IGWNI Ch 1

Warm water enveloped his body. A woman murmured something and then brought a glass bottle, pouring fragrant oil into the bathwater. The scent of roses spread throughout the steam-filled bathroom.

The man, who had been relaxing in the bathtub, gradually shifted into a look of pleasant contentment. The women gathered around began to meticulously wash him.

“Haa….”

A drawn-out sigh escaped the man’s lips. His cheeks flushed a delicate pink.

The attendants, whenever the water cooled, would quickly fetch a jar of hot water and pour it into the bathtub. One attendant knelt and carefully washed the man’s hair.

“Ah, this is nice.”

Having muttered to himself unconsciously, Yoon Jaewoo was startled and looked around. As always, the people around him showed no particular reaction to his words.

The same question from yesterday arose in Yoon Jaewoo’s mind.

Just where is this place?

He was certain he had died. He had jumped off a mountain. With a cigarette in his mouth, incredibly cool. Like in a movie. That’s how he died. …The corpse probably wasn’t cool, though.

In any case, the part he remembered was the moment he fell from the edge of the cliff. He was certain he had fallen. He vividly remembered the sensation of branches brushing against his face. The moment he thought would end quickly unexpectedly stretched on, and he distinctly recalled the growing fear.

That’s where his memory ended.

The next memories were of strange scenes he had never witnessed before. When he saw the beautiful women of this world looking down at him, Yoon Jaewoo thought he was having a brief, sweet dream before he died. The sweet dream continued for quite some time. Men in neat attire soon took him to a place resembling a temple and had him treated.

Men and women alike took care of Yoon Jaewoo with utmost devotion. No, the word ‘care’ was insufficient to describe their meticulous attention.

Three times a day, meals so luxurious they made his head spin were served, and he slept on a bed made of fabric so soft and cozy it felt like it didn’t exist in this world. People in clean clothes checked on his well-being day and night. If he seemed uncomfortable in bed, they adjusted his pillows, and if he didn’t like the food, they immediately brought him something else.

Even when he bathed, several people attended him. At first, he was startled and told them to leave, but they didn’t budge. When they didn’t even pretend to listen no matter what he said, Yoon Jaewoo resigned himself to his fate and lay back, entrusting his body to them. And soon, heaven arrived.

It was on a completely different level from the massages he received during his athletic career. His whole body became so languid that later he couldn’t even stand up on his own. The bath became the part of his day he looked forward to the most.

Yoon Jaewoo thought he had gone to heaven after he died. But as time passed, he felt something was strange.

Firstly, everyone here willingly served Yoon Jaewoo. As if they existed solely for him.

Secondly, Yoon Jaewoo couldn’t understand their language. They also didn’t seem to understand what he was saying. He had asked where he was countless times, but no answer ever came.

Lastly, Yoon Jaewoo had never seen anyone in a similar situation to his own. There were only people attending to him.

Yoon Jaewoo remembered something he had read online once.

A selfish man died and went to the afterlife, where all sorts of delicacies and precious treasures stretched out endlessly. Thinking this must be heaven, the man spent days and nights indulging in alcohol and feasts. After about a month, the man suddenly felt lonely. He cried out to the heavens, saying that while he liked this heaven, he was a bit lonely, so could they please send someone? Then, an answer came from the heavens.

‘Who said that place is heaven? Living there alone for eternity is your hell, a consequence of your selfish disregard for others.’

So, does that mean this place is hell?

Life here was too comfortable to be hell. Besides, although they couldn’t communicate, there were definitely other people here. It was a bit boring that he couldn’t have a conversation, but it wasn’t lonely enough to be called hell.

In fact, he was far lonelier in the other world. So, for Yoon Jaewoo, the loneliness here at least wasn’t hell.

Unable to contain his curiosity, Yoon Jaewoo asked the person massaging his shoulders where this place was. No answer came. He asked the person removing fish bones from his meal, the person who came to wash his feet in the morning, and the person who tidied his bed before he went to sleep at night. As if they had all made a pact, they kept their mouths shut and just did their jobs.

After racking his brains, Yoon Jaewoo finally decided to accept the situation. Anyway, he was comfortable now and even treated like a god, so there was no need to complain.

More than anything, he liked this place. Wherever this was, he liked it enough that he didn’t want to go back to the other world.

There were no gangsters chasing him for money here, no netizens leaving insulting and mocking comments under his articles, and above all, no other soccer players to make him feel inferior.

When the bath was finished, the attendants withdrew. Yoon Jaewoo gathered his relaxed body and rose. An attendant standing nearby quickly wrapped him in a soft cloth. Immediately, a hot, sweet tea was brought to him.

Now accustomed to the procedure, Yoon Jaewoo accepted and drank the tea without asking what it was. He felt good. As Yoon Jaewoo smiled, holding the teacup, the attendants standing nearby exchanged glances and whispered among themselves. Amidst the incomprehensible words, a particularly familiar word reached his ears.

“Ramia….”

As Yoon Jaewoo murmured the word, the attendants showed noticeable signs of fluster. Yoon Jaewoo was now certain that it was a word referring to him.

“Ramia. You’re saying I’m Ramia?”

He asked, pointing to himself. The attendants whispered amongst themselves, then bowed their heads and quickly withdrew.

Left alone, Yoon Jaewoo took a sip of tea. It was as if the tea had alcohol in it, as his body felt flushed with warmth.

Who cares if it’s Ramia or whatever. This feels amazing!

Yoon Jaewoo drained the rest of the tea in one gulp and hummed as he left the bathroom.

Someone shook Yoon Jaewoo awake as he slept soundly. Yoon Jaewoo instinctively sat up and quickly scanned his surroundings. It wasn’t his cramped, shabby basement room. It wasn’t the orphanage with its soot-stained wallpaper from his childhood.

“Ah, right. That’s right….”

Yoon Jaewoo remembered his situation and breathed a sigh of relief. In truth, every time he opened his eyes, he felt a sense of unease. He wondered if all of this was just a sweet dream he was having just before dying.

He pinched himself. It hurt.

It’s real after all. Vividly real.

An attendant helped Yoon Jaewoo sit up. It was harder to move than before. It seemed he had injured his leg again, the one he had hurt in the fall.

“It’s surreal, yet strangely real.”

Muttering to himself, Yoon Jaewoo began to walk, holding onto the attendant’s arm.

“But where are we going in the middle of the night?”

Again, there was no answer. Yoon Jaewoo felt a flicker of anxiety. Since arriving here, he hadn’t once been outside. Last time, feeling stifled, he had tried to gesture that he wanted to go out, but he was refused. They hadn’t said anything, but the weight of the silence that followed was different from usual. Yoon Jaewoo could vaguely sense that it meant refusal.

“Are we going outside?”

Yoon Jaewoo asked, pointing his finger beyond the wall. Surprisingly, the man walking beside him nodded.

“We’re going outside? Finally?”

This time, there was no answer. It didn’t matter. He had been getting bored, so the fact that he could go outside made him feel… uneasy.

“Why are we going out at night? There was no mention of it during the day. Excuse me. Hello? Will you look at me?”

Yoon Jaewoo waved his hands, trying to get their attention, but the attendant beside him remained unresponsive. Yoon Jaewoo sighed and simply let himself be led. Based on his time here, it seemed unlikely they would do anything to harm him. Or rather, he wanted to believe that.

When they reached the entrance, the attendant stepped back. The attendant grasped the handle and slowly began to open the heavy door.

Yoon Jaewoo stood awkwardly, swallowing hard. Light poured in through the opening crack. Yoon Jaewoo’s eyes widened.

“Oh my god….”

He thought he had nothing left to be surprised about, having even experienced death.

Those words slipped out involuntarily. Yoon Jaewoo rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand. The unbelievable sight remained.

There was a moon. A moon hung in the sky. A moon hung in the sky, and… it was huge. Truly enormous. So large that he thought it might fall and shatter at any moment. Yoon Jaewoo stared for a long time at the moon, precariously touching the horizon.

A gentle breeze rustled his bangs. Yoon Jaewoo finally collected himself and looked ahead, gasping.

A white carpet was laid out on the stairs leading from the doorway. And beside it, men and women dressed in beige stood with their heads bowed and hands clasped together.

It was a spectacular sight. There were no other words to describe it.

Yoon Jaewoo blinked a couple of times and then slowly exhaled.

Under the low-hanging moon, people were bowed, waiting for him. Their beautiful beige clothes shimmered in the moonlight. Flower petals, carried by the wind, floated gently down, adding to the surreal beauty of the scene.

The sheer beauty of it made Yoon Jaewoo feel a pang of anxiety.

He was afraid it was a dream, afraid that this moment of unearthly beauty would dissipate like a dream, making it impossible to move forward.

What should he do?

He felt as if the moment he stepped outside, his fate would change. He couldn’t explain why, but the premonition struck him strongly.

If asked if he was dissatisfied with his current situation, he could firmly answer no. A comfortable bed, delicious food, and attendants who took care of everything.

Even when he was touted as the most promising player in soccer, he hadn’t received this level of treatment. But he was starting to get bored. He needed a change.

Yoon Jaewoo swallowed hard.

Alright. The worst that can happen is I die. I’ve already died once; what difference does it make if I die twice?

Having made up his mind, he cautiously took a step forward. The moment his toes touched the soft, white carpet, his anxiety vanished as if it had been a lie.

The second step was easier. He walked along the carpet, diligently moving his limping leg. Someone in the distance began to sing. A fragrant and beautiful song, like flowers, spread from person to person.

Yoon Jaewoo instinctively knew the song was for him. Even though he didn’t understand the lyrics, it was so beautiful it brought tears to his eyes.

Everyone knelt respectfully and sang in sacred voices. He felt far more moved than when he heard the national anthem during his time with the youth national team at international competitions.

It wasn’t that he was glad to be born, but rather that he was glad to have died.

That night, the twenty-three-year-old Yoon Jaewoo walked and walked along the path laid out for him.

When a white castle appeared where the carpet ended, Yoon Jaewoo thought, this is it. The people in front of the castle all respectfully greeted him.

Yoon Jaewoo waved casually with a smile.

As he stepped inside the castle, a scene far more magnificent than his previous residence unfolded before him.

He saw pure white leaves. At first, he thought they were fake leaves made of paper or painted white. He approached and touched them, realizing they were real.

“What the. How…”

While murmuring about the white leaves, he noticed white moss. Yoon Jaewoo slapped himself hard.

“That freakin’ hurts…”

It hurts, so it must be real.

As Yoon Jaewoo muttered, holding his palm to his cheek, the attendant walking ahead quickly brought a cloth soaked in water. With the wet cloth against his cheek, Yoon Jaewoo bent down and touched the white moss with his finger to confirm. The damp touch told him the moss was a living organism.

Yoon Jaewoo carefully looked around.

From the stones paving the ground to the trees, moss, flowers, and even the color of the buildings, everything was pure white. He couldn’t find anything that wasn’t white.

He wanted to ask how this could be, why everything was white, but the frustration only grew as he couldn’t communicate with the people around him.

The attendant waiting ahead gestured politely for him to follow. Yoon Jaewoo scratched his head a couple of times and then followed.

There was no point in backing out now that he had come this far.

The inside of the castle was, quite literally, dazzlingly white. The walls, floor, ceiling, pillars, and even every single ornament were all white. It was frightening, to the point where he wondered what kind of lunatic lived in a place like this.

“What is this place?”

He asked, even though he knew there would be no answer.

“Why is everything white? Seriously, it’s like I’m some kind of god….”

Yoon Jaewoo abruptly stopped speaking. Even though he knew the people around him couldn’t understand him, it was a word he was hesitant to utter carelessly.

Yoon Jaewoo cleared his throat. Even though he had already died once, he knew human decency and how to behave.

Even though I’m dead, I’m still human. I mustn’t forget that.

Steeling himself, Yoon Jaewoo continued walking.

The inside of the building consisted of hallways extending in all directions from a central hall. Unsure where to go, Yoon Jaewoo stood still, waiting for guidance.

A man who appeared to be the head attendant approached, bowed deeply, and then pointed to a room.

Yoon Jaewoo took a deep breath. He told himself not to be surprised by whatever was inside the room and grasped the doorknob. The metal doorknob slid smoothly in his palm.

Click.

The sound of the latch releasing resonated heavily. At the same time, the attendants beside him bowed their heads and stepped back further.

Yoon Jaewoo read a fear in the attendants’ demeanor that went beyond mere politeness.

…It’s not like they need to be afraid of me though.

“What’s in here?”

When Yoon Jaewoo asked, turning around, the attendants flinched and stepped back again. Yoon Jaewoo froze, gripping the doorknob.

That means there’s definitely something in here. Should I go in? …I’ve already died once, there’s no need to die twice, is there?

As Yoon Jaewoo tried to close the door again, the head attendant firmly shook his head. A silent pressure conveyed the message that if he didn’t go in, he would be forced in.

“Scary… alright, alright. I’ll open it.”

Yoon Jaewoo grasped the doorknob again. He heard the sound of held breaths behind him.

They’re so scared themselves, but they’re telling me to open it.

A surge of anger welled up inside him at the inexplicable sense of betrayal.

If it’s going to be dangerous, we’ll all be dangerous together!

Yoon Jaewoo deliberately yanked the doorknob with all his might.

“……!”

Inside the room, decorated entirely in white, was a bed. A bed large enough for a dozen adult men to lie on. The bedding that covered the bed was also dazzlingly white. A chandelier hanging from the high ceiling sparkled as if it had absorbed all the light in the world. On one wall was a ridiculously large mirror that stretched from the ceiling to the floor.

Overall, the room was chillingly white and sparkling.

That must mean that somewhere in here is a terrifying presence that makes people tremble so much, right?

Yoon Jaewoo widened his eyes and scanned his surroundings. He couldn’t find any trace of another living being besides himself anywhere in the room. He looked back. The attendants, their faces clearly relieved, spoke amongst themselves in hushed tones. Yoon Jaewoo strained his ears to listen in on their conversation, but as always, he couldn’t understand a single sentence.

“Is this my room?”

Yoon Jaewoo asked. The head attendant tilted his head, looking puzzled. Yoon Jaewoo uttered the only word he knew, the word that clearly referred to him.

“Ramia. So, I’m Ramia.”

He said, thumping his chest with his palm. The attendants stared at him with surprised expressions. Yoon Jaewoo’s shoulders lifted in a shrug.

They must be shocked that I spoke their language. It’s understandable.

“I’m Ramia. La.mi.a. So this is Ramia’s room, right?”

He pointed alternately at himself and the room, pronouncing “Ramia.” The attendant’s eyes widened, and he nodded.

Yoon Jaewoo finally felt relieved. He threw his hands up in the air and ran to jump onto the enormous bed.

As he expected, the bed in this room was beyond comparison. He wrapped the sheets around himself and rolled around on the bed like a child.

The attendants exchanged awkward glances and then closed the door and disappeared. Left alone in the room, Yoon Jaewoo turned his head to examine the animal-shaped carvings on the bedposts.

“What is this? A dog? A cat? Cute.”

As Yoon Jaewoo traced the carving with his finger, he realized that the stone caught on his fingertip wasn’t just any ordinary piece of crystal. Just in case, he scratched the surface of the stone with the dagger he kept hidden inside his underwear. The surface of the stone gleamed, emitting an even brighter light.

“Dia….”

Yoon Jaewoo couldn’t bring himself to finish the word and covered his mouth with his hand. He got up and checked the stones on the chandelier. The stones on the chandelier were also all diamonds.

“Hahahaha. Ahahahaha.”

Yoon Jaewoo laughed like a madman, the sheets draped over his shoulders. It was the first time he had laughed out loud since coming here. He couldn’t help but laugh.

From the luxurious sheets that slid smoothly beneath his fingertips to the diamond-encrusted room, it was so lavish that the words, “I’m so glad I died,” came out of his mouth involuntarily.

Yoon Jaewoo stretched out his legs.

He recalled the ceremony he had witnessed earlier. The low-hanging moon, the flowers scattering in the wind, and the beautiful song clearly composed for him that decorated that moment.

He remembered the fantasy novels he used to read in his spare time during training breaks or while traveling. Stories where the protagonist, transported to another world, became a special being and enjoyed adventures.

Usually, the protagonist’s black hair and black eyes were objects of awe. Whenever he read such stories, Yoon Jaewoo scoffed at the tired cliché.

Now, long live clichés.

Since opening his eyes in this world, Yoon Jaewoo hadn’t seen a single person with black hair and black eyes like his own. The attendants all had brown hair and brown eyes.

Clearly, in this world, he was a unique…

“…god.”

Having blurted that out, Yoon Jaewoo blushed with embarrassment. He buried his face in his hands and rolled around on the bed for a while before sitting up.

The scene he had witnessed earlier was probably a ceremony to enthrone him as a god.

He had died and come back to life as a god in a new world.

Yoon Jaewoo closed his eyes. A gentle breeze flowed in through the half-opened window. The chandelier swayed lightly, creating a crystalline chime. He closed and opened his eyes a few more times, but the chandelier swaying above him didn’t disappear.

With his eyes closed, he awaited the dawn of a new world where he would live as a god.

His new residence was even more spacious than he could have imagined. Yoon Jaewoo explored the place whenever he had free time, but he still hadn’t reached the end of the building.

The attendants served him even more devotedly than they had at his previous residence. The meals became even more luxurious, and the massage sessions much longer. There were days when he spent half the day lying down, receiving massages. As he lay there, eating sweet, nameless fruits, he wondered if he deserved such lavish treatment.

Today, as usual, he had spent the entire morning receiving a massage, taken a nap, and was now wandering around the castle. His injured leg was almost fully healed. Of course, due to the disability caused by the accident, he still limped, but it was enough to walk around on his own.

It’s funny how fickle people can be. When he had difficulty moving, he was incredibly grateful for the people who attended to him, but now he was starting to find the attendants constantly trailing behind him a nuisance.

This is ridiculous. No conversation, no understanding with these people. I’d rather be alone, even if it’s boring, at least I’d be free.

Yoon Jaewoo glanced at the people behind him. While contemplating how to ditch them, he noticed a small door connected to the wall. As he moved to open it and see where it led, one of the attendants blocked his path.

“Look, I can walk around by myself now.”

Even though they wouldn’t understand, Yoon Jaewoo said it anyway. The attendants still showed no reaction.

“So, I, Ramia, can go alone.”

As expected, a definite reaction followed the word “Ramia.” Two of the attendants flinched and raised their heads.

“Ramia. Can go alone. OK? Understand?”

Wondering if English might work, he tried speaking in his broken English. However, the only word they reacted to was “Ramia.” Yoon Jaewoo repeated the word “Ramia,” the only word he knew in this world.

“Ramia. Ramia go alone. Ramia okay. Ramia can go here alone. Ramia okay.”

Every time the word “Ramia” left Yoon Jaewoo’s mouth, the attendants’ shoulders twitched repeatedly. Yoon Jaewoo became convinced that “Ramia” referred to a god.

“Okay, I understand you’re worried that the god who suddenly appeared might disappear, but sometimes I want to be alone too. Ramia alone. Alone.”

A look of fear crossed the attendants’ faces. Even though he knew how embarrassing it was to call himself a god, Yoon Jaewoo repeated the word “Ramia” several times, driven by his desire to enjoy a solitary walk.

One attendant, his expression darkening, disappeared somewhere and then reappeared with the head attendant. The elderly head attendant looked at Yoon Jaewoo with a troubled expression. Yoon Jaewoo pointed alternately at the door and himself.

Everyone displayed signs of distress. Yoon Jaewoo felt his stubbornness rising. Being told not to go made him want to go alone even more. He often got scolded by his coach for his personality; once he set his mind on something, he had to do it, and if he didn’t want to do something, he wouldn’t do it, no matter what.

Even though he knew it was pointless stubbornness, Yoon Jaewoo decided he had to go outside right now. He was so bored that he felt like he needed to create even this small incident to feel alive.

With a resolute expression, Yoon Jaewoo pointed directly at the door. An ambiguous silence followed. However, as Yoon Jaewoo persistently stood by the door, the head attendant finally gave in and nodded. When the head attendant gave an order to the attendants beside him, they opened the small door connected to the wall.

The door was so small that his head barely fit through. As Yoon Jaewoo bent down to go out, he suddenly raised his head at the cold sensation touching his nose. As a result, he banged his head on the door frame.

“Ouch!”

As Yoon Jaewoo clutched the back of his head and sat down, the attendants rushed to his side to check on him.

“Ah, I’m fine. Just a little… what is that?”

Yoon Jaewoo involuntarily muttered in admiration at the scenery outside the door.

He was more surprised by the fact that there was still something left to surprise him.

Yoon Jaewoo stretched out his hand, wondering if the sight before him was an illusion. A white snowflake, carried by the wind, landed on his fingertip and disappeared without a trace. Dumbfounded, Yoon Jaewoo turned his head to check inside the door. White butterflies flitted gracefully around the well-maintained garden.

Rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand, Yoon Jaewoo turned his head again. It was still snowing outside the door.

Behind him, he felt the warm spring sun, while ahead of him stretched a snow-white wilderness.

“How can this be… possible? Because this is a different world.”

Even though he resolved not to compare the rules of his world with this one, his jaw dropped at the sight of this strange scene, something he would only expect to see in a movie.

Yoon Jaewoo briefly considered whether he should proceed. He felt a little apprehensive about going out, but he was also too embarrassed to go back inside after having insisted on going out.

Yoon Jaewoo glanced at the attendants standing behind him.

They’ll definitely follow me. It’s not like I’m going alone, so what could go wrong?

He took a deep breath and stepped outside. A cold wind brushed his cheek. He hadn’t taken more than a few steps when the cold clearly indicated that the land he was treading belonged to winter.

With each step, the crunching sound of snow delighted his ears. Yoon Jaewoo, his face slightly flushed, looked back. The attendants, whom he had assumed would be following him, were standing by the door, staring blankly at him.

“Uh… aren’t you coming?”

Yoon Jaewoo stopped and looked at them. Even without speaking or gesturing, he believed they would understand his intentions. However, they simply continued to watch him with expressionless faces.

“I’m going alone?”

Yoon Jaewoo shouted, pointing at the dazzling snowfield. They still didn’t move a muscle. His pride was hurt, but Yoon Jaewoo shouted louder.

“Hey! I’m going alone! I’m going alone to this unknown place!”

There was no response. They simply bowed politely to Yoon Jaewoo with their hands clasped together.

In the end, Yoon Jaewoo had no choice but to walk alone in the snow.

“What the heck? Is it okay to treat a god like this?”

Yoon Jaewoo limped a few steps, looked back to confirm the attendants were still motionless, felt his pride stung, and repeated the process of walking a bit further and then stopping.

By the time the door he had come out of was a distant speck, Yoon Jaewoo finally accepted that the attendants weren’t following him.

“Aren’t you worried? What if someone just, like, snatches me away?”

Yoon Jaewoo grumbled and brushed his black hair, a rare sight in this world. The hair, softened by good food, sleep, and care, flowed through his fingers. It wasn’t just his hair that had improved. His skin had cleared up, and he had gained some weight. Before coming here, everything had been so bad that he hadn’t even had the energy to take care of himself. Just getting through the day was all he could manage. He had managed to hold on because of his body, trained for nearly twenty years through exercise, but if he had been an ordinary person, it wouldn’t have been surprising if he had collapsed.

Waking up, drinking, throwing up, and collapsing into sleep was his entire day. With no one to look after him, he mostly ate ramen. He had lost about ten kilograms, to the point where even people he knew wouldn’t recognize him on the street. Yoon Jaewoo’s former appearance, the “Prince of the Ground” known for his fair skin and delicate features, even for an athlete, was nowhere to be found.

Since arriving here, thanks to the meticulous care he received, his runaway looks seemed to have finally found their way back home.

Yoon Jaewoo rubbed his face with his palms.

Was my skin always this good?

He suddenly remembered something a girl he briefly dated had said: Skin is a matter of money and time. When he heard that, he wondered if it was really necessary to invest both for the sake of his skin. Back then, Yoon Jaewoo didn’t have time to invest in his skin. After morning training, he did individual training, and after individual training, he worked on his basic physical strength. The little time he had left was spent briefly meeting or contacting the person he was dating.

It felt absurd that he was thinking about the relationship between skin and time after having lost soccer, which had been his whole life.

Yoon Jaewoo smiled as he walked.

He had chosen suicide after losing everything, but when he opened his eyes, he was in a completely different world. An enormous moon precariously touching the horizon, flowers and snow coexisting on either side of a door, an unbelievably beautiful and bizarre world.

No one in this world knew the name Yoon Jaewoo. Yoon Jaewoo didn’t know anyone either. But he liked that. He liked this world, where no one reminded him of what he had lost.

It would be a lie to say he wasn’t lonely, but he couldn’t bring himself to say he wanted to go back. The weight of despair wasn’t light enough to be traded for the feeling of loneliness.

Yoon Jaewoo felt like he had been reborn.

“This is nice….”

Yoon Jaewoo murmured, treading on the snow-white path, like a blank canvas.

Yoon Jaewoo had never seriously considered the existence of God. The first time he, someone who lived a life far removed from faith, seriously contemplated the existence of God was the day he was told he wouldn’t be able to use his legs again after the accident.

He wanted to ask God, how could this happen, what had he ever done for God to take away everything he had achieved through blood, sweat, and tears. He had even prayed to every god in the world, promising to do anything if he could just run again. No answer came, and nothing changed.

In the end, Yoon Jaewoo concluded that it wasn’t the existence or non-existence of God that mattered, but whether that God cared about him.

Standing on the endless path, Yoon Jaewoo looked up at the sky. Pure white snow, untouched by anything in the world, was falling from the pale sky.

Such beautiful snow.

He stood there, gazing at the falling snow until his face was numb with cold. By the time his injured leg began throbbing, telling him he shouldn’t stand any longer, he had lost feeling in his toes.

When he turned around to head back, fresh snow had piled up on the path he had taken. Of course, his footprints had long since disappeared beneath the snow.

“Uh oh. Where was it?”

Although he had athletic abilities that ranked among the best in the country, Yoon Jaewoo had such a poor sense of direction that he was often teased about having left it in his mother’s womb.

Yoon Jaewoo started walking in the direction he thought he had come from. He believed he would eventually find the door in the wall. It didn’t take long for that belief to shatter.

“…Where the hell am I?”

He couldn’t possibly be lost. Okay, in the broadest sense, this was all still within the castle walls. Nothing terrible would happen from getting lost within the castle walls. If he calmly continued walking in one direction, he would definitely reach the wall… no way!

Yoon Jaewoo angrily kicked at the accumulated snow.

He walked and walked, but the door he was searching for was nowhere to be found. Yoon Jaewoo started to feel uneasy. His right leg was getting heavier. Now, it wasn’t just a limp; he was practically dragging his leg through the snow.

“I should have brought someone with me. …Shouldn’t they have come with me? I’m new here.”

Grumbling, Yoon Jaewoo desperately dragged his leg through the snow. The snow, which had seemed so beautiful just moments ago, now felt utterly dreadful.

“I’m a god! A god, yet treated with such disrespect… that’s because I’m a god.”

Yoon Jaewoo recalled the expressions of the people who had seen him off at the garden gate. A mixture of worry and trust, as if they were concerned but willing to let him do as he pleased because they trusted him.

Yoon Jaewoo, who hadn’t anticipated that being treated as a god here would lead to this misfortune, frowned and bit his lip.

Before he could even properly enjoy his happy second life, he was lost in a garden, facing the danger of freezing to death.

What rotten luck. To kick away the chance a careless god barely threw his way. And to kick it away so effectively with a crippled leg.

Yoon Jaewoo pounded his freezing leg with his fist and looked around. He needed somewhere, anywhere, to warm up, but there was… nowhere.

“Argh! Damn it, damn it! No!”

He absolutely couldn’t give up this life of massages all day long and mountains of delicious food. Yoon Jaewoo frantically searched for a place to rest, his eyes burning with determination.

Having died once, he wasn’t particularly afraid of dying again, but it felt too unfair to die so pathetically. Yoon Jaewoo desperately focused his gaze. Through the hazy air, he spotted something shimmering in the distance, like a heat haze.

I’m saved.

He immediately started dragging himself towards the direction of the heat haze. After a while, the haze grew more distinct. Even his good left foot was bleeding red now, but Yoon Jaewoo didn’t stop walking.

It was a hot spring. Heat, along with the haze, was rising from a sizable pool of water. Finding a natural hot spring in the middle of a snowfield, Yoon Jaewoo was overjoyed. He checked the temperature of the water with his hand and threw off his leather shoes.

As he slowly dipped his frostbitten, swollen feet into the water, a tingling sensation, like ants crawling, spread from the tips of his toes. Yoon Jaewoo sighed and immersed his other foot in the hot spring.

Perhaps due to the geothermal heat, the nearby rocks were also warm, like heated clay sauna stones. Yoon Jaewoo placed his hands on them and leaned back.

“Ah… I feel like I’m alive.”

It was still snowing, but his warm feet kept him from feeling cold. He felt a luxurious sense of happiness, like lying on a heated floor in a warm room with the door open in winter, wrapped in a blanket.

His quickly improved mood made Yoon Jaewoo realize how simple-minded he was. He recalled his coach’s angry face, saying he seemed to have muscles for brains. Yoon Jaewoo chuckled and nodded.

His simple nature was the perfect trait for an athlete. An athlete, after all, had to single-mindedly dedicate himself to one thing. He never got distracted. He just ran, looking straight ahead. Nothing but soccer mattered to him. That’s why the despair of losing soccer had been so much greater for him than for others. To the point where he thought he couldn’t live anymore.

But here he was, and things like soccer felt meaningless. Was this enlightenment through death?

Yoon Jaewoo nodded again. Being treated like a god made him feel like a divine being.

The problem was,

“…how do I get back?”

He had put out the immediate fire, but a mountain of a fire was still blazing behind him. Yoon Jaewoo sighed and leaned his head back.

He was entertaining the weak thought of hoping someone would come find him when he felt something tickle his fingers.

“Are you here for a hot spring bath too?”

It was a small rabbit. A rabbit with white fur and red eyes, just like Yoon Jaewoo, dipped its front paws into the water and twitched its ears.

Following it, three or four more white rabbits hopped out of the bushes and huddled together. Yoon Jaewoo watched them with a contented gaze, thinking that if things got desperate, he could catch one and fill his hungry stomach.

Suddenly, a large movement whooshed over Yoon Jaewoo’s head. Yoon Jaewoo dismissed it as just the wind, but the startled rabbits instantly disappeared beyond the bushes. A sigh of disappointment escaped Yoon Jaewoo’s lips as his emergency rations vanished in the blink of an eye.

Thinking that the god of this world must be particularly mischievous, Yoon Jaewoo raised his head. And then he saw it.

“…….”

He had thought there was nothing left to surprise him after seeing the unimaginably large moon, the pure white moss and leaves, and the two coexisting seasons separated by a wall.

Yoon Jaewoo stared, frozen, at the thing approaching him. He couldn’t move a muscle. All he could do was breathe.

It was the first time he had felt so overwhelmed by the mere presence of something.

It felt as though the surrounding animals, and even the trees, were holding their breath, lowering their presence. The tense air felt suffocating.

Yoon Jaewoo barely managed to blink.

It was an animal. Since it was alive and moving, it was naturally an animal, but he couldn’t describe it with any other word. At a glance, it resembled a wolf, but calling it a wolf wouldn’t explain its house-sized body and the wings sprouting from its shoulder blades.

Bright red blood, dazzlingly vivid against its pure white fur, was splattered across its body. The contrast between the white fur and the red created a chilling beauty.

Yoon Jaewoo’s fingertips trembled. He couldn’t even distinguish whether the intense emotion piercing through him was astonishment or fear.

It slowly approached. Even though it clearly saw Yoon Jaewoo, it didn’t even glance at him and slowly walked into the water, as if finding its place.

The fairly large hot spring was filled by its presence. Its fur barely grazed Yoon Jaewoo’s knees, which were submerged in the water. Each time its fur touched him, Yoon Jaewoo flinched.

The water quickly turned red. It slowly sank into the water. Thinking of a chance to escape, Yoon Jaewoo quickly pulled his feet out of the water. As he grabbed his shoes and was about to run, he hesitated and looked back. He remembered Jinsu, the dog he had raised in the backyard of the orphanage. Jinsu was a white Jindo dog. And the only being Yoon Jaewoo had shown affection to at the orphanage.

Of course, this wasn’t Jinsu. It was dozens of times larger and looked much stronger. Unlike Jinsu’s fur, which always seemed stiff and lifeless, this creature had fluffy, silky white fur that shimmered like snowflakes. There was no reason to pity it by comparing it to Jinsu.

But.

“…….”

It was still submerged in the water.

Just wait, just wait until it surfaces.

Yoon Jaewoo anxiously bit his lip, his gaze fixed on the surface of the water. But even after a long time, the creature below the surface showed no sign of moving.

“I’ll count to five, no, ten…”

He started counting in his head.

“Ten, nine, eight, seven, six…!”

Yoon Jaewoo threw off his clothes. Wearing only his thin undergarments, he jumped into the water. He hadn’t realized how deep it was when only his feet were in. Large bubbles were rising from the bottom.

Yoon Jaewoo widened his eyes and cut through the water. He saw it. It was lying near the bubbling hole, as if dead. The current was stronger than he had expected, making it difficult to dive down. Yoon Jaewoo desperately swam towards the bottom. He didn’t have the confidence to pull the house-sized creature out. But he had to do something.

Yoon Jaewoo approached its head and tugged on its ear. It didn’t budge. He was running out of breath. Yoon Jaewoo stepped on its head and pulled its ear with all his might.

The sight of the creature lying limply on the bottom overlapped with the last image of Jinsu.

The director often beat the children when he was in a bad mood. Yoon Jaewoo, stubborn and disobedient, was the director’s frequent punching bag. That day, too, the director returned drunk and, as always, called Yoon Jaewoo’s name. Yoon Jaewoo quickly hid in Jinsu’s doghouse. The other children, afraid of being hit themselves, told the director where Yoon Jaewoo was hiding. The director grabbed Yoon Jaewoo by the hair and dragged him out of the doghouse. The beating began. No one intervened. Except for Jinsu.

Jinsu, barking frantically and threatening the director, finally bit his ankle when the director wouldn’t stop hitting Yoon Jaewoo. Enraged, the director grabbed a baseball bat and swung it at Jinsu. With a thud, Jinsu collapsed to the ground, whimpering.

Young Jaewoo, crying, pushed the director. It was the best a nine-year-old could do. While the drunk director stumbled, Yoon Jaewoo untied Jinsu’s leash and carried him on his back. He ran to a nearby animal hospital, carrying Jinsu, who was larger than him. But no hospital would treat an emaciated Jindo dog brought in by a penniless orphan. In the end, Yoon Jaewoo had to dig Jinsu’s grave himself that day. In front of the humble, pitiful grave, young Jaewoo cried all night.

No, Jinsu. Don’t die!

Yoon Jaewoo didn’t want to see anything resembling Jinsu die again. He was running out of breath, and it was getting hard to keep his eyes open. With all his might, Yoon Jaewoo pulled on its ear.

It was a fleeting moment. The water seemed to rumble. Yoon Jaewoo opened his closed eyes. It was the creature. It was looking at Yoon Jaewoo with its eyes open. It felt like a sharp, silver-blue arrow piercing his forehead. The moment their eyes met, Yoon Jaewoo involuntarily gasped, completely forgetting he was underwater.

The creature opened its massive jaws. A powerful vortex erupted. That’s where Yoon Jaewoo’s memory ended.

White light shattered. The light stabbed at his eyes. Yoon Jaewoo groaned and winced. Incomprehensible words were exchanged above him, and then a low male voice cut through their speech. The dignified, slow voice sounded like the resonance of a heavy brass instrument. It was strange. It was a pleasant voice, but listening to it sent shivers down his spine.

Yoon Jaewoo shuddered. A cool cloth was placed on his forehead. Yoon Jaewoo forced his heavy eyelids open. Faces looking down at him with concern blurred in his vision. Yoon Jaewoo closed his eyes again. Some time passed. The voice above him disappeared, replaced by a quiet silence.

Yoon Jaewoo opened his eyes. His vision was blurry, perhaps due to the fever. He was thirsty. He habitually reached out and fumbled beside the bed. He felt the touch of something soft and fine. Wanting to keep touching it, Yoon Jaewoo tightened his grip on the fur. He figured someone had placed a high-quality fur blanket beside him. Yoon Jaewoo pulled it towards him and placed it on his chest, intending to cover himself with it. Even in his hazy state, a smile touched his lips at the sensation of the soft fur against his nose.

He remembered the days when he would hug Jinsu and fall asleep. Even then, it wasn’t this soft… was it? Jinsu’s fur was always matted with excrement and rough!

Yoon Jaewoo’s eyes flew open, and he sat up. The creature he had seen in the snowfield was lying next to him. Terrified, Yoon Jaewoo couldn’t even scream and simply rolled off the bed. When he came to his senses, he realized he wasn’t wearing any clothes. Yoon Jaewoo hurriedly covered himself with the sheet and looked at the creature on the bed.

It wasn’t a dream after all. The creature was lying on the bed. The enormous creature, so large that it made the huge bed seem cramped, was sprawled out, sleeping.

How did it get here…?

“…Did it follow me?”

He had no memory after falling into the water, but it was clear someone had come looking for him. And it was clear that this creature had followed him here.

Yoon Jaewoo grimaced, clutching his forehead.

The people here worshipped him. Even such a large animal wouldn’t dare chase it away, especially since it had followed him.

What should I do? How do I get this thing out of here? It’s definitely a ferocious beast, and it would be a disaster if someone got bitten.

Wrapped in the sheet and lost in thought, Yoon Jaewoo decided he needed to call for help. He carefully walked out of the room, trying not to wake the creature sleeping on the bed. He frantically gestured to the guard stationed in the hallway to come over. However, the guard remained rooted to the spot, as if nailed to the floor. Assuming he had been ordered not to leave his post, Yoon Jaewoo walked towards him.

As he approached the guard, Yoon Jaewoo noticed that his attire was different from usual. Until yesterday, the guard had worn ordinary clothes and carried a spear and shield, but now he was clad in armor from head to toe, his face tense. The atmosphere felt unusually serious.

“Excuse me, hello?”

Yoon Jaewoo called out to the guard. The guard stared straight ahead with a stony expression.

“You see, in my room, there’s a dog, or should I say a wolf? No, not exactly, but anyway, there’s something big in there.”

Yoon Jaewoo added to his explanation with vigorous gestures.

“I didn’t bring it in, but it looks dangerous, so I think it needs to be removed. I’m not scared, but, well, it’s dangerous, so could you come with me…?”

Yoon Jaewoo grabbed the guard’s sleeve and tugged. The guard, once again, showed no reaction. Yoon Jaewoo sighed. Even considering the language barrier, the guard’s reaction was excessive.

“Listen when someone is talking to you!”

Yoon Jaewoo yelled. His voice echoed down the hallway. Suddenly, soldiers in armor poured out. Intimidated by the气势 of the soldiers who had swiftly surrounded him, Yoon Jaewoo flinched and stepped back.

“No, wait, I mean… I’m fine.”

It seemed the soldiers, worried by his raised voice, had rushed over. Yoon Jaewoo, thinking he needed to reassure them, uttered the only words he knew in this world.

“Ramia is fine. Ramia is worried about the animal sleeping in there. A big animal with white fur. You don’t have to worry about Ramia.”

Yoon Jaewoo explained the situation, feeling like a kindergarten teacher addressing her students.

“So, I, Ramia, am fine, and that thing is in that room over there.”

The problem was that these kindergarteners weren’t listening to a word he said. Yoon Jaewoo, hoping that at least one of them would somehow grasp his meaning, continued his explanation, slowly using his hands and feet as if performing a rhythmic dance.

Soon, as if alerted by the commotion, the head attendant appeared. Yoon Jaewoo felt a surge of relief at the sight of the head attendant, who was quicker on the uptake than the others.

“Hey, look, you know…”

The head attendant, his face creased with worry, put his index finger to his lips. Then he made a shushing sound. Even an idiot could understand what that meant, even if they didn’t speak the same language.

Yoon Jaewoo obediently closed his mouth. The head attendant’s expression was incredibly serious. It was clear he didn’t want the creature to wake up.

The head attendant whispered something, and one of the guards rushed to the room Yoon Jaewoo had come from.

This old man definitely understands me.

Yoon Jaewoo breathed a sigh of relief. The guard who had gone to check the room returned, his face ashen.

Of course he is. Anyone who saw that wouldn’t be surprised.

Yoon Jaewoo nodded vigorously beside the guard who was reporting to the head attendant.

Yes, yes, you must have been surprised too. Anyone would be shocked to see that giant wolf-dog.

The head attendant’s expression also hardened upon hearing the report. Yoon Jaewoo felt apologetic. These were the people who had rushed to save his life in the snowfield, and he felt like he was burdening them too much.

For the sake of these kind people, who likely hadn’t dared to chase the creature away because of him, Yoon Jaewoo generously drew a large circle in the air with his hand and whispered,

“Ramia is fine, so let’s chase away that wolf-dog-thing while it’s sleeping. Don’t kill it. Do you understand?”

Meaning to suggest they remove the creature while it slept, as it would be troublesome if it woke up, Yoon Jaewoo mimed sleeping and then shooed the air, as if chasing something away.

But something was off. The gazes of the attendants and soldiers were subtly cold.

He remembered his coach’s voice, nagging him incessantly that he needed to solve his language problem before going to the Premier League. He had said that the language barrier would hold him back more than he thought, and that smooth communication would be a fundamental requirement in any situation.

Back then, he had thought that playing soccer well was all that mattered and hadn’t taken his coach’s advice seriously. He was now experiencing that language barrier, not in the Premier League, but in this strange place.

Yoon Jaewoo pounded his chest in frustration.

“So…”

Before he could finish, the soldiers’ gazes simultaneously shifted behind him. Yoon Jaewoo slowly turned his head.

The creature was standing there. It was so large that its fur barely cleared the walls of the hallway. As its languid silver eyes gazed at them, everyone dropped to their knees.

Yoon Jaewoo, flustered, tried to get them to stand up, insisting it wasn’t necessary, but it was no use. Meanwhile, the creature slowly approached. The pressure increased, as if someone was squeezing the air out of the room.

Yoon Jaewoo was scared, but he took a deep breath and straightened his back. He didn’t want to look pathetic in front of the people who worshipped him as a god.

He had brought this monstrous wolf here, so he had to do something about it. Yoon Jaewoo clenched his fists.

“Shoo. Shoo.”

He shouted at the wolf approaching him. It was an act based on the common knowledge that animals are afraid of loud noises, but he immediately regretted it, wondering if that common knowledge applied to such a large creature.

The soldier kneeling beside Yoon Jaewoo grabbed his hand in alarm. The moment Yoon Jaewoo saw the fear in the soldier’s eyes, his heart swelled with warmth.

Even though he was so terrified, the soldier was worried about him.

Yoon Jaewoo, who had always worn the captain’s armband on the field, couldn’t just stand by idly after seeing the soldier’s concern. To these people, he was a god. Even if he didn’t have godlike abilities, he had to at least show godlike dignity.

Yoon Jaewoo shook off the soldier’s hand and walked towards the creature.

“Get out. Get out of here this instant. I command you, in the name of Ramia.”

Upon hearing the word “Ramia,” the creature slightly turned its head and looked at Yoon Jaewoo. It was covered in pure white fur from head to toe, but only its eyes were a silvery blue, making their movement chillingly vivid.

“Go!”

Yoon Jaewoo wasn’t particularly afraid of animals. He had a knack for quickly befriending even the fiercest dogs. But this was different. It was alive and moving, covered in fur, so it was an animal, but… it was too big. And its gaze was different. It lacked the simple nature typical of animals. A mocking glint in its eyes, as if it saw through the entire situation, sent shivers down Yoon Jaewoo’s spine.

He saw its massive paw. A paw so large that even an adult man couldn’t encompass it with both arms outstretched, concealing sharp claws. Every time it walked down the hallway, the sound of its claws scraping against the marble echoed.

Could the soldiers here, even if they all attacked together, defeat it?

It slowly approached. The soldier behind him desperately tugged on his arm. Yoon Jaewoo, sweating profusely, watched as the creature approached him.

This was where he had ended up after losing everything and dying. The people of this world treated him as if he were someone important. For a brief moment, it had made him feel valued, even without soccer. They must have searched for him, not knowing where he had collapsed in the snowfield, and rescued him.

There was nowhere left to retreat, and he couldn’t retreat.

Yoon Jaewoo drew the sword from the soldier’s hip beside him. He had never wielded a sword before, but he held it in a stance he had seen in movies.

“Get out! This is no place for an animal to roam freely!”

He was terrified. His hand holding the sword trembled uncontrollably.

He felt as if the massive beast would pounce on him at any moment and tear him to shreds. But he had a duty to protect the people here.

“Go back to where you came from!”

The creature suddenly lunged forward. The sword ended up pointed at its black nose. A single movement from either of them could result in bloodshed.

Yoon Jaewoo didn’t want to hurt the animal, but he couldn’t drop the sword.

At that moment.

“…….”

Yoon Jaewoo gasped.

Surely, surely it had…

A low chuckle echoed through the hallway again. Yoon Jaewoo quickly looked around. Everyone had their heads bowed, their faces filled with fear. The soldier who had been holding him was pale and trembling.

Yoon Jaewoo looked back at the creature. He hadn’t misheard. It had laughed. Not a growl or a whine, but a clear chuckle.

Yoon Jaewoo’s eyes widened. At that moment, the creature opened its mouth and made a sound. A chilling sound, like scraping metal, clawed at the air. At the same time, an immense force pushed Yoon Jaewoo back. At first, he thought the creature had swiped at him with its paw. But it hadn’t moved an inch from its spot.

The sword, broken in two, lay scattered beside Yoon Jaewoo. It was unbelievable, even after seeing it with his own eyes and experiencing it firsthand.

What just happened?

As Yoon Jaewoo blinked in confusion, the creature passed by him and walked down the hallway. Only after its enormous, fluffy tail, large enough to completely envelop an adult man, disappeared around the corner did the kneeling people rise.

Yoon Jaewoo also fumbled to his feet. The head attendant approached and brushed off his clothes. Yoon Jaewoo gestured that he was fine. The head attendant kept muttering while examining him.

…It’s probably just a misunderstanding due to the language barrier that those words sound more like reproach than concern.

Staring at the end of the hallway where the creature had disappeared, Yoon Jaewoo asked the head attendant,

“What is that?”

There was no way he would receive an answer, and even if he did, he wouldn’t understand it. But he couldn’t help but ask.

“What in the world is that? It looks like a wolf, but wolves are definitely not like that.”

After muttering blankly, Yoon Jaewoo quickly collected himself and said firmly to the head attendant,

“Whatever it is, let’s get rid of it.”

As if understanding his words, the head attendant shook his head and then disappeared.

An attendant approached Yoon Jaewoo. The attendant touched Yoon Jaewoo’s forehead with the back of his hand and frowned. Only then did Yoon Jaewoo realize he was burning up. A sudden wave of heat coursed through his body.

As he collapsed, Yoon Jaewoo thought, for the first time in his life, he was fainting from a high fever.

His body heaved with ragged breaths. He brushed his sweat-drenched hair from his forehead and looked at the field. It was a tense standoff.

1-1. A tie.

They had to win this match to advance to the finals. Since it wasn’t a tournament, there would be no overtime. There were less than five minutes left. His legs felt sore and heavy, as if someone had been hammering them. But he had to run. He knew what his teammates expected of him. They were hoping for a miracle. And there was only one person who could create miracles in moments like these.

A palpable tension hung in the air.

With the ball rising in the air as a signal, everyone started running. Yoon Jaewoo ran too. The ball, intercepted in midfield, was passed to him. Dodging a defender, Yoon Jaewoo dribbled and ran. Two, three, he weaved past his opponents one by one, approaching the goal. The cheers from the stands grew louder. Yoon Jaewoo could only hear the pounding of his own heart.

Finally, he got past the last defender and faced the goalkeeper.

Yoon Jaewoo instinctively knew. This was it. He felt the elasticity of the ball through his toes. A roar erupted like a flash of light. The ball flew towards the goal. The goalkeeper also dove in the direction of the ball. Yoon Jaewoo clenched his fists, watching the seemingly eternal moment.

“……!”

Yoon Jaewoo, about to shout “Goal!”, startled awake. Rapid breaths filled the large room.

It was a dream.

His palms were drenched in cold sweat. The elation that had filled his entire being just moments ago was receding like the tide. Yoon Jaewoo clenched and unclenched his fists.

An emptiness beyond the word “loss” shook him to his core. That time had been proof of his existence, his purpose in life.

Yoon Jaewoo pressed his palm against his forehead and lowered his head. The sense of loss he didn’t want to remember seeped in through the dream.

It hurts. It’s so hard… I want to die.

As he muttered despondently, a soft breeze drifted in through the open window. The scent of flowers tickled Yoon Jaewoo’s nose.

Remembering that he was in a new world, Yoon Jaewoo looked around. He saw a wet towel and a washbasin beside the bed. Yoon Jaewoo touched his forehead and clicked his tongue.

A god shouldn’t be languishing like this.

He stretched his stiff body. He was thirsty. The attendants seemed to have all withdrawn; there was no one in sight. Yoon Jaewoo put on a robe and went out of the room. It was eerily quiet. Even the guards who usually stood watch in the hallways were nowhere to be seen.

“What’s going on? Did they all go to sleep?”

Scratching his head, he walked down the hallway. The pale moonlight illuminated the corridor. He smelled flowers. His feet naturally led him towards the garden.

He wanted to walk. Dragging his limping leg, he went out to the garden. He passed several doors, but he didn’t encounter a single guard. Finding it odd, Yoon Jaewoo walked through the garden filled with blooming white flowers he didn’t recognize.

Yoon Jaewoo approached a tree draped with cloud-like white flowers and sniffed. It was the same scent he had smelled in his room.

A cool, refreshing scent. A beautiful scent.

Looking at the withered petals that had fallen beneath the tree, Yoon Jaewoo suddenly thought of his situation. A timely breeze scattered the petals. His gaze naturally followed them.

The moment he spotted the pavilion made of white stone and wood by the pond, Yoon Jaewoo froze. The creature was lying there, relaxing with its eyes closed.

That shameless beast is still here, hasn’t left yet.

Yoon Jaewoo quickly looked around for guards. But there were no guards, not even the attendants who usually followed him around relentlessly.

Yoon Jaewoo tried his best to walk quietly as he backed away. Despite his efforts, he stepped on a dry twig after only a few steps. The snapping sound seemed unusually loud.

He’d been discovered.

The air rippled for a moment. He didn’t need to confirm; he knew the creature was awake.

Yoon Jaewoo’s eyes widened, and he slowly raised his head. The creature was looking at him. A blue light seemed to flicker around it. Yoon Jaewoo briefly wondered if the creature had the power to manipulate the air.

The air became tense, making his hair stand on end just from meeting its gaze. It wasn’t just psychological. There was definitely some kind of physical interference, but Yoon Jaewoo’s common sense couldn’t explain it.

The creature turned its head away. It was the perfect opportunity to escape.

“…….”

However, instead of turning and running, Yoon Jaewoo stepped forward. He had a duty to drive the creature away. Judging by how brazenly it was lounging there, it was clear that no one had dared to approach it.

It might understand me.

It had definitely chuckled in the hallway.

But he also had to prepare for the possibility that it wouldn’t understand him.

Yoon Jaewoo broke off a branch from a nearby flower tree. The question was whether this branch would pose even the slightest threat to the creature sitting there.

It’s better than nothing.

Clutching the branch, Yoon Jaewoo slowly approached the creature. Each step was cautious. Even as he reached the steps of the pavilion, it didn’t move. Moonlight illuminated its white fur. Every time it breathed, each strand of fur moved up and down as if it were a living organism with its own will. The white fur, bathed in moonlight, looked even more beautiful and soft. As if it were drinking in the moonlight.

Don’t be fooled by its beautiful, white fur. It’s definitely a strange monster. Why did I even equate this thing with Jinsu and drag this problem this far?

Blaming himself for his impulsive mistake at the hot spring, Yoon Jaewoo climbed the steps. He was limping, so it was bound to make a sound, but the creature still didn’t acknowledge him.

Reaching the top of the pavilion, Yoon Jaewoo stood beside the creature. The mass of fur bathed in moonlight reminded him of Jinsu sleeping on the stone wall. Its large tail, swaying gently from side to side, looked so fluffy that he even felt like hugging it.

A breeze blew. Yoon Jaewoo’s hair fell over his forehead. As he brushed his messy hair back, Yoon Jaewoo couldn’t believe his eyes. Despite the wind blowing, the creature’s fur didn’t move. It only moved when the creature inhaled and exhaled; the wind had no effect on its fur.

How is that even possible?

Unconsciously, Yoon Jaewoo reached out and touched the creature’s fur. It was soft and fine. The kind of fur that would naturally sway in the wind.

“How are you doing that?”

Yoon Jaewoo asked the creature. The creature turned its head and looked at Yoon Jaewoo. The moment their eyes met, Yoon Jaewoo could read the emotion it was displaying towards him.

Mockery.

It was definitely mocking him. Its eyes asked, why are you even curious about something so obvious? Yoon Jaewoo realized that it definitely understood what he was saying.

“You understand me?”

Its blue eyes narrowed slightly. And then it closed them altogether.

“Hey. Hey. Hey. Look at me.”

It didn’t even glance at him. Being ignored by an animal, Yoon Jaewoo felt a surge of anger. He poked the creature with the branch he was holding.

At the same time, the creature’s enormous tail wrapped around Yoon Jaewoo’s body.

“Aagh!”

Yoon Jaewoo screamed in pain, feeling as though his bones were about to shatter. He was an idiot for thinking he wanted to hug that large, white tail. Yoon Jaewoo desperately struggled to free himself from the constricting tail, but it was no use. Blood rushed to his head, making it feel like it would explode. Thinking he might die like this, Yoon Jaewoo grabbed at the creature’s fur and shouted,

“Do, do you know who I am! I’m… Ramia! Ramia!”

The tail, which had been tightening around him as if about to crush him, suddenly loosened its grip. Yoon Jaewoo, falling to the floor, gasped for breath and coughed.

“Cough, cough… gasp… gasp…”

Blood was mixed with his coughs, probably from a burst blood vessel in his mouth. Yoon Jaewoo glared at the creature with wide eyes.

“Damn it, what was that? I’m Ramia, you beast! If you understand me, you should know what Ramia is!”

He wanted to grab the creature’s tail, now swaying playfully in front of him, and rip it off. But if he did that, his neck would probably snap.

“Ramia. Understand?”

The creature gently swept its tail across Yoon Jaewoo’s face. Yoon Jaewoo, thinking he was being mocked, was about to get angry when he suddenly noticed that the pain in his mouth was gone. He reached out and touched the inside of his mouth. The bleeding, which had been flowing freely just moments ago, had stopped.

“…….”

He had thought he wouldn’t be surprised by anything anymore after all the astonishing things he had witnessed here, but this time, his jaw dropped.

The wound had completely disappeared. Yoon Jaewoo repeatedly touched the inside of his mouth with his hand to confirm.

As Yoon Jaewoo continued to probe his mouth with his finger, the large tail swatted his cheek. Even though it was a fluffy tail, the impact felt like being hit with a whip. It made Yoon Jaewoo realize that he wasn’t dreaming.

“Ha… haha…”

Yoon Jaewoo chuckled dryly, rubbing his stinging cheek. It seemed this creature wasn’t just some random oversized wolf, but some kind of mystical being.

“What are you, really?”

He didn’t expect an answer, even if the creature was a supernatural being that could understand him. Still, Yoon Jaewoo couldn’t help but pour out the questions he wanted to ask.