“Huk!”

Before I could grasp what was happening, the force choking my neck grew stronger.

Then ice-cold water sharply pierced my entire body.

“Why, why are you doing this…!”

In my panic, I grabbed the strong arm wrapped around my neck without even knowing what I was saying.

“Why are you…”

I instinctively kicked my legs but felt nothing beneath them, as if suspended in midair. Terror washed over me, momentarily stealing my words.

I had fallen into the river.

My feet weren’t floating in air—they were thrashing in the freezing river water.

I tried with all my might to remove the attacker’s arm, but it remained as rigid as a petrified tree trunk, not budging an inch.

This isn’t an accident. This isn’t an accident…

My brain seemed to freeze in the icy water. Only the meaningless thought that this couldn’t be deliberate echoed in my mind.

I couldn’t believe what was happening to me so suddenly.

“Kuhak!”

Not until water rushed into my mouth from the force pulling me from behind.

“Hmph, huk!”

I instinctively clamped my mouth shut as my breath caught.

The force from behind pulled me completely underwater.

I stared at the ship’s hull shimmering with the water beyond my field of vision.

None of this felt real.

But instinct was faster than thought.

My suddenly alert mind desperately flailed my limbs, resisting the attacker while frantically trying to get out of the water.

“Huk! Huh!”

Just as I drew breath, a firework exploded with a bang, brightly illuminating everything around.

That’s when I spotted a ladder attached to the ship.

It was connected to where I had been standing.

Someone had climbed up the ladder onto the ship, wrapped their arm around my neck, and fallen with me.

“Kuk!”

The moment I looked at the ladder in shock, I felt the powerful arm tightening around my neck again.

“Help… Huk!”

I was pulled down as if being sucked underwater.

Driven by the will to survive, I frantically clawed at the arm with my nails, tearing at the skin.

When the chokehold loosened slightly, I desperately flailed my arms and lifted my head above water.

“Help me! Help, me, kup, help me!”

Whik! Bang! Pabung!

The fireworks launched amid people’s cheers drowned out my voice with their thunderous booms.

“Help me…!”

Even screaming with all my might, my cries were buried under the fireworks, fading helplessly and scattering across the river.

Despite my despair, the crowd’s exclamations were filled with joy.

The thunderous applause only fueled my fear.

“Help me. Huok…!”

The arm that had momentarily loosened from my scratching tightened again with renewed force.

It not only wrapped around my neck but strangled me, pulling me backward more viciously.

“Hic, don’t, hic, please don’t… Kuk!”

Uncontrollable terror brought tears to my eyes.

Every time I pleaded with my attacker, water rushed haphazardly into my mouth and nose.

“Save me… Kuhek! Kuk!”

The cruise ship moved further away, gliding leisurely across the river that rippled like black ink.

No, no…

“Bang! Kwang, Kwagwang!“

The fireworks spread like thunder, mocking my plight with their fierce explosions.

My screams escaped as bubbles in the water.

Each time I surfaced, water—whether tears or river water—streamed down my cheeks without pause.

“Help… hahp, help me…!”

But all I could do was the same as before. I clawed at the attacker’s arm and thrashed wildly, trying somehow to keep my head above water.

Water kept filling my mouth, choking me.

The surging water stabbed at my vision and obscured it.

“Help! Heok, please…!”

My wet dress grew increasingly heavy, wrapping around my legs like vines.

I was losing strength rapidly.

“Wow!”

The thunderous fireworks and people’s cheers sent chills through me.

What would be just a brief moment for them was an eternity for me.

“……”

Just then, someone seemed to glance over the railing.

“Here! There’s someone here!”

I screamed with the last of my strength, but my voice merely scattered underwater.

The attacker’s grip loosened slightly, perhaps not expecting such fierce resistance from me. I continued trying to keep my head above water.

“Huok, please sa-, kuk, save me…!”

No sooner had I managed to scream in the air than a brutal hand pushed my head down, submerging me again.

I couldn’t breathe anymore. I felt like I was going to die.

The attacker, seemingly realizing this was their last chance, pushed my head down more forcefully to kill me.

I couldn’t even feel the pain anymore.

I felt I could do anything if only I could breathe.

I didn’t want to die.

I didn’t want to die like this again.

With my fading strength, I grabbed the attacker’s collar underwater, shook it, then repeatedly struck their solar plexus with my elbow.

Though they seemed immovable no matter how hard I hit, I had to do whatever I could to survive.

Finally, their body separated from mine. Somehow, I managed to surface again, not even knowing how I had broken free.

“Huk! Kuk! Kuhek!”

My body bobbed with the waves on the pitch-black river. As I could breathe again, I began to tremble uncontrollably.

“Huik, huk!”

Fearful sobs escaped me as the choking terror subsided.

The fireworks illuminating the sky without pause, laughing like demons above my head, made me feel I would drown here no matter how loudly I screamed.

I tried to stretch my arms forward and paddle, but they were too cold to move, and both my dress and jacket were unbearably heavy.

“Hic! Stop, aak!”

Just then, my entire body froze as I felt hands grabbing my ankle.

This time, they grabbed not my neck or head, but my ankle.

“Heop!”

As the attacker pulled, water rushed in uncontrollably from all directions.

Bang, pupang!

Expensive fireworks exploded in all directions, indifferent to my terror.

The cheers of the crowd grew increasingly distant.

“Kup, help… me, heok!”

I kept trying to rise to the surface, kicking and pushing the attacker’s face with my free foot.

But the more I struggled, the stronger the grip on my ankle became.

I finally realized the attacker had no intention of taking me somewhere. It was too late a realization.

For every mouthful of water I spat out, more poured in.

The attacker would pull me underwater until I died.

Until I was too exhausted to flail my arms.

Until I could no longer scream.

I would die.

“……!”

My fading consciousness flashed one last time.

With all my remaining strength, I curled my body and barely managed to reach down.

I grabbed someone’s hair, slammed their head, and then paddled my arms upward again.

“……”

But my dress with its many layers of frills, soaked and heavy, was like a terrible shackle.

No matter how much I struggled, the light from above remained out of reach.

My lungs, nearly empty of air, felt like they were being torn apart.

Avoiding the terrifying hands trying to grab my feet again, I stretched my arms upward, a little more upward.

“Kek! Kuhek! Kuk!”

Beyond my blurring vision, oxygen suddenly rushed in.

I had finally managed to surface.

Everything around had changed in the meantime.

“……”

The sound of fireworks had stopped. So had the crowd’s cheers.

Bright lights illuminated the entire river.

“She’s not on deck!”

“Not in the restaurant either!”

“She’s not in the cafeteria!”

Strong male voices echoed one after another.

The cruise ship, now distant, appeared to have stopped moving.

But it was now difficult to move my limbs, which kept sinking without rest.

The ship was too far from me anyway.

My vision kept growing distant, and my chest ached as I kept coughing up water.

“……”

Just as my eyes were slowly closing, a dark figure at the ship’s railing stood stock-still.

Though it seemed impossible, even in my fading consciousness, I thought I could see eyes widening in disbelief.

At that moment, a blue flash like lightning terrifyingly leapt into his eyes.