Rain continued to fall.
Cold droplets struck my face again and again.
But I could barely feel them anymore.
The alley smelled of wet concrete and rust.
Rainwater flowed slowly along the ground, mixing with the blood spreading beneath my body.
My breathing grew weaker.
Each breath scraped painfully through my chest.
The wound burned like fire.
My fingers twitched against the cold pavement.
So this is how it ends.
The thought came quietly.
Not dramatic.
Not angry.
Just empty.
My vision blurred as rain continued striking my face.
Min Jae's face appeared in my mind.
The way he had been looking at me lately.
That faint hope hidden in his eyes.
Hope that the real brother he remembered would return.
But that hope had been fading.
Day by day.
A weak smile formed on my lips.
"…Sorry."
My voice barely came out.
"I couldn't even fix things between us."
Rain slid down my cheeks.
Or maybe those were tears.
I couldn't tell anymore.
My body felt colder.
Heavier.
But one thought refused to disappear.
I can't die like this.
Not yet.
Not before I keep that promise.
Protect him.
Stay with him.
My eyelids slowly closed.
Darkness swallowed everything.
Silence.
No rain.
No pain.
No cold ground beneath my body.
When my eyes slowly opened again, there was nothing.
Just darkness.
Endless darkness stretching in every direction.
It looked like space itself.
"…Where am I?"
My voice echoed strangely.
The sound traveled through the void as if it had no end.
I looked down at my chest.
The wound was gone.
No blood.
No pain.
My fingers touched the place where the rapier had pierced me.
Nothing.
My heartbeat quickened.
"…Did I die?"
No answer came.
Only silence.
I took a cautious step forward.
There was no ground beneath me.
Yet somehow… I was still standing.
A strange unease crawled up my spine.
Then—
A voice spoke.
Soft.
Calm.
Enchanting.
"You have arrived."
My body froze instantly.
Slowly—
I turned around.
And saw them.
Two golden eyes staring at me from the darkness.
My breath stopped.
Those eyes were… impossible.
Too deep.
Too vast.
Like staring directly into an endless universe.
The moment our gazes met, something crushed down on my mind.
My thoughts froze.
My instincts screamed.
Danger.
It felt like my consciousness itself was being pierced.
My body reacted before I could think.
I blinked.
When I opened my eyes again—
The pressure vanished.
The eyes were gone.
Only darkness remained.
Then the voice spoke again.
This time it sounded amused.
"…Hmm."
"I suppose that was a bit much."
A faint laugh followed.
"I forget how fragile human minds are."
A figure slowly appeared within the void.
A woman stepped forward from the darkness.
Her golden eyes glowed faintly.
But this time they were… restrained.
Contained.
Like something vast had been compressed into human form.
She studied me carefully.
Then she tilted her head.
"So."
"You're the one who refuses to disappear."
I frowned slightly.
"…Disappear?"
Her lips curved slightly.
"Tell me."
"Do you know what you are?"
I shook my head.
The woman chuckled quietly.
"That makes this easier."
She took a few slow steps around me.
Observing.
Examining.
"Your existence is… interesting."
Her gaze sharpened slightly.
"You died."
"The world acknowledged your death."
"And yet…"
Her golden eyes gleamed faintly.
"…you continued existing."
I clenched my fists slightly.
"What are you talking about?"
She stopped walking.
Then she spoke one word.
"Anomaly."
The word echoed strangely through the void.
I frowned.
"…Anomaly?"
She nodded slightly.
"Yes."
"Something that shouldn't exist."
Her eyes studied my reaction.
"Reality prefers things to follow certain rules."
"When something breaks those rules…"
Her smile grew faintly sharper.
"…people like you appear."
My thoughts flashed back to the alley.
The man.
The woman.
The rapier.
"Those two people…"
She nodded before I finished.
"You met hunters."
"Correction agents."
"Executioners."
She shrugged lightly.
"They go by many names."
"They exist to remove errors."
I looked at her quietly.
"…Errors like me?"
Her golden eyes gleamed.
"Yes."
The answer came without hesitation.
"But what interests me…"
She leaned slightly closer.
"…is not the fact that you became an anomaly."
Her gaze deepened.
"What interests me… is how."
My chest tightened.
The accident.
The hospital.
The funeral.
My parents.
Min Jae.
She watched my expression carefully.
Then she asked quietly.
"Have you ever wondered about that day?"
My eyes narrowed slightly.
"What day?"
"The accident."
My heart skipped.
She continued calmly.
"Was it truly random?"
My throat tightened.
"Or…"
Her voice softened slightly.
"…was someone meant to die?"
Silence filled the void.
My fists slowly clenched.
"What are you trying to say?"
She raised a hand slightly.
"Relax."
"Those answers are not meant for today."
Then she continued.
"But one fact remains."
Her golden eyes glowed faintly.
"You have already defied fate twice."
"Once when you survived the accident."
"And once when reality tried to erase you."
Her smile returned.
"That makes you… rare."
I looked at her.
"So that's why you called me that?"
She nodded slowly.
"Yes."
Her voice echoed through the void.
"Defiant One."
The title felt strangely heavy.
Like the universe itself had acknowledged it.
Then she extended her hand.
A golden symbol appeared above her palm.
It looked like a fractured circle.
Cracked.
Broken.
But still whole.
"This…"
She said quietly.
"…is a fragment of my authority."
The symbol pulsed softly.
"If you accept it, you gain power."
"But power attracts attention."
Her gaze sharpened.
"The hunters you met…"
She paused briefly.
"…are only the beginning."
My stomach tightened.
"So if I take that…"
She finished the sentence calmly.
"You become something far more noticeable."
Silence returned.
Then she added something else.
"Which is why I will hide you."
My eyes lifted slightly.
"Hide me?"
"A veil."
She explained.
"A barrier around your existence."
"Six months."
"Perhaps a year if fortune favors you."
Her gaze locked onto mine.
"During that time you will be… difficult to detect."
"And after that?"
Her answer was simple.
"You survive."
The golden symbol floated between us.
"That time will be your only opportunity."
"To grow stronger."
"To understand what you have become."
Min Jae's face appeared in my mind again.
If I died here…
He would be alone.
The promise echoed again.
Protect him.
No matter what.
I stepped forward slowly.
"…I'll take it."
The woman smiled faintly.
"Good."
The moment my hand touched the symbol—
The void trembled.
Power exploded through my body.
The golden symbol burned into my chest.
Pain surged through my veins.
But beneath the pain—
Something else awakened.
Something ancient.
Something defiant.
Black lines spread briefly across my skin.
Then vanished.
The woman watched silently.
"It has accepted you."
My breathing slowly steadied.
The strange energy in my chest pulsed faintly.
"What happens now?"
She answered calmly.
"You learn."
She pointed toward my chest.
"The fragment you carry contains a sealed archive."
"Fragments of knowledge."
"Techniques."
"Methods."
"It will awaken gradually as you grow stronger."
I frowned slightly.
"So I'm supposed to train myself?"
Her smile returned.
"Of course."
"Strength given without struggle is meaningless."
The void around us slowly began collapsing.
Reality was returning.
Our meeting was ending.
The woman stepped back.
Her golden eyes gleamed.
"Our meeting ends here."
I hesitated.
"…Why help me?"
She looked at me for a long moment.
Then she laughed quietly.
"Curiosity."
Her voice echoed through the fading darkness.
"I wish to see how far someone who defies fate can go."
The void began swallowing everything again.
Her final words echoed around me.
"Struggle."
"Grow."
"Survive."
Her golden eyes gleamed one last time.
"And show me…"
Her voice softened slightly.
"…how many times you can defy fate."
"…Defiant One."
Darkness swallowed everything.