"How are you going to handle that guy, Captain? Don't tell me you're planning to keep him here."
Udang, who had approached, glared at Jinhyeok.
"No matter how you look at him, he's suspicious. How can someone captured be this relaxed? You can't act like that unless you've got something up your sleeve. I'm telling you, he's government-sent."
Jinhyeok cautiously raised a hand.
He did have something up his sleeve, but it had absolutely nothing to do with China.
"I'm not affiliated with the Chinese government. I lived in Korea my whole life up until now."
"Yeah right. Everyone says they're innocent. What idiot would introduce himself like, 'Hello, I work for the government!'?"
"That's true."
Udang's pupils wavered at Jinhyeok's quick agreement.
What the hell is up with this guy?
Jinhyeok stroked his chin thoughtfully, then spoke.
"Is there a good route down the mountain? If you're that suspicious, just tell me and I'll leave right away."
His Yodel Compass was pointing toward Lijiang Airport, sure.
But the mountain was huge, and the blizzard was so fierce that blindly following the compass would get him buried as a snowman.
Even if he reached the airport, getting on a plane would be another problem—after yeeting himself off Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, he was technically an illegal entrant.
"Captain, we can't let him go. He'll definitely report our location."
"My eyes were covered. I didn't see anything."
"You can't be sure! He could've hidden a recording device, or even with his eyes covered he could've counted steps or memorized directions!"
"Can you do that? I'm not smart enough."
Udang's face instantly flushed.
"Th-That's not—!"
"Hey, Udang! If you're going to spout nonsense, go sit by the fire and have some soup!"
A sharp voice barked from behind— the girl who'd poked his back earlier telling him to walk straight.
"I-Ihwa, that's not what I meant…"
"Don't say my name in front of a stranger."
"Sorry…"
Jinhyeok swallowed dryly.
The fearsome Udang from earlier had vanished without a trace.
Shoulders drooping, Udang trudged back toward the bonfire.
The men nearby patted him consolingly on the back.
"For the record, I don't have anything valuable. I got stranded with just this backpack."
Jinhyeok held out his bag.
The people glanced at it with disinterest.
So they're not bandits?
Their vigilance was high, but the village itself didn't feel hostile.
"Either way, the blizzard is too strong right now. You'd die in no time. When the storm dies down, we'll take you back to where we found you. Head down in the direction we point you— you'll reach the base of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain."
"Captain!"
"That's enough."
Wei raised a hand and looked at Jinhyeok.
A man with no hostility, no tension, no fear.
Which made him more suspicious—but keeping him wouldn't reveal anything new.
And besides, the mountain's voice, which had alerted them to Jinhyeok's presence, had been calm and stable—nothing like when government troops approached.
Wei pointed to a snowboard resting nearby.
"We'll lend you one."
"Oh… sure."
He had no idea how to ride one.
He'd never even been near a ski resort.
But this didn't feel like the kind of situation where he could say that, so he nodded.
Might as well give it a try.
"Udang, stick with him. You're the least likely to let your guard down."
"Captain. Letting his guard down is literally Udang's specialty. I'll stay with them."
Wei nodded.
Ihwa, nineteen years old—thorough, meticulous, missing nothing.
With her, at least, there was peace of mind.
"Come. And don't try anything stupid."
Jinhyeok raised both hands and followed Ihwa.
He could just grab the board and bolt, but something about this place piqued his curiosity.
"Is your group actually, like… mountain bandits?"
"Are you stupid? Of course not! We have a proper name—Ziyou! Ah."
Ihwa scowled.
She'd blurted out the group name before realizing it.
"Ziyou… means 'snow fox,' right?"
Her shoulders trembled.
"It's Chinese! It means 'freedom.'"
She'd inadvertently handed over information, but there was no helping it—
her personality simply didn't allow her to leave things half-said.
"Sit here."
He sat at a corner of the bonfire.
Warmth seeped into his body, drawing a faint smile.
A campfire in the middle of a snowy mountain—pretty romantic, actually.
Ihwa soon returned holding a bowl of soup.
"Eat. It'll warm you up."
"Thanks."
Jinhyeok took the bowl and sipped cautiously.
Oh?
He'd expected plain water, but the broth was rich—clearly simmered with bones.
Well-seasoned, too.
After a few more sips, he looked around.
A discarded bone on the ground caught his eye—meaning there had been meat on it.
"M-Meat too…?"
"It's fine, you don't have to—"
He said that but still held out the bowl.
Ihwa was genuinely confused.
Is he really a captured outsider?
Soon she returned with a bowl piled high with meat.
Jinhyeok's eyes sparkled.
"Mmm."
His cold resistance had risen dramatically, but that didn't mean he no longer felt cold.
He wasn't shivering, but the chill was still very real.
Eating steaming broth and hot meat in that state?
It was impossible not to be moved.
"Ihwa… did you really need to give him meat too?"
"Mom said you shouldn't be stingy with food."
She brushed off Udang's complaint and sighed deeply.
He eats so well…
Jinhyeok devoured the meat, then downed the remaining broth in one go.
"Hoo!"
A cloud of hot breath escaped his lips.
Nothing beats galbitang on a cold day.
"How long have you been here?"
"Do you think I'd—"
"I've been here two years. He's been here six months."
Udang bit back his outburst.
Ihwa, notorious within Ziyou for being prickly—so why was she talking like this now?
Ihwa brushed her hair aside and looked at Jinhyeok.
He felt more harmless, more clear-eyed than anyone she'd ever met.
She had no intention of letting her guard down, but conversation seemed fine.
"You know Hanta X Hanta (Hunter x Hunter)?"
"Of course."
"Is it finished?"
"It's still on hiatus."
"This bastard! Still on hiatus? Does the author plan to finish or not?!"
At Ihwa's outrage, Jinhyeok realized something.
This girl… she was one of his people.
"One Piece is almost finished, though."
"What? They found the One Piece? What was it?!"
"I can tell you, but… spoilers. It might ruin the fun if you read it later."
Ihwa drooped.
"You think I don't know that? I'm asking because I'll probably never get to read it."
She was about the same age as Jinhyeok's younger sister, Yu Jinhee.
Normally she'd be scrolling social media or binge-watching shows, but here she'd spent two years without even the faintest trace of modern life.
She endured it because she had no choice—
but it wasn't that she didn't miss it desperately.
With a bitter smile, Ihwa glanced around.
"It looks free here, but it's a prison. Once you come in, you never leave. Basically a life sentence."
"Ihwa."
"Udang, don't you feel suffocated? Six months ago you were gaming and ordering takeout every day."
Udang lowered his head.
The beautiful landscape, the peaceful campfire atmosphere—
they were nice for a day or two.
Then the crushing boredom hit.
"Time flows slower here than outside. If you don't find something to do every single day, you'll lose your mind."
Ihwa actually envied Jinhyeok.
Once he descended the mountain, he could go anywhere—live however he wanted.
"Once you get down, you'll go back to Korea?"
"I should. That's where my home is."
"Lucky you. If I'd known it'd be like this, I never would've awakened."
She pulled a large hammer from her inventory.
"You think I asked to awaken as this?"
Ihwa's class was production-type—Blacksmith.
Jinhyeok recognized it from the Tower community site.
Production classes could level up without climbing the Tower—progressing instead through crafting.
Even so, very few gave up climbing entirely.
They equipped the gear they forged or entrusted it to Tower residents who fought with them, inching upward little by little.
"Players with rare classes or fast climb speeds get the Chinese government's full support and welcome. But not us. We, the average ones, are locked in workshops for over fourteen hours a day, making gear for those top players."
"So everyone in this village is a production-class player?"
"No. There are some mediocre combat classes too. Their situation isn't much different. The government's instructions are simple—if you can't be elite, you spend your life gathering materials on designated floors. You don't even get to climb freely."
Wow.
Not North Korea, but somehow worse.
Players were treated like spare parts.
So naturalization is nearly impossible, huh?
Now he understood why Ihwa called this place a prison.
Once they escaped, their identities would be blacklisted.
Even if they descended the mountain, they'd be captured soon after.
As he mulled over that, Ihwa stood up.
"This got depressing. I'll get some fresh air. I'm going to gather firewood—pay me back for the meal, yeah?"
Her tone was much gentler now.
Jinhyeok nodded and rose as well.
If it was physical labor, he was always confident.
A vantage point overlooking the surrounding mountains.
Inside a snowy outpost hidden in the blizzard, warm breath puffed into the air.
"See anything?"
"No, nothing. Not in this storm."
This was a Ziyou lookout post—monitoring government troops or outsiders.
"Let's relax a bit. Not even the government would dare climb in this weather. But what's taking the scouting party so long?"
"Maybe they're slacking off somewhere around a bonfire again?"
"They wouldn't, not after the scolding they got."
The village itself was protected by a barrier, but this outpost wasn't.
Lighting a fire here would be like announcing their location to enemies.
"I'll check it out. If they lit a fire, I'll know right away."
"Thanks. Sorry to trouble you."
The man bundled up, opened the outpost door—
—and froze.
"L-Leader…"
"What are you doing? Close the door, it's freez—"
The squad leader stopped mid-sentence.
Outside, dozens of figures stood packed together.
Parting the crowd and stepping forward was Liuga.
"No need to be afraid. We're not here for cowards who ran from their own country. We're looking for a rat that slipped into Jade Dragon Snow Mountain."
"R-Rat? What are you—"
"You don't need to know. Just find him."
Liuga scanned the surroundings, then smirked.
"Before I kill every last one of you."
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T/N:
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