It's over.
The really long, long time of the past.
"…Ah."
I was staring at a ceiling made of wood.
Feeling a raw voice escape my throat, I sighed, feeling a void in one corner of my heart. Reality seemed surreal. Was I just truly in the past?
Upon opening my eyes, I found myself lying on a soft bed.
[…Have you awakened?]
"It feels odd. As if the dream was abruptly cut short."
In a word, filthy.
Yet, contrary to that sensation, my mind was clear and organized. It seems Baekyang did something while I was unconscious.
I lifted my hand to inspect my arm, which had been injured. I flexed each finger. They were fine.
'The mana circuit… it's still intact. That's a relief.'
I rose from the bed.
Feeling stiff as if I had been sleeping all day, I stretched and loosened my shoulders.
"Uuuugh…"
After stretching and rubbing my eyes, after a listless yawn and even re-tasting my mouth.
Let's pull myself together.
"Let's sort this out."
I turned my head to ask her.
[...]
Baekyang was dyed pitch black. The little bit of blue that was there had vanished. It looked like a tree on the verge of death, its bark cracked. Perhaps it will soon dry up and die. The World Tree, which has lived for ages, faces death.
My heart felt cold, but I easily pushed through that emotion.
"Dying is dying, but we need to know what we need to know. First off, how long can you live?"
[Not much time left. Is that the first thing you say after waking up?]
"Yeah. But I can at least pray for your peaceful death."
[Hehehe….]
Baekyang sneered and then began to speak.
[I cannot speak against the timeline… I couldn't say anything in the past. First of all, the past where you were is indeed the past.]
"What does that mean?"
[A repetition without origin.]
Past, present, future.
My level of knowledge didn't compare to the World Tree. Even if I came up with hypotheses, I had no way to prove them.
So, until now, foolishly, in one corner of my heart, I had been acting solely on guesses and feelings, wondering, 'Could it be this?'
To go against time? Wow…
It sounded easy, but in the world I was in, it's a realm of imagination. Entropy could not decrease, so it's essentially impossible. I vaguely knew such stories, but I was not at the level of an expert.
My realm of expectation is made of creation and feelings.
"More details."
[I don't know the details of my own abilities either. Only a being beyond the World Tree… an absolute being would know. Whether such a being exists, I do not know.]
Still, there's a bit of a hunch. Baekyang continued.
[Your guess is correct. The things you did in the past are now the history of this world.]
From the beginning, I went to the past from this point in time.
And the things that happened in that past have passed, and those events have come back to me.
It's a loop, in essence.
I understood up to there.
The problem was with other things. There were too many parts I still didn't understand.
"Was I sent to the past to change the future… wasn't that it?"
[What I've been told is yes. But even I can't know everything.]
I went to the past to change the future, but the actions I actually took seem utterly unrelated to the future.
[They are not unrelated.]
Right. I could think that way. I crossed my arms and pondered again.
'Improvement of skills, forming connections…'
Baekyang received a prophecy from the future and sent me to the past. The reason was unknown to Baekyang, and when asked about the future, she only had a vague idea.
But… this tree showed me the future? I still vividly remember seeing Seyeong dying.
How many times had I argued about that? Was she saying now that such a thing wouldn't happen?
[The direction of the power, as it develops, becomes more versatile. The future I showed you… in some way, it is indeed the future.]
"What do you mean by 'in some way'? Are you going to keep speaking in circles?"
[Sorry. I might leave behind a power, but I do not have the strength to fully grasp it.]
What's the point of arguing with a half-dead thing? I clicked my tongue roughly at Baekyang's words.
If I think back to what I had heard before, it meant the future where Seyeong died could be prevented.
Variable future and invariable future. Preventing the extinction of Dowon was impossible with my power alone.
After much thought, I opened my mouth.
"Listen carefully."
Calmly, after a long contemplation, I laid out my hypothesis.
"First… I understand that your power is very strange. With it, a connection has formed between the present and the past, and between Dowon and me."
[That's correct.]
"Then, similarly, has a connection formed between something in the future and the current present, causing someone to instigate my journey to the past?"
[…That seems to be a high possibility.]
"Why do you sound so unsure?"
Let's assume that's correct and summarize.
Past, present, and future. Something with a power similar to Baekyang's had strangely intertwined, connecting the timelines of these three places. The purpose was to change the future. Baekyang, having received a signal from the future, hastened our meeting and sent me to the past.
The Baekyang I met on the first day didn't know what I should gain from the past.
[That was initially the case.]
"So you know now?"
[To some extent. I can intuitively sense what becomes the link to the present and will be used in the future.]
Baekyang's role was initially just to send me to the past. She even said so herself directly.
So, Baekyang, by my side, roughly grasped intuitively what I needed to do by watching my actions.
"…Really?"
[Living a thousand years, it's natural to have such insights.]
"So what was I supposed to do?"
[It's hard to pinpoint exactly. But if it weren't for you, those sisters would have died right there. That was the first thing.]
Skill improvement involved delaying the destruction of Dowon and preventing the deaths of the peaches.
[Another task was to remind Cheonma of his dream.]
This seemed to refer to a conversation I had with an old man during my training.
[To develop Dowon… creating connections with several people. That was what you were supposed to do.]
This referred to the actions I took in Dowon.
[From my experience, one minor action often leads to significant changes. Your memories from the past… will be a great help in the future.]
So, in some way, it helped.
Many connections have been made.
And if my actions also applied to the present… Cheondo, Baekdo, Hwangdo. What happened to their memories?
[They do not change.]
"…Why?"
[The current present includes the history of what you did in the past. Nothing changes. It's just that the memories of the past have returned to you.]
"Does that mean something else caused those three to lose their memories of me?"
[Exactly. Perhaps… it's a curse related to the World Tree.]
"Is that also a thousand-year-old World Tree's intuition?"
[Hehe… Not intuition, but certainty. I'm certain that after the death of Cheonma, that family received a mark. They must have forgotten all traces of the World Tree. You are one of those traces too.]
"I'm a trace of the World Tree?"
[Didn't you come to the past through me? Well… even saying this, the curse of the World Tree has not been fully revealed yet. But I know how to break it.]
Breaking the curse of the World Tree… A curse?
-The Peach Tree family, yes. They were not so honorable.
I remembered the words I heard during my first meeting with Cheondo.
-The deeds of the past surely extend to the future. If it's called a curse, then it must indeed be a curse.
Born from the same body in the same era. Those words had a high chance of being made up. Said in passing, they could have been a mix of half-truths and half-lies.
That curse was the curse of the World Tree. Did Dowon receive the curse as it fell?
"Hey."
[Yes.]
"When the curse of the World Tree corroded the family, was there a case where three bodies merged into one?"
Baekyang answered my speculation nonchalantly.
[It's not impossible. Such a form of curse does exist.]
"…Why not kill them and instead curse them?"
The more I thought about it, the more there was to ponder. Why did the World Tree not kill Cheondo and instead leave her? And why was Baekdo cooperating with the association?
'Jung Homun.'
If that man had helped the three settle down, then the latter question would be resolved. To survive, some level of understanding was necessary. Joining the association would have been inevitable.
[It might have been impossible to kill them.]
"Why?"
[…Why Cheonma is treated similarly to the king of the dead at this point in time, I couldn't know just from what I saw. Maybe he stirred something up before dying.]
Was that all I could predict for now? There might have been a dramatic negotiation between the World Tree and Cheonma.
Then, how to break the curse?
The World Tree of Time, reading my gaze, did not hesitate to speak.
[To kill the World Tree that cast the curse. A curse once cast… will not be lifted unless the tree that cast it dies.]
"What kind of being is it?"
[I don't know that much.]
Killing it would restore the memories. I closed my eyes. The tasks I needed to do began to take shape.
"So… they have no memories of me at all?"
[Vaguely. They would only know the information. For instance, the parts you taught them.]
Hwangdo had a talent for magic. About that aspect. It seemed more imprinted on their instincts and feelings rather than known through memory.
"Then, was their unusually close behavior towards me also thanks to that?"
Baekyang gave no answer. Was that too speculative? Since she couldn't confirm my memories, she couldn't give a definitive answer.
Still, there was a possibility. The unusual favoritism I received from the master was real.
"I roughly understand."
I organized my memories in my head.
First, Dowon eventually fell. Cheondo survived, and cursed, their bodies merged. I came to the past to change the future because the memories of what I did in the past have a significant impact. I had to be wary of the future where the teacher dies because it could very well happen. If things stayed the same, the future would lead to catastrophe.
I was forcibly made aware of the past that the teacher never spoke of. I learned of a past that couldn't be spoken of. That alone was a significant gain.
That I couldn't trust the association. That the number of World Trees I had to kill had increased.
"But if there's a set point in the future, doesn't that mean I can't change it? It's fate."
[You are the only one who can change it.]
"Why are you so sure?"
[Because he did it.]
The King of the Dead. The more I heard, the more he sounded like a ghost story. Digging deeper only revealed more unbelievable tales.
[I believed I could do anything with my power until I met him.]
In short, if I followed the path of the King of the Dead correctly, even the predetermined timeline could be twisted. It was dizzying.
[Have all your questions been answered?]
"Yeah, roughly."
I stopped thinking and lay back, looking up at the sky.
My heart felt heavy. Now I had to meet Jin Dallae, Lee Seyeong, Sansuyu again, and that unpredictable Guseul too.
[Then… may I close my eyes?]
"Do you have any last words?"
I sat up again and looked at Baekyang.
Baekyang, seemingly surprised by my question, rustled her branches. The sight of the bare branches, not a leaf in sight, was pitiable.
[It was a short time, but I was happy to have conversations with you.]
[Not saying it out loud… but I was happy you gave me a name.]
"Yeah."
[I also wanted to experience sex with a human.]
"Pfft. Damn… do you have to say that now?"
[I can't, and I'm about to die, so it's something I can leave behind.]
"If you're reborn, come find me. Then… I might be able to fulfill what you wish."
[Heheh. Reincarnation. I personally don't believe in it. But if I am reborn, I will come to see you.]
Baekyang's last bit of magic gathered at the tip of the barren branches. Yellow petals formed and fell before my eyes.
I picked one up and spread it on my palm.
[It's a power. The last power I possess that you can use now. Swallow it, and it will be a great help later.]
A delicate flower, belying its age. I put the flower into my mouth right there, with Baekyang watching.
A corner of my heart feels warm. It's as if I've drunk a strong liquor.
[…This is a bit embarrassing.]
"Done."
[And, um. I shouldn't say this to you, but please don't hate the World Trees too much.]
"I'll keep that in mind."
If there was a friendly World Tree, I wouldn't necessarily attack it. If it weren't for Baekyang, I would have just treated it as any big tree and burned it down. But there must be trees with such personalities elsewhere. Trees that I could casually chat and gossip with.
[Then… Mr. Lee Shiheon.]
"Yeah."
[I'll go first.]
Thud. Rustle.
The branch in front of me broke. Like a sandcastle swept away by the wind, it turns to dust, leaving only remains.
The sky cracked. The bed I was sitting on sank to the floor. My body floated, and my consciousness faded.
-Flash!
A shaman appeared before my eyes. Seeing her face, I could intuitively know.
"I'm back."