A Warm Bedtime
‘Fortunately, they were people with good instincts.’ They had clearly picked out their aces from somewhere. The user Awakened of this era were powerful beginners. What they needed more than anything was sharper senses than others. In that regard, Jang Bora passed with flying colors, and Go Gamchan barely squeaked by with a passing grade.
‘Right. Now for the choice…’
One of my concerns was whether Jeju Island’s Awakened could endure while fierce metal blades scattered and swirled through the air. In truth, this required no deliberation—it was an immediate reject. Even in this situation, almost none of them showed any sign of using body reinforcement or mana to protect themselves. Only five were doing so; the rest simply lowered their heads and cried for their parents. It was bad.
I gripped talismans and hurled them toward those five. A familiar face and long ears flashed in my vision for a moment, but there was no time to dwell on it.
“Everyone who didn’t receive a talisman, retreat now!”
That was why I excluded anyone without a chance, even if they joined the fight. But perhaps my expectations had been too high—the Awakened bolted without so much as a backward glance. Yes, with the enemy right in front of them, they ignored every instruction and necessity, turned their backs, and ran.
“You stupid bastards! Don’t turn your backs!!!”
The blades’ trajectories began to twist. The ones that had been spinning around the conch like a defensive curtain expanded their range, broke formation, and started shooting toward the retreating people.
The sense of crisis accelerated my thoughts. Future usable assets were shrinking. The conquest of the conch was slipping away. And later, when it came time to treat Dohwa, it would disrupt our family’s livelihood.
I focused power in my eyes, hands, and dantian, driving my qi past the middle gate and up to the upper dantian. It was a filthy dangerous maneuver, but with my ‘damn ally’ on my side, I was certain it would work out somehow.
By then, the distance between the blades and the Awakened had been cut in half. In a world that had nearly frozen to a standstill, an unprotected human struck by an arm-thick blade flying at that speed would be crippled even with luck. Deflecting them now was impossible.
So I rolled the dice.
"The qi of the deep place that even rejects light is like the cold accumulated for over ten thousand years."
⟨ Hasty Chill Decree ⟩
Intense cold surged from the deployed talismans and converged on a single point. The spell activated several times faster than usual, causing the surrounding qi to react violently. It must have properly registered on the sensitive conch’s senses—half the blades that had been flying outward twisted mid-flight and veered toward me.
The distortion in their paths affected the rest, throwing many blades into chaos.
“Kyaaaaah!”
Of course, not everything went perfectly. There were still sacrifices. Some suffered deep gashes, even piercing wounds. A few belatedly tried to defend or dodge, so the damage was lighter than that first instant.
Clang-clang-clang!
The remaining problem was that the blades previously arrayed around me were now pouring down with ferocious friction, all centered on my position.
“Ms. Dowol!”
Jang Bora shouted in panic. He knew it too—his barrier could never block every single blade. I knew it as well. When Go Gamchan belatedly sprinted toward me, I shook my head. His eyes wavered for a split second before he changed course toward the conch that had left an opening.
An absolute crisis. Therefore, this was my best gamble within accelerated thought.
Abandoned wall form. Expanded into a perfect circle. Ice flowers bloom on impact.
The barrier discarded its wall shape and spread outward in a ring. It collided with the blades, producing discordant shrieks and blooming flowers of ice. At the same time, I burst through the gap at a speed boosted by haste.
Clang!
The conch fired an extra razor-sharp blade straight at my forehead, but my sword deflected it.
“Haaaaah!”
Booom—!
Go Gamchan leaped again and this time struck the already cracked rear with perfect timing. Cuts covered his body, but the reduced number of blades combined with his berserker nature—his flesh glowing crimson with mad power—made him unstoppable.
Thud!
This time, unlike before, he kicked off empty air and his body shot forward. It was the close-combat movement and evasion technique, Sky Step—Mana Step.
“All personnel except those transporting the injured, commence full assault! Use smoke screens to buy time! Mr. Go Gamchan, watch my timing and strike together! Ms. Jang Bora, cast Holy Shield on everyone!”
My crude command prevented a repeat of the earlier disaster. The brilliant magical bombardments from each fighter exploded near me, generating a fierce storm, but I endured it. I used talismans to block the blades rising behind us to attack.
And as stealthily as possible, I completed the full incantation.
"The qi of the deep place that even rejects light is like the cold accumulated for over ten thousand years."
"Seen from afar, it is emptiness. Seen from close, it is the weight of karma."
"Therefore, I shall fill this emptiness with my own karma."
⟨ Abyssal Ice Hell ⟩
All the talismans left to me bloomed, radiating cold. Even though I had kept it hidden, metal awls shot through the bombardment. They pierced Jang Bora’s Holy Shield and wounded me, but I couldn’t stop the blue-chilled talismans from gathering above my palm, compressing, and turning pitch black.
At my shout, Go Gamchan abandoned everything and dodged sideways. The black orb of cold—into which I had poured half my energy—flew toward the conch. In that instant the creature gathered every scrap of usable metal for defense, yet the orb still pierced its frontal scales and opened a massive crack. Go Gamchan charged through the explosion and storm to deliver the final hammer blow.
—Kwaaaaaang!
“Shall we have a drink? Thanks to all of you, Jeju Island’s future has grown brighter.”
Mayor Do Bok-su of Jeju Island poured drinks for us with genuine pleasure. I considered refusing, but maintaining good personal connections never hurt, so I joined the gathering. The entire hotel lobby had been rented out, yet the food felt somewhat frugal by comparison. Still, this level of frugality was measured against normal South Korean standards—and right now, even this much could be considered a luxury.
“Haha, I’m not sure if I should even accept this glass,” Jang Bora said with an awkward laugh, hesitating.
“Don’t say that. Thanks to you, Ms. Jang Bora, I managed to crack that shell. Honestly, without your buff I was a little scared myself.”
Go Gamchan encouraged him, and Jang Bora finally accepted the drink with care. The reserve forces who had contributed—specifically those not among the injured—also raised their glasses.
There were no deaths. These were Awakened with at least the specs of mid-to-late stage users. Even if they had to painfully hover on death’s door, they endured their wounds. Thanks to the devoted care of priest-class users and doctors, none of them died.
“I’m truly glad no one died and it ended like this.”
I wholeheartedly agreed with the mayor, emptied my glass, and stood. The mood was warming nicely, but I had a prior commitment.
“I should be going now. My child is waiting.”
“Oh? Ah… then it can’t be helped. See you tomorrow.”
Leaving the slightly disappointed mayor behind, I returned to our family’s temporary quarters where Dohwa waited.
Beep!
The door lock disengaged with the card key. When I opened the door, the sight that greeted me was Dohwa, completely naked, fast asleep on the massage chair. A seven-year-old falling asleep on a massage chair was hardly age-appropriate, yet it was undeniably cute.
“Fell asleep right after bathing? So sloppy…”
I switched off the gently vibrating massage chair and rescued Dohwa from its clutches. Naturally, clothes did not magically appear.
“Underwear and t-shirt—found them.”
I considered waking her so she could dress herself, but seeing how soundly she slept, I couldn’t bear to disturb her. Instead, I gently slipped the underwear and t-shirt onto her.
“Cold… yes.”
Objectively my body temperature was far lower, but Dohwa’s was also extremely cold, differing only in degree. I dressed her in the microfiber pajamas from the carrier that matched her size, scattered talismans that emitted yang energy across the blanket, and lay down on the bed beside her.
“This way is warmer.”
I wanted to hug her tightly, but my chest might suffocate her, so I settled for a gentle embrace.
“Sleep well, Dohwa.”
And so we fell asleep together beneath the blanket that had grown warm between us.
It was a disaster. Distracted by how refreshing the massage chair felt, I hadn’t noticed my brother returning. While I debated whether to force myself out of it, he spotted me first. I was scared. I wasn’t five years old anymore; I was terrified he would scold me for being so sloppy. So… I pretended to be asleep.
“So sloppy…”
My brother lifted me like a princess and smiled as he spoke.
…He wasn’t angry?
“Sleep well, Dohwa.”
And when my brother held me in his arms as we slept, the softness of it made my consciousness blur rapidly. That night, I fell asleep incredibly warm.