Min-jae stared at the impossibly beautiful woman made of ice and winter, his brain struggling to process her words.
"Engaged? I've never been engaged! I've never even had a girlfriend!"
Yuki's smile faltered, replaced by a flash of hurt that quickly froze into anger. The temperature dropped another ten degrees. Frost spread across the floor from where she stood.
"So you don't remember me at all?" Her voice was soft, dangerous. "Not even a little?"
"Lady, I literally died and came back to life TODAY. I don't remember being engaged to anyone, let alone—" Min-jae gestured helplessly at her, "—an ice goddess!"
"Spirit," Yuki corrected coldly. "Ice spirit. And you weren't always this... ordinary." Her crystalline eyes swept over him with obvious disappointment. "The man I loved was confident. Powerful. He saved me from those who wanted to harvest my core for immortality pills."
Seo-yeon stepped forward, placing herself between them. "Let me guess. Another past life connection?"
"Not past life," Yuki said, frost crackling in her hair. "Three years ago. This life. He was different then—stronger, awakened to his spiritual power. We fell in love. He proposed." Her hand went to her chest, where a pendant of pure ice hung. "He gave me this. Promised me forever."
[PAST LIFE MEMORY FRAGMENT DETECTED]
[WARNING: MULTIPLE INCARNATION CYCLES MERGING]
[THE HAREM LORD'S SOUL HAS LIVED MANY LIVES]
[EACH COMPANION REMEMBERS A DIFFERENT VERSION OF YOU]
Min-jae's head began to pound. More images flashed through his mind—a different life, a different him. Stronger, more confident. And Yuki, laughing as he created a ring of ice for her.
"Forever," his other self had promised. "I'll always come back to you."
Then darkness. Death. Again.
Min-jae gasped, clutching his head. "What the hell is happening to me?"
"The system is restoring your memories," Mira explained gently. "Master has lived many lives. Each time, you meet some of us. Fall in love. Then die before completing the twelve bonds."
"And each time, we wait," Yuki said bitterly. "We remember. We search. And then you come back with no memory of us. Do you have any idea how much that HURTS?"
Ice spikes erupted from the floor, missing Min-jae by inches. Ji-woo immediately moved, pulling him back while drawing her knife.
"Calm down," Ji-woo said evenly. "He genuinely doesn't remember. Killing him won't help."
"I'm not going to kill him," Yuki said, though her power continued to surge. "I'm going to REMIND him what we had. What he PROMISED me."
She raised her hand, and the ice in the room responded. A throne of frozen crystal formed behind Min-jae, and invisible force pulled him into it, binding his wrists and ankles with ice shackles.
"Hey!" Min-jae struggled. "This is kidnapping!"
"This is claiming what's MINE," Yuki countered. She walked toward him, each step leaving frozen footprints. "You proposed to me. You said I was the only one you'd ever love. And then you DIED and came back engaged to HER!" She pointed accusingly at someone behind Min-jae.
Min-jae twisted to look.
Standing in the doorway, having just entered from one of the bedrooms, was another woman he'd never seen before. She was tall, elegant, with long black hair and amber eyes that glowed with inner fire. She wore a red qipao that seemed to shimmer with heat.
"Oh dear," the woman said in a smooth, cultured voice. "This is awkward."
[FIFTH FATED COMPANION DETECTED]
[HOW DID SHE GET HERE?!]
[DESIGNATION: LIN XIUYING - PHOENIX INHERITOR]
[CURRENT AFFECTION: 65%]
[NOTE: SHE'S BEEN HIDING IN THE PENTHOUSE FOR TWO HOURS]
"Who the hell are you?!" Seo-yeon demanded, demonic energy flaring.
Lin Xiuying smiled serenely. "I'm his fiancée. From his life two incarnations ago. We were going to be married before the demon hunters killed him." She glanced at Seo-yeon. "No offense."
"GREAT offense taken!"
"Wait, wait, WAIT!" Min-jae shouted over the growing chaos. "How many times have I died?! How many fiancées do I have?!"
"Seven lives," Mira said quietly. "You've lived seven times. Each time, you meet some of us. Each time, you die before gathering all twelve."
"And each time," Yuki said, ice crackling around her, "you make promises you can't keep."
Lin Xiuying walked forward calmly, seemingly unbothered by the ice spreading across the floor. Heat radiated from her, melting the frost wherever she stepped.
"Yuki, darling, you need to calm down. He doesn't remember because the system wipes his memories between lives. It's not his fault."
"Don't 'darling' me, Phoenix!" Yuki's eyes blazed. "You've been here for TWO HOURS and didn't announce yourself?! Were you SPYING?!"
"I was waiting for the right moment to introduce myself," Lin Xiuying said smoothly. "Though this chaos is quite entertaining."
"ENTERTAINING?!" Seo-yeon looked ready to explode. "There are now FIVE women in my penthouse, all claiming some connection to this ordinary human, and you think it's ENTERTAINING?!"
"Well, yes. It's rather like a drama." Lin Xiuying conjured a chair of flame—it burned but didn't consume—and sat down gracefully. "Though I must say, this incarnation of our dear husband is rather... underwhelming."
"I AM NOT YOUR HUSBAND!" Min-jae yelled, still trapped in the ice throne. "I'm not anyone's husband! I'm a convenience store worker who got hit by a truck!"
"Technically, you're dead," Ji-woo pointed out. "The system revived you. So legally, you might not even exist anymore."
"NOT HELPING!"
Yuki turned her attention back to Min-jae, her expression a mixture of longing and fury. "You really don't remember? Not even our first meeting? The winter festival? The promise you made under the cherry blossoms?"
Min-jae saw genuine pain in her eyes. Despite everything, despite the ice prison and the life-threatening situation, he felt bad for her.
"I... I'm getting flashes. Memories that don't feel like mine. But they're fragmentary. Incomplete."
"Then let me help you remember." Yuki placed her cold hand on his forehead.
Immediately, memories flooded in. Not fragments this time, but full, vivid scenes:
A winter festival three years ago. Yuki, disguised as human, laughing as she tried street food for the first time. Him—different, more confident—teaching her about the mortal world.
Dancing under falling snow. Her revealing her true nature. Him accepting her anyway.
A proposal on a frozen lake. Her tears of joy turning to ice crystals.
And then... darkness. An attack. Him dying to protect her. Her screaming his name.
Min-jae gasped as Yuki removed her hand. Tears were streaming down his face—tears that instantly froze.
"I... I remember," he whispered. "Yuki, I'm so sorry. I promised I'd come back and I did, but I—"
"But you don't love me anymore," Yuki finished, her voice breaking. "Because you're not really him. You're a new person wearing his soul."
"That's not—"
"ISN'T IT?!" Ice exploded outward. The throne shattered, freeing Min-jae but sending shards everywhere. Ji-woo deflected them with her knife while Mira created a spiritual barrier.
Yuki's form was changing, becoming more elemental. Less human. "I waited THREE YEARS! I turned down suitors, ignored my clan's demands, all because I believed you'd come back! And you did, but you came back WRONG!"
"Yuki, please—" Lin Xiuying tried to approach, but ice walls blocked her path.
"NO! I'm tired of being patient! Tired of being understanding!" Yuki's power surged. Outside, a blizzard formed over Gangnam, completely unseasonable and impossible to ignore.
[WARNING: COMPANION EMOTIONAL INSTABILITY CRITICAL]
[YUKI'S POWER IS OUT OF CONTROL]
[AFFECTION: FLUCTUATING WILDLY]
[85%... 30%... 92%... -10%... 67%...]
[RECOMMENDED ACTION: EMOTIONAL STABILIZATION REQUIRED]
Min-jae stood up despite his shaking legs. The memories were still fresh—memories of loving this woman, of promising her forever.
"Yuki," he said firmly. "Look at me."
Her wild eyes focused on him.
"I'm not the same person who proposed to you. You're right about that. I don't have his confidence or his power." Min-jae took a step toward her, ignoring the cold that burned his skin. "But those memories you just showed me—I felt them. I felt how much he loved you. How much YOU love him."
Another step. Ice formed on his clothes, but he kept going.
"I can't promise to be exactly who I was. But I can promise to try. To get to know you again. To maybe..." He reached out his hand. "To maybe fall in love with you all over again."
Yuki stared at his outstretched hand, her expression conflicted. "You'll just die again. You always do. And I'll be left waiting. Again."
"Then we'll make this time different," Min-jae said. "I have a system now. A mission. Find all twelve companions. Maybe if I actually complete it this time, the cycle breaks."
"You think it's that simple?"
"Probably not. But it's better than giving up."
Silence filled the penthouse. Even Seo-yeon and Lin Xiuying had stopped arguing, watching the scene unfold.
Slowly, hesitantly, Yuki reached out. Her ice-cold hand touched his warm one.
The moment they made contact, something shifted. The blizzard outside stopped. The ice in the room began to melt. And Yuki's form became more human again.
[FOURTH BOND STABILIZING]
[YUKI - AFFECTION: 78%]
[SKILL UNLOCKED: TEMPERATURE IMMUNITY]
[YOU ARE NOW IMMUNE TO EXTREME TEMPERATURES]
"You're warm," Yuki whispered, looking at their joined hands in wonder. "You're actually warm. In all my memories, you were always cold like me. But now"
"Maybe that's good," Min-jae said gently. "Maybe that means this version of me can give you something the others couldn't."
Yuki's eyes shimmered with unshed tears. Then, suddenly, she pulled him into a fierce hug. Her body was still cold, but not painfully so.
"If you die again," she whispered into his shoulder, "I will freeze your soul and keep it forever. Understand?"
"That's slightly terrifying, but okay."
"Good."
Lin Xiuying started clapping. "Wonderful! Very dramatic! Now, can we please discuss the elephant in the room?"
Everyone looked at her.
"We have FIVE companions now," she continued. "Five very different, very powerful women, all connected to one very ordinary man. The supernatural world will have noticed this energy surge. Every faction within a hundred miles knows something significant just happened."
Ji-woo nodded grimly. "She's right. The Purists will escalate. And they won't be the only ones coming."
Seo-yeon pulled out her phone, scrolling through messages. Her expression darkened. "My family is asking questions. They felt my demonic energy spike. I've bought us maybe twelve hours before they demand an explanation."
"And the spirit realm will want to know why an Ice Empress and a Phoenix Inheritor are both in Seoul," Mira added. "Nya~ We're about to have a lot of unwanted attention."
Min-jae looked at the five women—demon, nekomata, assassin, ice spirit, and phoenix. His five fated companions. Each one dangerous, powerful, and connected to him in ways he still didn't fully understand.
"So what do we do?" he asked.
"We prepare for war," Seo-yeon said simply. "Because that's what's coming."
His phone buzzed. Of course it was 'M':
"Five in one day. You're either very lucky or very doomed. Probably both. Tomorrow, the Council makes their move. They'll offer you a choice: join them or be eliminated. Choose wisely. P.S. - One of your companions is hiding something. A secret that could destroy you all. Sweet dreams. —M"
Min-jae showed the message to the group.
"The Council," Lin Xiuying said thoughtfully. "They're predictable. They'll send an envoy. Probably someone high-ranking."
"Can we refuse them?" Min-jae asked.
"Only if you want to declare war on the most powerful supernatural governing body in Asia," Seo-yeon said dryly.
"Great. Just great."
Yuki was still holding his hand, her grip tight. "Whatever happens, I'm not leaving you again."
"Me neither," Mira chirped, wrapping her tail around his other arm.
Ji-woo shrugged. "I already betrayed The Purists. Might as well commit fully."
Lin Xiuying smiled. "I've waited two lifetimes for this reunion. I'm certainly not going anywhere."
Seo-yeon sighed. "I'm contractually bound by the system, so I don't have a choice. But..." She hesitated. "I suppose there are worse fates than protecting an idiot chosen by destiny."
Min-jae looked at them all—five extraordinary women who had somehow become his responsibility, his companions, and possibly his only chance at survival.
"Thank you," he said quietly. "All of you."
"Don't thank us yet," Ji-woo said, moving to the window. "We haven't survived tomorrow."
Outside, dawn was breaking over Seoul. The city was waking up, unaware that in a Gangnam penthouse, the newest Harem Lord had just gathered five of his twelve fated companions.
And that the real battle was only beginning.
[QUEST UPDATE: SURVIVE YOUR FIRST WEEK]
[DAYS REMAINING: 6]
[COMPANIONS: 5/12]
[NEW QUEST: FACE THE COUNCIL'S ENVOY]
[DIFFICULTY: EXTREME]
[REWARD: RECOGNITION OR DEATH]
[TIME UNTIL ARRIVAL: 8 HOURS]
Min-jae collapsed onto the couch. "I need coffee. A lot of coffee."
"I'll make some," Lin Xiuying offered. "I know how you like it. Extra sugar, light cream."
"How do you know that?"
She smiled mysteriously. "Two lifetimes ago, I made you coffee every morning for three years."
Min-jae's head hurt thinking about it.
This was his life now. Multiple past lives, supernatural politics, and five beautiful but deadly women who all remembered loving him while he remembered none of them.
"I should have just stayed dead," he muttered.
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" all five women shouted simultaneously.
The lights flickered from their combined power.
Min-jae threw his hands up. "Nothing! I said nothing! Coffee sounds great! Thank you!"
As Lin Xiuying went to make coffee, Seo-yeon to make phone calls, Ji-woo to set up security, Mira to nap on the couch, and Yuki to simply stand by the window watching over him, Min-jae had one thought:
'I have seven more to find. Seven more dangerous, powerful women with complicated connections to my past lives.'
'I'm going to die. Again.'
Outside, a black car pulled up to the building.
From it emerged a woman in a pristine white suit, her presence radiating authority.
She looked up at the penthouse, smiled, and checked her watch.
The Council's envoy had arrived early.
[EMERGENCY ALERT]
[COUNCIL ENVOY DETECTED]
[DESIGNATION: UNKNOWN]
[POWER LEVEL: OVERWHELMING]
[SHE'S COMING UP]
[SURVIVAL TIP: DON'T MAKE HER ANGRY]