I Hold the Leash

I held the leash.

Release condition.

Eliminate the caster.

The way to undo it had presented itself.

All I had to do was kill that woman.

I stared hard at those characters.

It meant to end that woman's life with this.

It was extremely simple.

Simple, and yet—

I had never killed a person before.

"Han ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Seok-beom."

The woman in the white robe spoke. My blood still clung to the tip of her dagger. That blood bloomed into gold.

I wiped my cheek. It would not come off. Of course it wouldn't. If a simple rub of the hand could erase it, something as vicious as "eliminate the caster" would never have appeared as the release condition.

"Ipda."

"Yes."

I took her hand. Tight. Ipda looked at me for a startled instant.

"I'll borrow a little mana."

Instead of answering, Ipda gripped my hand even harder. Blue mana surged through my fingertips. This was different from before. This time she was not carefully metering it out. It poured.

My heart hammered far too fast.

"Kh—"

"Han Seok-beom!"

"I'm fine."

I locked eyes on the woman. White robe. Gold ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠embroidery. Short dagger. Face without a single emotion. I did not know her name. Affiliation: Holy Light Cult. Role: Tracker. The woman who had stained herself with my blood. And right now—the woman whose death would dissolve this mark.

I raised my fingertips.

"…What?"

The woman stepped onto a shadow.

Her body seemed to blur—and then she was right behind me. The dagger flashed toward my throat.

"Han Seok-beom!"

I jerked backward hard. Shhk! A few strands of hair parted. A fraction later and it would have been my neck.

"Whoa—hold on."

I retreated, raising my fingertips again.

"No—she's right in front of me!"

This world's formulas had zero flexibility. A knife-wielding lunatic stood right there, yet apparently "Tracker" was too common a job title to lock onto.

The characters on the blade shifted.

She drove the dagger into the ground. Thunk. Straight into my shadow.

Golden thread unspooled from beneath my feet. It crawled across the earth and linked itself to the tip of her dagger. My ankles were free. My body was not bound. Yet the moment I tried to move—

Yank.

The shadow hauled me backward.

"Ugh!"

A sharp jolt shot up the inside of my calves. The woman spoke.

"Wherever you go, I will follow that shadow."

I clenched my teeth. Targeting a person failed. I did not know her name. Then—

I dropped my gaze. The dagger in her hand. Characters floated above the blade.

That I could read.

Good. Locked on. That thing had a name. That thing I could grab.

The woman's eyes twitched, just barely.

"You…!"

"Wherever you go, I will follow that shadow as well."

I wrote a character with my fingertip.

In that instant Ipda's mana surged wildly through my fingertips. Dangerous. This formula was dangerous. I gritted my teeth and narrowed the target. Not the entire dagger. Not even the blade. The stitch line woven inside it.

The characters on the blade shuddered.

Golden cracks spiderwebbed beneath it. I dragged my fingertip down.

Crack.

A sound like bursting seams. Then—

BOOM!

A ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠golden explosion erupted from the shadow under my feet. My body was flung backward.

"Argh!"

Ipda caught my arm. The golden threads scattered into empty air.

The sensation of being tethered to the shadow vanished. My feet moved. My legs were free. Good. It was undone.

I dragged in a breath.

"Hah."

"Han Seok-beom!"

"I'm fine."

No. The character for Explode left residual heat in my fingertips. The insides of my fingers throbbed as if they had burst open.

The woman stared down at her own dagger. A crack now ran through the blade. She spoke in a low voice.

"What did you just do."

"I only detonated the stitch line."

"That is impossible."

"It just worked, though."

"You…"

She glared at me. Clear emotion this time. Rage.

I took Ipda's hand and stepped back, checking that my feet still moved.

"We can run now. And…"

"What about this?"

Ipda asked. I touched the brand on my cheek. It still burned hot.

"It means that woman can still keep finding me."

She gripped the dagger again. The remaining characters on the blade glowed.

"Wherever you go, blood remembers the path."

I clenched my teeth.

"Every single line of dialogue is pure obsession, huh."

I calmly swept my fingertips through the air. Explode… no. From a distance it would miss. The target whose name I still did not know. Then I simply needed to lock the target. The most certain target of all—the thing still connected to that woman!

I let go of Ipda's hand.

"Han Seok-beom?!"

I did not answer. I kicked off the ground. Straight at her. Straight at the Tracker.

She startled and swung the dagger. I did not dodge. I reached out. Bare hand to bare blade.

Thud.

Flesh split. Blood ran down my palm.

"Kh…!"

It hurt. It hurt like hell. But I did not let go.

Her eyes wavered.

"What are you—"

I reached with my other hand and seized her wrist.

Clench.

A cold sensation drove into my fingertips. Different from Ipda's mana. Her power was thin and sharp. A thread that smelled of blood. Dark as shadow itself.

I glared at the Shadow Stitch on the dagger.

And beneath it, floating small—the condition value.

Ah. There it was. An output value.

I moved my blood-slicked fingers. Her eyes went wide.

"Stop."

I did not answer. Two. After the two, I added one more character. Ten.

In that instant the dagger screamed.

Kiiiiiiiiing!

My palm was cut deeper. Her mana began thrashing madly inside the blade.

"You…!"

Her voice shook for the first time. I clenched my teeth. I would not let go. Let go and it would miss. Let go and I would have to run again.

The golden stitch lines ballooned as if exploding. They had not snapped. They had not torn. There were simply too many of them now. The single thread that had stretched from beneath my feet split into dozens.

KRAAAAAAK!

Golden threads ripped through the earth and reversed course. The target was not me. That woman. No—her shadow.

Thunk! Thunk-thunk-thunk!

Stitch lines drove into her shadow. One. Two. Ten. Twenty. Too many to count.

Her body shuddered. She tried to fall backward. But the shadow did not move. Her formula. Her mana. All of it, at output twenty, had stitched her to the ground.

"…Impossible."

Her knees buckled. Thud. She knelt before me.

I released the dagger. Clatter. Blood streamed from my palm. I let go of her wrist as well. Breath scraped the back of my throat. A sentence flared before my eyes.

I dragged air into my lungs. Good. She remained kneeling on the ground, unable to move, stitched to her own shadow. She looked up at me. The cold light in her eyes had not died. But it was different from before.

"I acknowledge it. Will you kill me now?"

I touched the brand on my cheek.

Kill her and it would dissolve. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠That was clearly written. But I shook my head.

"I won't kill you."

"Why."

"Because I have a use for you."

"Me?"

"Yes."

I looked down at her dagger. A faint brand still lingered on the blade—the brand carved with my blood. And the tracking mark she had driven into me. The line ran both ways. On this side. On that side. I was no longer only the one being hunted.

I raised my fingertips. Her eyes sharpened.

"What are you trying now."

"I'm undoing it."

"…?"

I wrote a character in the air.

The golden stitch lines loosened. One by one, like seams coming undone. The threads that had pinned her shadow to the ground vanished. She slowly flexed her fingers. Her body was free. But her mana was empty.

I looked down at her.

"Don't try anything stupid."

"Is that a threat."

"Yes."

I closed my still-bleeding hand. It hurt. But this time I did not flinch.

"A brand remains on your blade as well."

Her gaze dropped to the dagger. The golden brand on the steel pulsed faintly.

"Just as you can find me," I said, "I can find you."

Her eyes hardened.

"You?"

"Yes."

I took one step closer.

"If you try anything stupid—"

I drew a single breath, then finished.

"This time I'll be the one who comes looking."

Her eyes wavered. Humiliation. And something strangely hot beneath it.

"And when you find me," she asked, "will you kill me?"

I was silent a moment. Then I answered.

"If I have to."

Ipda approached.

"Han Seok-beom."

Her voice was low. Worry. Surprise. And a thread of unease. I spoke without looking at her.

"I don't want to kill her."

Then I faced the Tracker again.

"But if you go after Ipda again—"

Her pupils shifted, just barely. I spoke each word clearly.

"I won't choose next time."

The forest went quiet. She said nothing. But the silence was different from before. It was no longer the silence of a blade waiting for orders. For the first time, it was the silence of a person carving another person's words into memory.

She slowly opened her mouth.

"You are strong."

She inclined her head a fraction. I shrugged.

"I think so too."

The corner of her mouth moved, just slightly.

"Fine."

"If you can come find me—"

She picked up the dagger. No mana left, but her hands still worked.

"I will not run."

"That's kind of you."

"Do not misunderstand."

Her gaze sharpened again.

"I am not on your side."

"I know."

"I will watch you."

"Good."

She studied me for a long time. Truly long. Then she murmured, very softly,

"Strange man."