Waiting For Your Reincarnation Chapter 134

After ordering the execution of the Negro phantoms, Zhaolin immediately organized the groups. 

 

She divided Branch 1 into sections, and each group was assigned as few as one and as many as three sections.

 

“How do we communicate with each other if we find a Negro phantom or headquarters, since all communications are down right now?”

 

“That’s why we’ve put one physicist in each group. Use your physicist powers to shoot a beacon into the air. Whether you need backup or you see a trail, shoot something in the air three times. Is that clear?”

 

“Yes!”

 

“Then let’s move to your positions.”

 

The officers who had received the order looked rather relaxed now that they had a target again. 

 

The spirits gathered in front of the center quickly dispersed.

 

Yeon-young checked her assigned area. It was near the forest, close to the spot where the pillar had been broken.

 

“The special team from Branch 1 deliberately placed us closest to the forest area.”

 

Suddenly, he heard Zhaolin’s voice behind him, low and firm. Zhaolin’s eyes were somewhat uneasy, as if trying to gauge Yeon-young’s intentions.

 

“We’re the ones who know the geography of this place best, so I thought we should go. Don’t you like the area?”

 

“Why would you think that?”

 

“Well, I’m only asking because it’s my plan anyway. If you want, we can find a safer zone…”

 

“Eh, you said that’s where we should go, don’t you trust me, Ms. Zhaolin?”

 

“If I didn’t trust you, I’d have nailed you to the shelter.”

 

“Then why do you change your words so much?”

 

With the geography of the area more or less settled, Yeon-young straightened her knees and smiled coyly as she stood in front of her. Zhaolin turned to face Yeon-young with a stern face.

 

“I think we should go, too. This is the most perfect plan you’ve ever devised.”

 

Yeon-young conveyed her conviction to Zhaolin with sincerity. Ryu Won smirked and shook her head in disbelief at Yeon-young’s answer. Hearing her words, Zhaolin turned her back and took a step away.

 

“…Don’t be annihilated.”

 

“You too, Ms. Zhaolin. We’ll return safely and create a new Tanato together.”

 

Hearing Yeon-young’s answer, Zhaolin nodded once. The tips of her ears were as red as the setting sun.

 

After sorting out what needed to be done in front of the center, they climbed the mountain of pillars together. When they crossed the mountainside, they parted ways at a fork.

 

The closer they got to the forest, the thicker the cloudy aura. The ground was soggy and wet, and the trees had fallen in grotesque shapes, marking the spot where Jaeho had passed.

 

The White Sly didn’t like it at all and burrowed into Yeon-young’s arms.

 

Zhaolin had assigned them three zones. Yeon-young checked them off one by one, dealing with the snarls that permeated the murkiness.

 

The one closest to the middle had no new holes, but the one higher up had a few burrows and was infested with Snarls.

 

Yeon-young used her ability to find the Snarl, and Ryu Won used his ability to seal the burrow.

 

Before sealing the burrows, she checked for any other paths, but they didn’t lead anywhere. The final area was in the forest.

 

“Finally, a forest. Do you think we’ll find anything in the forest?”

 

“It’s where Jung Jaeho left the most energy, so with your ability, you should be able to pick up even the smallest clue.”

 

“Hopefully, but… Oh.”

 

Yeon-young didn’t bother to continue. She climbed up the mountain path, imagining a situation where she might have to kill Jung Jaeho with her own hands.

 

She squeezed the gun in her waistband hard.

 

“Ryu Won, is Jung Jaeho really a piece of trash that can’t be recycled?”

 

“Yes, he is, because he dared to covet you.”

 

Yeon-young glared at him in response to Ryu Won’s alma mater. He raised the corner of his mouth slightly and rubbed his thumb around the corners of her eyes.

 

“I was just wondering if he were completely involve with Negro.”

 

“Yeon-young, you don’t think Jung Jaeho has fully melted into Negro, starting with that premise.”

 

“Yeah. I mean, the way he broke the pillar makes him look like a snarl-crazed maniac, but the way he says things that mean something makes me think he’s not.”

 

“Well, whatever it is, he’s too far gone to come back, now that he’s done with the pillars.”

 

“I’m a little surprised by that. I didn’t think he’d knock out the center and destroy the pillars…”

 

“Do you want to save him again?”

 

Ryu Won’s question left Yeon-young speechless for a moment. It was like she was referring to the time she broke the taboo created by the gods and purified Jaeho.

 

“I don’t know, I really don’t know this time.”

 

Yeon-young gave the best answer she could. Ryu Won turned his gaze in the direction of the forest as if he knew what to expect. Soon, they reached the last area they needed to examine.

 

Yeon-young ducked slightly into the grass. Even though they hadn’t entered the forest yet, she could see hundreds of Snarl cores. Ryu Won must have sensed it, because he pressed his shoulder gently against hers and leaned lower.

 

“Do you think the burrows are all here?”

 

“At the very least, it looks like all the newer Snarls are here.”

 

“We’re going to have to go in, though…”

 

“I’ll go in first, and you can stay behind.”

 

The words “wouldn’t it be dangerous” were on the tip of her tongue, but she didn’t let them come out. Considering the number of Snarls he’d exterminated from Branch 2 to the emergency room, it was probably less than that.

 

Ryu Won strode forward at a leisurely pace with Yeon-young at his back, his feet hitting the pavement, and all eyes turned to them, the hairs on the back of her neck standing up.

 

Ryu Won obliterated the oncoming Snarls one by one as if he were playing a game. Yeon-young raised her gun, seeing the state of the Snarls that even Sly’s powder would not restore.

 

BANG!

 

The gunshot rang out, and the Snarls let out a bizarre sound as they lunged at them. The deformed Snarls were also in the mix, and all sorts of physical attacks rained down on them, but they couldn’t touch a single hair.

 

The more Ryu Won entered the center, the fewer and fewer Snarls there were. They couldn’t withstand the pressure of the air and their bodies were torn apart like pieces of toilet paper.

 

“There’s nothing there, right?”

 

“Ming!”

 

Ryu Won cleared a path and Yeon-young followed Jaeho’s aura, but they couldn’t find a single trace of him. Just in case, they asked the White Sly, but it shrugged it off.

 

When Ryu Won had cleared the field of snarls, he let out a low sigh and stared at the spot where the pillar had been. Shattered pieces littered the field, and the iridescent wires were tangled in a patchwork of lost light.

 

“I thought there’d be something here…”

 

“You don’t feel anything?”

 

“No…, it’s just quiet, like a natural disaster swept through. There’s nothing to catch my tail.”

 

She looked up at the sky, just in case, but it seemed the others hadn’t found Jaeho either. 

 

Yeon-young lowered her eyes and stared at the mangled blades of grass.

 

Rationally, she couldn’t think of any clues that would lead her to Jaeho’s trail.

 

“Why didn’t he dig a new burrow here?”

 

It was strange. When Yeon-young had climbed the mountain, several new dens had been created, and it had taken her longer to climb because she had to block them all, but it was strange that this field hadn’t changed except for the broken pillar. The field without Snarl was like the calm before the storm.

 

‘There’s something about the fact that they put the most snarls here. Like they’re guarding the entrance.’

 

In her mind, Yeon-young replayed the last time she’d confronted Jaeho. Jaeho had suggested something desperate, almost like he was trying to intimidate her.

 

“Kim Yeon-young, you’re always too busy forgiving me.”

 

“Get as far away from the water as you can.”

 

“So go far away, out of sight. This is my last advice to you for saving my life.”

 

As Yeon-young tried to recall the various conversations, she paused at one advice. Jaeho had told her to get as far away from the water as possible. 

 

Yeon-young thought about it backwards.

 

If she didn’t run away from the water’s edge, it would attract his attention. If they wanted to find Jaeho’s trail, they had to go to the water’s edge.

 

Yeon-young slowly turned her head to Ryu Won and parted her lips.

 

“Ryu Won, I think I’ve figured out a way to find Jung Jaeho’s trace.”

 

“What is that?”

 

“The water’s edge. We need to go to the water’s edge. But…, is there a water’s edge near the forest?”

 

Yeon-young pursed her lips in thought. Watching her lips, Ryu Won shoved his hands into his uniform coat pockets and stared off into the distance beyond the field, then slowly opened his mouth.

 

“There is neither a river nor an ocean, but there is one.”

 

“Where is that?”

 

“The lake, the one we dipped our feet in together. It’s the only body of water in the first branch.”

 

Jung Jaeho’s words about avoiding the water’s edge, the only water’s edge in Branch 1, the stones on the bottom of the lake as if someone had come and gone.

 

Listening to Ryu Won’s words, she realized that maybe the lake wasn’t just a secret place for them.

 

She had a strong hunch that Ryu Won was on to something.