I Was Picked Up
The snow was merciless.
Ack… ugh…
I never wanted this second life, but dying like this was even worse. The world inside this damn game was utter shit. I hadn’t asked to be here, yet even my death had to be this pathetic. A child who hadn’t even reached ten years old, torn apart by the blizzard and freezing to death? That was ridiculous.
At least… at least…
The wind howled. Aaaagh…
The blizzard seemed disgusted by the very sound of my voice, whipping around me with cruel indifference. The savage blade-like gusts of the North. Despite my desperate pleas, the storm god showed no mercy. That biting ice wind shredded my young skin again and again, without pity.
My body was nothing but skin and bones after days without proper food or rest. I knew I couldn’t hold on any longer. Accepting that, I quietly prepared to surrender to fate.
That was when it happened.
“…Good heavens. Are you still alive? Can you speak, child?”
The moment I met her.
The snow blindness was so severe I couldn’t even make out who was who, but I could tell one thing clearly. Right in front of me, a girl with deep blue hair was reaching out her hand.
She was small, just like me. No older than ten, if that. At the edge of death, I felt the hand she extended. Her skin was cold as ice, yet to me it felt like sunlight itself.
“Don’t worry. You won’t die.”
Despite her own small body, she struggled with everything she had to save me.
“Because I, Karalin von Vitagarte, have found you.”
It was pure. Without a trace of falsehood or pretense. The genuine kindness of a true noble who cared for her people.
Yes. That’s why I forgot.
The moment I saw that face, I forgot the infamous name that had flashed through my mind.
Karalin von Vitagarte.
The girl who would one day fall from grace, lose everything she possessed, and become a lonely figure hated by the world. The one who would ultimately descend into corruption, rise as an executive of the Demon King’s army, and drench the realm in hellfire—the Grand Duke’s daughter of the North.
Being thrown into the world of a game wasn’t so bad. I knew who everyone was. I knew how the future would unfold.
But none of that mattered anymore.
This world had ignored a weak child like me and driven him toward death. Yet only she had reached out her hand.
Since she had pulled me from the jaws of death, I, Yohan Kim, would stand beside her and give her happiness. That was simply how things were meant to be.
Ghost That Eats Iron
Upon contact with any iron weapon or armor, it devours the spirit dwelling within. The iron, stripped of its soul, crumbles to dust without a trace, allowing you to wield the power of those fallen spirits.
The epic skill that could render any cold weapon or suit of armor completely useless began to glow softly inside my coat.