Location: Aether Temporal Research Base, Gangwon Province – 4:43 AM
The skies above Gangwon were bruised with a purplish hue as if the universe itself had forgotten which color dawn should be.
Inside the high-security temporal base, Dephnie stood in a circular chamber surrounded by monitors projecting data streams and flickering holograms. Lines of light mapped every recorded version of her life—some known, most unknown.
Woo-jin tapped at the console. "I found something... a rupture timeline that branched off twelve years ago. One where you and Lee Gon never met. Your mother survived that crash. You never entered that bookstore in Busan. You lived a full life… without him."
Dephnie stepped closer. "Why does that matter now?"
He hesitated. "Because the creature is hiding inside that version of reality. It's rewriting everything—starting with your past."
Suddenly, the room trembled.
A soft ringing echoed in Dephnie's ears. She staggered back as her vision blurred. The monitors now showed only one line. All others had vanished.
Woo-jin's voice faded into static.
And then—
Silence.
Location: Alternate Seoul – 2013
Dephnie woke up in a different body.
Same face. Same age. Different soul.
She stood in a modest bookstore near Dongdaemun, wearing a faded green coat, a name tag pinned to her chest. The smell of old pages, morning coffee, and spring rain surrounded her.
People bustled outside. No guards. No palace. No monarchy.
Her phone buzzed.
"Dinner with Omma tonight. Don't be late. Love you."—Mom.
Dephnie blinked.
"…Am I dreaming?"
She rushed to a mirror. Her reflection was… her own. But different. Softer. Simpler. Her long black hair was in a loose braid, and glasses rested on her nose.
She was just… an ordinary girl.
And in this world… Lee Gon didn't exist.
Location: Alternate Gwanghwamun Square
Later that day, Dephnie wandered through Seoul like a ghost haunting her own life. Everything felt familiar yet hollow.
A street violinist played a melody she remembered from their first dance in the palace.
A café menu listed her favorite tea—the one Lee Gon always ordered for her.
And yet… there was no memory of him. Not in this world. Not in this version of her.
She finally sat on a stone bench beneath the statue of Admiral Yi Sun-sin.
Suddenly, a tall man walked past.
Her breath caught.
The posture. The confident stride. The glint of royalty.
"Lee Gon?"
She ran after him, weaving through the crowd.
"Excuse me! Wait!"
The man turned.
It was him. But it wasn't.
He looked at her with polite confusion.
"Yes? Do I know you?"
Dephnie's heart cracked.
"No… I must have mistaken you for someone else," she whispered, backing away.
Lee Gon—this version—nodded and left.
She stood frozen in the middle of Seoul, more lost than ever.
Location: In-Between – The Rift Realm
Elsewhere, the faceless entity observed her from behind broken mirrors.
It fed on misplaced time, its presence thickening in the spaces between her memories.
"She does not belong," it muttered in a voice not meant for human ears."She remembers too much…"
One of the mirrors shimmered.
Dephnie's reflection looked back at it—aware. Furious.
"She will remember," the entity whispered.
And with that, it fractured another timeline.
Location: Real Korea – Jeju Island Palace Bunker
Back in their original world, Lee Gon stared at the empty side of their bed.
The photo of him and Dephnie—erased from the wall.
No one in the palace remembered her.
Even Woo-jin's data logs had reset.
But Lee Gon… did.
He touched his chest, where her necklace once lay. He whispered into the silence:
"If memory is the only proof you existed… I'll hold it until my last breath."
He walked to the Gate Room and activated the multiversal tracker manually.
"No more waiting. I'm coming for you."
Episode 17 End