Kang-suho stared at the translucent screen in front of him, its faint glow cutting through the harsh, snowy wind. The air rushed violently past his face as his summoned bear continued charging forward without slowing. His body bounced slightly with each heavy step the beast took, making it hard to stay completely steady. "Damnit!" he muttered under his breath, irritation clear in his voice.
"But 1 hour and 6 minutes…" he scoffed, his tone shifting as he processed the information. A sense of relief slowly settled into him, easing the tension in his shoulders. The time limit wasn't as bad as he first thought—it was manageable. "That's plenty of time," he added, more confident now than before.
He lifted his gaze toward the horizon, eyes narrowing slightly against the wind. The ruined castle was getting closer with every passing second, its broken silhouette becoming clearer. Beneath them, the once untouched snow was now marked by deep, heavy paw prints left behind by the summoned bear. It was a clear trail of their approach.
"I can s-see it in the distance!" he called out, his voice carrying a mix of excitement and alertness.
Then—everything seemed to slow.
From the side, a shadow burst through the snow-covered air. In a sudden, violent motion, a massive figure lunged straight toward Kang-suho and his summoned bear. The impact came instantly, slamming into the bear's side with overwhelming force. The collision sent both of them crashing down into the snow.
"AHH! GHT—!?" Kang-suho cried out, his voice filled with confusion and shock as his body hit the ground hard.
Snow exploded around them from the impact, scattering in all directions. Before he could even gather himself, the mysterious attacker loomed over him, its massive form blocking out what little light broke through the storm. Its presence alone felt heavy, oppressive.
Then, it became clear.
…Another bear.
"I'm sick of these… bears always appearing out of nowhere!" Kang-suho complained, frustration boiling over as he pushed himself up. His body ached slightly from the fall, but he ignored it. As he steadied himself, a weapon formed in his hand—a dagger, though no longer the same as before. Its glow had darkened, shifting into something heavier, more ominous.
He stood upright, snow clinging to his clothes and hair. His eyes locked onto the bear in front of him, sharp and focused despite the annoyance in his expression. The beast roared loudly, its breath visible in the freezing air as it prepared to attack again.
Kang-suho didn't wait.
With a swift motion, he hurled the dagger forward. It cut cleanly through the violent wind, spinning with precision before striking its target. The blade drove straight into the bear's mouth.
The creature immediately recoiled, its body twisting as it writhed in pain. Its roar broke into a distorted cry, muffled by the blade lodged deep within.
Behind him, his summoned bear rose back to its feet.
Kang-suho didn't hesitate. He leaped onto its back in one fluid motion, gripping its fur tightly as he settled into position. The injured bear in front of them continued to squirm weakly, unable to properly retaliate.
"Go!" he ordered sharply.
The summoned bear obeyed instantly.
With a powerful push, it bolted forward, leaving the wounded creature behind as snow scattered beneath its massive paws.
The injured bear lay motionless behind him, its massive body now nothing more than a still shape slowly being claimed by the cold.
The snow began to gather over it almost immediately, as if the world itself was trying to erase the brief violence that had taken place. Kang-suho didn't turn back this time—there was no point.
Whatever life had once filled that creature was already gone, fading quietly into the frozen silence. Ahead of him, the wind continued to howl, yet it no longer felt like an obstacle, but something that pushed him forward, guiding him toward what lay in the distance.
And that distance…
was no longer so distant.
The castle grew larger with every passing second, no longer just a faint silhouette swallowed by snowfall, but a towering structure that demanded attention.
Its broken walls stretched high into the sky, jagged and uneven, like the ribs of some ancient beast left to decay. The closer he got, the more details revealed themselves—cracks running like veins through stone, collapsed towers leaning at unnatural angles, and empty windows staring back like hollow eyes.
It wasn't just big. It was overwhelmingly big. The kind of big that made a person feel small without even trying.
"Woah… it's really big close up," Kang-suho muttered, his voice half in awe, half in disbelief, the words slipping out as naturally as his breath turned to mist in the freezing air.
There was something strange about it, though. Not just its size, not just its ruined state—but the feeling it gave off. It didn't feel dead like the bear behind him.
If anything, it felt like it was waiting. Watching. The wind curled around its broken towers, whistling through the cracks as if whispering secrets long forgotten.
Even the snow seemed hesitant to fully cover it, clinging to edges but never quite softening its presence.
As the summoned bear carried him forward, its steady, rhythmic strides echoing softly against the frozen ground, Kang-suho found himself leaning slightly forward, eyes fixed on the castle like he was being pulled toward it.
The warmth from the bear's cosmic fur still wrapped around him, shielding him from the worst of the cold, but even that comfort couldn't distract him now. His mind, once scattered with thoughts of systems, mana, and survival, slowly narrowed into something simpler—curiosity.
Because this place… wasn't normal.
Not the endless bears, not the strange crystals, not even the system itself—but this castle felt like the center of it all, like a quiet answer waiting at the end of a long, confusing question.
And as the distance between him and those towering, broken gates shrank with every second, Kang-suho couldn't help but feel it deep in his chest—something between excitement and unease, like standing at the edge of something important without fully understanding why.