NOVEL SIMPLE T/N: If you're jumping to this translation, I would recommend that you read it from the beginning. It's just my recommendation, though.
Reaper (MC) POV:
---
munch munch~
I was nestled inside Yerin's clothes, receiving and eating snacks one by one.
Only the sound of the howling wind and me eating snacks echoed inside the car.
Since my hands and feet were inside Yerin's clothes, I couldn't move, but it wasn't particularly uncomfortable.
In fact, it was rare for me to pick up and eat snacks myself when I was with Yerin.
I wondered how many degrees below zero it was now? Having abandoned being human a long time ago, I didn't have a good sense of it.
Looking at the flush on Yerin's face, the inside of the car didn't seem that cold, but I didn't know what the outside temperature was like.
If a reliable means of transportation like a car had stopped, it must be extremely cold, but I couldn't gauge how cold.
Because I didn't know if the gasoline had to freeze for the car to stop in the cold, or if it stopped at a higher temperature.
Or maybe Yerin just didn't maintain the car properly, causing it to stop.
Outside, a blizzard raged where you couldn't see an inch ahead.
This must be what's called a whiteout.
I wondered how long we'd have to stay here.
It was boring, but the softness and warmth made me naturally drowsy.
***
Yerin POV:
---
The Reaper in my arms had already fallen asleep, seemingly bored with the stranded situation in the snow.
About two hours after Reaper fell asleep, the blizzard stopped.
The revealed scenery made me doubt if this was really Seoul.
A world full of snow.
While snowy landscapes were quite common, the things roaming in the background were not commonly seen in Seoul.
Shaggy yetis were wandering around.
They were Objects frequently seen when observing Dobong-gu by drone, so they were quite famous.
However, they were classified as dangerous Objects because they were quite violent.
But since the Research Institute didn't isolate them or obtain data through experiments, how dangerous they were and what characteristics they had were completely unknown.
It was only known that they were violent creatures who would throw ice or rocks at moving objects or animals.
Not wanting to be noticed by the murderous yetis, I held my breath, crouched down, and just waited for them to pass.
After what felt like 10 suffocating minutes that seemed like 10 hours, the fierce-looking yetis had all disappeared somewhere.
Replacing them were cute snowmen about Reaper's height.
Blowing ice bubbles like blowing soap bubbles, the snowmen appeared.
Playing beautiful music on xylophones made of ice, blowing ice bubbles with trumpets made of ice, the snowmen acted like innocent children.
Their pure, childlike behavior made me instinctively let my guard down.
They depicted a dreamlike scene as they wandered on the shining white snowfield, like characters from a fairy tale.
Usually when unfamiliar Objects with unknown habits and ecology roam around, it would fill one with dread. But I didn't feel particularly scared.
Because the snowmen didn't seem threatening at all!
The warmth of the sleeping Reaper in my arms further boosted my courage.
Plus, those snowmen moved extremely slowly and just peacefully blew bubbles, so they didn't seem like threatening Objects.
Rather, they looked a bit cute.
As I was admiring the view outside the window with those thoughts, I saw a man heavily bundled up in thick clothes sneaking past near the snowmen.
He wouldn't avoid being noticed by sneaking around like that - it was futile.
Sure enough, he was instantly noticed despite his sneaking, but it didn't lead to a dangerous situation.
The man, realizing he'd been noticed, just frantically ran away to put distance between himself and the snowmen.
The gentle-looking snowmen noticed the fleeing man, but didn't threaten or chase him, just continuing to blow ice bubbles as usual while watching him.
As I expected, they were gentle creatures.
However, what the snowmen blew out this time wasn't cute bubbles, but sharp needles.
"Gasp-!"
I couldn't help but gasp in surprise.
If someone explodes and dies right in front of you, anyone would react the same way.
The needles the snowmen fired pierced through the person's body and turned into ice bubbles, but what would happen if such a transformation occurred inside a person's body?
It would explode and disintegrate.
'Ugh, another murderous monster.'
I had no choice but to hold my breath again, crouch down and hide inside the car, waiting for the snowmen to pass.
The dreamy, fairy tale-like atmosphere had turned into a cruel fairy tale, and the courage Reaper had given me disappeared like bubbles.
Reaper, please wake up quickly.
Please.
***
Reaper (MC) POV:
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---
I woke up to the sound of explosions and gunfire echoing all around.
When I checked my surroundings, Yerin was trembling with her body crouched down low.
A huge pair of blinking eyes was peering at us through the car window.
They were the eyes of a giant pigeon.
The pigeon, startled when our eyes met, let out a cooing sound and flew far away.
I pinched Yerin's cheeks to let her know the situation was resolved.
"Ah, Reaper. You finally woke up! I was so scared."
Yerin, who had been trembling, hugged me tightly and whined about how scared she was.
I patted her shoulder roughly as she whined, and assessed the situation.
From the sounds of gunfire, it seemed a large-scale rescue operation involving the military had begun.
I wondered if they would be here soon. The pigeon that had fled after seeing me had been hit by a bomb mid-flight and was lying dead with its guts spilled out.
After some time passed with countless Objects dying or being blown apart, I could see tanks and armored vehicles lining up and passing by.
And following behind them, transport vehicles came in a line, one of which stopped, and Kim Jungroo got out and started running toward our car.
Kim Jungroo was already quite large, but wearing a fur coat made him look like a big bear.
"Senior!"
Without a word, Kim Jungroo handed Yerin some clothes to layered on over herself, then guided her into the transport vehicle.
Inside were soldiers armed with firearms.
Of course, it was natural given this was the war against the Ice Throne in Dobong-gu that had resumed after 10 years.
I judged that Yerin would be safe now.
So I should go and beat up the Ice Throne that tormented Yerin.
***
In front of the Dobong-gu barrier, countless ice-armored golems, or what could be called robots, were methodically demolishing buildings.
Like farmers planting rice seedlings.
The ice soldiers were breaking down and flattening the buildings to create a huge path.
They were making a path for something massive to pass through, but I didn't know what it was for.
The ice soldiers making the path were nearly 20m tall, and there was one puzzling point.
These ice soldier of an unrealistic size were not Objects.
Their armor was made of ordinary ice, and the machinery pulsating inside the ice was also ordinary metal.
With my limited knowledge, I wasn't sure if it was possible to maintain that huge size or power such heavy objects without the aid of Objects.
Perhaps if it was impossible, then Objects were providing some kind of assistance.
***
As I approached right in front of the Dobong-gu barrier, I could see man-made shooting stars beautifully crossing the sky.
It seemed the rescues were complete, as a massive bombing raid had begun.
It was a relentless missile attack, one after another.
The ice soldiers were helpless against the missile strikes and were blown apart.
Just like the footage from the Dobong-gu recapture operation 10 years ago.
The extreme heat from the explosions instantly melted the ice armor the soldiers wore, and the metal frames inside were crushed and reduced to scrap.
The ice soldiers were powerlessly destroyed, and it seemed modern technology was about to claim victory.
But the following scene was also a reenactment of 10 years ago.
The ice soldiers instantly began regenerating.
The steel skeletons of the soldiers re-formed their frames as if rewinding time, and the ice armor quickly froze over them again.
Of course, humans are not idiots.
They were not so stupid as to repeat something that had already been proven useless 10 years ago.
The purpose of these missiles and shells seemed to be just one thing - to hinder the Dobong-gu ice soldiers from making a path.
It was hard to see the sudden advance of the Dobong-gu Ice Throne soldiers and whatever they were making during that advance as unrelated.
They were pouring shells to stop their advance.
Of course, the number of shells was finite, and the ice soldiers' regeneration would be infinite, so it was just a way to buy time.
Perhaps, like when Dobong-gu was taken away before, they would helplessly lose again.
And the land would be taken away again, and humanity would have one less place to live.
I made up my mind to help destroy the Ice Throne before that and take back Dobong-gu.
The small reason was for Yerin's revenge.
The big reason was that I still needed humanity a lot.
Even if there were no more firewood burning in my heart, I needed humanity.
The snacks I eat.
The TV I watch.
I needed many other enjoyable things too.
For those reasons, I walked towards the Ice Throne, going against the battlefield where shells were falling.