Waiting For Your Reincarnation

“Ms. Zhaolin!” 

Yeon-young flinched sharply but did not let go of her hand. 

 

The ends of her sleeves were already burned to ashes and about to crumble, and her hands were transparent as if affected.

 

Her lips were on the verge of tearing from biting so hard.

 

But Zhaolin didn’t blink an eye and set her hand on fire.

 “Are you crazy? Put it out now.” “You’re the one who’s crazy. Let go. It’s for the best.” “You are crazy.” 

Zhaolin didn’t turn off the fire. Yeon-young’s entire hand became transparent with damage and began to slip away.

 

She tried desperately to pull at her invisible hand, but it kept slipping away from her.

 

Finally, she lost her grip.

 

The problem was that her center of gravity was tilted towards Zhaolin.

 

At the same time as Zhaolin fell into the sinkhole, Yeon-young’s body shook and she fell in too.

 

***

 “Ms. Zhaolin!” 

She cried out her name desperately as she fell, but there was no echo.

 

She choked on her words, unable to get any out, as if a huge lump was stuck in her throat.

 “Ugh.” 

It didn’t take long to reach the bottom of the sinkhole, which wasn’t very deep compared to its width, so it didn’t hurt to hit the ground.

 

The inside of the sinkhole was pitch black, as if it didn’t want any light to enter.

 

Pulling herself up, Yeon-young clenched her fists and pressed them to her chest. 

 

She scanned her surroundings, trying to control her confusion.

 

She could faintly sense the warmth of a wood fire burning in the distance. It was a familiar current.

 “Focus.” 

She closed her eyes and focused on the current, and as she did, she saw a mass that glowed faintly, like a flame caught in the rain.

 

It was the core of the Zhaolin. 

 

The more she concentrated on the core, the more she saw a long column extending from the mass and pointing toward her as if saying,

“Come here.”

 

She wiped her face with her hands in a thick wave of relief.

 “Thank God. You’re alive.” 

Yeon-young moved forward, using the long beam of light that stretched so far as a guide.

 

She walked blindly, relying only on the light.

 

The aura of power was closer than before, but suddenly it seemed to hover in place.

 

The red balls of light remained at regular intervals.

 

The core of the power was unstable, like a candle whose flame was dying.

 

Yeon-young impatiently grabbed the outstretched ray of light.

 “This… is it catching…?” 

The ray of light that she didn’t expect to catch came into her grasp.

 

The surface of the ray was smooth, harder than she expected, and even elastic.

 

When her hand touched the ray of light, the previously invisible stream of Yeon-young’s power became visible.

 

She traced the pink stream that connected to the ray of light until she saw a core of power clustered around her right wrist.

 “This is it…” 

Strangely enough, Yeon-young’s power seemed to be connected to Zhaolin’s power, as if she was holding on to it so that it wouldn’t disappear. 

 

Then she saw it.

 

She didn’t know what it was, but she was sure that she could get to her now.

 

With the beam of light as her guide, Yeon-young took a step forward.

 

Once she could see the flow of power, she could see everything more clearly than before, as if she had a vision.

 

The light stabilized as the core of Zhaolin connected with her.

 

Satisfied, she gripped the light beam tighter and ran toward the core.

 “It’s blinding.” 

As she began to run, temporary bursts of light appeared everywhere, like flash bombs going off.

 

It felt more like running through light than through a sinkhole. 

 

Yeon-young could barely open her eyes from the light and looked ahead. 

 

With a gasp, she let go of the light beam in her hand.

 

In front of her was not a sinkhole, but a whole other world.

 “What is this place?” *** 

Women in baggy dresses and hats bustled through the streets.

 

There was the crack of whips and the harsh sound of horses being led.

 

In the middle of the street was a procession of knights. 

 

The horse at the head of the procession was of a different breed, and it seemed to be the one in charge.

 

The lead knight was followed by two knights on either side.

 

She noticed that the two knights looked very much alike just by the way they sat on their horses.

 

The height, the way they sat, the way they occasionally looked around.

 

There was no corner that wasn’t similar.

 

Yeon-young made eye contact with the knight to her left.

 

Her helmet covered her face, but her bright orange eyes made it easy to recognize her.

 

It was Zhaolin.

 

This place was a reminder of her former life.

 “Where are we going?” 

Yeon-young took a step forward to follow the procession.

 

Then the scene changed and they were in the middle of a battlefield. 

 

The procession was in formation, ready to capture a castle.

 

Looking up at the impossibly high walls, Yeon-young’s eyes followed Zhaolin.

 

She looked like what she saw in the center. Her expression was a mixture of honesty and determination.

 

As the army led by Zhaolin shouted and ran to breach the wall, the other army fired arrows as if waiting for them.

 “Hmph.” 

Those in the front ranks were unable to dodge the arrows in time, and most of them were wounded.

 

There were even a few people who fell down with arrows piercing the center of their chests.

 

It hurt Yeon-young to open her eyes and see such a horrible sight. Zhaolin was in the middle of the procession. 

 

So there was no movement yet.

 

As more and more people fell, the roar grew louder. The walls had fallen.

 

As if she’d been waiting for this moment, Zhaolin spurred her horse forward.

 

The knight beside her followed close behind, staying to her right.

 

Just then, an arrow flew by and struck the knight to her right, right in the middle of his chest.

 “Elpias!” 

A look as if the world was falling apart.

 

Yeon-young realized what that look was when she saw it on Zhaolin’s face.

 

The knight Zhaolin had called Elpias fell from his horse and slumped to the ground, already out of breath.

 

Zhaolin dismounted and picked up Elpias’ body. Her hands were covered with sticky, black blood.

 “Elpias… If I had stuck to my principles back then, you would still be alive…” 

Zhaolin cut the string of the amber necklace around Elpias’s neck.

 

The scene changed again. Unlike Marie’s memories, it passed quickly, as if she’d seen several scenes in quick succession.

 “Elita, did you hear? We’re right behind you on this break-in.” “Oh, I heard.” 

Elpias called Zhaolin Elita. Unlike Zhaolin, Elpias couldn’t hide his smile at the news.

 

Yeon-Young’s eyes widened when she saw their faces without their helmets. They were identical, like faces cut from the same plate.

 

The only thing that distinguished them was the color of their eyes, Zhaolins’ a bright orange and Elpias’ a pale green like a field.

 

If that was the case, then the man killed by the arrow earlier must have been Zhaolin’s twin.

 “So, Elita, do you mind if I stand to your right this time?” “No, I’m on the right and you’re on the left, and I’ll get in trouble if the director finds out.” “I have the director’s permission.” “He said no.” 

The scene shattered like a broken window and flew away. When it switched to another scene, the image became even more blurry.

 

She could barely make out faces, and she knew this was the last memory she would ever see.

 

Someone was sitting in the middle of a huge hall, and at their feet were Zhaolin and her twin brother on their knees.

 

Zhaolin was to his left, her brother to her right.

 “So it is agreed.” 

The voice was deep but commanding. Just hearing her voice sent a shiver down her spine. 

 

It sprouted.

 

Yeon-young fiddled with her ears.

 

Zhaolin and Elpias bowed their heads further to show their loyalty.

 

The man sitting in the center of the hall seemed to be their lord.

 

His gray hair shone like silk. A well-built body with muscles that showed through even under his uniform. 

 

A presence that seemed to fill the room even though he was sitting in the middle of the hall.

 

When Yeon-young saw him, her heart beat as if she were alive.

 “Your face…, I want to see it.” *** 

The words came out of her mouth without her realizing it.

 

She wanted to see his face.

 

But the light shining down on the emperor was strong, making it difficult to see his face from any angle.

 

She wanted to see his face to check something.

 

But her feet were stuck, as if they were glued together.

 

The emperor held out his hand to the knights and commanded, the ring on his ring finger glowing.

 “I trust you. Build the empire… and stand…” 

The Emperor’s voice crackled and faded, like a radio tuned to the wrong frequency.

 

As if it wasn’t just the sound that faded away, the figures of Zhaolin and her twin brother, the vast hall, and finally the faceless Emperor all disappeared before her eyes.

 

When she awoke, she was back in the pit. And in front of her was Zhaolin, who had fallen into the pit.

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