Chapter 113: The Weight of the Past

The new morning that dawned was not unpleasant. Those who had arrived at the new shelter did not easily succumb to despair.

They considered it a positive outcome that Han Do-hoon himself had attacked, yet they had escaped safely and without casualties.

For those who had long endured oppression and lived in hiding, even such a small achievement could ignite a spark of hope.

“That’s fine, isn’t it? No, it is, right…? Uh.”

Kang Tae-han, awkwardly wavering between formal and informal speech, scrutinized Sa-yoon’s expression.

Yesterday morning, Sa-yoon’s memories had returned. It was a truly ironic situation. These memories, surfacing at his most agonizing moment, tormented Sa-yoon for a long while, stealing his sleep throughout the night.

He spent an entire day sifting through the layers of reality and the past. Only after conversing with Jung Hyun-woo, who had been constantly worrying by his side, and putting the man who had stayed up with him to sleep, did Sa-yoon finally meet Kang Tae-han, his face drawn with exhaustion.

“Just speak to me normally, Hyung.”

“Oh. Really? Is that… really okay?”

“It’s not like my recent memories vanished.”

Kang Tae-han felt a pang of guilt over Sa-yoon’s collapse and memory loss. He was sorry that Sa-yoon had been injured so severely, and he had cared for the amnesiac Sa-yoon as if he were his own younger brother.

Sa-yoon recalled the contract he had forged with Kang Tae-han on the battlefield. As the being mentioned in the prophecy, Sa-yoon had been asked to join them and offer his assistance.

In exchange for a great sacrifice, Sa-yoon had been spirited away from the battlefield.

Yet, Kang Tae-han had forgone all personal gain, genuinely wishing for the amnesiac Sa-yoon to live a peaceful new life. It was not an easy choice to make.

Anyone else might have exploited Sa-yoon’s memory loss to harness his formidable power.

Perhaps it was because Kang Tae-han was a Rain, devoid of greed, that he differed from humans. Whatever the reason, Sa-yoon was grateful for his consideration.

“Thank you for looking after me so well. I’ve been doing fine, thanks to you.”

“No, well. It’s not like I did it to hear your thanks…. Why would you say such things? You’re making me uncomfortable.”

Scratching the back of his head sheepishly, Kang Tae-han cleared his throat with a ‘hmm-hmm’ before reverting to his usual manner of speaking.

“So, what will you do now? Will you continue to work with us? You’re going back to the battlefield, aren’t you?”

Kang Tae-han’s voice was laced with unease. Sa-yoon gazed impassively out the window before nodding.

Kang Tae-han’s shadowed face brightened considerably.

“I have to do my part, too. I’ve been quite a burden until now.”

“No. That’s not why I helped you, it’s just…”

“I know. I know you weren’t calculating anything when you looked after me all this time, Hyung.”

Having lived with him without any preconceived notions, Sa-yoon now understood clearly. An adult Rain was a creature vastly different from human standards. They harbored no greed, no ambition, no wrath.

They were a peaceful species, content to quietly settle down and await their return to nature, provided they had a space to survive.

This was contrary to all conventional wisdom. Just as Sa-yoon had resolved during his time as Seol-won, his belief that a world where humans and Rain coexist must come to pass remained unshaken.

“Before that, I need to go somewhere for a short while.”

However, there was an imperative task he had to complete before returning to the battlefield. He needed to resolve the matter that had painfully constricted his heart ever since he arrived in Korea under the name Seol-won.

Sa-yoon, pulling along a repeatedly nodding Kang Tae-han, began to move north.

Kang Tae-han gasped as he surveyed the collapsed ruins of the building. No gestures, no battle cries were necessary.

As Sa-yoon closed his eyes before the internment camp, the surrounding air shifted, and in that instant, everything concluded. It was an ethereal sight: walls and ceilings slowly crumbling as if defying gravity.

The Daejeon Internment Camp was an enormous structure, spanning over 800 pyeong. Built as a sprawling single-story facility for defense, it was an impregnable fortress that would not entirely collapse even if a bomb detonated.

Yet, such a building was instantly reduced to a pile of concrete rubble.

An S-class Esper who required no guiding was truly awe-inspiring. With the shackles unbound from his feet and the leash cast off, Sa-yoon no longer needed to conceal his abilities.

“It’s… incredible. But will you be alright? If you move so openly, others will notice.”

Witnessing this overwhelming spectacle, people would inevitably think of only one person. They would speak of it as being akin to the abilities of Jin Sa-yoon, who, though dead for years, was still consistently mentioned.

At first, it would be a mere suspicion, but if such incidents continued, others would eventually uncover the truth.

That would render all of Sa-yoon’s efforts to be forgotten through death utterly futile. Sa-yoon watched the people being freed from the building and spoke dispassionately.

“Fleeing once is enough, isn’t it?”

He had been happy during his time as Seol-won. There were no worries, no anxieties. But now, it was time to awaken from the dream.

With his mind clear, Sa-yoon examined both his current predicament and his past. He realized that the memories he had experienced as Seol-won had constrained him, and he had come to understand all the past sins he had unknowingly committed.

That was why he had come to Daejeon. The place differed from Sa-yoon’s memories. Not only the land devastated by the berserkers, but also its surroundings, had been completely destroyed, and new buildings now stood.

Observing the government’s new internment camp nestled within the once-peaceful city, he could not deny that he himself had been at the heart of that sin.

He had to rectify the wrongs he had committed himself. Before he could stand with the Rain and set a twisted world right, he first needed to properly correct his own past.

For while the Busan incinerator, which he had unknowingly built, burned countless people alive, he had lived comfortably, shielded by others, escaping into amnesia.

The nightmare he had experienced on his first arrival in Busan resurfaced: the red ribbon fluttering in the flames, the countless people turning to ash, the wailing cry of a young girl, laughing as if screaming.

‘……’

All of it was karma Sa-yoon had to bear. And the Daejeon Internment Camp was also one of the sins he had to resolve.

“Now, let’s go back. To the battlefield.”

Sa-yoon turned around, feeling unburdened. There was no time to linger here. The tasks ahead were too numerous to hold in both hands, and the problems piled high on his shoulders.

“Welcome back! Was everything resolved well?”

Min Da-hyun ran over, her face bright. After glancing at Kang Tae-han, she looked at Sa-yoon behind him, her lips curving into a wide, radiant smile.

“Hehe.”

“What’s so good?”

“You got your memories back, Hyung!”

Min Da-hyun greeted Sa-yoon with an excited expression.

“Honestly, I almost screamed when I saw you, Hyung. I was so surprised. I wanted to ask for your autograph right away, but then I was told not to acknowledge you. And you were digging a hole, thinking you were weak. I truly felt like a monk undergoing severe penance!”

“You’ve had a hard time.”

This was the moment Min Da-hyun, who had known Sa-yoon from his time in the Esper unit, had long awaited. Recalling the moment the Daejeon Internment Camp collapsed earlier still sent shivers down her spine.

An overwhelming display of power, reminiscent of Jin Sa-yoon in his prime, sent a thrill through her.

“So, are you going to fight with us now? With us? To overthrow this cowardly government…”

“Alright. Calm down. Things are still chaotic here.”

Kang Tae-han interjected, calming Min Da-hyun. He then gestured to the people nearby who were pretending not to stare at Sa-yoon. After learning that the Esper named Seol-won was the legendary Jin Sa-yoon, everyone’s gaze toward him had changed. They were gazes filled with admiration, caution, and curiosity.

“Everyone, return to your posts. Don’t make unnecessary noise and draw attention from the other side. With the Daejeon incident, they’ll be searching for us even more relentlessly. Don’t even make a sound; return to your quarters and stand by.”

Kang Tae-han dismissed the others and moved to the front. The lingering gazes that had followed them gradually dwindled. As they passed through the center of the village toward their lodging, the murmuring of people reached them from the opposite side of the village.

“What’s going on?”

“Ah, well. Actually, an Esper broke into the village a little while ago.”

Min Da-hyun, walking beside him, quietly whispered, looking in the direction of the noise.

“An intrusion?”

Kang Tae-han’s face hardened as he repeated the question. Had their newly relocated village already been discovered? Min Da-hyun shook her head at Kang Tae-han’s grave expression.

“But only one person came.”

“Huh?”

“They came to the village alone, claiming to have been an Esper team leader, and said they wanted to surrender to Air Rain.”

“…Surrender?”

Kang Tae-han mumbled, dumbfounded. Air Rain, being a gathering of people with various stories, included many who had belonged to Esper units, the government, and even the International Alliance. Most had joined under dramatic circumstances, having lost family or friends, or been betrayed, fleeing to this place. There had never been a precedent of someone walking in peacefully to join on their own accord.

As Kang Tae-han stood there with a bewildered expression, a loud voice erupted from the opposite side.

“Team Leader Sa-yoon is here! I’m telling you, if the Team Leader comes, they’ll recognize me! No, why won’t you believe me even when I say I’m surrendering? You shouldn’t discriminate against people like that.”

‘……’

Sa-yoon let out a hollow laugh at the oddly familiar voice.

📚 Also on NHV Novels

Female Body, Male Soul

DramaFemale ProtagonistGender Bender

Read Now →
Not interested