The place and sight, everything was blurry to Eroan, as if he had just woken up from a long sleep. Looking around, quite surprised, he found himself in a cave. It was a mountain cave, and it was far from the city and humans. The whole city could be seen clearly from the cave. He was rather amused than confused.

  First came the sound of silent steps setting foot on the ground. Then there came a familiar voice. Not that familiar, yet not entirely strange. "You've finally woken up!" It was not cheerful even though it was meant to be, and it was his usual calm, deep voice. He lifted the cup with his left hand and drank slowly, steam still rising from its surface. Staring at Eroan while drinking the coffee, he said, "You sleep unusually well, don't you?"

  Curious now, Eroan asked, "How long was I asleep for?"

  Touching his chin with his hand, thinking, then pointing his index finger at Eroan, he said, "Hmm. Two and a half hours."

  Eroan, looking awkward, let his face drop down upon listening to that. "You say this is a lot. Do you even sleep?"

  Then he replied to the question, "Well, I do, but not much."

  Not playing around, he directly asked, skipping formalities, "Where are we now? It looks really far from the city."

  Both looked into each other's eyes, and his eyes widened a little. Then he said to Eroan, "That's a good question." After saying that, he turned back and kept walking, saying, "I'll simply tell you when I'm done," while waving from behind. However, it was serious to Eroan, so he said, "Wait! I don't have time for that. Just tell me if it's safe now, and if it is, then for how long?" He asked all his questions seriously, with nothing to fool around about. It was not the time for him at that moment.

  The wind blew faster and colder with each passing hour. Their usual breathing appeared like smoke. There were a lot of questions but only one answer.

  He stopped and side eyed Eroan. Looking at the boy seriously and understanding the situation, he told him, "Too many questions. But you need to know the truth surrounding you, so I'll tell you that. All of it." Putting his cup down in the air as if there was an invisible object holding it in place, Eroan looked surprised by seeing such a change in tone. The man snapped his fingers, and a table appeared right away. Taking steps gradually, he moved toward Eroan, and that was when he began talking.

  "You see, it might be safe for now and for some time, but it is not going to be safe forever. To be honest, for you, it is never going to stay safe or be safe. That is the kind of situation you are in right now, speaking of this moment. What will you do then?" He demanded an answer by saying that.

  Eroan did listen to everything like a good listener, but not knowing the answer, he looked down. Still, he said something. "I don't know. Given the situation, if I can do something to save myself, then I'll fight for that." He just let his heart speak.

  Hearing that, a faint smile appeared on his face, almost invisible. Then he put his hand on his neck and looked away. After hearing the answer, he probably whispered in his mind, "This will work out." Then he said to Eroan, "Not bad."

  Eroan then told him what was on his mind. "That woman said to me that everyone is after this ring." Referring to Ira and pointing at the ring, he continued, "What is this thing?"

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  He said, "You seem to think I know the answers to your questions. To put it simply, you are not wrong exactly. Then let me tell you. What she said was not a lie, but it was not the truth either. You have more than the ring."

  Before saying anything else, Eroan began aching in pain. The adrenaline was long gone. Eroan, holding his ring finger, told him quietly, "It hurts like hell. It hurts so much. The only thing I can feel in my body is my heart tearing apart. Is there even an end to it?"

  Cold and cruel but honest, he answered to the pain, to the question, "No. There is no end to it. It is an endless nightmare. That is the world we live in."

  Taking a pause and looking at the night sky, there was barely any light and little to no stars. Then he said it. "You are no longer a human, and life is never going to be normal for you ever again!"

  Eroan just looked in agony and pain while his body was falling apart, unable to withstand the pressure. He could hardly breathe, and uttering even a word was practically impossible. Bearing the hard truth was just too much for him.

  After learning the truth himself, Eroan was asked by the man, "If you want to live, then the life you'll have would be far worse than death. You'll have to fight for your life. The only option is to fight. Now it's up to you whether you want to live such a life or rather die a death with no pain. No matter what you do, there's no escape except for death itself. Do you want to escape or die trying to live your life?"

  He was not in his right senses at that moment. Normally, one would want to live, but surprisingly, while looking down, he said that he wanted to die rather than live such a life. His voice breaking down, he said it.

  There was no end to surprises for the man. Then the man, respecting Eroan's wish, said to him, "Very well, then have your wish."

  In an instant, he opened his palm and moved his wrist twice. Then a stick came into contact with his hand, and upon contact, it turned into a sword. The transformation happened so smoothly that it almost seemed natural, as if the weapon had always belonged there, waiting for that very second to manifest.

  He swung his sword at full speed without an inch of hesitation at Eroan's neck. There was no pause, no warning, no dramatic delay. It was a clean and decisive strike meant to end everything in a single motion.

  But the ring was not glowing.

  He twisted his thumb as if tossing something, all in a mere second. Then he hit Eroan in the neck with full force, creating visible wind pressure. The air itself seemed to bend and split from the sheer force of the swing. Dust scattered across the cave floor, and the cold wind that had been lingering grew even sharper.

  Everything was too fast for Eroan to even react, but he knew he was going to die. His body could not move, and his mind could barely process what was happening. Yet somewhere within him, a quiet acceptance began to form.

  In that moment, when the sword was about to slash through his neck and throat, he recalled everything that he had experienced in these few days. It is said that people recall the things they hold most precious to them in their last moments. Time felt stretched, distorted, as if a single second had expanded into something endless.

  It was not his friends or past family that he was thinking of. All he was recalling was Shina and his choice. He thought of the moments they had spent together from time to time. The small conversations, the subtle expressions, the unspoken understanding between them. It was almost as if he had feelings for her, though he had never allowed himself to fully acknowledge it before.

  The realization finally hit him.

  Just as the blade was inches away from his skin, a metallic clashing sound echoed through the cave as the sword was pushed back by something. The impact rang sharply, vibrating through the stone walls and into the night beyond.

  Maybe it was a repelling force.

  The ring , it wasn't glowing at all.

  Then what was that force?

  The man blinked in surprise. Staying still for a moment, he observed carefully, his calm expression shifting only slightly. The sword had clearly been stopped by something unseen, something neither of them had anticipated.

  For a brief second, silence filled the cave again. The cold wind continued to pass through the entrance, and their breathing once again appeared like smoke in the night air. Eroan remained frozen, still expecting the pain that never came. His heart pounded violently against his chest, yet he was still alive.

  The man lowered his sword slightly, his gaze fixed on Eroan. There was no anger in his eyes, only curiosity and a faint trace of realization.

  Then he spoke to Eroan.

  "Hmm. Guess you don't have much of a choice. You'll have to live because the ring won't let you die. Now it's not up to you whether you want to live or not. You'll have to keep on living even if you were to wish death."

  The words settled heavily in the air.

  Eroan slowly processed what he had just heard. Even death had been denied to him. The one escape he had chosen for himself had been taken away. The choice that had felt like his final control over his own fate was no longer his.

  His knees felt weak, yet he remained standing. The realization was far more suffocating than the incoming blade had been. To live a life worse than death was one thing. To be forced to live it without even the option of dying was another.

  The man straightened his posture, the sword still in his hand, though no longer raised. His calm, deep voice returned to its usual tone, as if nothing extraordinary had just happened.

  What had occurred was not a miracle. It was not luck. It was something inevitable.

  Eroan lowered his gaze once more, but this time it was different. It was no longer the gaze of someone choosing death. It was the gaze of someone who had been denied even that.

  The cave remained silent, the distant city lights faintly visible beyond the mountain. The world below continued as if nothing had changed, unaware that a life had just crossed the boundary between death and something far worse.

  And Eroan stood there, alive against his own will.