The sky had only just begun to paint itself blue.
Most of the land upon Iron Mountain was barren, and its people lived in famine. Dim golden light filtered through bluish-gray clouds, weaving across the heavens as though they were dancing with one another. Those who stood beneath that dance found themselves overcome by an unexplainable thirst.
A young man, barely nineteen years old, sat quietly carving a branch with the knife in his hand. He had black hair, a tall and slender build, and bright brown eyes that remained fixed on his work. When he finished shaping another sharpened stake, he added it to the growing pile beside him.
"I'd better finish carving these stakes before noon and replace the traps I set."
The forest surrounding him was desolate.
Despite the suffocating humidity that hung heavily in the barren air, he showed little of his discomfort. Strange creatures unlike anything he had ever seen wandered through the woods. Whenever possible, he observed them from a distance, refusing to take unnecessary risks.
An ecosystem completely foreign to him was a danger he could neither understand nor predict.
That was why he relied on traps while carefully exploring his surroundings.
Nine days had passed since he had opened his eyes in this place.
During the first three days, he had been convinced he would die somewhere within the oppressive forest.
On the evening of the third day, he spotted someone walking along the narrow trail—a hunter with a sturdy physique, long hair, and emerald-green eyes. A composite bow rested across the hunter's back, accompanied by a full quiver.
After watching him carefully, the young man could no longer endure the loneliness.
After all, he had spent three days completely alone.
And the first human he encountered carried what looked like a handmade composite bow straight out of the Middle Ages.
Slowly, he approached with both hands raised before placing them behind his head, trying to make it clear that he meant no harm.
Like a man surrendering.
The hunter spoke in a language the young man couldn't understand.
Instead of lowering his guard, however, the hunter became even more nervous and pulled back his bowstring.
The young man immediately realized that a single wrong move would cost him his life.
Not wanting to provoke the hunter any further, he slowly lowered himself onto the ground and lay face down. With his hands locked behind his back, his body remained perfectly straight, like an arrow waiting to be released from its bow.
The hunter searched him carefully.
Once he was certain the young man possessed nothing that could threaten him, he tightly bound his hands behind his back with a rope.
The very first person he had tried to communicate with had completely misunderstood him.
How much worse could this possibly get...?
Silently, he followed the hunter along the forest trail.
As they walked, he couldn't help but notice the old, patched linen clothes covering the man's body. They looked like genuine relics from humanity's distant past—a sight that both astonished and frightened someone who had come from the modern world.
The two walked nearly eight kilometers through the forest, following symbols carved into the trees.
The journey left the young man desperately thirsty.
Doing his best to communicate through gestures, he pointed toward his throat and tongue before mimicking the act of drinking.
The hunter hesitated for a moment before handing him a container hanging from his belt. It had been carved from an unfamiliar plant, vaguely resembling a gourd, though darker and much thicker.
Without thinking twice, the young man emptied the entire container.
After another three kilometers, they finally reached a village.
A medieval village.
His entire body tensed.
The unfamiliar creatures and strange ecosystem had already convinced him that he was no longer in his own world.
But seeing this village...
Realizing he might not even be living in his own era anymore...
That realization filled him with terror—and despair.
The hunter called over a young girl with fiery red hair and brown eyes before speaking to her.
The young man couldn't understand a single word they exchanged.
Yet something about the language unsettled him.
It sounded completely foreign—its sentence structure, expressions, even its rhythm bore no resemblance to any language he had ever heard. And yet, strangely enough, it didn't feel entirely unfamiliar either.
If a master linguist were to examine its grammar, phrasing, and syntax, they would inevitably conclude that this language did not belong to the world he came from.
Once the conversation ended, the hunter hurried into one of the small buildings.
"Where am I...?"
The question echoed inside the young man's mind.
Several minutes later, an old man emerged.
His back was severely hunched, his body little more than skin stretched over bone. Yet what caught the young man's attention wasn't the old man's frailty.
It was the emblem hanging from his chest.
An Iron Daisy.
The old man slowly opened his mouth and spoke several short sentences.
The hunter immediately turned toward the young man.
Unable to understand the words, the young man desperately searched their faces for clues. He watched every movement, every subtle shift in expression, hoping to decipher their intentions through body language alone.
It was useless.
He learned nothing.
Without another explanation, the hunter grabbed him and dragged him back toward the forest they had come from.
Several kilometers later, the hunter untied nothing.
He simply abandoned him.
"...What the hell?"
Standing alone with his hands still bound behind his back, the young man cursed under his breath.
None of it made any sense.
After calming himself, he rubbed the ropes against the edge of a jagged rock, hoping to cut through them.
Then—
The stone moved.
No...
It opened.
A crack spread across its surface before the rock itself folded inward like the mouth of some enormous creature.
The ground beneath him disappeared.
Gravity reversed.
Before he could react, the hollow swallowed him whole.
His body floated helplessly through endless darkness.
Because his hands were still tied, he couldn't even control his own posture. He drifted through the air as though the world itself had forgotten which way was down.
The air was cold.
Damp.
Silent.
He reached toward a rocky ledge jutting from the wall, trying desperately to grab hold—
Then a voice echoed through the darkness.
It was deep.
Hoarse.
Burdened with sorrow.
Yet beneath that sorrow rested overwhelming majesty.
"Ah... Ancient One...
You stood for thousands of years...
At last, you were broken.
You searched without end...
Hoping for a miracle...
A cry...
Perhaps an answer to your call.
We waited in our homes upon the lands veiled in mist.
Time abandoned us.
Extinction swallowed us as well.
We were lost within nothingness.
Even your legends have been forgotten."
The young man's eyes widened.
His entire body froze.
What... was happening?
The words...
He understood every single one of them.
That should have been impossible.
Only moments ago, he hadn't understood even a single sentence spoken by the hunter or the villagers.
Yet now...
Without effort...
Without thinking...
The strange language translated itself inside his mind.
"...What the hell is happening?"
His breathing quickened.
"Why can I understand this...?"
Instinctively, he looked down at his right wrist.
His heart nearly stopped.
Wrapped around it was a thin, broad bracelet unlike anything he had ever seen.
Black and gold intertwined across its surface like liquid metal, flowing endlessly around one another.
"I don't remember wearing this..."
Panic surged through him.
He immediately began running toward the distant light shining somewhere ahead.
His lungs burned.
Every breath felt as though it might be his last.
Still, he kept running.
Toward the light.
Toward what he believed was the exit.
Yet no matter how long he ran...
The distance never changed.
The light remained just as far away as before.
Behind him, the majestic voice continued.
"Then our promise is nearly fulfilled.
O Ancient One...
Your legacy shall not vanish.
A war...
A war born from those abandoned by the Ancient...
A war from which no lord shall escape.
Rise...
Rise now, O Blackened One.
You who live...
Yet remain among the dead.
Hear the call of the one who has waited for an age...
Hear the call of the Ancient.
Cross the unknown darkness.
Pass through the mist.
Return to the land...
So that you may once again stand before the Ancient."
As the final words echoed through the abyss, the gloomy tone disappeared.
For the first time...
Hope filled the voice.
At that exact moment, the bracelet around the young man's wrist began to glow.
The gold and black colors danced across its surface, separating from one another like streams of molten metal.
They floated upward.
Slowly.
Until they reached the height of his chest.
His heartbeat thundered inside his ears.
Faster.
Faster.
Faster.
The black current swallowed the golden one.
Then—
Without warning—
It shot forward like the tip of a spear.
It pierced straight through his chest.
Into his heart.
An indescribable agony exploded throughout his body.
His scream echoed endlessly through the darkness.
The pain surpassed anything he had ever imagined.
His molars shattered beneath the force of his clenched jaw.
He collapsed onto the ground.
His pupils rolled upward until only the whites of his eyes remained visible.
He bit through his own tongue.
He tore at his hair.
His fingernails ripped across his face, leaving bloody trails.
He writhed.
He struggled.
He screamed until no sound remained.
Then...
Silence.
That was how the young man died.
The fluorescent lights of the intensive care unit cast a cold glow over the room.
A tall, slender young man with black hair sat at a cluttered desk, transferring the documents in his hands into the hospital's computer system.
Paperwork was scattered across the tabletop alongside several empty coffee cups and discarded plastic wrappers.
Dark circles rested beneath his eyes.
His complexion was clear, his facial features sharp. A straight nose and slightly slanted brown eyes gave him an appearance that made him look younger than he actually was. Combined with naturally handsome features, he attracted more attention than he cared for.
Turning toward the woman at the neighboring desk, he spoke without lifting his eyes from the paperwork.
"So... once I finish these forms, I can finally leave, right, Naz?"
The curly-haired woman didn't answer.
She hadn't even heard him.
The music blasting through her headphones had completely shut out the outside world.
Han sighed.
Stretching lazily in his chair, he adjusted the intern ID card hanging from his neck before standing up.
He had been awake for far too many hours.
Fatigue was beginning to replace patience.
Walking toward the locker, he reached for the black jacket hanging inside.
Just as he slipped one arm into the sleeve...
A hand landed on his shoulder.
"You little bastard."
Han froze.
"Were you seriously planning to leave without me?"
He swallowed instinctively.
Even the tips of his ears turned red.
Standing so close, the woman—four years older than him—made him strangely uncomfortable.
Not because she was intimidating.
Because she was beautiful.
"Hey," Han replied with a tired sigh.
"You do realize there'll be trouble if we both clock out early, right? I have my anatomy exam tomorrow morning."
He rubbed his forehead before continuing.
"And as if that weren't enough, you somehow managed to dump a bunch of crazy people on me. Thanks to you, I've got an entire mountain of preparations waiting for tomorrow."
Naz laughed.
She gave him a playful slap on the back.
"Oh, stop complaining."
Her lips curved into a teasing smile.
"What could possibly be better than going camping with the team?"
There was unmistakable flirtation in her eyes.
Han looked at her with complete exhaustion.
"Easy for you to say."
He let out another sigh.
"You're not the one taking the anatomy exam tomorrow."
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"Maybe someday we should also talk about how I got dragged into this against my will."
Naz couldn't help laughing.
"Fine."
She raised both hands in surrender.
"I admit you're right."
Then she flashed a devilish grin.
"I'll make it up to you."
"Dinner?"
Han asked.
"Better."
She winked.
"I'll take you to a bar."
"My treat."
Han already knew.
If he stayed there any longer, she'd keep talking until another half hour disappeared.
Without saying another word, he slipped on his jacket and headed toward the exit.
Behind him, Naz called out loudly.
"Han!"
He didn't stop.
"You seriously have no respect, you know that?"
He simply waved one hand without turning around.
After changing his clothes in the locker room, he slung his backpack over one shoulder and left the hospital.
The cool evening air greeted him outside.
He put on his headphones.
Music filled his ears.
Slowly, the exhaustion of the day melted into the rhythm accompanying each step.
A short walk later, he reached the subway station.
The crowd was already unbearable.
Han frowned.
"Seriously..."
He muttered to himself.
"Why does everyone decide to travel at exactly the same time?"
The train finally arrived.
The doors opened.
People surged forward like a flood.
Everyone pushed.
Everyone squeezed.
Everyone fought for a little space inside the steel carriage.
Han somehow managed to slip inside before the doors closed.
It wasn't comfortable.
It never was.
But eventually...
He arrived home.
His apartment wasn't large.
A small studio apartment.
Simple.
Modest.
Exactly the kind of place a university student could barely afford.
There wasn't much inside.
A bed.
A sofa.
A carpet covering most of the floor.
A work desk tucked neatly into one corner.
Small...
Yet more than enough for one person.
Besides...
He had absolutely no intention of sharing a studio apartment with anyone else.
Despite the exhaustion weighing down his body, he switched on the computer sitting on the desk.
Several unread emails awaited him.
Then there was tomorrow's anatomy exam.
And somewhere between those responsibilities...
A newly released game caught his attention.
"Lands Between II is finally out..."
He stared at the screen.
"Should I play it?"
The temptation lasted only a few seconds.
His body answered before his mind could.
He didn't have the energy.
His eyelids felt impossibly heavy.
Rubbing his eyes, he reached for the cigarette pack lying beside the keyboard.
He walked onto the balcony.
The city lights stretched endlessly before him.
He lit the cigarette.
Took a slow drag.
Exhaled.
The smoke disappeared into the night as his thoughts drifted elsewhere.
Han had felt restless ever since he left his hometown to attend university in another city.
His younger brother would be starting college this year.
His parents' financial situation had never been good.
Neither of them was in good health, either.
His mother had devoted twenty-five years of her life to raising two sons. The years of relentless labor had eventually taken their toll, leaving her with chronic knee problems.
His father hadn't fared any better.
After years of pushing himself beyond his limits, he had developed a serious heart condition. Surgery had saved his life, but it also kept him from working for nearly two years.
Whenever Han looked back on those days, memories surfaced one after another.
Working in the fields beside his mother beneath the scorching summer sun.
Hauling cement and bricks at construction sites while trying to keep up with his studies.
Those years had been merciless.
Balancing university, part-time jobs, and the social life everyone else seemed to enjoy had often left him feeling isolated.
Then, just as he had begun university, the world was struck by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Everything became harder.
Hospitals overflowed.
Businesses collapsed.
Prices rose.
Opportunities disappeared.
For nearly two years, life stood still while treatments slowly became available across the world.
For a family already struggling to survive, those years had been suffocating.
Yet somehow...
The four of them endured.
Together.
No matter how difficult life became, they never lowered their heads.
Han took another drag from his cigarette.
A faint smile finally appeared.
"So..."
"I guess our easier days are finally beginning."
In another two months, the investment he had been waiting for would finally mature.
Combined with his accumulated bonuses, performance premiums, and savings, it would be enough.
Enough to pay both his own tuition...
And his little brother's.
For the first time in years...
The future didn't look hopeless.
He crushed the cigarette into the ashtray.
"That's enough thinking for today."
There were still supplies he needed to buy for the upcoming camping trip with the team.
But that could wait until tomorrow.
Tonight...
He only wanted to sleep.
Han quietly lay down on his bed.
Although traces of anxiety about the future still lingered in the back of his mind, life was incomparably better than it had been three years ago.
Slowly...
His eyelids closed.
His breathing became steady.
There was no pain.
No nightmare.
No sign that anything was wrong.
The young man drifted peacefully into sleep.
...
That was how Han died.