The axe dropped soundlessly beside Shuan’s head, and the man who’d been wielding it crumpled to the ground without a sound.
For a heartbeat, silence swallowed everything.
Shuan gasped for air, his body shaking, sweat pouring down as he struggled to understand what had just happened.
The other four stood frozen in shock, eyes wide as they stared at their fallen comrade.
One of them screamed, “Attack him, now!” And they surged forward as one, weapons lifted, murder plain in their faces.
Shuan scrambled backward in terror, watching them charge at him without mercy, his hands trembling beyond his control.
Then, without warning, the air above the ceiling thickened.
A massive block of ice formed and crashed down with brutal force, shaking the house as entire sections of wall and roof caved in.
Destruction…
Destruction…
Dust choked the air, and Shuan disappeared for a moment beneath the rubble.
One of the men shoved debris aside and roared, “Grab that damn bastard!
He wrecked our home!
We’ll freeze to death because of him!” Shuan pushed himself up painfully from the wreckage, then bolted, limping hard from the agony in his leg.
_Piercing!_ Shuan cried out, “…Aaaaaaaaaaaah…” An arrow drove into his leg and he collapsed, breathing in ragged bursts, screaming in fear, “I didn’t do anything… I just… I want water… just water… please…” One of the men spat in fury, “Water?
You dare mock us?
You destroyed our home!
We’ll kill you no matter what it takes!” Another broke down sobbing, “You killed our eldest brother, you damn bastard!” A third shouted, “We’ve lived here twenty years… and you tore it all down!” Shuan panted, blood mixing with the frost around his wounded leg.
“No… no… I didn’t do anything… there was… a chase… I was only running… water… I need water…” “Kill him!” one of them bellowed.
The four rushed him again, but before they could reach him, jagged pillars of ice erupted from the ground, shooting up with blinding speed and stopping them cold.
Their bodies dropped to the earth, and just like that, it was over.
Shuan scrambled to his feet and ran again.
Running was agony with his wounded leg, but he ran anyway, fighting through the pain.
*Run *Run Shuan suddenly collapsed onto his knees.
It was not a slow fall, but a complete breakdown, as if his body had finally decided it could no longer resist.
His vision trembled violently.
The voices around him began to drift away… fading… until darkness swallowed everything whole.
— Nothing.
Then warmth.
Something soft beneath his back.
A scent unfamiliar to this world—dry wood, calm fire, and something that resembled the old life he only knew through stories.
His eyelids twitched.
For a few moments, he remained still, unable to tell whether he was alive or trapped inside one of the fever dreams that used to haunt him during the long frozen nights.
Then he slowly opened his eyes.
A wooden ceiling.
A warm room.
A real bed.
Not broken metal sheets.
Not frozen concrete.
A bed.
Shuan sat up instantly as if struck by lightning.
“Where… am I?” His breathing quickened.
The room was small, but strangely peaceful.
A weak orange glow flickered from a fireplace near the corner, painting the wooden walls with moving shadows.
The air itself felt unreal.
Warm.
He stared blankly for several seconds before turning his head sharply.
On a small table beside him— Fruit.
But not ordinary fruit.
Small blue-silver berries rested inside a carved wooden bowl, glowing faintly as if carrying light within themselves.
Rare.
Extremely rare.
He had once heard rumors about them from wandering survivors—fruits that only grew in the deepest stable ice zones, where underground thermal energy still lived beneath the frozen earth.
Most people spent entire lives without seeing even one.
Beside the bowl sat a large cup of water.
Real water.
Clear.
Clean.
His hand trembled.
For one brief second, he simply stared at it.
Then all control disappeared.
He lunged toward the table, grabbed the fruit with both hands, and devoured it desperately, as though afraid it would vanish if he slowed down.
Cold juice burst across his tongue and flowed down his throat.
Sweet.
Fresh.
Alive.
His body shook violently as warmth slowly returned to his chest.
Then he grabbed the cup.
He drank every drop in a single breath.
The cold water slid through him like life itself.
Just one cup was enough to make death feel one step farther away.
Finished.
Shuan remained sitting on the floor, breathing heavily.
His chest rose and fell violently, but his eyes were calmer now.
For the first time in days… he no longer felt like a corpse walking through snow.
The silence inside the room lasted only a few moments.
Then— Creak.
The door slowly opened.
Shuan’s body tensed instantly.
A man entered the room.
He was tall despite the slight curve in his back.
His hair was completely white, and his beard was trimmed with a level of care that felt unnatural in this ruined world.
But it was his eyes that disturbed Shuan the most.
They were calm.
Too calm.
Not the calm of kindness.
The calm of someone who had seen countless deaths… and no longer feared anything.
The old man stopped in front of him.
The fire crackled softly between them.
Then he spoke in a low voice.
“At last… you’re awake.” Shuan immediately stood despite his exhaustion and bowed deeply.
“Thank you… for saving me.” Silence.
The man observed him quietly for several long seconds.
Not his body.
Something deeper.
As though he were measuring the weight hidden inside Shuan’s soul.
Then the old man gave a faint smile.
“My name is Hol.” He took a single step closer.
“And you… should not have survived alone out there for this long.” Shuan slowly raised his head.
His eyes still carried exhaustion, but something inside him had begun to move.
Doubt.
Curiosity.
Fear.
Only one question echoed inside his mind.
Who are these people… …and why did they really save me?