Wings Over the Infinite Gray
She spread her wings on the second floor extreme. The cold currents of air washed over her, carrying with them the intermittent scent of ash.
Paaat!
She felt the resistance of the air. She had no idea how fast she was flying right now. Roughly… she might have been moving at the speed of sound.
‘…’
Yuhwa pushed her speed even higher.
Shuuuung—!
The air around her screamed as it tore apart. She felt her hair and clothes whipping wildly. And yet. Still. The exact same scenery.
No… still. The exact same scenery.
‘…’
She couldn’t tell how much time had passed. This place had no sun or moon in its sky—only an endless expanse of gray clouds pressing down from above. It was an eternal twilight where the sun neither rose nor set.
She kept flying. One hour. Three hours. Perhaps an entire day had gone by. Yet the landscape below her was identical, as if someone had simply copied and pasted it. A perfectly straight ash-gray road. Rusty prisons packed tightly along both sides. There was still no sign of a door or altar that might mark the end.
‘Maybe I should head upward.’
Yuhwa changed direction and began soaring endlessly into the sky. She meant to pierce the clouds, break through the atmosphere, and discover the limits of this space. But the heavens themselves seemed infinitely tall. No matter how high she climbed, the gray clouds stretched on forever, and the pressure never changed. The same empty expanse simply continued.
‘…Damn it.’
Irritated, Yuhwa descended back to the ground. This time she spun around 180 degrees and flew in the opposite direction like a madwoman. The result was the same. The same road. The same iron bars. The same powerless prisoners and guards repeating endlessly.
‘…Fuck.’
She needed change. Yes—change.
Yuhwa transformed. The colossal form of a blue dragon began to descend.
Kugugugugung—!
The earth shook as though an earthquake had struck. Yuhwa crushed the prisons beneath her feet and shattered the gray road with sweeps of her tail. She rampaged, unleashing her breath straight down the endless path. A dragon’s roar tore through the heavens.
But even when a shockwave comparable to a nuclear blast erupted, even when the earth was pulverized, even when guards and prisons were swept up in her breath and frozen solid—once the dust settled, the road and prisons restored themselves perfectly. They recreated the exact same scenery as if nothing had happened. A flawless yoke that did not even permit destruction.
“Huk… heuk…”
Yuhwa returned to human form, breathing hard. Then she became aware of a strangely twisting discomfort in her stomach.
‘I’m hungry.’
Yes. She was hungry. The moment she acknowledged it, she could see the future clearly. She would keep being hungry. She would remain hungry until she passed through that straight road.
“Haa…”
Yuhwa stopped flying and simply floated in the air, swallowing dryly. Now thirst struck her. Her mouth was already parched, leaving only the unpleasant sensation of chewing desert sand.
‘Right, the shop… maybe I can buy food or water there.’
She still had coins left. She had earned plenty from clearing the hell difficulty, after all. But—
Warning. The shop system cannot be used on this floor.
“…Haha.”
Yuhwa let out a hollow laugh, folded her wings, and landed. With a thud, strength left her legs and she collapsed. She looked around with vacant eyes. The scenery was identical to the starting point, not a single detail out of place. The disgusting smell of ash that stung her nose. The terrible silence that deafened her ears. The hollow gazes of the prisoners crouching in apathy.
Perhaps she truly hadn’t moved even one step from the starting point. The thought brought a spine-chilling sense of déjà vu.
A shiver ran through her. Goosebumps erupted across her entire body. Extreme despair and solitude tightened around her throat. The fear that no matter how she struggled, she would never escape this infinite maze crept over her like rising smoke.
—Why not just give up?
That was when a sweet whisper brushed her ear. A hallucination. Or… was it?
—It’s a place you can never leave anyway. Rather than dying of thirst here, wouldn’t it be more comfortable to simply obey the rules?
Srrk.
A system window appeared before her eyes.
Your life force is continuously decreasing.
Will you abandon the trial?
※ If you give up, your life will be preserved. However, you must serve permanently as a 'warden' of this place.
Will you give up? ( YES / NO )
“Warden…”
What rose in her mind was that hideous skull warden, melted like candle wax. A punishment that did not even permit death—left with only bones, forced to wander this gray hell for all eternity.
But compared to the current agony of her insides burning from thirst and hunger, wouldn’t becoming a numb skeleton be easier?
That was when it happened.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Deep in her chest, near her heart, something wriggled with intense heat. It wasn’t a heartbeat born of fear. If she had to describe it, it was the primal instinct of a living creature on the verge of death. Like the saying that sexual desire explodes right before one dies.
‘I must leave descendants.’
The urge was so powerful it paralyzed reason.
‘Yes… I can’t die as a mere skeleton.’
And then that absurd trait floated into her mind.
“…Ha.”
Yuhwa let out a stunned laugh, half breath, half disbelief. It was absurd. That trait which had seemed so unfit for a great dragon had transformed into a survival instinct.
‘Yes…’
If she became a skeleton, she could never leave descendants, never wear pretty clothes, never admire her perfect beauty in the mirror, never taste delicious fruit. The fog of despair clouding Yuhwa’s eyes lifted. And the pride of a great dragon surged back within her.
“Rather than being reduced to a bag of bones, I would rather struggle until I die.”
Staggering, Yuhwa forced herself to her feet.
Kwaaaaang—!
Once more she spread her wings wide behind her back.
Peaceful sunlight filtered through the forest onto the wooden carriage. Inside, a girl with pink fox ears (self-proclaimed) lay slumped across the table, killing time.
“Haaam…”
Rika yawned so widely her mouth nearly split, twitching her ears. The only thing on her mind was one image: that overwhelmingly beautiful older sister.
The sole customer who had cleared the Extreme Difficulty on the Earth dimension and reached this secret shop. ‘I wonder if the thing I picked out helped…? On the second floor, I heard willpower is the most important thing…’
Rika fidgeted with her fingers, lost in thought, then shook her head. It had already left her hands. All she could do now was wait for the outcome and prepare for that wonderful sister’s return!
‘What should I get ready for next time she visits? Oh! I should prepare a cool, sweet fruit juice!’
Rika’s tail swished excitedly as she rummaged through the refrigerator-like magic tool. That was when—
Uung—!
From far away she felt a faint tearing in the air, as if space itself were being ripped open.
“Eh?!”
Rika’s ears shot straight up. She let out a joyful cry and dashed toward the entrance.
“Sister!! Is that you?!”
Paaaat!
A figure slipped through the open gate and tumbled onto the grass.
“…!”
Rika’s eyes flew wide. The once magnificent sister was covered head to toe in ash and blood, looking utterly wretched. Her beautiful scales had gone dull and lifeless. Her lips were cracked and dry, oozing blood. She was gasping, barely able to breathe—literally on the verge of death.
“H-hieek! Sister! Sister, what happened?!”
Rika rushed over in a panic and threw her arms around Yuhwa’s heavy upper body. The scorching heat of her skin and the parched dryness told Rika everything. She fumbled for the canteen at her waist and pressed it to Yuhwa’s lips.
“Water! Drink, sister!”
Gulp. Gulp.
Yuhwa drank without pause, downing nearly two liters in one go. Only then did her ragged breathing ease. A hint of color returned to her pale lips.
Srrk.
Yuhwa slowly opened her deep blue eyes.
“S-sister… are you okay? I thought you were going to die! What on earth happened on the second floor?!”
Rika fussed, tears shimmering in her eyes. Yuhwa said nothing. She simply stared at Rika with unfocused eyes.
“U… sister? Your eyes…!”
The moment their gazes met, a chill ran down Rika’s spine. She instinctively shrank back and began inching away. But Yuhwa’s legs were far longer. She closed the distance in a single stride.
“It was hard, wasn’t it… sister?”
Rika tried to force a smile. Yuhwa licked her cracked lips and spoke in a low voice.
“Yes. Very. So I need some comfort.”
Rika’s eyes darted around, but before she could ask what that meant—
“You needn’t worry. I will handle everything myself, Rika.”
So saying, Yuhwa reached out toward the girl’s soft ears.