Chapter 18 : In a warm park

The eventful day slowly passed, and a new sun rises once again.

I was jogging in a park on the outskirts of the city, dressed in a black tracksuit.

The reason I exercise even though my physical body is anchored is simple. It hasn’t even been a month since I regained a human form, so I’ve been coming to the park every morning on my days off to acclimate myself to this body.

I’m definitely feeling the effects.

It was only a few days ago that I was flying around with a greatsword, even if my body was strengthened by magic power. At first, I started this simply because my younger sister suggested it, but as I got used to it, I think I began to get used to controlling a mortal form. I wonder, maybe Hyun-a knows more about this body than I do at this point?

Anyway, I’ve come to enjoy running as I kept doing it. Didn’t they say that if you do something often, you’ll get used to it?

Perhaps for me, this is becoming a habit.

“Huff… huff…”

I’m exhausted after running two laps around the course. I sat down on a bench in a corner of the park to cool down my heated body. As I leaned back against the backrest, I noticed the back of my tracksuit and the end of my ponytail were damp with sweat. Before, I would have regretted not bringing a towel… but it’s different now.

A geometrically patterned magic circle appears at my fingertips.

I look at it and give the command.

‘Evaporate.’

The star’s magic power, heeding my will, pulls on some function within my mind and manifests it in this universe.

The sweat all over my body evaporates in an instant, taking away the heat at the same time.

“…Achoo!”

I didn’t expect that.

I hurriedly weave new magic, filling my body with warmth, and lean back against the bench again. Well, there was a slight miscalculation, but I’m more than satisfied. This is because I no longer have to use abyss magic, which inflicts mental contamination on those around me. You have no idea how hard it’s been sneaking around using it all this time.

Sitting still, I naturally looked around.

Still leaning against the backrest, I think about this park, where the morning sunlight is gradually shining.

It’s been three years since the Gates opened and Awakeners appeared.

Most people living in this world have now accepted the changes and are putting everything back on track.

I heard this park is a part of those people’s efforts.

The only national park operating in Korea. A symbol of the people’s will that Seoul will no longer be threatened by monsters. A cluster of trees made of pure vegetation that causes no harm. A place with this kind of atmosphere is naturally new to me, who has returned from the polluted otherworld, but it seems that it has become rare for the people of this world as well.

It seems I’ve found one thing in common with the people of Earth.

I let out a quiet sigh. My essence has been so distorted and changed, and this world has also changed, creating a faint sense of familiarity.

Putting aside the sudden sentimentalism, I carefully examine the interior of the park, now full of people’s vitality. Looking at them, I gradually fall into contemplation.

In the park’s bushes, where the sunlight is beginning to shine, a faint mist rises from the nearby water.

It is the natural order of the world, diligently blooming overnight. It is also the longing of the people who created it to cover this place, which has seen so much struggle and pain. Although it inevitably fades, it will surely bloom again someday. That mist is also the essence of this park, symbolizing the struggle for life.

I watch the people coming and going in the park. Office workers in suits crossing the park. A woman jogging along the edge of the park in light clothing, listening to music. Even the elders boasting of their strength with hearty laughter. Under their various faces, they each carry their own darkness and sadness, yet they busily move from early morning to live in this world.

The will to live for oneself seemed to shine brilliantly everywhere. Simply living on without breaking is a struggle and a longing. It was the obsessive desire of the god who was once human. And now, I must be the same as them.

I watch the mist, now gradually disappearing from the world under the sunlight. I know that someday, like the disappearing mist, the day will come when the longing of these people will lose its light. But just as a cozy night will come again someday, I pray that a flame like this will bloom again in people’s hearts. …And I’ll be able to live purely among them, too.

Breaking away from my contemplation, I quietly stood up and headed towards the interior of the park. Though they may be mere plants, I wanted to give a gift to this park that has provided me with such a great sight. It just so happened that I remembered a favor I had been asked.

To fulfill that request, there would be no better place than this vast park, where life springs forth and human aspirations reside.

*

In the woods where people rarely tread, I thought to myself.

‘It seems I have a talent for farming.’

I felt that way while digging the ground with the new excavation spell I created.

I briefly considered taking up farming when the world calms down.

A farm bathed in the evening glow.

Me, wearing a straw hat and a hoe on my shoulder, looking at the field with a satisfied smile.

Of course, my family is there beside me. Not bad. Of course, since it would be bothersome, I’d have to use magic for the farming.

I focus on digging the ground again. Deep, very deep. What I will plant is the seed of a certain tree, a legacy of the one who presided over the earth and life since before the advent of the outer gods. It would be good to help it encompass the nearby ley lines. Although the mother of this child said it would grow well if I just planted it anywhere.

After some time, I succeeded in planting the seed deep. I decided to cover it with soil manually. It’s like an extension of the workout I was doing earlier. Since I’ve rested a bit, it wouldn’t be bad to move around some more. I picked up a shovel made by combining several materials in an instant, scooped up a heap of soil, and poured it into the hole.

It was while I was toiling away, covered in sweat from my battle with the earth.

I sensed a faint presence behind a tree. A monster, perhaps? I focused, and it didn’t seem like it. Probably a human form.

I quickly turned around and looked in that direction. Someone with pink hair was peeking at me, their body hidden and only their head slightly exposed. What was her name again? Baek… Hmm. Right, I remember it was Baek Si-eun, a second-year. An A-rank Awakener, right?

It’s strange to meet her in a place like this.

“It’s Senior Baek Si-eun, isn’t it? It’s a surprise to see you here.”

“Uh, uhm…”

I tried to talk to her as affably as possible. She flinched at my words and revealed herself from behind the tree. However, her hands, standing under the shadow of the tree, were trembling. Come to think of it, isn’t this composition a bit strange?

A person filling a large hole in a dark and gloomy deep forest. It reminds me of something… Was it some kind of religious ritual of a cult? Or an act of offering a sacrifice to a god? From the perspective of this world, is it because I’m destroying the forest?

I think I need to calm her down and have a conversation.

The spectrum of situations I can imagine is too wide, so I don’t know why she’s acting like this.

This is my first time trying to calm someone down… Should I start with a greeting, something pleasant…?

“G-good morning, wouldn’t you say? Did you come out for some light exercise too, Senior?”

“…Th-th-th-that? Yeah, I came for exercise…”

Fortunately, it seems we can communicate.

I breathed a slight sigh of relief. My vocabulary has returned to a normal level, hasn’t it?

As I gain confidence in speaking, I seem to be getting a sense of what to say.

“Senior, I think you’re misunderstanding something… Nothing happened here.”

“…Really?”

As if she’d made up her mind, she bit her lip and asked me.

“…Can I check?”

“Yes, you can. Come over here, and I’ll show you.”

As she came out of the shadows and crept toward me, I saw her entire body, clad in a white tracksuit. Did she come here to exercise and then follow me?

She stopped short of approaching me and mumbled something from a distance.

” ”

“Huh?”

I narrowed my eyes as I saw the magic power gathering around her. The laws of magic that she’s using to protect herself are unmistakably the star’s magic power used by the mages of the otherworld.

But that’s not how you’re supposed to do it.