The words hung in the air long after the system went quiet.
Nothing happened at first. The torches kept burning. The smooth patch of floor where the Minotaur had vanished stayed smooth. Somewhere deeper in the maze, water dripped slow and steady against stone, and for a few long seconds Jin almost convinced himself the notification had been a warning about something far away.
Then the temperature dropped.
It didn't creep in. It fell all at once, like someone had opened a door to the middle of winter, and Jin's breath came out in a faint white cloud in front of his face. The torch flames shrank down to small blue points. Frost began spreading across the walls in thin, spidering lines.
"Jin," Areum said quietly. "Why can I see my breath?"
He didn't get the chance to answer.
