"Step, step."
The biting cold that pierced to the bone had tormented me countless times, but the only thing I could do now was keep walking, relying on my trembling body like an aspen leaf. I had walked and walked for so long without even knowing where I was heading. I was like a puppy abandoned by its master. I asked myself over and over where I was going and how much farther I had to walk, but there was never an answer.
"Hoo."
I blew into my hands, which were so numb I almost thought they were frostbitten. I glanced around, hoping to find some place to escape the cold, but all I could see was a vast field covered in thick white snow and rotting chunks of flesh that hadn't even been buried in the ground.
"Growl."
My stomach told me my belly was stuck to my back, but I had nothing. Still, I grabbed a handful of snow—possibly contaminated by the Sorg left behind by the Helphrism attack—and stuffed it into my mouth nonstop. Whether I was full or had simply forgotten my hunger because of the cold, I gave up on eating and tried to move again. But my body and legs, like a child throwing a tantrum at its mother, refused to walk any further.
No matter how many times I tried to coax my rebelling body and legs to move, the result was the same. In the end, I gave up on persuading them and pulled out a few photographs from the chest pocket of my battle uniform with trembling hands. The photos, damaged from countless battles, showed my beloved family smiling brightly.
Before everything began, I had met a woman. We spent happy times together, and eventually, we built a family. These photos were taken on our wedding day. And as the years passed, the war that had dragged on endlessly forced even those of us who had completed our military service ten years earlier back onto the battlefield.
Before I knew it, thick tears streamed down my face. I had no way of knowing whether my family was alive or dead after the nuclear blast, and my longing for them only grew deeper. After staring at the photos through tear-blurred eyes for a long while, I put them back in my pocket, forced my exhausted body to stand, and turned my gaze around.
Everything in sight was broken and useless, but holding on to my yearning for the people I loved, I forced my uncontrollable body to move again.
"Step, step."
Relying only on my fading consciousness, I walked a long way until I reached a mountain valley. It was dark and ominous enough to crush even the will that had carried me this far, but I pushed through and entered.
How long had I walked, glancing around like a frightened puppy? Before I knew it, I sensed hostile presences following me, their murderous intent slicing at my back. At first, I tried to ignore it and keep going, but the killing intent behind me was too sharp and intense to ignore.
Two of them eventually came up alongside me, and I stopped walking to watch their movements. Both were Glaveron soldiers, armed with swords and guns.
"Heh heh heh."
"Heh heh heh."
I decided I'd crush those disgusting, chilling laughs so I'd never have to hear them again. The moment one of them swung his sword at me, I struck him with the Guidance Sword in my left hand.
"Guh."
As I cut down the first Glaveron soldier, I quickly rushed the other, who was trying to aim his gun at me in shock, and swung the sword.
"Argh!"
In an instant, I had cut down two of them. When I turned around slowly, I saw one Glaveron soldier trembling with fear, clutching his sword. His hands were shaking violently, and his eyes darted between me and his comrades' butchered corpses, sinking into despair.
I tightened my grip on the Guidance Sword and approached him. He screamed and charged. As we crossed paths, I swung my sword at his neck—but at that very moment, my already exhausted mind and body gave out. Like a fan unplugged mid-spin, my body crashed to the ground.
When I regained consciousness, my life was already in his hands. He toyed with me using my own sword before driving it deep into my leg.
"Argh!"
My scream echoed through the once-silent valley as he twisted the hilt stuck in my leg.
"Uaaaaagh!"
The valley howled with my cries again. As he pressed his blade against my throat, I grabbed another Guidance Sword and slashed him.
"Guh… guhkk…"
The blade buried itself deep into his neck. He thrashed meaninglessly, but I focused only on driving the sword in deeper. When I felt it could go no further, I gripped the hilt tightly and twisted hard.
His resistance ended. My eyes, beyond my control, slowly scanned the area. Another meaningless fight was over.
"Ugh."
I picked up a discarded sword like a walking stick and clenched my teeth against the pain shooting through my leg as I forced myself to stand. My only purpose for living was my family—whose fate I didn't even know. Clinging to the memory of their bright smiles, I leaned on the sword and kept walking.
The bitter wind cut against me as I stepped through the dark valley where I could barely see ahead. Everything terrified me, but I had to keep going for that one wish.
After walking for a while, a small, adorable puppy appeared in front of me, looking up at me from nowhere.
I stopped and reached out my hand. "Did you lose your way? Want to come with me?"
Just as I tried to pat the puppy's head, my senses sharpened like a blade. I looked around, but it was already too late. A pack of wild dogs had silently appeared and begun tearing apart the Glaveron corpses.
"Grrr, bark!"
The little puppy in front of me started barking fiercely, and the rest of the pack that wasn't eating closed in, snarling.
The valley filled with their chilling cries, and my body heated up in anger. I had survived the battle with the Glaveron soldiers despite my wounds, but now I was about to fight beasts that saw me only as their next meal.
"Grrr, bark!"
I tried to step back slowly with the sword as support, hoping to avoid a fight, but one of the dogs blocked my path and barked even louder.
"Grrr, bark!"
I tried several times with the same result. There was no avoiding this battle.
"Grrr, bark!"
I had no chance of winning with my broken body, but the dogs, having lost interest in the corpses, bared their yellow fangs and advanced.
"Grrr, bark!"
They circled me, barking, closing in like a pack in a hunt. Two of them lunged at my neck from behind. I moved quickly.
"Yelp!"
I slammed my left elbow into one's jaw and stabbed the other in the throat with the sword, twisting it. I then swiftly cut down more as they rushed me and glared at the remaining ones. They barked furiously but didn't dare come closer.
"Grrr, bark!"
Oddly, the fight to survive felt almost fun. I had long since forgotten about the state of my body. I had one wish—and to fulfill it, I had to survive.
"Grrr, bark!"
They were hunters. I was prey. They had claws; I had nothing but wounded flesh. They tightened the circle, and I shrank. The power gap was clear. Surviving this seemed impossible.
"Grrr, bark!"
I shut everything out, gripping the swords in both hands and focusing.
"Aaaagh!"
"Aaaagh!"
"Aaaagh!"
My roar echoed through the valley as I charged at them with both swords.
"Yelp!"
"Yelp!"
I swung the blades relentlessly, cutting down the dogs one by one. When their sharp cries finally stopped, I barely managed to stay on my feet as I looked around. Everything I saw weighed heavy on me.
It wasn't just guilt. The pain from my forgotten wounds surged up my nerves to my brain, and my consciousness dimmed. My exhausted body collapsed onto the cold ground.
The biting cold wrapped around me, making me shiver uncontrollably, but I didn't care anymore. The little puppy that had wagged its tail when I first saw it crawled into my arms. I hugged it tightly, curled up, and slowly sank into the abyss of sleep that might as well lead to hell.