Do-Hyun pulled himself over the final jagged slab of concrete and stood beneath the open sky.
Seoul looked dead: The vibrant, neon-soaked pulse of Gangnam-gu had been snuffed out. Skyscrapers that once pierced the night with millions of lights now stood as black tombstones, etched against a bruised purple sky. The power grid had finally failed.
The only illumination came from the faint moonlight reflecting off the relentless, swirling snow.
And then, the cold hit him.
Down in the subway, shielded from the wind, the temperature had been a brutal -15°C. Up here, exposed to the howling gales tearing through the concrete canyons, the cold was something else entirely, an aggressive force clawing at his exposed skin.
[Atmospheric Analysis Complete.]
[Current Surface Temperature: -42°C (Windchill factor included).]
[Host Vitality Status: Rapid Calorie Depletion Detected.]
[Well, Host, the furnace is burning hot from that spider core, but this weather is practically begging to put you out. You look like a ruined penguin. Find a coat, or your arrogant little heart is going to stop beating before morning.]
Do-Hyun ignored the text, pulling the shredded remnants of his tuxedo jacket tighter around his shoulders.
The Ring of the Shadowed Sun on his finger thrummed, projecting a faint, ghostly aura of warmth over his skin, but it was like holding a matchstick in a hurricane. It kept his blood from instantly freezing but couldn't stop the rapid loss of his core heat.
[Countdown: 17 Days, 23 Hours until the Absolute Zero Event.]
The timer hovered in the upper right corner of his vision, a constant, glowing pink reminder of his impending deadline.
"I need gear," Do-Hyun muttered, his breath instantly turning to a thick cloud of ice crystals. "This one's not good for cold."
He began to walk. The snow was already knee-deep, turning every step into a grueling, calorie-burning chore. Unable to use any skills due the high cost (heat and mana), he had to rely purely on the physical endurance.
The streets were a graveyard of abandoned vehicles: Luxury sedans, delivery trucks, and city buses sat entombed in white drifts, their windows frosted over. Inside some of them, Do-Hyun could see the dark, motionless silhouettes of the people who hadn't made it to the shelters before the "gas leak" froze their lungs.
Without slowing, he ignored everything around him, whether there were survivors or not. Not a hero anymore—just someone trying to survive the cold.
Two blocks down the main avenue, he spotted a flicker of orange light reflecting off the snow.
It was coming from inside a shattered storefront. The shattered glass on the pavement spelled out Apex Alpine—a high-end outdoor retailer that sold Everest-grade expedition gear to rich CEOs who wanted to look tough on their weekend ski trips.
Do-Hyun approached quietly, blending his silhouette into the deep shadows cast by the surrounding buildings.
Inside the ruined store, a small fire had been built in a metal trash can, feeding on display racks and expensive wooden mannequins.
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Three men stood around the fire: They wore thick, padded winter coats, their faces wrapped in scarves. At their feet lay a fourth man, groaning softly, his face beaten bloody. He was wearing a pristine, silver-lined expedition parka—the kind rated for -60°C.
"Take it off him," the largest of the three men growled, nudging the bleeding man with a heavy steel crowbar. "He's dead weight anyway. The shelters are full, and I'm not freezing out here because some middle-management prick wants to play dress-up."
One of the thugs knelt down and began roughly yanking the premium parka off the injured man, ignoring his weak pleas.
Do-Hyun stood in the shadows just outside the shattered window, his violet eyes glowing faintly.
Humanity, he thought, a cold, arrogant smirk touching his lips. The world ends, and it takes them less than twenty-four hours to start eating each other.
In his past life, he had watched empires crumble. Civilization was nothing more than a thin coat of paint over raw survival instinct. He had no intention of stopping the robbery out of some misplaced sense of justice.
All he needed was a coat.
Do-Hyun stepped out of the shadows, the crunch of his dress shoes on the broken glass echoing loudly in the quiet store.
The three men snapped their heads toward the entrance.
When they saw him, the tension in the room immediately evaporated, replaced by cruel amusement. To them, Do-Hyun looked like a lost, shivering aristocrat. His tuxedo was torn to shreds, white shirt stained with black grime, and his pale skin looked almost translucent in the firelight.
"Well, well," the leader with the crowbar sneered, stepping forward. "Look what the storm blew in. A little chaebol prince who lost his limousine."
The thug who had just stripped the silver parka off the bleeding man stood up, holding the heavy coat. "He's got a nice watch, boss. And that ring. Looks expensive."
"Take it," the leader commanded, tapping the crowbar against his palm. "Hey, pretty boy. Hand over the jewelry, and maybe we'll let you warm your hands by the fire before we kick you back out into the snow."
[Quest Triggered: 'Winter Wardrobe'.]
[Objective: Acquire the Expedition Parka. Bonus points if you don't ruin it with blood.]
[System: Three low-level thugs with blunt weapons. Try not to embarrass yourself, Host. You're a Sovereign, not a punching bag.]
Do-Hyun said nothing, just walked forward.
"Are you deaf?" the leader barked, raising the crowbar. "I said—"
Do-Hyun closed the distance with unnatural speed. Before the leader could even swing the heavy steel bar, Do-Hyun's hand shot out, his fingers wrapping around the man's throat like a vice of solid ice.
The leader choked, his eyes bulging as Do-Hyun lifted him entirely off his feet with one arm. The sheer, terrifying strength of a Level 6 Awakener easily overpowered the mundane thug.
"The coat," Do-Hyun whispered, his voice as dead and cold as the wind outside.
The other two men froze, staring in absolute horror as their massive boss dangled in the air, his boots kicking uselessly.
"H-hey! Drop him!" the thug holding the silver parka yelled, pulling a switchblade from his pocket. He lunged at Do-Hyun's back.
Do-Hyun didn't even turn around. He simply threw the leader directly into the charging thug.
The two men collided with a sickening crunch, tumbling backward into a display of heavy winter boots.
The third man—the one standing near the fire—dropped his weapon and bolted for the back exit, entirely abandoning his crew.
Do-Hyun didn't chase him. He stepped toward the groaning pile of limbs and casually picked up the silver expedition parka from the floor. Shaking off the dust, he inspected the thick, insulated lining. It was pristine.
Slipping it on over the ruined tuxedo, the heavy, high-tech thermal layers instantly trapped the radiant heat from the Boss Core consumed earlier. The shivering stopped almost immediately.
A pair of insulated combat trousers and heavy, fur-lined boots waited on a nearby rack. Shredded slacks and dress shoes were discarded in the firelight as the survival gear went on. Finally, a thick black tactical mask covered his lower face, leaving only the glowing violet eyes exposed.
[System Notification: Thermal Retention increased by 400%.]
[Calorie Burn Rate Stabilized.]
[System: Congratulations. You upgraded from 'Frozen Corpse' to 'Edgy Apocalyptic Survivor'. Do you feel better now? Because the timer is still ticking.]
Adjusting the parka's collar, Do-Hyun ignored the two thugs groaning on the floor. The original owner of the coat lay beaten, unconscious, blood pooling across the tiles. In twenty minutes, the cold would finish him.
Do-Hyun stepped over the man and back into the blizzard. Not empty enough to kill for fun, not full enough to save anyone, either.
His gaze rose to the bruised sky, the Headsman's Edge secured in his new tactical belt.
Warm. Armed. Eighteen days to turn this frozen city into his personal hunting ground.
"Let's go find my sister," he murmured into the biting wind.
