Do-Yoon kept walking.
And walking.
And walking.
At some point he completely stopped counting how many hours had passed.
The moment he stopped counting, time itself started feeling strange.
Every minute felt longer.
Every step felt heavier.
Every breath felt more exhausting than the last.
His legs felt like they were crying.
Not metaphorically.
Not dramatically.
They genuinely felt like they were begging him to stop.
His calves burned.
His knees hurt.
Even the bottoms of his feet felt like they were protesting against existence itself.
The ocean path created by his water magic stretched endlessly ahead.
The walls of separated water continued moving beside him like giant liquid mountains.
Fish occasionally swam inside those walls.
Some strange sea creatures also appeared from time to time.
At one point a giant fish stared directly at him for almost thirty seconds.
Do-Yoon stared back.
Neither moved.
Neither blinked.
Eventually the fish swam away.
Do-Yoon felt strangely insulted.
Now even fish were judging him.
His face slowly lost all emotion.
His eyes looked completely dead inside.
If someone saw him right now, they would probably think he was a zombie.
A very tired zombie.
A zombie that desperately needed food.
And sleep.
And therapy.
The cold wind continued blowing from somewhere ahead.
That wind had become his guide.
His compass.
His GPS.
His emotional support system.
Because the snowy island itself could barely be seen anymore.
Night had arrived hours ago.
Darkness covered the ocean.
The moon hung high above the water.
Silver light reflected beautifully across the waves.
The ocean almost looked magical.
Peaceful.
Beautiful.
Romantic.
Do-Yoon didn't care.
His brain had evolved beyond appreciating scenery.
Right now his only goal was survival.
One step.
Another step.
Another.
Another.
And another.
Eventually his mind started wandering.
At first he thought about Min-Jae.
Then he thought about Ji-Eun.
Then he thought about food.
Then he thought about food again.
Then he thought about food even harder.
His stomach growled loudly.
Do-Yoon looked toward the ocean.
"I wonder if fish tastes good raw."
Several seconds passed.
Then he immediately shook his head.
"No."
"That's a terrible idea."
A few minutes later—
"I wonder if fish tastes good cooked."
His stomach growled again.
Do-Yoon sighed.
He was losing the battle against hunger.
His body wanted food.
His brain wanted sleep.
His legs wanted retirement.
Yet somehow he continued moving.
Step.
Step.
Step.
The cold wind became stronger.
Do-Yoon slowly lifted his head.
His tired eyes narrowed slightly.
Something had changed.
The air felt colder.
Much colder.
That meant only one thing.
The island was close.
Very close.
Hope suddenly returned.
His dead eyes regained life.
His exhausted body somehow found hidden energy.
He started walking faster.
Then even faster.
His heart started beating quicker.
The end was finally near.
The island slowly became visible through the darkness.
Tall snowy trees appeared first.
White branches covered in ice.
Snow-covered hills.
Frozen cliffs.
The entire island looked beautiful beneath the moonlight.
For the first time in hours—
Do-Yoon smiled.
A genuine smile.
A happy smile.
"I made it..."
His voice sounded emotional.
Honestly—
He deserved to be emotional.
The ocean journey had been horrible.
Absolutely horrible.
Then reality immediately attacked him.
His system suddenly appeared.
[MP: 0]
Do-Yoon froze.
"...Huh?"
The next second—
Everything went wrong.
The ocean walls collapsed.
The separated path disappeared.
The water rushed back together violently.
Do-Yoon stared blankly.
The ocean stared back.
Then gravity remembered its job.
SPLASH!
He fell directly into the freezing water.
For several seconds he simply floated there.
His face remained completely expressionless.
"...Of course."
Not anger.
Not sadness.
Not frustration.
Just acceptance.
Pure acceptance.
At this point unexpected suffering had become a normal part of his life.
The freezing water soaked his body instantly.
His hair became completely wet.
His clothes stuck to his skin.
His hands felt numb.
His feet felt numb.
Even his soul felt numb.
Do-Yoon slowly looked toward the moon.
"...You hate me."
The moon remained silent.
Still—
The island was close enough.
He could see the shoreline clearly now.
So despite everything—
He forced himself to swim.
Slowly.
Painfully.
Embarrassingly.
Every movement felt exhausting.
His muscles screamed in protest.
His body still hadn't recovered completely from Bloodluv.
His wounds still hurt.
His mana was completely empty.
And now he had to swim.
Honestly—
Life was unfair.
After what felt like forever—
His fingers finally touched land.
The snowy shore.
Do-Yoon almost cried.
He grabbed the frozen ground desperately.
Then slowly dragged himself forward.
His body crawled onto the snow.
One meter.
Then another.
Then another.
Finally—
He collapsed completely.
Not moving.
Not thinking.
Not existing.
Just laying there.
The cold snow touched his face.
The wind moved quietly through his wet hair.
Above him—
The night sky looked beautiful.
Countless stars filled the darkness.
The moon shined brightly overhead.
The snowy forest stood silently nearby.
For the first time since arriving in this world—
Everything felt peaceful.
No monsters.
No systems.
No battles.
No death.
Just silence.
Do-Yoon smiled weakly.
"I should sleep."
Honestly—
That sounded like the greatest idea in human history.
Then—
GRRRRRRRRRRR.
His stomach growled loudly.
Do-Yoon immediately frowned.
"...Traitor."
His stomach growled again.
Even louder.
Apparently it strongly disagreed with sleeping.
Do-Yoon sighed deeply.
"Fine."
"Food first."
Slowly he sat up.
His body complained immediately.
Everything hurt again.
His peaceful moment lasted less than a minute.
Typical.
Then suddenly—
Something entered his mind.
His eyes widened slightly.
The fourth notification.
The final notification.
The one he completely forgot.
"...Wait."
He immediately opened his system.
The blue screen appeared.
He clicked the final notification.
A message appeared.
[Quest Failed]
Objective:
Collect Bloodluv's Blood
Reward Lost
Silence.
Complete silence.
Do-Yoon stared at the screen.
Then stared harder.
Then stared even harder.
"..."
Several seconds passed.
"...I am stupid."
He covered his face immediately.
His entire body froze.
Bloodluv.
The corpse.
The quest.
The reward.
Everything came back.
And now—
Everything was gone.
The quest failed.
The reward disappeared.
Do-Yoon slowly looked toward the sky.
"My rewards..."
His voice sounded heartbroken.
Bloodluv's corpse was far away now.
Very far away.
Across the ocean.
Across another island.
Across all of his suffering.
And because he forgot to check his notifications—
The reward vanished.
Do-Yoon felt emotional damage.
Critical emotional damage.
He slowly pointed toward the sky.
"God."
Several seconds passed.
"Please give me another chance."
Nothing happened.
Do-Yoon lowered his hand sadly.
"...Worth trying."
Then he stood up.
Food remained important.
His stomach continued protesting.
So he started walking toward the snowy forest.
Crunch.
Crunch.
Crunch.
Snow compressed beneath his boots.
The deeper he walked—
The stranger the island felt.
The trees were enormous.
Much larger than normal trees.
Some were completely white.
Others had blue ice covering their trunks.
Moonlight reflected beautifully from the frozen branches.
The deeper he walked—
The quieter everything became.
No birds.
No insects.
No animals.
Nothing.
Just silence.
Do-Yoon slowly frowned.
That wasn't normal.
Forests were supposed to have sounds.
This one felt dead.
A strange uneasy feeling appeared in his chest.
Then—
A scream echoed through the forest.
"AAAAAAAH!"
A human scream.
A terrified scream.
A desperate scream.
Do-Yoon instantly froze.
His exhaustion disappeared for a moment.
Someone was in danger.
Without hesitation—
He activated Disk Dash.
Or at least—
He tried.
Nothing happened.
The skill failed immediately.
Do-Yoon froze.
Then remembered.
"...Right."
"No mana."
Unfortunately—
His body had already tried lunging forward.
Without the skill—
His movement looked incredibly stupid.
He immediately tripped.
Then fell face-first into the snow.
THUMP.
Silence.
Do-Yoon remained buried in the snow for several seconds.
"..."
Eventually he slowly lifted his head.
Snow covered his face.
His hair.
His nose.
His dignity.
"...Amazing."
He stood up again.
The scream echoed once more.
This time it sounded closer.
Do-Yoon became serious.
No matter what—
He couldn't ignore it.
So he started running.
His legs immediately rejected the idea.
Pain shot through his entire body.
He nearly collapsed again.
Every muscle screamed.
Every injury reminded him that he almost died yesterday.
The scream came again.
Do-Yoon gritted his teeth.
Then he made a difficult decision.
A terrible decision.
A humiliating decision.
He dropped onto all fours.
And started crawling.
Fast.
Very fast.
Ridiculously fast.
Like some kind of desperate wild animal.
Snow flew everywhere.
Branches slapped his face.
His cape dragged behind him.
If someone saw him right now—
They would absolutely think he escaped from a mental hospital.
Do-Yoon ignored reality.
Saving someone was more important.
So he crawled.
Faster.
Faster.
Even faster.
Eventually—
He reached a clearing.
And there—
He finally saw the source of the scream.
A girl.
Around his age.
Golden-yellow hair.
Bright purple eyes.
She stood in the center of the clearing.
Fear covered her face.
Surrounding her—
Several goblins.
But these weren't ordinary goblins.
They were larger.
Taller.
Their bodies were covered with thick white fur.
Sharp claws extended from their fingers.
Their glowing eyes looked hungry.
The girl tightly held a short sword.
But her hands trembled.
She was terrified.
One wrong move—
And she would die.
Do-Yoon instantly stood up somehow.
His legs nearly exploded from pain.
But he stood.
The goblins noticed him.
One immediately charged.
Its claws aimed directly for his throat.
Do-Yoon had no mana.
No skills.
No energy.
Only strength.
And thankfully—
Strength was the one thing he actually invested into.
The goblin swung.
Do-Yoon grabbed its arm instantly.
The goblin froze.
Its ugly face showed visible confusion.
Then—
BOOM!
Do-Yoon punched it.
The goblin flew backward like a broken doll.
CRASH!
Its body smashed directly into a tree.
The tree shook violently.
The goblin stopped moving.
The other goblins froze.
The girl froze.
Everyone froze.
Do-Yoon himself looked slightly surprised.
"...Nice."
The second goblin attacked.
Do-Yoon grabbed it.
Then slammed it into the snow.
BOOM!
The ground cracked.
The third goblin jumped.
Do-Yoon kicked it away.
CRASH!
The creature rolled across the clearing.
The remaining goblins immediately lost confidence.
Several stepped backward nervously.
Do-Yoon slowly looked toward them.
His exhausted face somehow looked terrifying.
The goblins made a wise decision.
They ran.
Very fast.
Within seconds—
They disappeared into the forest.
Silence returned.
The clearing became quiet again.
Do-Yoon breathed heavily.
The girl stared at him.
Do-Yoon stared back.
Several awkward seconds passed.
Neither spoke.
Neither moved.
The atmosphere became painfully awkward.
Finally—
Do-Yoon scratched the back of his head.
"Uh..."
Before he could continue—
The girl pointed directly at him.
"You crawled here."
Do-Yoon froze.
"..."
The girl continued staring.
"You actually crawled."
The memory instantly returned.
Do-Yoon wanted to disappear.
Immediately.
Preferably forever.
"Let's not talk about that."
The girl looked confused.
Then amused.
A small smile appeared on her face.
Do-Yoon looked away.
His dignity had already died.
There was no saving it anymore.
Then—
Crunch.
Footsteps echoed nearby.
Both immediately turned.
Someone was approaching.
The figure slowly emerged between the snowy trees.
Black hair.
Familiar face.
Familiar expression.
For a moment—
Do-Yoon thought he was hallucinating.
The figure froze too.
Both stared at each other.
Neither moved.
Neither spoke.
The yellow-haired girl looked between them in confusion.
Then suddenly—
The newcomer's eyes widened completely.
"BRO?!"
Do-Yoon's jaw dropped.
No way.
Absolutely no way.
"MIN-JAE?!"
The snowy forest instantly felt warmer.
Because after everything—
After monsters.
After oceans.
After death.
After endless suffering—
He had finally found his best friend.