Two figures galloped through the merciless blizzard, their ragged breaths forming pale wisps in the frigid air. Frost clung to their clothes, their sweat turned to ice against their skin.
Behind them, a pack of wolves chases forward.
Then — disaster struck.
The black-haired girl's horse reared up in sheer terror. She barely had time to react before she was thrown from the saddle, making her body collide on the frozen ground.
"Ali!!"
The yellow-haired lad yanked his reins, twisting his body just in time to see his friend sprawled in the snow. Without a second thought, he leaped from his horse and reached his hands for her.
"Dae..."
Aliyah finds her voice grown weak, yet despite that, she is still determined to move as she pulls herself towards him.
"Hold on. Just endure a little longer!" Dae-hyun began saddling up the horse again, without missing a beat.
"I'm sorry... I slowed us down."
"It's not your fault. I underestimated this as well."
Elijah had warned him. If only he had listened. If only he had taken the safer route.
But none of it mattered anymore.
The wolves were here.
And they were cornered.
The trail ended at a jagged cliffside. Below, nothing but darkness and an abyss that promised certain death.
Dae-hyun turned around, and sure enough, the wolves finally caught them.
At least a dozen of them — hulking, black-streaked fur and eyes molten red. Its mouth curled back, revealing rows of jagged teeth, and saliva dripped onto the snow.
"Rank B Nightmares..." Dae-hyun muttered.
One? He could handle it. Maybe two as well. But this many?
That would mean suicide.
Aliyah staggered to her feet as she took off from the horse, clutching her staff.
"I'll hold them off."
"You're injured!" Dae-hyun snapped.
She tightened her grip, as a smirk tugged in her lips.
"Do we even have a choice?"
Dae-hyun exhaled, knowing in fact... No, they didn't.
But he couldn't afford to let Aliyah fight alone, so he decided to raise his sword and guard her front.
Then—
The wolves lunged.
Dae-hyun barely had time to react before one of them was already upon him.
With a desperate roar, he raised his blade, catching the beast's snapping jaws against steel. Saliva splattered across his face. His muscles screamed as he shoved back, making the wolf's claws rake his shoulders.
Another lunged—
But this time, thick flowery vines erupted from beneath the snow, twisting like serpents as they wrapped around the wolves' limbs.
Aliyah's chants were completed just in time.
The vines tightened, the flesh split, and the limbs tore apart like snapped twigs. Blood gushed over the white snow, and steam rose from the fresh corpses. The beasts howled in agony before collapsing into twitching heaps.
At that moment, Dae-hyun finally regained its strength. As he drove his blade deep into the maw of the wolf, severing flesh and bone as he cleaved its head in half.
Warm blood splattered onto his face, the coppery scent clogging his senses.
Heavy breaths. Burning lungs. The taste of iron thick on his tongue.
Dae-hyun turned to Aliyah.
"Ali... can you still go on?" he panted.
She wiped blood from her mouth. "Yeah... I can go for anothe—"
But...
The ground beneath them gave way.
A deafening crack.
The cliffside crumbled.
For a single, horrifying second, they remained in the air. A sudden emotion of weightless and powerlessness.
Then they plummeted.
The wind howled past them.
Snow. Darkness. The violent rush of gravity.
And then—
Impact.
A crunch.
Pain. Unimaginable pain.
Dae-hyun gasped but he couldn't clearly breathe properly.
Agony flooded his senses as he realized he couldn't move nor think a single thing.
His right leg had bent the wrong way, the jagged end of his femur pierced through his muscle.
His arm lay useless at his side, mangled beyond recognition, with the flesh peeled back to expose raw and splintered bone.
And blood pooled beneath him, soaking into the cold mud.
But none of that mattered.
Because when he forced himself to look forward—
He saw her.
Aliyah.
Her body was skewered on a jagged rock.
The spike had pierced clean through her abdomen, pinning her to the ground like a broken doll. Blood dribbled from her lips, her eyes remained open with a frozen expression.
The snow around her was no longer white.
It was crimson.
Just as the scene was about to continue, it suddenly started glitching, like a Telivision bug.
Then... a system interface appeared out of nowhere...
[ You...Did Not... Effort... At All... ]
[ You even... ruined... the original plot... ]
[ Because of you... the main character died as well... ]
[ Author-nim... you disappoint me...]
[ The Cursed by the Benevolent has been activated ]
****
Clink!
Elijah's eyes snapped open.
His breath came in ragged gasps as he bolted upright in bed, his chest rose and fell rapidly. As his vision focused on the closed door ahead.
"A dream...?"
Before he could process it further, the door swung open with a loud creak.
Marjorie, the maid, stood in the doorway, with a shocked expression — like déjà vu.
"M'lady! The young master has awakened!"
Elijah blinked, looking disoriented. Everything felt eerily familiar, like a scene replaying itself.
And then, barely a minute later, a frantic figure burst into the room.
Aliyah.
"Brother!!"
Elijah's thoughts spiraled into chaos.
'Has this happened before?'
'Wasn't Aliyah supposed to be dead... with the main plot happened?'
'No... I returned yesterday...'
'Then... that dream…'
'Was it real?'
His gaze fell on Aliyah's worried face, and in an instant, his mind flashed back.
A lifeless face. Blood dripping from cold, gray lips. Flesh drained of warmth.
His stomach twisted violently.
With a sudden lurch, Elijah doubled over and vomited.
"Are you okay?!"
Aliyah rushed toward him, her arms outstretched to comfort him.
But the moment her hand reached for him—
Elijah flinched.
He recoiled instinctively.
That's when he realized.
It was...
Fear.