow me. The human brain is a sensitive organ, so we need precise equipment and magic. We’ll have to borrow the facilities underground.”

“Yes. But, Master Matapju, don’t you see souls?”

“…”

He stops in his tracks.

Now the doubt turns into certainty.

Indeed, this old man has a vision beyond human.

‘In the second iteration, did he take an interest in my soul?’

The reason I didn’t have a chance to meet this old man in the first iteration is simple.

I was ordinary.

I had a normal soul, living a normal life like everyone else.

But as I regressed, it seems that some trace of my soul remained.

In the second iteration, the old man must have approached me after seeing that trace.

And from the third iteration until now, I couldn’t find the old man…

Perhaps with each regression, my soul has changed so drastically that it became too terrifying to approach.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“…”

A firm denial.

With those words, the old man fell silent and continued to walk down the hallway quietly.

“Why deny it? Do I need to hide the fact that I can see souls?”

“What did you intend to do with my soul?”

Or perhaps…

Could it be that this old man from the second encounter…

Has played a prank on my soul?

Has he left a mark within me that my future self will recognize?

Suddenly, a chilling sensation spread throughout my body.

.

.

.

“Ahhhhhh!!!”

As I walked down the hallway,

Temerin screamed internally.

From a distance, I didn’t know.

I couldn’t imagine that this man’s soul would be so grotesque.

I debated whether to approach him when I first saw him.

That was the right answer.

No, the real answer was to escape from the mortal world and never meet this man again.

“Multiple personalities? No, multiple egos? No, should I say multiple souls? What kind of monster is this!”

This man’s soul was so unique that it was disturbing.

Clear one moment, murky the next.

Dark one moment, bright the next.

It created a strange and tangled form of soul with various meanings.

But when he looked at Temerin.

In an instant, all the scattered meanings converged and unified into one.

Question.

When all those egos expressed doubt at the same time, Temerin almost opened his mouth and screamed.

“Is he a reincarnator? Or did he die and come back from the afterlife?”

Various possibilities flashed through Temerin’s mind.

Then, the warning from the Holy See came to Temerin’s mind.

Beware of intelligent monsters invading from the other world.

Even Elvengard had issued a similar warning.

And there was a sinister rumor circulating among the people.

“The Great Demon…?”

The rumor was that a Great Demon from the afterlife was making contracts with people and granting them power.

Temerin’s pupils shook.