“I merely returned my sister’s soul, which had been flung into another world, back to its original world.”

The words of the High Priest resurfaced again. Rukna covered her mouth.

“Sister, where are we?”

Can this child see me?

“I don’t remember anything. My heart is pounding and I feel extremely sad, but no tears are coming out. It’s strange.”

Just as the child hung her head, a small light appeared above her and fluttered in the air.

“Oh? It’s a firefly.”

The child smiled brightly and followed the light. Go, let’s go together! Rukna ran along as well.

They arrived at the familiar orphanage. The person who took in the child with no relatives was Sister Agnes.

“Oh my, who are you?”

At that question, the child who had lost her memories tilted her head and recalled an image.

A huge piece of iron sinking alone in the deep, dark ocean.

“I’m… an anchor.”

“Oh, really? Did you perhaps come from Yulyeongdong? There’s a port there, so there are many boat people.”

That’s why she must have introduced herself as an anchor. The sister made that guess while tilting her head.

“I’m going to be the anchor that supports the world from under the water. Someone told me that. I’m certain they said that was my name, but…”

Waaah! The child finally burst into loud sobs and began shedding tears.

“Oh my, oh my, that’s quite a splendid nickname, so why are you crying?”

“Waah, waaah.”

“If you need another name, shall I give you one? After having a warm cup of cocoa, that is.”

The sister held the child’s hand, went inside, and served her a cup of cocoa with marshmallows floating in it.

She then explained that the name Ha-yoon she gave her meant “deep and vast waters below.”

That’s how the young Rukna became Kim Ha-yoon. Her image slowly vanished, and then Ha-yoon eating at the orphanage appeared.

Everyone was gathered in groups of three or five, but Ha-yoon was alone.

“That kid is a bit odd. Why is she so distant?”

“I know, right? She makes even those who look at her feel depressed.”

Listening to the whispers, Ha-yoon awkwardly used her chopsticks, her eyes empty.

But when a firefly appeared beyond the cafeteria window, she finally smiled.

Next, Ha-yoon as a middle school student appeared.

Delinquent students were eyeing Ha-yoon, who was moving supplies into the gym storage room, with a crooked gaze.

“Hey, there goes the orphanage kid.”

“The little bitch who refused to buy bread for us yesterday, saying she had no money? Crazy!”

“The more I think about it, the more annoyed I get. Shall we play a little prank on her?”

“What kind of prank?”

“I heard she has claustrophobia or something, so she didn’t even ride the Ferris wheel on the field trip. How annoying.”

The students exchanged glances and giggled as they followed Ha-yoon.

‘Yeah, I remember that incident. It’s when those jerks started calling me the possessed kid.’

They waited until Ha-yoon entered the dark storage room and locked her in a racket storage cabinet.

Click, they even locked it, so Ha-yoon was stuck there until the PE teacher came.

“What the, she’s just staying silent like a dead mouse? I thought she had claustrophobia.”

The students tilted their heads, looking at the quiet cabinet.

They thought she would cry and beg to be let out after something like this.

“Did she faint?”

“She’s probably just putting on a show. Let’s go.”

As they said that and tried to leave…

Thud. Thud.

The sudden sound made the students turn around.

“What, what is that!”

A small glowing mass was slamming its body against the lock.

“Ahhh!”

The students flailed their arms and legs as they ran out of the storage room.

Someone accidentally knocked over a shelf, causing the volleyballs stacked on it to rain down and litter the entrance.

“It’s a g-ghost!”

The students who tripped over the balls got tangled with each other in a panic.

With a pale light, the lock shattered and fell to the floor with a thud.

As the terrified students let out another scream, Ha-yoon barely managed to get out of the cabinet.

While trapped, she had covered her mouth and didn’t make a sound.

She had been engulfed by the fear that someone would come to grab her, so she desperately held back any noise.

Huff, huff. Ha-yoon took rapid breaths and picked up the lock that had fallen to the floor, throwing it hard at the students’ feet.

“Ah, that almost hit me!”

“If you ever pull something like this again, I’ll throw it at your face next time.”

Ha-yoon’s appearance was pathetic, with a pale face and a trembling voice, but to the thoroughly frightened students, she looked like she was possessed by a ghost.

That was likely because Ha-yoon’s body was faintly glowing right now as if embraced by a white light.

Though that light quickly faded as if its life was extinguished.

Ha-yoon turned her back on them and slammed the storage room door shut as she left.

“Hey, open this right now, you psycho!”

“If you come out, you, you’re dead meat!”

The terrified students rattled the metal latch, screaming.

“That door opens by turning the latch and pulling, you idiots.”

Ha-yoon brushed off her hands and returned to her seat.

With that scene, everything that had unfolded like a hologram in the air disappeared.

‘So this is… telling me that I was Rukna Closet?’

That my soul crossed into the wrong dimension, lost its memories, and became Kim Ha-yoon? You’re telling me to believe this?

Is that why I couldn’t settle down anywhere and was always on the outside? Why I couldn’t shake off that lonely depression?

I thought it was all my fault and resented myself, unable to cherish myself. But now, who should I direct this arrow of blame towards?

Rukna wiped the welling tears and stared at the place where the past had been reenacted.

‘But what was that light that saved me earlier and then vanished?’

Mom’s last words about watching over me from anywhere suddenly came to mind, but she shook her head.

She didn’t want to consider the worst case scenario here. She didn’t want her life to become even more pitiful than it already was.

‘I was really Rukna Closet.’

Rukna looked around, wiping away the tears that kept blurring her vision.

Now all that remained was the silence of space, without even the faintest noise.

Being alone in this desolate void, the realization of her existence hit her even more clearly.

At the same time, Rukna’s hands began emitting a white light that soon spread throughout her body, making her whole being sparkle.

‘This is…!’

Even without anyone explaining, she knew. The sacred power that had been dormant in this body had been unleashed.

The immense amount of power, too much to handle, welled up as if it would burst her entire body.

‘My body is getting heavier and heavier… Ugh!’

In that moment, Rukna’s body plummeted downward.

Falling faster than it had risen, her long tail traced a beautiful path like a shooting star.

Of course, the person herself felt differently.

Ahhh! It was a short span of about 5 seconds, but the terror of her insides twisting was considerable.

In the face of that fear, even the sadness of the past became an emotional luxury, burning away and disappearing as she entered the atmosphere.

Soon, her body crashed into the ground with a bang and her vision turned pure white.

Rukna, who had snapped awake in the temple, abruptly sat up and covered her mouth.

Everything in her stomach surged upward, nauseating her. Ugh!

“Are you alright?”

The High Priest, who had been standing guard right beside her, stepped back and asked about her well-being.

Huff. Huff.

Rukna wiped her mouth with her forearm and propped up her upper body. She was still sitting in the same chair as before.

Her eyes were swollen and heavy, evidence of how much she had cried.

“My goodness, you just awakened your latent power and it’s already so amazing!”

The High Priest carefully approached again and smiled with satisfaction as he checked her sacred power.

“I look forward to seeing how tremendously powerful you’ll become once you train as a priestess.”

“Hah, didn’t the salary negotiations fall through earlier?”

Rukna, having gathered her wits, slowly looked up at the High Priest.

“I have a question, Your Holiness.”

“Please ask.”

“Am I really Rukna Closet?”

“If that is what you wish to be.”

The High Priest gave an ambiguous answer.

Not wanting to dwell on it, Rukna immediately asked the next question.

“Then what happened to my other half that was in the original world?”

“She nearly became a sacrifice to taint the sacred sword but narrowly escaped, though she couldn’t avoid death. And in that moment, you returned to that body.”

“Is there no way to find out those memories? I need to know who is responsible for doing that to my other half.”

“It will be difficult since that soul has been extinguished. However, if the memories are that shocking, your body will likely react in front of the culprit.”

At his answer, Rukna silently thought of someone.

Her clenched fists trembled without her realizing it. After a moment of silence, Rukna continued her questions.

“Your Holiness, did you know all of this from the beginning?”

“…To some extent, yes.”

“Then you should have helped me a bit earlier. My life was so pitiful.”

Aren’t you a clergyman who helps the unfortunate? Rukna lowered her head.

Of course she knew. She wasn’t the only one shouldering such misfortune. But she couldn’t help feeling disappointed.

“Now that you know about your past, do you feel sad? Do you pity yourself?”

The High Priest sat in the chair across from Rukna and smiled bitterly.

This girl too would someday realize the cold will of the heavens – that human fates should not be meddled with so carelessly.

“Forget it. Don’t even think about recruiting me as a priestess after I graduate. I will never entrust myself to a swindling temple that turns a blind eye to the unfortunate.”

“My, my. I risked my life to bring your sister back to this world, and this is how you treat me?”

“Why did you even risk your precious life for that? Even if it was a mistake, I had already become Kim Ha-yoon. You should have just let me live that way.”

Yes, she felt like her very existence was a mistake in this world.

She thought it was all her fault that her family died, and having survived like that, she was upset at herself for being so ordinary without anything special.

Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say she strived to be ordinary.

She had to work relentlessly every day just to get grades barely on par with others and earn a little less money than them.

She thought she would become skilled at everything once she was an adult. But amusingly, no age ever made anything easy for her.

When she struggled a bit to get a cozy home with moldy wallpaper and a small window, she briefly pretended to be a grown-up.

But the rent that others easily handled felt too difficult and heavy for her thin wallet, making her disheartened like a child.

Even if such a self returned to this world, how much meaning would it have, and what could she accomplish?

It would be fortunate if she at least didn’t become a stain.

“Now that I’m actually back like this, it feels like everything has just gotten tangled up.”

Rukna covered her face with both hands.

What was it like at first? She had thought, since she got this second life anyway, she would just earn a decent living and live well.

It was better when she knew nothing. To think the only blood relative of Closet had such a pitiful core.

Doesn’t the future of this world seem truly hopeless?

“Do you still feel like you’re a mistake in this world, Sister?”

“Do I seem at least somewhat decent in the eyes of Your Holiness who risked his life to bring me back?”

“Hmm, well… If you think you’re a mistake, then I suppose you are.”

“What kind of High Priest are you, seriously.”