Chapter 44: KIM HAEYONG

The damp earth pressed against my cheek, a cold, unfamiliar sensation. Disoriented, I tried to blink away the blurry shapes that swam in my vision. Panic clawed at my throat, a primal fear of the unknown. Where was I? Who was I? My mind was a swirling vortex, devoid of memories, a blank canvas waiting for the first brushstroke.

A guttural cry pierced the silence, sending shivers down my spine. Instinctively, I turned, my eyes focusing on a hulking creature with fur the color of twilight. It sniffed the air, its amber eyes glinting with a predator's curiosity. My breath caught in my throat. A bear? Panic surged again, a primal urge to flee coursing through my body.

But flee where? My limbs felt oddly disconnected, my attempts to crawl more like a clumsy flailing. Just as the bear lumbered closer, a figure materialized from behind a thicket. Tall and slender, cloaked in what appeared to be woven leaves, he moved like a towering fortress. His face cannot be seen, held an unsettling calmness.

He spoke, His words forming a melodic cadence that soothed the frantic beating of my heart. Though I didn't understand the individual sounds, a sense of reassurance washed over me. He picked me up, his touch surprisingly gentle on my bare skin even though he's wearing a glove of an unknown material.

The memories remained stubbornly absent. No name surfaced, no face flickered in the void. But with each passing day, a new sense of self began to bloom. Anya taught me the language of the forest, the rustling of leaves a secret code, the chirping of birds a song of warning. The wind carried the scent of approaching rain, the sun a beacon guiding us through the dense foliage.

I leaned to my left and saw a baby boy with white eyes, hair and skin almost as if he was a doll but knew he's a living being.

Just as I was confused a sudden burst of memories seeped inside my head, I cried loudly because of the pain and then, right after that the pain disappeared almost as if it didn't exist.

Just as I was recollecting my memories I remembered my name was Kim Haeyong I was doing my everyday office job and was about to pass out due to mental exhaustion and then... I suddenly woke up as a baby!? And to top it all of I didn't even know how I died!

Just as I was contemplating about something I remembered the giant man hold me, as a looked up I saw a faceless man (or helmet) clad in black armor so black it doesn't seem real and all I see was just a mouthpiece that seemed to appear as a mouth of a beast or a demon.

My heart began to pound faster but before that, I looked to the side saw the white baby calmly looking at me as if studying and looked back up and saw the black armored man and then I screamed. "KYAAAAAA!!!!!!!"