TRPM 304

chapter 304

The soul settled safely into the doll.

There wasn’t the slightest bit of damage in the process, and of course, the soul retained all of its memories from life.

… Well, if there were things forgotten while it was sealed inside the book, that couldn’t be helped.

The important thing was that our ritual had succeeded flawlessly….

“Malddong…? Is that really you, Malddong?”

It meant the hero, who had once been Chairman Shin Han-ji’s friend, had truly been resurrected.

“Kyaaahhh?! Didn’t I tell you not to call me that name in front of others?!”
“That reaction… it really is you, Malddong!”
“I said stoooop!”

The doll wearing my future face beamed with delight at recognizing Shin Han-ji, who shrieked in horror.

Watching the doll and Shin Han-ji, I just quietly smiled.

With this, my goal of seeing Shin Han-ji freak out had been achieved.

“Um… Gun-woo? What exactly is going on here?”

The shaman, however, didn’t know the relationship between the two and seemed confused by the conversation.

“To put it simply, those two grew up together in the same village as kids. And before Chairman Shin Han-ji changed her name, her childhood name was… well, let’s just say it was really rustic.”

… In the Joseon dynasty, children were often given lowly nicknames like Gaeddong (“Dog Poop”) or Shin Han-ji’s original name, Malddong (“Horse Dung”).

These weren’t real names but rather pet names, usually with degrading meanings. There was a superstition that if a child had such a name, evil spirits wouldn’t bother them and they would live longer.

But Shin Han-ji wasn’t from the Joseon dynasty—she was born in the modern era, yet still ended up with the name Malddong.

And it wasn’t even a nickname. Apparently, her grandparents really registered that name in the family register.

‘If I recall from before my regression… her grandparents were uneducated and only knew the superstition about long life, so they gave her that kind of name.’

Well… putting that aside.

“… They must have been very close friends.”

No, more importantly….

“If you were friends with a Forerunner… then just how old is the Chairman…?”
“Hm? You didn’t know? Chairman Shin Han-ji is also a hero… a Forerunner.”
“I knew she was long-lived, but I didn’t realize she was a Forerunner. That means her age must be at least two hund—”

The shaman never finished the sentence.

“Enough.”

Before she could continue, Shin Han-ji radiated killing intent.

“I believe I told you never to carelessly bring up a lady’s age?”
“……”
“……”

Seeing that, we all fell silent.

“W-what? Were you always this sensitive about your age?”

But more importantly….

“Why… why can’t I move my body properly? I could’ve sworn I…”

The hero inside my doll seemed to notice something wrong.

“… Ji-min.”
“Malddong…?”
“I told you, don’t call me that. Use my new name.”
“Right… Shin Han-ji, wasn’t it?”
“That’s right.”

Only after being properly addressed did Shin Han-ji calm down, take a deep breath, and continue.

“… What year do you think it is right now?”
“What year? Well…”

Naturally, the number spoken from the doll’s lips wasn’t this year.

It was from about two hundred years ago.

“So, your memory cuts off around then.”
“… Huh?”
“Well, your whereabouts did suddenly become unclear around that time…”
“What do you mean…? Explain it properly…”

The doll’s body began trembling.

Looking at it, Shin Han-ji stated calmly:

“The present is far into the future compared to then.”

She then told him the exact current year.

“… What?”

Not just a few years, not just decades—two full centuries.

How would Ji-min, that soul, react to such a gap?

“T-that’s a lie, right? Two hundred years?!”

Denial.

“There’s no way! Don’t joke with me! Why would I suddenly be thrown two hundred years into the future?!”

Anger.

“You’re just messing with me, right? Right, Han-ji? You’re teasing me because I made fun of your name, aren’t you? I promise I won’t do that again, so… can’t you just tell me the truth?”

Bargaining.

“Two… two hundred years… ah… ahhh…”

Depression.

“… No, Han-ji, you’d have no reason to joke about something like this… so it must be real, huh…”

Acceptance.

‘… Isn’t this the five stages of grief for death?’

I waited for the soul, Ji-min, to calm down.

Not just me—Shin Han-ji and the shaman also waited patiently.

After some time….

“… Han-ji.”
“Yeah?”
“What exactly happened to me?”
“Who knows. That’s what I want to ask you.”

Ji-min, now somewhat composed, asked calmly.

“Rather than asking me, maybe it’s better to ask Student Gun-woo? He’s the one who found the doll you inhabit and the book where your soul was.”

At her words, the doll’s eyes turned toward me.

“I don’t know either. I just happened to sense a soul in one of the books at the library.”
“Exactly. So…”

How did your soul end up sealed inside your autobiography?

“… My autobiography…? Ah…”

The doll’s face reddened slightly.

“… Wait, even dolls can blush?”

The shaman muttered in disbelief.

For reference, the blush meant blood had rushed to the doll’s face. And that blood… was mine.

[Sympathetic Magic.]
[The law that similar things influence each other.]
[I made a doll resembling my pre-regression self, then infused it with my inner power and blood, turning it into something almost identical to my former self.]

So yes, I had injected my blood into the doll at the start to make this possible.

“Yeah, that autobiography of yours—though you exaggerated a lot in it.”
“Ugh… don’t tell me it was actually published…?”
“It was.”

As expected, most of it must’ve been embellishment.

But that wasn’t the point.

“… So my soul was inside that book?”
“That’s right. How did that happen? Or rather, what’s the last memory you have before waking up in the doll’s body?”
“Well… let’s see…”

Ji-min seemed troubled at the question.

And then—

Growl—

The sound came from the shaman’s stomach beside me.

Ah, right.

We’d agreed to eat lunch right after the ritual. But since it took time for the soul to calm down and process everything, she must’ve gotten hungry.

“… Shall we eat first?”

Hearing the sound, Shin Han-ji suggested it. The shaman blushed and nodded.

“Eat? Ugh… ah, right, I’m a doll now.”

At the mention of food, the doll tried to move, then sighed, realizing its body wasn’t human.

Well… the good news for a soul inhabiting the doll was—

“That doll was made using sympathetic magic, so its senses are almost the same as a human’s. You don’t need to eat, but taste is fully functional.”
“… And do I need to… you know… excrete what I eat?”
“No. The doll completely breaks it down internally.”

Originally, I’d added that function so the doll could generate energy from food instead of my inner power.

But in practice, it was horribly inefficient.

It cost 100 units of energy to digest food, yet only produced 1 unit in return.

In short, eating was a net loss.

That’s why I never used the function—but with a human soul inside, maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing after all.

The four of us decided to eat at a fast-food place outside the academy, since the academy cafeteria was closed after lunch hours.

“Woooow…”

My doll—well, the soul within it—was marveling at the menu board.

Why was it so impressed just by that?

“Han-ji… what should I eat? I can’t decide…”
“Good grief… Ah, you see, back when Ji-min and I were active, there weren’t this many menu options.”
“Really?”

Well, that explained it.

For someone from two centuries ago, it must feel like discovering new wonders.

I couldn’t help but wonder how he’d react to all the other modern inventions that didn’t exist in his time.

“Alright, I’ll go place the order.”
“Eh? Maldd—no, Han-ji? I haven’t chosen yet!”
“Just eat what you’re given.”

It might sound rough, but from her tone, you could tell Shin Han-ji was comfortable with Ji-min.

Normally she spoke formally unless it was an emergency.

But with Ji-min, she spoke casually.

‘… Though it’s weird seeing that coming from a doll with my face—the future me, no less.’

It really was jarring. If I got the chance, I should remake the doll to look like Ji-min’s original body and face.

“… Hm?”

While I was thinking this, Ji-min seemed deep in thought.

“Hey…”

He cautiously spoke up.

“You said it’s been 200 years since I came to my senses, right?”
“That’s right.”
“Then… why does Han-ji still look exactly the same as 200 years ago?”

“……”
“……”

True, we knew Shin Han-ji had lived a long time with that same appearance. But from Ji-min’s perspective, it must be baffling.

According to history lessons, the fact that some Awakened had slowed aging or longer lifespans was only revealed about ten years after the Black Fog appeared.

‘Since Ji-min’s soul was sealed before that, he wouldn’t know.’

For someone unaware, seeing a friend unchanged after 200 years would indeed seem strange.

“… Don’t tell me Han-ji was also sealed away like me and only woke up recently…?”
“… No. Chairman Shin Han-ji was never sealed. Some Awakened simply age slower. In fact, she’s one of the rare ones where aging essentially stopped altogether.”
“Ah, I see… As a woman, that’s kind of enviable, honestly.”

… Wait a second.

“… Then doesn’t that mean Han-ji’s over 200 years old now?”
“… Yes, that’s right.”
“Heheh… is that so?”

What was that supposed to mean…?

Just then, Shin Han-ji returned from placing the order.

“I’m back~. What were you all talking about?”

At that, Ji-min gave a devilish grin and said—

“We were talking about grandma’s age~.”

… He’d pushed the self-destruct button.