Waiting For Your Reincarnation

“Ms. Yeon-young, where are you going?” “Where are you going without security?” “Ms. Zhaolin? Mr. Ryu Won?” 

The teleportation opened through the bracelet and closed automatically after a moment.

 

Yeon-young’s slender wrist was held in Ryu Won’s firm hand.

 

Zhaolin leaned against the wall of the alley with his arms crossed, watching their actions.

 

They had obviously seen her communication and were following right behind. Yeon-young relaxed her shoulders, which had risen with tension.

 “The forest. I think we should go to the forest.” “What do you mean, did you finish the request?” “I don’t think it’s about the request. This whole area is covered in Snarl’s energy. It’s dangerous.” 

At the word Snarl, Zhaolin’s face hardened. Her warm scarlet eyes scanned the streets, but when she turned around, she looked back at Yeon-young with suspicion.

 

Where the hell is the Snarl?’ she wondered.

 

She wanted to scold Yeon-young for not following the rules.

 

Yeon-young racked her brain to explain what had happened at Angelina’s shop.

 

As quickly and simply as she could, she explained that they had to go to the forest. Yeon-young used her index finger to tear the skin near her thumb.

 

Ryu Won grabbed her hand.

 “Was it bad?” 

Yeon-young stopped thinking and looked at Ryu Won’s face. It was as if all the light in the world was shining on him.

 

Ryu Won slowly waited for Yeon-young’s answer with calm eyes. He trusted her words.

 

The grip of the hand holding Yeon-young tightened.

 “I saw those smoke-like things coming out of the Snarl, heading for the forest, and the forest was already covered in it. We have to go.” 

Ryu Won was silent. He remembered what he had said a few days ago about not getting involved in anything related to the Snarl.

 

She wondered if he would stop her again, saying it was too dangerous. 

 

Her thick eyelashes twitched nervously.

 “Come with me, not alone like before.” 

His answer was unexpected. 

 

Yeon-young stared at him in disbelief. 

 

Zhaolin, who had been leaning against the wall and watching the proceedings, rolled her eyes.

 “We shouldn’t. It’s not safe and it’s dangerous.” “You go to the center and check it out, we’ll go to the forest. Yeon-young, open the teleportation portal.” “Are you saying you trust the new guy more now?” 

Yeon-young quickly pressed the teleport button on her bracelet, not knowing when Ryu Won would change his mind.

 “Wait!” 

Zhaolin, who hadn’t expected such an unexpected turn of events, was startled and jumped into the portal to stop her.

 *Shuffle* “Ugh.” 

Yeon-young let out a groan mixed with pain. 

 

She landed in a strange place, whether it was due to Zhaolin’s sudden teleportation or her inexperience with the ability, she wasn’t sure.

 

She seemed to have landed somewhere in the forest without knowing exactly where.

 “Ryu Won?” 

Yeon-young looked at her cold hands, which had lost all their warmth. Before entering the teleportation portal, she had held hands with him. 

 

But then it fell apart.

 

***

 

Obviously, only Ryu Won had moved on.

 

With an expressionless face, Zhaolin stood up and dusted off her uniform.

 “Ryu Won is missing.” “Don’t worry, he’s not a soul that would be wiped out in the middle of a Snarl horde.” 

Zhaolin stirred a small fire in her hand, replacing the flashlight.

 

Earlier, when they had looked out into the forest from the village, it had seemed undisturbed.

 

But now that they were in the forest, they were faced with a devastating scene of melted and mangled wood.

 

She hadn’t been there long when she coughed at how thick the air was.

 

There was ruin everywhere. Zhaolin looked at the ruined forest landscape and picked at the charred leaves.

 “Who could have done this?” “We’ll have to find out.” “Do you think it was the Snarl?” “The methods are similar.” 

Zhaolin continued to touch her necklace, hoping to establish a communication link, but there was no response.

 

Yeon-Young’s bracelet was also inoperative, as if it had been completely cut off from radio contact with the center.

 “At this rate, we won’t even be able to teleport back to the center.” “What can we do?” Swoosh— 

Just then, the sound of crunching leaves was heard as a Sly passed through the grass.

 

A normal Sly would have jumped forward, but this one looked uncomfortable. It lost all its light and crawled through the grass like a snail.

 “Ms. Zhaolin, there’s something wrong with the way Sly is moving.” “Let’s follow it. Stay behind me.” 

They crouched down and slowly followed the Sly.

 

Fortunately, the Sly didn’t seem to notice them at all. 

 

The closer they followed, the more they felt something thick and unpleasant clinging to their backs.

 

Zhaolin grabbed Yeon-Young’s neck and pulled her down, as if to tell her to get down.

 “The air is getting darker.” “Ming…” 

The Sly looked around and tapped the ground with his foot.

 

A geometric symbol resembling the letter N lit up in the dirt.

 

The Sly disappeared into it.

 “Ms. Zhaolin, have you seen this?” “Looks like the rumors Veronica told me were true.” 

Feeling the world around her quiet again, Yeon-Young stood up and walked over to where the Sly had been.

 

When she scraped her feet against the dirt, she didn’t see the same strange symbols as before.

 “What the hell was that?” “Get out of the way. Let me check it out, and if anything happens, get as far away as you can. We need at least one soul to run to the center.” 

Zhaolin pushed Yeon-young away from her a bit and then rained fireballs down on the ground.

 

The ground where the Sly had disappeared sizzled and boiled in response to her abilities. 

 

The firepower was immense.

 

As the fireballs covered the entire floor, Zhaolin stomped her foot on the ground.

 

With a faint vibration, the pattern she’d drawn earlier began to reappear on the floor.

 

The only difference was that it was red and vivid, and that didn’t bode well.

 “We’d better stay away from that.” “Ms. Zhaolin, for now, I think you should come out…” 

Before Yeon-young could finish her sentence, the earthquake started. Yeon-young lost her center and fell forward.

 

A red shape carved itself completely into the ground and then disappeared. 

 

Zhaolin put out the fire that was burning the floor.

 

She heard the door slam shut with a loud bang. Unlike the Sly, Zhaolin felt as if she had been denied entry.

 “I guess I’m not up to the task.” “Ms. Zhaolin, get down!” 

As Zhaolin turned around, giving up on finding an entrance, another black seal rose from the ground, and the ground quickly split in two.

 

It took only a moment for the floor to collapse.

 

***

 

The agile Zhaolin quickly dodged without stepping on the cracked floor, but the ground collapsed faster, and her feet never quite reached safe ground.

 

A huge sinkhole formed where the seal had been, and she fell into it.

 “Dodge backwards!” “Ms. Zhaolin!” 

Zhaolin had no time to think as she fell, her body moving first. 

 

As soon as the ground cracked, Yeon-young ran towards her like hell.

 

Stretching her arms as far as she could, she managed to grab her left arm with both hands.

 

But that wasn’t her only hope.

 

Yeon-young was also about to fall into the pit. She barely managed to hold on to Zhaolin’s hand as she lay on her stomach.

 

Zhaolin looked very upset that Yeon-young had saved her.

 

Yeon-young bit her lip and mumbled.

 “The necklace… Or try my bracelet, it’s an emergency teleportation…” “You know it’s jammed because you entered the forest, right? If you do that, we’ll both disappear. Just go to the center and follow the rules.” “How can I do that, I’m holding you right now.” “I’m not a person, I’m a spirit. How long can you hold me? How many minutes before you have to let go? Let go before you lose more power. “I can’t do that.” “We only have two special teams in this serious situation.” 

Yeon-young didn’t let go of ZHaolin’s hand, even though her grip was shaking from exerting so much force.

 

If she didn’t have Veronica’s strength, she knew the moment wouldn’t last long.

 

Still, she couldn’t let him go with her own hands.

 

She squeezed her eyes shut as she felt her grip weaken with time.

 

Suspended in midair, Zhaolin looked back and forth between Yeon-Young’s clenched teeth and the pit below, her eyes determined.

 

She ignited the hand that touched Yeon-Young’s.

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