My head throbbed.
It felt like floating in an empty space.
When Min-chan laboriously opened his eyes—
overhead, two moons hung.
One was red, the other pale.
Two moons, of different sizes and orbits,
looked down on the world in silence.
"…Am I still… in a dream?"
The words escaped him weakly.
But no answer came back.
His eyelids grew heavy again,
and his head dropped with a thud.
Consciousness was sucked back into a deep darkness.
And within it,
memories resurfaced like fragments.
The red drumbeat.
The blood-soaked ground.
Xuanyuan's sword cutting through the air.
And—
Fengbo and Yusa's last smiles.
Through his blurry vision,
the sky reflected in his bloodshot eyes still felt red, like the afterimage of a battlefield.
The air was unfamiliar… and cold.
That place was not reality.
But it wasn't a dream either.
It was… an unending battlefield.
And, it was a nightmare.
Another war,
etched into his body.
"Ugh…"
"Oh dear… I'm going to die…"
"Cough…"
Groans escaped from here and there.
One by one, they picked themselves up from the ground.
Their faces still unable to comprehend the situation.
"Look here… Young-beom, let me slap your cheek."
[SMACK!]
"Whoa, what in the world?! Why'd you slap my cheek?!"
"Judging by your reaction… it's real, alright."
Young-ho quietly pointed to the sky.
Following his gaze, Young-beom raised his head,
and silently looked at the moons.
"Do-yoon. Let me slap your cheek."
[SMACK! SMACK!]
"Aack! I'm holding a kid right now!"
Do-yoon cried out, clutching his cheeks.
The little girl, nestled tightly in his arms,
whimpered softly and buried her face in Do-yoon's chest.
"Heh… I guess I deserved it."
Do-yoon looked up at the sky,
letting out a slight, empty laugh.
Then he gently patted the child's back and muttered.
"You're alive… Thank goodness."
At his words,
an awkward silence fell for a moment.
But soon—
[Cough… Cough…]
"Where… where are we now…?"
Coach Gab-su coughed as he got up.
His face, as he rose supporting himself with one knee, was covered in dirt and blood.
Beside him,
Coach Sang-cheol also frowned, slowly opening his eyes.
"This is driving me crazy… It can't be a dream… This is a bit much…"
"If it were a dream, we'd have woken up by now. Get up. Let's make sure all the kids are alive first."
As Gab-su spoke, Sang-cheol gritted his teeth and stood up.
And soon,
his gaze, which had been quietly sweeping the surroundings,
stopped on the two people lying unconscious.
"…Min-chan…"
"…Dam-bi too…"
Both were covered in blood.
They were unconscious, with not even a twitch.
"Coach, he's breathing. But the bleeding is severe, and his body is cold."
Tae-geon shouted, lifting Min-chan's body.
His face was pale,
and all strength had drained from his body.
"After losing that much blood and using that much power, there's no way he'd be fine… It's a miracle he's alive."
Park Sang-cheol said, raising his head.
In his eyes, looking up at the sky, the two moons slowly revolved.
"This is serious. We need to administer first aid quickly…"
Kim Gab-su opened his mouth.
His voice was low and calm.
"…I don't know where we are, but there's only one important thing right now."
He said, looking alternately at Min-chan and Dam-bi.
"That we must save Min-chan and Dam-bi with our own hands."
Young-ho and Young-beom, Do-yoon, and Tae-geon
all nodded with serious faces.
"…First, let's start a fire. Min-chan and Dam-bi's body temperatures are too low."
Kim Gab-su said in a low voice.
At his words, everyone nodded.
"I'll watch Min-chan and Dam-bi. You go east. You go west. Don't go far, just gather some firewood and things to lay on the ground."
Following his instructions, they quietly dispersed.
The unfamiliar night air was crisp but chilling, and instead of the smell of earth,
a strange, strong scent of grass stung their noses.
Tall, dense bushes grew sparsely around.
In the silence, only their own breathing and heartbeats could be heard.
Do-yoon moved first.
He poked the ground with the tip of his shoe
and picked up small branches and dried leaves.
"Strange… it's a forest, but there are no bird sounds at all."
As Do-yoon mumbled softly,
Young-beom pushed through the bushes and replied.
"It's too quiet, makes me a bit uneasy."
Young-beom silently picked up a worn branch,
and quietly surveyed the surroundings.
Moonlight occasionally peeked through the gaps in the leaves,
and beneath, it grazed flat stone fragments and moss on the ground.
He stopped, and knelt.
"…And speaking of which, the ground here is made of stone."
The texture felt when rubbed with his palm.
A consistent size and shape—it was clearly an artificial floor.
"Someone might live nearby… Let's go back and report to Coach first."
A short while later, the four returned with firewood.
Park Sang-cheol, holding a thick branch in his hand, asked.
"Did you scout?"
"Something… it seems like someone lives nearby. There were paths through the grass where people could walk, and it felt organized."
"And there were even places where the ground was paved with stones."
"Hmm… That's a relief, at least.
At least it means it's not a cave where beasts would leap out."
Kim Gab-su carefully laid Min-chan and Dam-bi down,
and covered them with the leaves and dry grass Tae-geon had brought, like a blanket.
[Hiss— Hiss-hiss…]
Young-ho lit the bundle of dry grass he had picked up earlier.
It was just a palm-sized spark, but it didn't take long for it to blaze up.
Min-chan's fingertips twitched slightly, as if heat was beginning to circulate.
"Okay… it'll get warmer little by little now."
It was at that moment.
[Thud!]
A sound like a small branch being stepped on and breaking.
Young-ho immediately turned his head.
Beyond the bushes, something definitely brushed past.
"Just now… didn't you see it too?"
"Yeah. I saw it.
Something… like a wildcat, sneaking around."
Young-beom quietly placed his hand on the ground and clutched a stone.
And beyond their vision—
in the darkness where the two moonlights overlapped.
'Yellow eyes'… briefly sparkled.
A very quiet and eerie presence.
Like a beast secretly approaching its prey, movement was felt in the darkness.
[Rustle…]
Once more.
From the opposite side, the sound of leaves rustling.
Now it was clear.
'Something'… was moving slowly, yet surely, towards them.
"Wait. We don't know what it is yet."
Young-ho said in a low voice.
But in his hand, he already held the stoutest branch among the firewood.
"It seems like… it's testing us."
Young-beom rolled his eyes, his expression tense.
Outside the firelight, the silhouette in the darkness shifted positions every moment.
There was no set pattern, nor did it seem like animal instinct, but an intelligent movement.
"Tae-geon, Young-beom! Guard Min-chan and Dam-bi… and that child."
Kim Gab-su said urgently.
His eyes were already aimed at the bushes.
[Whoosh…]
Something brushing past.
And—
[Rustle!]
A definite movement.
This time, right behind the bushes, only a few steps away.
"It's coming."
Sang-cheol said quietly.
Young-ho, holding the wooden club in his hand,
stood at the very front.
A silence so profound that the sound of his heart beating could be heard.
It was then—
Beyond the bushes, caught by the light…
a silhouette the height of an adult's chest.
"…What, is it a person?"
The voice escaped Do-yoon's lips.
Before he could finish—
[CLINK!]
A rusty dagger flashed through the bushes, gleaming eerily in the moonlight.
"Get ready, everyone."
Young-ho said quietly.
His hand, gripping the wooden club, tightened.
[SQUEAK!]
A green figure burst from the bushes, charging furiously at Young-ho.
Gaunt limbs, bloodshot eyes, and a rancid stench.
It was—
a goblin.
[WHAM!]
[CRUNCH!]
The thick branch Young-ho swung struck the goblin's side, breaking the branch.
[SCREEECH!!]
The goblin vomited blood and stumbled back.
But it did not fall.
It crouched and regained its stance.
"It's not human."
At Do-yoon's words, the little girl in his arms flinched in surprise.
Do-yoon, biting his lip, held the child even tighter.
[SQUEAK! SQUEAK!]
The goblin shrieked, retreating into the bushes.
But it wasn't a scream of pain.
It was a signal.
[Rustle… Rustle-rustle-rustle…]
Soon after,
two from the left bushes.
Three from the rock crevices on the right.
Another from beyond the old tree behind them.
A total of six goblins
emerged, cutting through the darkness.
"Damn it… there are more!"
Park Sang-cheol gritted his teeth.
"We're surrounded. Completely encircled."
Young-ho wiped sweat from his brow, scanning the surroundings.
The shadows, outside the campfire light,
maintained an exquisite distance, quietly forming their formation.
"One of them was a scout, then…"
Kim Gab-su's eyes narrowed.
[Heh-heh-heh…]
The goblins, holding rusty daggers and bone spears,
glared at the group with hunters' eyes.
"Block them from getting to Dam-bi and Min-chan first! Don't let go of the kid!"
Gab-su shouted.
"Do-yoon! To the back!"
"Yes!!"
Do-yoon held the child in his arms and quickly moved behind Min-chan and Dam-bi.
At that moment—
the closest goblin leaped into the air.
Holding a scythe-like blade, aimed at Do-yoon's head.
[WHACK!!]
"You little—!!"
Tae-geon leaped forward like lightning,
grabbing the goblin's face as if snatching it—
and slammed it to the ground.
[CRUNCH!!]
The goblin's head burst as it hit the rock.
Its arm twitched once, then stopped.
However—
[SCREEECHHH!!]
The remaining goblins charged in unison.
[WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!]
Sharp sounds cutting through the air.
Young-ho sprang to the very front.
[THWACK!]
After swinging his club and deflecting a bone spear—
a middle kick.
His shin connected with the goblin's temple.
[BANG!]
Followed by
an elbow strike like lightning, smashing down on its crown.
[BANG!!]
The goblin's head caved in, both upwards and sideways.
Its sprawling body trembled for a long time, then stopped moving.
"Young-beom!"
"I know!"
[WHOOSH!!]
The stone Young-beom was holding
flew in a straight trajectory, directly striking the goblin's jaw.
[CRACK!!]
His two feet, rushing forward,
cut through the air and landed in quick succession.
Solar plexus, jaw.
[THWACK! CRUNCH!]
A sound like hitting a leather sack.
And, the sensation of a jawbone shattering.
[GURGLE!!]
Leaving the goblin behind, which had fallen forward and vomited blood,
Young-beom had already turned his body
and looked at the three approaching from behind.
"…Damn it. They're swarming like a pack of dogs."
[TATATATAK!!]
"Don't go out too far, hold your ground."
Park Sang-cheol quickly got behind a goblin.
With his two fists clenched—
[POW! POW! POW!]
Short jabs.
Hook.
Body blow.
A boxer's rhythm.
All three goblins staggered simultaneously.
"Now's our chance!"
Gab-su charged.
As he pushed the three with his shoulder, the goblins tangled with each other and tumbled down.
[CRASH!]
That very opening.
The following group, without hesitation, finished them off.
Short screams, and then—
[THWACK! BANG! CRUNCH!]
And… silence fell again.
"Huh… seems easier than I thought."
Young-ho muttered, catching his breath.
"Right? My body feels light as a feather… and my grip seems stronger too."
Young-beom swung his arm once, snorting.
"Don't let your guard down yet. You can check that later, it's not too late."
Gab-su said calmly.
"One, two, three… six. Huh? Six? Weren't there seven just now?"
Sang-cheol counted the goblins on the ground and asked, puzzled.
At that moment—
[SCREEEEECH!!!]
The first goblin, which had been hit by a branch and hidden in the bushes, dashed through the bushes towards Dam-bi.
"No—!"
However, it was then.
[THWIP!]
[THWACK!!!]
A short, strong thwipping sound, and something pierced the goblin's neck and protruded out.
"An arrow?"
[THUD!]
Blood and slime flowed from the tip of the arrow that had pierced its neck, and the goblin crumpled forward.
Everyone's gaze turned towards the direction the arrow had come from.
"Someone else is here."
Gab-su said briefly.
[Swoosh… Rustle… Rustle…]
The sound of something carefully parting the bushes.
Footsteps on dirt drew closer.
The group instinctively crouched low.
Someone gripped a wooden club,
someone else a stone.
And—
The owner of the sounds appeared.
A young man.
Crouching low,
he slowly approached, extending one palm forward.
It was a cautious gesture, indicating no aggressive intent.
His skin was a dark, earthy yellow.
Long braided hair, worn but sturdy leather armor.
A scabbard was visible at his waist,
and the arrowheads in the quiver on his back
glinted silver under the moonlight.
He briefly surveyed the group, then
raised another finger and quietly pointed to one spot.
"…Hwansa."
Everyone's gaze followed.
There—
Dam-bi lay, her hair white and matted with blood,
her face pale.