Winter's Forgotten World
There was no time to assess what had happened in the arcade. Han Yeoreum had already spent every last drop of energy fleeing the monsters wearing human faces. What are those things? She had seen creatures like them before—in the drawings Winter used to sketch. The monsters known as zombies. The human-faced horrors continued to pursue her. Though her beastkin legs kept her ahead, Winter’s body had never been fast to begin with. If it were still the one from before the change, the zombies would have caught her long ago. It was a miracle she had survived in such a world at all.
What kind of place was this world, and what exactly were those zombies? Had Winter really been nothing more than an artificial personality Saebyeok created? As Han Yeoreum ran without end, Sofia’s earlier words surfaced in her mind. She had said Saebyeok seemed to be hiding something—almost as if she were guiding everyone to love Winter more.
So she wasn’t created… she came from another world? Plenty of beings had crossed dimensions to Earth. There was no reason for Saebyeok to conceal Winter’s origins. “Haa…” Her head throbbed with questions. The only thing she could be certain of was that Winter had endured horrors no ordinary person could even imagine. If even Saebyeok—who had suffered human experimentation—felt pity for her, then Winter’s trauma was anything but ordinary.
Han Yeoreum tried to feel sorrow, but the sight of hundreds of zombies on her heels forced her to shelve the emotion for later. This was a world where one could not afford to feel things carelessly. Where could she possibly go to shake them off? Panting, she ran blindly until a black portal shimmered into view before her. That’s…? A gateway to another dimension. She didn’t know why, but the thought that she had to enter it seized her mind. Just go in. Without hesitation, Han Yeoreum threw herself into the portal.
A brilliant flash of light swallowed her vision. When it faded, she had returned to the real world. “Ah…” The red mana stone containing the past crumbled into dust. In the end, she had only learned which world Winter came from; she still knew nothing of what had actually happened to her. The knowledge that an even more terrible past existed left her with a hollow ache. Still, it wasn’t a complete loss. She could at least guess the general shape of Winter’s suffering. Blood trickled from Han Yeoreum’s bitten lip. At the sight, Jung Yuna and Chae Juyeon’s faces turned deathly pale. What on earth had happened to her?
**
That afternoon, I wandered the city with Saebyeok and Levinas. To most people it was an ordinary city, but not to us. Each of us carried our own reasons for feeling out of place here, which somehow made even a simple walk surprisingly enjoyable.
“King! King!”
“Hm?” Levinas came running up to me, a bite already taken out of the ice cream we had bought at the mart. After swallowing, she spoke again. “They’re going pew-pew over there!”
“Pew-pew?”
“Yeah!” She grabbed both Saebyeok’s and my hands and tugged us along. The place she led us to was a fairly large arcade.
“Whoa.” The rhythmic clatter of buttons mixed with occasional groans of frustration. Some people played casually while others were deadly serious.
“Games! The ones SupremeKwonArin plays a lot!” Levinas spotted a machine surrounded by a crowd and dashed toward it. That’s… A versus fighting game. A sign above it read “Fighting Game Sanctuary.”
“Ah…” So this was the fighting game sanctuary. But why was everyone gathered around this one machine? As we approached, we saw a neat row of coins lined up on top of the cabinet.
“King! Someone left money here!” Levinas started picking up the coins one by one. The people nearby flinched.
“Those belong to someone,” a voice said in my place. It was Kwon Arin, her fingers flying over the buttons. “SupremeKwonArin!”
“Can you maybe drop the ‘Supreme’ part when there are this many people…?” Even as she said it, her in-game nickname remained SupremeKwonArin. She was currently dismantling her opponent in real time.
“Kwon Arin, are those coins someone’s?”
“Yeah. You put a coin up to hold your spot. When your coin reaches the front, it’s your turn.”
“Oh! So everyone must have picked up a lot of empty bottles!” Levinas carefully set the coins back down in the exact order she had found them.
“Good job. But what are you three doing here?” Kwon Arin glanced at me while she spoke. She knew the question was directed at me.
“Just looking around.”
“Really? Want to play a bit? I’ll finish up after a few more wins.” With that, she defeated another opponent without taking a single hit. Maybe all these people had gathered just to try beating her.
“Sure. We’ll walk around until you’re done.”
“Okay.” I led Levinas and Saebyeok away to explore the arcade. Levinas stopped in front of a game where a horned rabbit ran around shooting a gun.
“Whoa…!” Her eyes sparkled as she climbed into the seat. Saebyeok curled up like a cat in the chair beside her and closed her eyes.
“Wake me when it’s over…”
“Okay! But King, how do you play this?” Levinas asked, already mashing buttons.
“You have to put money in.”
“M-money…? Like the coins we put on top?”
“Yeah. Nothing’s free.”
“R-really…?” Levinas rummaged through her pockets. Four hundred won left from the ice cream—that was all she had. One game cost five hundred won. I decided to cover the difference for her.
“I’ll put the money in. Want to try, Levinas?”
“Hup! Thank you!” The moment the coin dropped, the game started. Levinas selected the horned rabbit character and began shooting a water-gun-like weapon. Her skill was… not great. She took every hit and died almost instantly. All three lives vanished within a minute.
“……” Levinas stared blankly at the screen, her expression dark.
“Wah, King, I’m sorry… Levinas just wasted your money…”
“It’s fine. It’s your first time.” I took out another five-hundred-won coin and offered it to her for another try, but she waved both hands in refusal.
“It’s okay. I’ll just keep wasting money anyway.”
“Ah…” She turned it down immediately, probably because she felt bad about the cost. If only I had more money, this wouldn’t have happened. Guilt made her ears and tail droop. It was all my fault for being poor.
**
Without coins, the arcade machine would cycle through its attract mode, showing gameplay footage to tempt passersby. For most people it was just an ad, but for one child it became a source of vicarious satisfaction.
“King! Look at this! You can play like this!” Levinas moved the joystick while watching the promotional video. She wasn’t actually controlling anything, yet her face was full of smiles.
“Wow, Levinas is fighting really well.”
“Right?”
“Yeah. Let’s play together.”
“Ahem.” Levinas puffed up proudly while Winter sat beside her and moved the joystick. Click-click-click— The two children pressed buttons with no real purpose.
“……” The sight of the two of them playing at playing made the nearby adults hold their breath. One young man even forgot his own character had died as he kept glancing at the kids. They had no money to play for real, so they were just pretending. For any gamer, there was no crueler situation.
I want to see them actually enjoy the games. If someone just gave them unlimited coins… The moment that thought formed, Winter tapped her own thigh.
“Levinas, sit here.”
“Here?” Levinas climbed onto Winter’s lap. Winter’s tail wrapped gently around her waist for stability.
“We’re going to play together.”
“How do we do that?”
“I’ll only help when it looks like you’re about to die.”
“Huh?” Levinas tilted her head, confused. Instead of explaining, Winter simply demonstrated. She inserted a coin, chose the horned rabbit, and activated her senses. The enemies’ movements slowed to a crawl—even Levinas’s hand motions became crystal clear.
Levinas was startled by the sudden start of the game but kept moving her hands diligently. Whenever she was about to get hit, Winter pressed the jump button for her. It was as if two people were controlling one character.
“Hup! I’m alive!”
“Yeah. This is how we do it together.”
“Hup! Then Levinas is basically invincible!” Levinas bounced excitedly on Winter’s lap. The fact that she could use her ability for someone precious filled her with joy. She focused every sense on the game, determined to clear it all the way to the final boss without letting Levinas die even once. With her reflexes, it was more than possible.