Episode 27: Fragment (3)
It was a night when snow fell so heavily that even people could be buried under it.
Kang Arin was running madly, pushing through the raging snowstorm.
In the city where all the lights had gone out, only one place remained illuminated—the top floor of the tallest building.
“Faster… faster….”
Her breath was caught in her throat, but she didn’t even wait for the elevator. Instead, she sprinted up the stairs with all her might. Her footsteps grew more and more urgent.
—Bang!
She burst through the door, and there he was—the one she loved more than anything.
Jung Haein.
He was meticulously polishing the blade of his spear, maintaining his weapon with care.
As if nothing had happened. As if everything was the same as always.
With a trembling voice, Kang Arin called his name.
“Haein….”
When Jung Haein saw her standing in the doorway, he flashed his characteristic bright smile.
The moment he smiled, her heart tightened even more.
Haein glanced at his watch and spoke.
“I’m sorry.”
He set down his spear and rose from his seat.
“Did I wake you?”
He walked toward her slowly.
Tears welled up in her eyes. Gasping for breath, she pleaded desperately.
“You said… you said you’d go alone….”
Jung Haein let out a bitter smile and nodded.
“Yeah. I have to go.”
“I’ll go too… please, let me go with you.”
He stepped closer and placed his hands on her shoulders.
“You know that’s not possible.”
Behind him, the situation board was filled with names.
Yu Hana, Cheon Yeoul, and Kang Arin—the three of them were together. But Sung Siwoo’s name was nowhere to be found.
However, Jung Haein’s name stood alone, marked at the center of Africa.
At the frontline where enemies swarmed in, he was to be the last line of defense.
“You three have to kill the demon. You have the power of the Fragments—if you don’t go, no one else can.”
Jung Haein still smiled, but that smile felt strangely lonely.
Kang Arin shook her head as tears streamed down her face.
Damn Fragments.
That was the problem. If she could, she would rip the cursed thing out of her body.
Or, at the very least, the one that had suddenly disappeared—the fragment of that bastard.
“Then what about you, Haein? What will happen to you…?”
Jung Haein cut her off.
“As long as I hold out, you’ll be able to finish this, won’t you?”
His voice remained calm, unwavering.
Kang Arin hurriedly spoke.
“The Fragment… we can find it soon. Right now, Glory is searching everywhere—”
“The Fragments… there are only four.”
This time, his voice was resolute.
“How… how can you be so sure…?”
Jung Haein smiled gently as he looked at her. His gaze was steady, unwavering.
“Have I ever been wrong?”
Arin broke down into sobs, clutching onto him.
“It’s going to be okay.”
That was what he told her.
And that moment’s choice became the regret that would haunt her forever.
Kang Arin suddenly jolted awake.
She gasped for breath, looking around frantically. Her heart pounded wildly, and cold sweat trickled down her forehead.
‘Again….’
The same nightmare as always.
She covered her face with both hands, trying to steady her trembling breaths.
—Rustle.
A faint sound brushed against her ears. Instinctively, she turned her head.
And there, sitting quietly, was the man she loved more than anything.
By the campfire, he sat, carefully polishing his spear.
“Haein….”
She softly called his name.
Jung Haein lifted his head and looked at her. A brief flicker of surprise crossed his eyes, but it was soon replaced by an apologetic expression.
There was no need for him to make that face.
“I’m sorry.”
He set his spear down and rose from his seat.
“I must have woken you up. It was a bit noisy, wasn’t it?”
In the dream, he was walking toward a cold death.
But now, here he was—alive, warm, breathing, sitting before the fire.
Kang Arin clenched her teeth and made a vow in her heart.
She would never make the same mistake again.
***
“It’s true that we’re much weaker compared to modern times.”
I spoke as I stretched in front of the cabin.
“Even so, we can’t let our guard down—”
But she didn’t seem to be listening.
Squatting down with her chin resting on her hand, she simply watched me warming up.
“… What are you doing?”
I asked her.
She stood up and replied nonchalantly.
“Nothing. You just look good. Shall we go?”
Then, she put on a pair of fingerless gloves she pulled from her pocket.
“… Let’s go.”
‘Warming up is for people who live too relaxed.’
That’s what the old man used to tell me over and over.
For someone at her level, warming up wasn’t even necessary.
Today, we weren’t planning on heading all the way to Cheonji.
The goal was to approach gradually.
After moving between the trees for a few minutes, we arrived at a large clearing.
A vast, silent space covered in pure white snow.
I closed my eyes and focused on the flow of energy.
Slowly drawing my spear from my waist, I called out in a low voice.
“Prepare for battle.”
“Got it.”
Kang Arin answered briefly and moved in close behind me.
The moment my spear left its sheath, the snowfield stirred.
The thick layer of snow rose into the air, revealing a pair of deep blue eyes.
Like two sapphires embedded in the snow, they locked onto me.
A massive figure emerged.
A towering beast covered in white fur—
A snow leopard.
—Grrrr…
Judging by its fur, it wasn’t a subspecies.
It was strong, but not unbeatable.
And Kang Arin was right behind me.
‘First move.’
Snow leopards were naturally fast and aggressive.
But their defense was on the weaker side.
Which meant the priority was—
“Kang Arin, can you set up a curtain?”
—Sshhh!
Before I even finished speaking, a veil of mana gathered at her fingertips, forming a perfect blackout curtain.
We could see outside from within, but from the outside, nothing was visible.
The sheer perfection of it impressed me.
But there was no time to admire her work.
Right now, taking down the enemy came first.
The snow leopard hesitated for a moment, seemingly bewildered by the sudden appearance of the black veil.
Then, it lowered its stance slightly, tensing its body—preparing to pounce at any moment.
I raised my spear and twisted my body to its limit,
Bending like a bow to gather momentum.
Then, the moment I released that momentum, I threw my spear and propelled myself into the air.
It was an improvised application of Bowed Shadow Rebound (弓身彈影).
—Bang!
The spear tore through the blackout curtain and shot forward in an instant.
The snow leopard reacted immediately, dodging the incoming spear with lightning-fast reflexes.
Its movement was almost instinctual.
But in the very spot where it had leaped—
I was already there.
“Got you.”
My midair trajectory aligned perfectly with the snow leopard movement.
From my fingertips, ashen mana swirled violently, forming a aura blade.
“Now!”
A technique I had failed to execute before— Steel Aura Strike [강기공 (剛氣功)].
I brought down my fist, condensed with ashen mana, straight onto the snow leopard’s head.
—Boom!
A deafening impact rang out as the beast was driven deep into the snow.
A shockwave blasted away the surrounding snow, revealing the ground beneath.
But this wouldn’t be enough to finish it off.
The snow leopard was already forcing itself up, preparing to counterattack.
From midair, I shouted.
“Kang Arin!”
At my call, Kang Arin surged through the snow, closing in on the beast.
The snow leopard barely managed to steady itself, staggering.
And in that moment—
Before it could even react—
Kang Arin’s palm touched its forehead.
—Tap.
Silence fell.
A perfectly executed palm strike had landed squarely on its brow.
No explosive burst of mana.
No deafening roar.
To an observer, it would have looked like nothing more than a gentle touch.
But I, still descending, watched it all unfold.
‘Damn…’
—Crack… Crackcrackcrack!
A sickening sound echoed through the clearing.
The snow leopard’s body trembled violently as its bones shattered from within.
A sound so chilling it made my skin crawl.
Dark Implosion (暗爆).
I watched her technique in action.
She had forcefully injected mana into the creature’s body,
Ripping it apart from the inside out.
As the light faded from the snow leopard’s eyes, I knew it was dead.
Landing lightly on the ground, I approached her.
She stood over the corpse, casually brushing snow from her hands.
“Not bad.”
At my words, she turned her head toward me.
A mischievous smile played on her lips.
“I go first place, didn’t I?”
She replied nonchalantly, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
***
The path to Cheonji was cleared faster than expected.
Thanks to the elixir I had taken, my condition was far better than anticipated,
And Kang Arin’s assistance was precise and efficient.
Honestly, she had been unusually cooperative today.
I had expected her to take control and boss me around as usual,
So seeing her like this was unexpected.
A satisfying battle always puts me in a good mood.
That night, we hunted a wild boar in the wilderness and feasted.
We didn’t forget to smoke some of the meat, preparing enough food for the next week.
By the time we returned to the cabin in the evening, rain had begun to pour down like a raging storm.
A stark contrast to the snow-covered morning.
The weather here was undeniably bizarre.
Then, a sudden flash blinded my vision.
—CRACK-BOOM!
“Well, damn.”
Now there was lightning too.
The deafening roar of thunder and lightning showed no signs of stopping.
I turned away, intending to get ready for bed.
But then, I saw Kang Arin.
She was trembling, hands pressed tightly over her ears.
Ah, shit.
My thoughts became complicated.
Kang Arin had a trauma.
On a stormy night filled with thunder and lightning, her mother had been brutally murdered by a demon.
It might sound like a cliché backstory, but to her, it was inescapable, deeply engraved memory.
As a result, she feared the sound of thunder.
With no earplugs or anything to block the noise here, it was even worse.
In the future, she would personally tear that demon apart and overcome her trauma.
But for now, this was still just the very beginning of the story.
A strange sense of guilt washed over me as I remembered—
I was the one who had written this setting.
She won’t be able to sleep like this…
Tomorrow, we needed to climb even higher.
If she didn’t get proper rest, it would seriously affect our exploration.
I cautiously approached her.
“You okay?”
She lifted her head.
Red-rimmed eyes, trembling gaze.
She was trying to act fine, but that only made her look even more fragile.
A heavy sense of guilt settled inside me.
At that moment, she quietly spoke.
“Can we sleep together?”
Her voice was low and shaky.
“…What?”
“Just… for a little while. Stay with me.”
She lowered her head again and spoke in an even quieter voice.
For a moment, my mind went blank.
Before he was corrupted by the demons, Kang Yuseong used to comfort his little sister in the same way.
She might be a grown woman now, but I didn’t feel any inappropriate urges.
She just looked so vulnerable.
“…Alright.”
In the end, I lay down beside her.
As if she had been waiting for it, she immediately nestled into my arms.
—Inhale… Exhale…
She buried her face in my chest and took slow, deep breaths.
Her warmth and the closeness of our bodies made it impossible not to tense up.
—CRACK-BOOM!
Thunder rumbled again.
But she was too focused on her breathing to react.
Sensing something strange, I cautiously asked,
“…Are you okay?”
At that moment, her body flinched in surprise.
Then, she trembled even more and burrowed deeper into my embrace.
And again—
—Exhale…
‘Tsk.’
Looks like I won’t be getting much sleep tonight.