The creek water flowed slowly between the dark stones, reflecting warped fragments of moonlight through the trees. The constant sound of the current helped conceal the rest of the forest—the swaying branches, the singing insects, the wind passing through the dry leaves.
Seina sat on the riverbank, her arms resting on her knees as she tried to catch her breath.
The hike through the woods had drained what little energy she had left. Her legs ached, her shoulders burned from the weight of her backpack, and her sneakers were damp with mud. Cold water still dripped from her face after she had splashed it in a futile attempt to wash away her exhaustion.
She stared at the current without really seeing it.
Her thoughts came in chaotic waves.
The convenience store clerk recognizing her face. The television. The headline. Her parents dead.
And above all:
Thalya.
Always Thalya.
She pressed her fingers against her forehead.
"I need to go back..." she murmured to herself, her quiet voice swallowed by the sound of the water. "Before the reset..."
"Who are you?"
Seina nearly fell backward.
Her entire body reacted before her mind did. She spun around abruptly, her heart pounding so hard it hurt.
A young man stood a few meters behind her, partially illuminated by the moonlight filtering through the trees.
He immediately raised both hands.
"Hey, easy! Sorry! I didn't mean to scare you."
Seina stood up too quickly, stumbling over a wet rock. The young man instinctively stepped forward to catch her, but she backed away immediately.
The two stood frozen for a moment.
He looked to be in his early twenties. Tall, with slightly messy dark hair, wearing a thick jacket and boots stained with dirt. A flashlight hung around his neck, and the smell of smoke clung to his clothes.
His eyes looked tired.
But kind.
"Are you lost?" he asked cautiously.
Seina didn't answer right away.
She analyzed everything: his hands, his tone of voice, the distance between them, the possibility of danger.
The young man seemed to notice.
"Relax. I'm not going to do anything." He gestured over his shoulder. "I was camping nearby with some friends. I couldn't sleep, so I went for a walk... then I heard you talking to yourself."
Embarrassment flashed across Seina's face for a second.
Talking to herself.
She looked away.
"I just... got lost."
"That makes sense." He glanced at her backpack, her dirty clothes, and the exhausted look on her face. "How long have you been walking?"
"I don't know."
The answer came out far more honest than she intended.
He let out a quiet sigh through his nose, as though making up his mind.
"My name's Kang Min-jae."
She hesitated before answering.
"I'm... Im Sei-na."
"Alright, Sei-na." He gave a slight nod. "You look like you're about to pass out. Do you want to come to our campsite? At least have something to eat."
Her instincts told her to refuse immediately.
Don't trust him. Don't stay close. Keep walking.
But at that moment, the distant smell of smoke and food drifted through the wind.
And her body remembered just how hungry it was.
Min-jae noticed her hesitation.
"I mean it. No pressure. I just thought it was strange to see someone walking alone in the forest in the middle of the night."
Seina looked around.
Darkness. Trees. No idea where she was.
Slowly, she nodded.
"Okay."
The campsite was only a few minutes away.
As they walked, Seina began to notice the glow of a campfire through the trees. Quiet voices echoed through the woods, accompanied by occasional laughter.
It felt strange.
Too normal.
When they got closer, four people looked up almost at the same time.
The group sat scattered around the burning campfire. Two tents stood behind them, backpacks lay beside tree stumps, and a small makeshift grill rested on a few stones.
The smell of grilled meat hit Seina immediately.
The boy sitting closest to the fire blinked in surprise.
"Who's she?"
"I found her near the creek," Min-jae replied. "She seems lost."
A short-haired girl immediately stood up.
"Oh my God, she's so pale."
She walked over without hesitation.
"I'm Lee Na-ri. You're completely soaked."
Seina stiffened as Na-ri gently took hold of her arm, but the girl didn't seem to notice.
Or pretended not to.
"Eun-byul, grab that blue bag for me."
The other girl in the group—quieter, wearing an oversized hoodie—ran to one of the tents and returned with a backpack.
Meanwhile, the other two boys watched curiously.
"I'm Yoo Dae-hyun," one of them said with an easy smile, raising a can of beer in greeting. "And that's Han Ji-sung. He looks unfriendly, but he's just shy."
Ji-sung, who was tending the meat on the makeshift grill, simply raised one hand without looking directly at Seina.
Na-ri opened the backpack.
"Here." She pulled out a few neatly folded clothes. "Go change before you catch a cold—or worse."
"I don't need—"
"Yes, you do."
Her tone was firm, but gentle.
Seina hesitated.
It had been a long time since anyone had spoken to her like that.
Without fear.
Without judgment.
Without tension.
Just...
Concern.
Na-ri pointed toward one of the tents.
"You can change in there."
After a few seconds, Seina silently accepted the clothes.
The tent was small and warm inside. She zipped it shut behind her and stood still for a moment, listening to the muffled voices outside.
The clothes Na-ri had lent her smelled of soap and campfire smoke.
Normal.
Seina slowly took off her damp jacket, feeling her sore muscles protest with every movement.
Her reflection briefly appeared on the black screen of a phone lying inside the tent.
She looked awful.
Dark circles under her eyes. Messy hair. A gaunt face.
She looked like someone slowly disappearing.
"Are you okay in there?" Na-ri asked from outside.
"Yeah."
When she stepped out wearing the borrowed clothes, the entire group seemed to relax a little.
"See? Much better," Dae-hyun said.
"You looked like a horror movie character before," he added.
"Shut up," Na-ri replied, smacking his arm.
Seina sat near the fire after Min-jae pulled over a log for her.
The warmth spread through her body little by little.
And for the first time in days...
...she felt something close to safety.
Ji-sung handed her a makeshift plate with meat and rice.
"Eat before it gets cold."
Seina stared at the food for a second.
The smell alone nearly made her stomach ache.
She started eating slowly, but quickly realized just how hungry she was. The group pretended not to notice how quickly she finished half the plate.
The fire crackled softly as the conversation continued around her.
Dae-hyun talked too much. Na-ri laughed loudly. Eun-byul quietly commented on random things. Min-jae seemed to observe more than he spoke.
Everything felt so absurdly normal that it almost hurt.
Seina listened in silence for several minutes.
Until Na-ri looked at her again.
"So... where are you from?"
The question drew everyone's attention back to her.
Seina took a moment before answering.
"Seoul."
"And you came all the way here by yourself?" Eun-byul asked in surprise.
She nodded.
"And where are you headed?"
"Mokpo."
Dae-hyun nearly choked.
"On foot?!"
"Not entirely."
"That's still really far," Min-jae commented.
Seina lowered her eyes to the empty plate.
"I need to go back."
Something in her voice took the lightness out of the conversation.
Na-ri tilted her head.
"Is someone waiting for you there?"
Thalya's face immediately appeared in Seina's mind.
Her smile.
Her violet eyes.
Her soft voice saying her name.
Seina felt her chest tighten.
"Yes."
Silence lingered for a few seconds.
Ji-sung placed more meat on the grill.
The fat sizzled over the flames.
Dae-hyun tried to lighten the mood.
"Sounds like some tragic romance."
Na-ri laughed.
"Maybe it is."
But Seina didn't laugh.
She absentmindedly dug her fingers into her knee.
Time.
How many days had passed already?
How many cycles?
Had Thalya already died again?
The thought hit her so hard that she spoke before realizing it.
"I have to get back before the reset... before everything starts over."
The entire group fell silent.
The campfire continued to crackle.
"Before what?" Dae-hyun blinked.
Seina looked up.
"The reset."
The confusion on their faces looked far too genuine.
Na-ri frowned slightly.
"You mean... like restarting?"
"What does that mean?" Eun-byul asked.
Seina stared at them in confusion.
"You... don't know?"
"Know what?" Min-jae answered first.
Uneasiness slowly began to build inside her.
"The week." Her voice came out weaker now. "It resets."
No one answered.
Dae-hyun let out a confused laugh.
"You're serious?"
"Every time she dies, it goes back to the beginning." Seina looked from one face to another. "You've never noticed?"
Silence.
Na-ri's expression changed first.
Not into fear.
Into concern.
"Seina..." she began carefully. "Who dies?"
Her heart sank.
"Thalya."
All five of them kept staring at her as though she had suddenly started speaking another language.
"Wait," Min-jae said slowly. "You're saying time goes backward?"
"Yes."
"For everyone?"
"Yes."
"And only you remember?"
Seina opened her mouth...
...and froze.
Because in that instant, she realized something horrifying.
They truly didn't know.
None of them were pretending. None of them seemed to recognize the concept. None of them reacted the way someone would react to something familiar.
It was completely new to them.
The wind swept through the trees above them.
The campfire suddenly seemed much smaller.
"What day is it today?" Seina suddenly asked.
The group exchanged glances.
"The eighteenth," Ji-sung answered.
She stood perfectly still.
No.
That couldn't be right.
"What month?"
"May."
The color drained from her face.
Dae-hyun let out a nervous laugh.
"Hey... you're starting to scare me."
But Seina could barely hear him anymore.
She counted in her head.
Days. Weeks. Cycles.
The world had kept moving.
Even after she left Mokpo.
Even after the reset.
Or...
Maybe the reset had never affected the entire world.
She stood up too quickly.
The log tipped backward.
"Seina?" Na-ri called.
She took a step back.
Her breathing quickening.
The fire. The trees. The voices.
Everything felt distant again.
"Are you okay?" Min-jae asked, standing as well.
"No..." she whispered.
Her hands began to shake.
It wasn't the world.
It never had been.
Mokpo. Thalya. Herself.
Only that place.
The rest of the planet had gone on living normally while she repeated endless deaths inside a forgotten city.
The campfire cracked loudly.
And for the first time since all of this had begun...
Seina understood something truly terrifying.
The world had never been trapped in the loop with her.
She had been alone in it.