I didn't think I'd carry another body this week.
She was weightless. Barely eight, maybe younger. Pale skin, torn clothes. Her breath was so faint that I had to keep checking her pulse just to convince myself she was alive.
Her small hand curled around the fabric of my jacket.
I pushed open the door to Ji-Wan's house and the others looked up in unison. Faces stained with loss, red-eyed, scraped, healing. We were still grieving. But they still moved when they saw her.
Ye-Rin stood up first. "Who...?"
"She collapsed in my arms. On the street," I said, brushing sweat from my temple. "She was alone. Her... grandpa didn't make it."
Seo-Yeon's face paled. Her hand trembled on the back of the couch, and she sat down without a word.
Mother—Mi-Sun—stepped forward without hesitation. "Ye-Rin, call Volt down. Now."
Ye-Rin nodded and ran up the stairs, whistling out into the open window where Volt, the three-headed dragon, perched on the rooftop like a guardian gargoyle.
Moments later, the dragon descended with a thunderous flap of wings.
I handed the girl to her carefully. She was still burning with a fever. There were scratches down her back, below her feet and bruises hidden under her shirt, but she hadn't cried once. There was no trace of her crying.
"She's lucky," Volt said as he landed in the hallway like a shimmering shadow. His voice was that of a prince—arrogant, self-assured. "To survive this long in this...The gods must favor her. Or perhaps she is not as ordinary as she seems, quite remarkable for a weakling."
"Don't call her that," Mother said sharply, already casting false healing, through her fingertips a thread connecting volt to this young girl.
Volt rolled his eyes. "Great-Mother, I said she was lucky. Praise, in draconic terms."
Mother nodded, barely listening, her focus entirely on the girl.
A soft, gentle glow washed over the girl's chest.
She whimpered, just once.
"There are rooms on the first floor of the building. Let's take her there." Sang-woo spoke, leading us.
We took her to one of the bedrooms on the first floor and cleaned the dust from the mattress. I placed her gently onto the bed. Her breaths were soft, shallow, but steady.
Ye-Rin pulled up a chair.
"I'll watch her," she said.
Seo-Yeon approached, placing a blanket over the girl's small frame. Her hands trembled slightly as she stepped back. Mother took her by the arm.
"Go rest." Mother glanced at In-ji, signaling him.Leaning close to his ears, she whispered."She just had a PTSD attack few hours ago. She needs a good rest."
Seo-Yeon nodded. Her voice was quiet. "She's just a kid…"
"Seo-yeon, let's go." In-ji gently pushed Seo-yeon out of the room to the room close by.
They left her there, tucked under the blanket. A ghost of a child in a world that had long stopped being kind.
After Seo-yeon fell asleep.
Mother sat closest to the window. She had her hands folded over her lap, her eyes dry now but rimmed with exhaustion. Sang-woo... was silent. He hadn't spoken since the burial. He just stared at his spear. It lay untouched in the corner.
In-ji joined us in the living room.
Then I pulled out System messages we received a few hours ago.
[Alert: Goblins now hold 2 of 3 Memory Anchors. ][Condition: Their confidence is rising.]
[Result: They have issued a challenge to all survivors in the region.]
[You now have 3 days to stop the goblins from acquiring the final Memory Anchor:
Memory 3 – The Sword of Kim Joon-Shik]
"I found something strange in the system interface," Mother said finally, breaking the silence.
I leaned forward. "What kind of strange?"
She activated her Bloody Eyes. Thin veins crawled around her sockets, glowing faintly red.
"There's a sub-layer UI. Hidden under the mission timer."
WARNING: FAILURE TO PREVENT THIRD MATERIAL THEFT, KILL GOBLIN CHEIF.
IF FAILED, WILL SUMMON THE GOD OF GOBLINS, DOKEBI.
ENTITY CLASS: GOD-BEAST.
LEVEL: 999
She read it aloud, voice grim.
Silence fell.
"What the hell?" In-Ji muttered.
We stared.
"The God of Goblins?" Sang-woo whispered.
"Extinction" I murmered. I looked at the others and spoke confidently,"Then we don't give it the chance."
Sang-woo stood up, pacing a little. "The third memory's still out there—the sword. The map says it's stopped moving. South district. Warehouse zone."
"Means someone's got it," In-Ji said, cocking his gun on instinct. "Or something."
Mother crossed her arms. "So a survivor … and they have it."
"But the goblins will find them soon," In-Ji said. "Especially if the chimera beast wasn't their limit."
"We have to move," I muttered, barely above a whisper.
"But if we leave now,we risk dragging that young girl through another battlefield.She's already lost everything," Mother added.
"We leave as soon as she wakes up." I said. "Let the child rest. Let us rest."
They all agreed.
Sang-woo flinched. Subtle. Almost didn't catch it. His fists were clenched tight around his knees.
I turned to him. "We're not going to lose anyone else."
He didn't answer. Just stared harder at the floor.
That night, around 2:03 AM, Seo-Yeon sat beside the child's bed, having changed shifts with Ye-Rin. Her eyes were half-closed until she heard a tiny gasp.
The child sat upright, shaking.
"Grandpa?" she whispered.
Seo-Yeon sat up quickly. "Hey, hey—it's okay. You're safe."
The girl's eyes were wild, scanning the room in panic. "M-Mom? D-Dad?"
She was trembling.
Eyes wide. Hair sticking to her face with sweat.
"I want my grandpa," she whispered.
Seo-Yeon brushed her cheek. "I know."
"I didn't say goodbye. I should've said goodbye."
Her voice cracked like glass.
I saw Seo-Yeon freeze—just for a breath. Her hand trembled before she pulled the girl into a hug.
"Hey... shhh... you're safe now. We've got you."
That's when Eda's dam broke.
"Shhh. You're okay now."
Tears poured out of the girl like a flood breaking loose. She sobbed into Seo-Yeon's chest, tiny fists clutching her shirt.
I was still awake. Couldn't sleep. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Ji-Wan's throat opening like a flower. Saw the blood hit Sang-woo's armor. Saw the goblin vanish like smoke with the basketball in hand.
I heard movement upstairs. A soft cry.
I stepped forward into the bedroom. "Seo-yeon... you okay?"
"She's awake."
Ye-rin also followed in the room.
The girl was sitting upright in bed, back against the headboard. Tears clung to her lashes.The child whimpered, flinching at the new faces. Then her eyes caught Seo-Yeon's face. Her breath hitched.
"You're… you're from the TV…"
Seo-Yeon blinked. "I guess I am."
"You're the lady from the TV," she whispered, repeating her sentence, her voice hoarse.
Seo-Yeon's lips quivered. She nodded. "Yeah. That's me."
"I watched your drama with Grandpa."
Seo-Yeon kissed her cheeks, "He had good taste."
The girl began to sob. Her tiny body shook. Seo-Yeon pulled her into a hug, whispering soft nothing. "You're safe now. You're safe now. I promise."
Mother entered quietly.She had brought warm milk.
The little girl, exhausted fell asleep again.
Later, the three of us gathered outside the bedroom watching her from a distance.
"She's strong," Ye-Rin whispered. "To survive all this…"
"She shouldn't have had to," I muttered.