It was a night where the snow was falling so heavily it could bury a person. Kang Ah-rin was running frantically, pushing through the fierce blizzard.
In the city where all the lights were out, only one—the top floor of its tallest building—was brightly lit.
“Hurry… Hurry…”
Though her breath was coming in ragged gasps, Kang Ah-rin didn’t even wait for the elevator and stormed up the stairs. Her footsteps grew increasingly urgent.
– Bang!
As she roughly pushed the door open, the one she loved more than anyone was there.
Jung Hae-in.
He was calmly maintaining his weapon while diligently cleaning the window as he usually did.
As if nothing were amiss, just like he always was, calmly.
Kang Ah-rin called out his name in a choked voice.
“Hae-in…”
When Jung Hae-in saw Kang Ah-rin come in, he smiled with his usual bright smile.
When he smiled, Kang Ah-rin’s heart clenched even tighter.
Jung Hae-in quietly glanced at the clock and began to speak.
“Sorry.”
He put the window down and stood up from his seat.
“Did I wake you?”
He slowly approached Kang Ah-rin.
Tears welled up in her eyes. Struggling to breathe, she asked with a desperate voice.
“You’re leaving alone again…”
Jung Hae-in nodded with a wry smile.
“Yeah, I need to go.”
“I want to come with you. Please, let me come with you.”
He slowly approached her, grabbing her shoulder.
“You know it’s not possible.”
Behind him, the situation board was covered in names.
Yoo Hana, Cheon Yeoul, and Kang Ah-rin’s names were together, but there was no mention of Seong Si-woo.
However, Jung Hae-in was alone, situated in Central Africa. As enemies surged in, he was set to be the final line of defense there.
“You need to kill the Demon. You, who have received the power of the fragment, have to do it.”
Jung Hae-in maintained his smile, but it was tinged with sadness. Kang Ah-rin shook her head as tears poured down her face.
Damn that fragment.
It was the problem. She wanted to rip it out of her body right now.
Or at least that fragment that disappeared without a trace.
“Then, what about you, Hae-in? What happens to you?”
He interrupted her.
“During my time holding out, you’ll do well, right?”
His voice was consistently calm.
Kang Ah-rin quickly countered.
“The fragment, we can find it quickly. Glory is searching everywhere like crazy…”
“…The fragments, there are only four.”
His voice was firm this time.
“How can you be so sure about that…”
Jung Hae-in slowly smiled and regarded her with steady eyes.
“Have I ever been wrong?”
Kang Ah-rin erupted into uncontrollable sobs and clung to him, weeping.
“It’ll all be fine.”
He said that.
And the choice of that moment became the lifelong regret that haunted her.
Kang Ah-rin suddenly shot up.
Breathing heavily, she looked around. Her heart was pounding wildly, and cold sweat beaded on her forehead.
‘Again…’
It was the recurring nightmare.
She covered her face with her hands, taking shaky breaths to calm herself.
– Swish
A small sound caught her ear. Instinctively, she turned her head.
And there sat the man she loved more than anything, cleaning his weapon by the bonfire.
“Hae-in…”
She quietly called out his name.
Jung Hae-in looked up at her, a flicker of surprise flashing through his eyes before he donned an apologetic expression.
There was no need for that look.
“Sorry.”
He set the weapon down and stood up.
“Guess I woke you up. I was a bit loud, huh?”
In the dream, he was coldly heading towards death.
But the person right now, beside the bonfire, was breathing and radiating warmth.
Kang Ah-rin clenched her teeth and resolved in her heart.
Absolutely, she would not repeat the same mistake.
“It’s true we’re incomparably weaker than in modern times.”
I was stretching my body in front of the cabin while talking to her.
“It’s still dangerous to underestimate…”
But she wasn’t really listening.
She was crouched down, chin in hand, watching me stretch.
“…What are you doing?”
I asked her.
She stood up and replied nonchalantly.
“It’s just, you’re good looking. Shall we go?”
And with that, she pulled on the fingerless gloves she had taken out of her pocket.
“…Let’s go.”
‘Stretching is something guys usually do who are always on edge.’
That was what the old man used to repetitively tell me.
Fact was, a student at her level didn’t really require that kind of prep time.
We don’t intend to go as far as the highlands today.
We’re approaching gradually step by step.
After pushing through the woods for a few minutes, a large clearing appeared.
A serene space covered in pristine snow.
I closed my eyes and sensed the energy.
I slowly drew the sword from my waist and gave a short shout.
“Battle prep.”
“Got it.”
Kang Ah-rin responded briefly and positioned herself directly behind me.
The moment the sword left my waist, the snow stirred.
Buried beneath, a pair of blue eyes gradually revealed themselves.
Almost like a pair of sapphires embedded in the snow staring at me.
A massive creature emerged.
An enormous beast covered entirely in white fur, known as a snow beast.
-Grrr…
From the color of the fur, this wasn’t the subspecies. Powerful, but doable.
Moreover, Kang Ah-rin was behind me.
‘The initiative.’
Snow beasts are fundamentally quick and aggressive creatures.
However, compared to that, their defensive capabilities are relatively weak.
Which means—
“Kang Ah-rin, can you cast the curtain?”
-Swsh!
Even before I had finished my sentence, a mass of mana gathered at her fingertips, spreading an obscuring curtain.
Inside this, one can see out, but from outside, this side is completely hidden.
I was impressed with its efficacy.
However, there was no time to marvel further.
Now, we needed to deal with the beast in front of us.
The snow beast seemed confused by the unexpected black curtain it was encountering for the first time. But only briefly, adjusting its stance with fine movements, crouching low as it prepared to leap and respond instantly to any attack.
I held my spear high and bent my body to the limit.
Twisting my body like a drawn bow, I gathered momentum.
And, releasing that momentum in an instant, I threw the spear and launched myself into the air.
It was a behavior inspired by a certain Bow Body Shadow technique.
-Pang!
The spear tore through the curtain and swiftly flew forward.
The snow beast, with lightning-fast reflexes, quickly evaded the spear as it leapt high into the air.
Its movement was almost instinctual.
However, at the spot where it leaped, I was already there.
“Nice.”
In that leap, the distance between me and the snow beast was perfect.
A grayish mana surged from my fingertips, forming a strong air current.
“Job done!”
A skill I hadn’t used in a previous fight.
The compressed, gray mana condensed into a punch, which I brought down on the snow beast’s head.
-Bang!
A strong impact rang out as the snow beast was hammered into the snow.
Snow was blown away from the shockwave, revealing the ground below.
But this creature wasn’t done yet.
It was already rising and preparing for a counterattack.
I shouted in mid-air.
“Kang Ah-rin!”
As my cry cut through the air, Kang Ah-rin burst forward through the snow, heading towards the snow beast.
The snow beast was just barely standing upright.
The moment before it could respond, her palm connected with the creature’s forehead.
-Tock
An eerie quiet descended.
The perfectly aimed palm strike had landed on the snow beast’s forehead.
No flashy burst of mana, no thunderous boom.
It looked, at a glance, like a simple palm press against the beast.
But I was witnessing it mid-air as I descended.
‘Whoa…’
-Crack!
A chilling sound rippled across the clearing as the snow beast’s body vibrated and its bones shattered from within.
The beast’s eyes grew hazy, and I was certain of its impending death.
I landed lightly on the ground and walked towards her.
She was casually brushing the snow off her palms, looking down at the snow beast’s corpse.
“Good job?”
At my voice, she turned to look at me, a mischievous smile on her face.
“Wasn’t it number one?”
She replied as if it were the most natural thing.
Getting through to the highlands proved to be quicker than expected.
Partly due to the superior condition brought on by consuming medicinal herbs and partly due to the flawless assistance from Kang Ah-rin.
To be honest, she was unusually obedient today.
I always thought she enjoyed dominating and bossing me around, so this came as a surprise.
After every satisfying fight, I get in quite a good mood.
We captured wild boars in the wild for food and didn’t forget to cure some of the meat to prepare for a week’s worth of rations.
By evening, we returned to the cabin just as it started raining heavily.
A completely different scenery from the morning, where snow had piled up. The weather here was certainly erratic.
Then, suddenly, a flash lit up the area.
-BOOM!
“Damn.”
Now the lightning has started.
The thunderous echoes showed no sign of stopping.
I turned to prepare for bed.
However, there stood Kang Ah-rin shaking and covering her ears.
‘Ah, crap.’
Her expression complicated my thoughts.
Kang Ah-rin had a trauma.
On a stormy day, her mother was horrifically murdered by the demon.
Though it’s a common trope, this memory was deeply embedded in her.
Thus she was afraid of thunder. And with no earplugs or anything here, it was even worse.
Later on, she will confront and kill that demon, overcoming her trauma.
But, as of now, we were still at the very beginning of the story.
The fact that I was the one who created that storyline struck me, giving rise to a strange sense of guilt.
‘If she can’t sleep…’
We were supposed to head upwards tomorrow. If she doesn’t get proper rest, it would hinder the exploration.
I carefully approached her.
“Are you alright?”
She looked up at me.
Red-rimmed eyes and a trembling gaze.
Trying to act like she was fine, but it only made her appear even more fragile.
A deep sense of responsibility weighed on me.
At that moment, she opened her lips.
“Can’t we sleep together?”
Her voice was incredibly low, trembling.
“Huh?”
“Just… for a moment. Stay by my side.”
She bowed her head and softly repeated her request.
I froze momentarily.
Before Kang Yusung succumbed to the demon influence, he used a similar method to calm his younger sister.
Even though Kang Ah-rin was an adult, I didn’t feel inappropriate desires seeing her in that state.
She looked too vulnerable right now.
“…Alright.”
In the end, I quietly lay down beside her. She immediately snuggled into me.
-Swsh… Huff…
She buried her face in my chest, taking deep breaths.
Her warmth and proximity made it hard for me to relax.
-BOOM!
The thunder struck again.
But she concentrated on drawing breaths.
Something felt amiss, and I carefully asked.
“…Are you okay?”
Her body tensed momentarily upon hearing me.
And then, shaking violently, she burrowed even deeper into my embrace.
And again,
-Huff…
‘Damn.’
Looks like I won’t be getting to sleep peacefully tonight.
…
*
