AEPOB 15

Chapter 15

Something solid wrapped around me as I drifted aimlessly through the water.

Only after it pulled me in from behind, pressing us together without a gap, did I realize that something was a person.

Perhaps because I’d temporarily lost my sight, my other senses had become acutely sharpened.

*Thump. Thump.*

Through the chest pressed against mine, I could clearly hear the rapid beating of a heart.

As the only warmth I could feel in the water was transmitted to me, he cut through the water and pulled me out.

Soon, the rushing sound of water that had been tormenting my ears faded away. Fresh air touched my skin.

Only then did a wave of relief that I was alive wash over me.

In the end, I let go of the consciousness I’d been forcibly holding onto.

How much time had passed after that?

Bright light pierced through my eyelids.

As I slowly opened my eyes, a clear sky came into view.

‘Huff, am I alive?’

I sprang up and checked my body.

Come to think of it, my body was moving, wasn’t it?

Whether it was the system’s trick or not, my body, which hadn’t moved until I lost consciousness, was now finally moving properly.

I clenched and unclenched my fists. I also wiggled my feet a few times.

“Phew, what a relief. I’m back to normal.”

Not much physical time had passed, but having a body that moved freely felt like it had been ages.

It was truly a horrifying experience I never wanted to go through again.

‘Being conscious but unable to move my body freely—a half-corpse…’

Soon, a pleasant breeze enveloped my entire body. I turned my head and took in an amazing view.

“Wow……”

I looked around slowly.

A vast expanse of lush greenery, and colorful flowers blooming here and there as if decorating it.

The beautiful scenery, as if I’d stepped into a famous painting, was so perfect it felt somewhat unreal.

Moreover, the refreshing air and fragrant floral scent emanating from the dense forest even helped ease my accumulated fatigue for a moment.

But…

‘Something feels off.’

I frowned.

Because I kept feeling a sense of dissonance, as if I shouldn’t be here.

Just then, a few of the butterflies crossing among the flowers approached me.

*Tap, tap.*

The butterflies tickled my fingertips before quickly returning to their group.

A moment later, the swarm of butterflies flew away in a horizontal line. It was as if they were gesturing for me to follow.

Mesmerized by the fantastical spectacle the butterflies had created, I moved my feet like a person bewitched.

How long had I walked through the greenery?

I arrived before a massive tree. It looked like it had lived for at least several hundred years.

‘Wow, this tree is enormous.’

It would probably take four or five adult men to measure the circumference of its trunk.

Moreover, the leaves were so dense that even the clear sky couldn’t peek through beneath the tree.

It was the first time I’d seen a tree this big, and out of curiosity, I unconsciously reached out my hand.

But just as my hand was about to touch the trunk.

“You have come.”

Suddenly, a voice came from the tree.

‘D-did the tree just speak?’

I was so startled that I froze in place. The voice I heard was impossible to gauge in gender or age.

It sounded like a trustworthy voice, yet it also felt devoid of any emotion.

‘What on earth is this tree?’

I didn’t know what it was, but since the other party had started with informal speech, there was no need for me to be polite either.

“Who are you?”

“I am the one who brought you to this world. I am also the one who called you to this space.”

“What?!”

“I cannot reveal my true form, so I called you here like this to speak with you.”

The one who brought me here?

‘I’ve been wanting to meet them anyway, and now they’ve shown themselves at just the right time!’

I widened my eyes.

Facing the entity that had unilaterally carried out such a major event as possession without consulting me, the person involved, made my anger surge the more I thought about it.

“Why me of all people?”

There must have been plenty of others who wanted to be possessed.

“Because you had to come here. That is all. As time passes, you too will gradually understand the reason.”

“Reason, my foot. Tell me right now. I’m the one who got possessed, and it doesn’t make sense that I don’t know why?”

“……”

But the tree kept its mouth shut.

I even tapped its trunk with my toes, but still, no answer came.

Huh, this pattern felt familiar.

When it didn’t want to talk, it kept its mouth shut—just like the chat window.

‘Ha, how annoying.’

Neither one of them said anything beyond what they wanted to say, and I really didn’t like it.

At that moment, the tree spoke again.

“Don’t think about threatening me to send you back to your world. That matter is already out of my hands.”

‘Can it read my mind like the chat window too?’

“However, if you faithfully carry out the missions given to you, I too will use everything I have to return you to your original state.”

…Wait, the tree just mentioned missions.

And with its own mouth, it admitted that it was the one issuing the missions.

If it’s an entity that can arbitrarily issue missions, could it be a god of this world?

As expected, the tree remained silent.

‘Then what about the chat window?’

Strangely enough, this time, an answer came flying back as soon as I thought it.

“The chat window is something like a help function I arranged for you. Ah, yes. You can think of it as a consideration I gave to help you adapt to your possessed life as quickly as possible.”

Huh?

Consideration? Help?

It’s been months since I possessed this body, and all I got for hints about the original story were four measly keywords, and you’re saying that?

The voice I heard was gentle.

That’s what made it even more irritating.

Because I could tell it wasn’t intentional—it genuinely thought that way, which made me even more annoyed.

‘Hoo……’

Still, at least I finally knew exactly who to be angry at.

The anger that had been building endlessly since the moment of possession could now be unleashed.

I blew on my bangs to cool the heat burning inside me. Then I approached the tree and shouted.

“That’s bullshit! Do you know this is a violation of human rights? You brought me here without my consent!”

“Hmm, is that really so?”

“Stop beating around the bush and speak clearly!”

“It’s true that I intervened in the possession process. But I couldn’t make such a major decision arbitrarily on my own.”

“……”

“So your coming here was not coincidence, but inevitability. Remember that, Iari.”

Iari.

It was my name, one I’d forgotten all this time.

Hearing my name called after so long, I was momentarily struck speechless.

Just then.

“Abelle! Please open your eyes, please……”

A familiar voice echoed from afar, piercing my ears.

I momentarily forgot about the tree and frantically looked around in all directions.

But no matter how thoroughly I searched, I couldn’t see anyone.

There was no one here but me—where on earth was that voice coming from?

At that moment, the voice came again.

“Abelle! I can’t lose you too, not in front of me. So please open your eyes. Okay?”

Could this voice be… Kiki?

Her always-calm, clear voice had lost its composure. She was calling out to me in a much more agitated tone, so pitifully.

“Abelle! Abelle!”

Kiki’s voice, calling me over and over, echoed through the space.

‘…Ah, yes. It was you. Again this time.’

I naturally realized it.

That the one who saved me when I nearly drowned was you.

Why were you lingering around me again this time?

“Abelle, please, wake up. Please……”

The child’s voice grew increasingly tremulous. I hastily rolled my eyes.

I tried to gauge where Kiki’s voice was coming from, but the sound echoed in the air like a reverberation, making it difficult.

“Tree! Where is Kiki?”

It wasn’t intentional, but I felt uneasy, worried that I might have reminded him of painful memories.

But unlike me, who was pacing anxiously, the tree was perfectly calm.

“Iari, you often whined before, but it seems that was all just an act. Seeing a child already so desperately looking for you shows you’re adapting quite well to this world.”

I gritted my teeth.

If I had an axe in my hand, I felt like I’d strike the trunk mercilessly.

Perhaps because it had read my angry inner thoughts, which I couldn’t suppress.

Only then did the tree hastily bid me farewell.

“Look forward to the moment we meet again, Iari. Don’t resent me too much. Perhaps it was you who called out to me.”

With those final words, I had to once again experience that nauseating moment of my entire body going limp in an instant.