Rain let out a long, sharp sigh—loud enough to bounce off the endless dark around him, curling back like a taunt. The sound felt too big for his thin, brittle body.
He lowered his gaze to himself. Frail. Starved. Skin stretched over bones that shouldn't still be alive. Every limb was pinned against a single steel beam, thick chains biting into him as if trying to become part of his flesh.
Exhaustion wasn't even a feeling anymore. It was simply what he was. A state of being. A truth older than his name.
He had been here for… who knew how long. Time had blurred into something meaningless. In his mind, it felt like millions of years—eras rising and dying around him. In reality? Maybe thousands. Maybe less. It didn't matter. The suffering didn't scale.
Through all of it, he hadn't eaten. Hadn't drunk. Hadn't slept. His body never demanded to piss or shit; whatever curse held him here denied him even the basic proofs of being alive.
He wasn't living. He was kept.
Cursed to remain shackled to this beam for eternity.
By his own family.
Rain felt a deep, aching sadness whenever he thought of them.
Like any child, he had once seen them the way a normal human should: with warmth, admiration, and blind trust. He had believed his mother was the prettiest, kindest woman alive. He had believed his father was the strongest man in the entire world.
But as the years passed—short years, yet long enough—he began to understand just how thoroughly he had been brainwashed.
His mother, praised as a beautiful, graceful figure… she was nothing like the image Rain had held in his heart. Beneath the surface, she was rotten. Cruel. A creature he could barely call "human." A demon wearing skin.
His father, on the other hand, was the head of their family. Yes, he was strong—physically, politically, socially. And Rain had believed he was strong in other ways too. He had believed his father cared for him. Loved him.
But sitting in this endless dark, shackled to a beam with eternity as his only companion, he finally saw the truth.
He had been a fool to ever think they loved him.
Now, in the present, he didn't grieve his past mistakes or the blind trust he shouldn't have had. He didn't regret his choices. Instead, he poured all the sadness and fear he once had into one thing: pure anger.
Anger.
Steady. Sharpened.
As it simmered inside him, he felt something else draw near.
A presence pushed into the darkness around him. Slow, heavy, and unlike anything human. The air shifted with it, pressing against his chest as if the world itself were trying to crush him.
His body reacted before his mind did.
"W-who are you?" Rain said, his voice cracking. He hadn't spoken out loud in what felt like ages. The sound didn't even feel real—dry, strained, like it barely belonged to him anymore.
But his body didn't match his voice. Even after being cursed here for thousands of years, he hadn't aged a day. He was still nineteen, still in the same form he had been the day his life shattered.
Unexpectedly, the presence answered.
A human… shackled in the lowest depths of this dungeon. What kind of sin did you commit to end up here? To have your entire existence reduced to this?
Even though Rain was chained so tightly he couldn't move an inch, his body still reacted. His muscles trembled. Not from weakness, but because of the aura radiating from the figure. It wasn't natural. It felt like standing at the edge of a cliff with the ground crumbling beneath him, a constant pressure against his skin.
And even though the tone was feminine, it didn't make her any less intimidating. If anything, it made the presence feel more unnatural—powerful but soft, deadly but calm.
Rain couldn't see her. That part of the curse hadn't changed. From the moment he had been bound, the world had been swallowed. Sometimes he could make out faint outlines of his own hands or legs, but that was it. Everything else was darkness stretching endlessly.
He had been alone in it. For centuries.
Until now.
Then something unexpected happened.
He felt touch.
The woman—this terrifying figure—placed her hand on his cheek, brushing lightly against his skin. Gentle, but in a way that didn't match the power radiating from her.
"You poor thing," she murmured. "A handsome guy like you shouldn't be treated like this."
Rain froze. W-what…?
He couldn't even think. The warmth lingered, sinking into him in a way that made his chest tighten. It wasn't sadness or fear. It was the shock of feeling something he had forgotten existed.
A single tear slid from his eye—not from grief, but because touch had become a memory long lost. After so many years, he had forgotten what it felt like to be acknowledged. To be touched. To not be alone.
"P-pl-please… please kill me."
The words tumbled out before he could stop them. He had thought them countless times, but never spoken them. He wanted it to end. This place. This curse. This endless existence.
He wanted to disappear.
The figure didn't respond. Her hand stayed on his cheek, warm and steady, which only tightened the ache in his chest.
"I don't want to live. If living is like this… then what's the point? There's nothing left. Nothing worth staying here for."
Silence stretched. Even the darkness seemed to pause, waiting.
Then she spoke.
"I feel empathy for pathetic humans. Especially the strong ones who don't even realize their own strength."
Rain's tears slowed. Her words didn't make sense, yet his mind was too numb to respond.
"I'll give you a chance," she continued. "A chance to go back… and redo everything."
"W-what?" Rain asked, sniffles shaking his voice.
A soft tone left her lips, strange and unfamiliar, yet undeniably magical. It wrapped around him like warmth he hadn't felt in centuries.
Then the chains vanished.
Rain collapsed onto the stone floor, hitting it headfirst. Anyone else would have cried out. Rain didn't. Pain felt strange, almost comforting. After so long, even this was a gift.
A moment later, he rolled onto his back.
And he could see.
The darkness lifted. The walls appeared, rough stone streaked with age. The steel beam that had held him stood empty, cold.
And she stood there.
Shorter than him by a head—about 5'6 to his 6'1—wearing a long coat with her hood raised. Even with her face mostly hidden, everything about her radiated power.
Rain pushed himself up. His legs trembled from disuse. He stumbled forward and fell into her.
She caught him effortlessly, hands steady on his arms.
"I'll send you back," she said softly. "Ten thousand years into the past."
"Huh?" Rain blinked, dazed. "Ten thousand years? The past? Is that even possible?"
Her mana pressed against him again, vast, endless, older than anything in the dungeon. If anyone could do it… it would be her.
He swallowed hard. "Has it really been that long? How do you even know I've been here ten thousand years? And why are you helping me?"
She giggled, a light, almost innocent sound that didn't match her overwhelming presence.
"I can't tell you that," she teased. "It would ruin all the fun."
She tilted her head, supporting him gently. "Just remember—nothing is free. If you choose this path…"
She paused. "You'll owe me. And you'll pay me back tenfold."
Slowly, she lowered her hood.
Rain froze.
It wasn't just seeing a face after so long—it was her.
Silver-white hair fell to her waist. Her eyes were the same shade, calm and almost glowing. Even her eyelashes and eyebrows shared the pale, celestial tone.
Rain forgot how to breathe.
Her aura was terrifying, yet her beauty was soft, drawing him in whether he wanted it to or not. After thousands of years alone, he felt something stir inside—a feeling he barely recognized.
He was… blushing.
She giggled, covering her mouth lightly. Even her laugh was beautiful.
Rain looked away slightly. Her beauty was overwhelming—too much, especially for a serious moment like this. Even though he was weak and tired, he still needed answers.
"Who are you?" he asked.
And immediately added, "Why should I trust you?"
She smiled, warmly. "Rain. I know who you are. Though not everything… just bits and pieces."
Huh? Rain thought. How does she know my name?
"You were discovered by your parents using magic when you were just fourteen. At the time, magic was banned for the youngest in the family. When they realized your talent—far beyond even the eldest sibling's—they feared you would dishonor the family. So they disowned you when you were sixteen."
She continued quickly. "After being kicked out, you went to an academy. Naturally, over time, you became somewhat famous there… and politics followed. People asked questions: 'The youngest of the family is the strongest?' 'Isn't that a dishonor to the eldest, the future heir?' After all this political chaos, and after you grew even stronger, your father lured you back to the family home. And while you slept… they drugged you, and—"
"Stop!" Rain shouted instantly.
"I don't want to hear that story," he added, voice sharp.
She gently grabbed his face, looking into his pale blue eyes. "Don't you want revenge?"
Of course he did. He wanted to kill everyone in his family, especially his mother and father.
But thinking about the past felt useless. What's the point if you can't change it?
But… could this woman really take him back? Could she give him the chance to rewrite it all, to get revenge?
Rain stared into her silver eyes. "Of course I want revenge," he said.
"But… how will you send me back?"
She smiled. "Like this."
In an instant, she pressed her lips to his. Rain kissed back, flustered, confused, his mind spinning faster than he could process.
Moments later, the world began to fade. He felt himself rising—not levitating, not floating—but being reborn. She broke the kiss. Rain wanted to shout something, anything.
"Wha—how do I find you?" he yelled, panic rising as the light in his eyes began to dim.
"You don't have to find me. I'll find you," she said, waving goodbye.
And in a single instant, everything vanished.