The first thing she sensed was dotted darkness.
It wasn't like the eternal blackness of the infinite void but rather tame and mundane.
Then, another uncomfortable sensation came.
The warmth was so intense, making her inevitably think of the earth's core flames. However, she dismissed it when she felt the soft fabric clinging around her body.
[Ding! System initializing…]
'What the actual fuck,' Seol Hwa was startled, deeply offended by the incomprehensible line of texts.
'System? Is this a trick from Heaven's Will?'
[Beginning synchronization…]
Seol Hwa felt something was trying to tamper with the structural integrity of her soul.
Her soul was the taboo aspect of her existence. None could touch it or try to manipulate it.
She didn't care if the system was a rule fragment or some cosmic dao, she didn't want something that wasn't born from her own efforts. The facts were clear, an alien entity called system was trying to parasitize on her soul.
'Go synchronize yourself somewhere else, you trash. This venerable's soul isn't some place for your foolery.'
Subconsciously, she used the remnant power of the [Primordial Devil Fate Reversal Scripture] and primordial eternal origin energy to slice away the causality of the so-called system.
[System error!]
[Unknown laws are overriding the system's administrations…]
[System core functionalities are down!]
[glitching @&<>%#{}… synchronization failed… system erased]
It was then that her eyes snapped open. Her gaze met with an unfamiliar white ceiling. Tiny stars luminously glowed from it. Stickers?
She could vaguely hear the mechanical sounds of something humming in the background.
'I survived?'
That was the first thought she had before weakness assaulted her.
Her body suddenly felt heavy like a pile of lead. And the warmth she had felt was the body's own retaliation.
'A fever?' Seol Hwa casually analyzed as she placed her hand on her chest. There, she could feel it. The slow thumping of a mortal heart.
It wasn't like the usual exuberant beats of her own infinite vitality. The heart of the strongest existence under the heavens that circulated torrential blood of galactic proportions. Former.
"I…am…alive?" She tried to speak as she strenuously sat up, her voice as hoarse as a sandpaper. Her mouth was dry, and it felt like the body's vocal cords hadn't been used for some time. They were almost becoming vestigial.
Seol Hwa felt some momentary fuzziness due to the simple movements.
'My gamble paid off. The [Primordial Devil Fate Reversal Scripture] managed to successfully displace my soul fragment across timelines.'
'I escaped that bitch, Heaven's Will.'
"But anyway… what the actual fuck was that 'system' entity? That was totally random." Seol Hwa muttered lightly, her brows furrowed.
It was only due to the uniqueness of her own deified soul as a partial conceptual existence and with the remaining eternal origin energy, that she managed to sever it from her fate.
'Since I've already dealt with it, I can ignore it for now. I need to focus on my current situation.'
Beads of sweat slowly trickled down her temples. Seol Hwa decided to do a preliminary physical examination of her body. She pressed her palm against her forehead, the skin warm and damp.
A knowing glint flashed in her eyes as she subsequently placed a finger on her wrist. The pulse was weak but steady.
She then checked her skin. It was unnaturally pale and unhealthy. It faintly reminded her of the Jiangshi that were bred by the Corpse Division of the demonic cult.
A cold realization hit her.
The mortal vessel she now inhabited had likely succumbed to the infection her own immunity was fighting.
She had seen death too many times and grown accustomed to it. The feel of it still lingered on the pale skin.
"Sigh…the fragility of mortality. Like a candle flame easily snuffed out by the winds of impermanence," Seol Hwa exhaled, a deeper knowledge of what had truly happened sinking in.
The former host's destiny had been ended by a spontaneous fever spike while in her sleep. Peaceful but still tragic nonetheless. The empty vessel was left fateless. And it was only with Seol Hwa's intervention via [Primordial Devil Fate Reversal Scripture], that her entire fate was renewed. The poor girl was forever gone to the afterlife.
"Don't worry. As feeble as you were, your vessel managed to house me. I'll put it to good use. Its fate is now tied to the Heavenly Demon," Seol Hwa murmured to herself. Maybe to the ghost of the young girl.
Weirdly, as an afterthought, it brought her some comfort that she wasn't the one who had erased the young girl's soul.
Her case was something possible even in the murim, that is, among the mortals. The moment someone becomes a Third-rate martial artist, mortal illness becomes obsolete.
She gently pushed away the thick but soft duvet and struggled to climb out of the small bed.
"She's so light. Girl, do you even eat?" Seol Hwa smiled a bit as she steadied herself on the bed.
She looked around the room. It was decent-sized. The walls were painted dull purple, clean and slightly minimalist with one or two posters. There was a desk with notebooks and a glowing rectangular thingy. However, something else caught her attention.
It was a framed photo.
Seol Hwa stepped toward the desk and picked it up.
The face of a dark-haired woman with a pretty, kind smile looked at her.
Without thought, without being forced, Seol Hwa muttered a word she thought she would never speak in her entire life.
"Mother."
It felt foreign against her dry mouth, but an unfamiliar feeling welled up in her chest. The body instinctively knew its life giver, the mother. And Seol Hwa found herself sharing the same sentiments.
She had also had parents in her past life. But did they qualify to be called so after selling her to the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult?
She had only been a child, barely ten. Her entire identity had been reduced to mere coins. A property.
Seol Hwa sighed heavily. "This brings bitter memories I don't want to remember now. I will treasure the bond I have now."
For the body to even subtly affect her emotions, she was sure the mother was not a bad person.
And it was a first for her to want to experience the deep love of a caring mother.
Perhaps it was also one of the peaceful things she yearned for. What her inner child wanted.
Putting the photo aside, she turned her attention to the ID card. It also had a small photo of a young girl with long black hair. She was exotically pretty but her eyes felt soulless.
"School ID. Seol Hwa. Midtown School of Science and Technology."
It was then she realized she hadn't gained any memories from the former host but was surprisingly able to read the new language. The lack of the host's memories was an inconvenient consequence she hadn't anticipated but whatever.
"She also shares the same characters as my former name. We are truly fated," Seol Hwa chuckled lightly.
A name is just a name, but she still welcomed the surprise.
"But what artifact is this?" She curiously picked up the phone. It was cool and smooth to the touch. The display glowed in response to her motion, and it only made her squint her eyes with interest.
She noticed the screen had a picture of the young girl. She looked more vibrant unlike in the school ID.
She turned it from side to side before setting it back on the wooden desk.
In the next moment, she stood in front of the full-length mirror. A sixteen-year-old girl with long, ruffled, midnight black hair looked back at her. Her tired amber eyes were different from her former otherworldly silver eyes that could instill both admiration and fear in Divine Sovereigns. She had a small frame, standing at about five-foot-seven and wearing cat-print pink pajamas. She looked like a delicate flower that needed constant care.
"The body is garbage, but there's immense potential," Seol Hwa nodded to herself. While incomparable to her transcendent demonic form, it didn't stop Seol Hwa from accepting a bit of a challenge.
She then observed her hands. There were no callouses from swordsmanship training or any form of martial arts.
'What about cultivation? I didn't feel any qi from this body.' Seol Hwa closed her eyes and tried to inspect the internal situation.
But what she got left her astounded. She opened her eyes, her lips slightly parted.
"Nonexistent meridians? No internal energy? No dantian? And blocked acupoints? Purely a waste?"
To top it off, her cultivation foundation was also gone.
The laughter left her before she could control it. It was an amusing situation. More like a tricky one if we looked at the bigger picture.
Just how many adversities had she conquered in her life?
Leaving her own body's circumstances aside, Seol Hwa opted to sense the energies in her surroundings.
'There is spiritual qi, but it's incredibly sparse. I can also sense other energies that weren't present when I was alive. It's utterly impure and rubbish.'
'Did martial arts decline or am I in a world where the natural laws are blocked?' she thought, shifting on her feet from time to time.
Knock. Knock.
It was then she heard a knock on her door. She frowned, her body shifting to a more natural stance, ready to attack at any moment.
There was only one person who lived with the former host, but she couldn't take any chances. She didn't know where exactly she was, so her instincts just kicked in and prepared for the worst.
Knock. Knock.
"Honey, are you awake?" A worried, feminine voice sounded from the other side of the door.
Before Seol Hwa could respond, a hesitant expression on her face, the knob turned, and a figure entered.
It was the woman whom she had seen in the framed picture. Her dark eyes carried overwhelming care and worry within them. Her face showed signs of exhaustion. She looked to be in her early forties, but her Korean beauty was still evident.
She was still wearing her nursing scrubs, having rushed straight home after her night shift.
Mother, Seol Hwa subconsciously thought as their eyes locked. There was no need to second guess who she was. Blood was thicker than water; the bloodline connection was unmistakable.
"Seol Hwa, thank god you are awake!" Min-Seo Park quickly strode over and pulled the statue-like Seol Hwa in a gentle hug.
"Why didn't you pick up the phone? I called six times because I was worried something had happened to you!" She hurriedly spoke with concern in her voice as she methodically pressed her palm against Seol's head. Her hand was cool and warm at the same time.
The mortal in front of her was truly daring. She didn't seem to care about anything but only her well-being. If she were still the Bloodborne Devil Empress, the human would already have been pulverized into ashes.
But at that moment, she was nothing more than someone's daughter.
"Your fever has gone down a bit. If it had persisted, I would have taken you to the ER," Min-Seo said softly as she retracted her hand, studying her quiet daughter.
"How are you feeling now?"
Seol Hwa couldn't stay mute forever. She had to talk and live this part of her new life. A new beginning. And an entirely new familial relationship.
"I am fine…mother," she said slowly, the last word a bit awkward on her tongue.
"Mother? That was…a bit different, sweetheart," Min-Seo chuckled as she casually tucked a loose strand of hair behind Seol Hwa's ear.
"Maybe it's just the hunger. Alright, come, I will prepare something for you." She took her hands and carefully pulled her, heading towards the door.
Seol Hwa quietly followed her mother, lost in thoughts.
'It seems being a good daughter is also part of the dao. Who would have thought?'
~~~<>~~~
The kitchen was small but tidy, the fresh smell of well-cooked food spreading in the air.
"Here's your food, honey. Breakfast is served." Min-Seo placed the plate before Seol Hwa, her efforts of trying to be funny met with a small smile.
Despite how tired she was, she didn't complain.
'She needs rest,' Seol Hwa noted. 'I could do acupuncture to revitalize her, but it's too early for that.'
Min-Seo then sat on the opposite seat with her own plate. It was scrambled eggs, toast, bacon and a cup of freshly squeezed mango juice.
"Thank you for the food, mother," Seol Hwa said, her eyes having never left her plate, as she dug in.
Goddamn, she had been starving and the food looked delicious.
Her current body needed nutritional sustenance if she wanted to grow back to her peak.
"You seem different today," Min-Seo commented as she watched her daughter who rarely ate, stuff her mouth voraciously.
Seol Hwa stopped mid-bite, arching her brows. "How so?"
She then continued eating, seemingly unbothered.
"You're enjoying my food more than ever. You can take mine if that's not enough," Min-Seo offered enthusiastically, not thinking about herself. The last time she saw Seol Hwa eat like that was a long time ago.
"What about you?"
"I'll cook something for myself later."
"Then I won't stand on ceremony."
"See? Even the way you speak is unusually formal," Min-Seo laughed, her hands cupping her own face as she looked at Seol Hwa who didn't seem to mind her.
'You were supposed to go to your new school today, but that can wait until you fully recover. I know you are strong, dear.' She mildly thought, more assured of her decision.
Having seen enough, Min-Seo took the remote and turned the TV on.
"Welcome to morning news. Today marks the two-year anniversary since the two monsters known as the Hulk and Abomination were involved in Harlem's destruction…" A primly dressed news reporter spoke as a picture-in-picture video played in the background.
It showed two huge green monsters fighting while throwing vehicles around, laying ruin on buildings.
It was then Seol Hwa turned her attention to the TV and witnessed the bizarre scene.
"Green demonic beasts?" She murmured, her eyes narrowed.
Luckily, Min-Seo didn't hear her since her eyes were showing signs of closing.
She lazily yawned as she got out of her seat. "I don't think I can keep these eyes open any longer."
Mwah, she gave Seol Hwa's forehead a brief smooch before tiredly dragging herself to her bedroom.
The Heavenly Demon's eyes widened at the sudden gesture. That was…
While left alone, Seol Hwa looked at everything around her, then at the TV, at what was happening around the world. Certain terms like mutants, superpowered individuals, were being thrown around. And there was also that humanoid, green demonic beast of pure rage. They were all unfamiliar.
She immediately reached half a conclusion based on her observations.
'This is definitely not murim.'
---<>----
Yu_ner's Corner:
Heyyy. I really was in the mood for procrastination but somehow, somehow I managed lol. So as you can see, chapter 2 isn't as intense as chapter 1. Chapter 1 did the heavy-lifting so I could even think of CH2. I hope you enjoy reading just as much as I stared at MS Word for hours, doomscrolled a bit, before I typed the whole thang.
But let's be for real, Seol Hwa's kinda hilarious.