Almost like he was singing to the heavens.

“I’m working! I’m working! Give me a reward! A reward! The tower! I want to go to the tower too!”

“What a fool… talking nonsense.”

The ferryman was the one who finally stopped him.

But only after Hayeon’s fingers had finally slipped from the side of the boat under the relentless kicks.

She flailed helplessly in the freezing water, choking for air.

“The reward will come in due time…”

The ferryman grinned.

Unable to understand what they were saying, Hayeon could only struggle to stay alive.

Desperately, she pushed her face above the water, splashing wildly as she fought to keep her head above the surface.

Watching her cling so stubbornly to life…

The ferryman’s expression twisted into something as cruel as a demon’s.

“What a stubborn b*tch…”

Instead of guiding the ferry, the oar crashed down onto Hayeon’s head.

From that moment on, the boat stopped moving.

The oar now served only one purpose: to push Hayeon back under the water whenever she tried to come up for air.

Thud!

Crack!

Blood soon began to stain the wooden blade.

‘It hurts…’

‘It hurts!’

Warm blood streamed from the wound on her head, mingling with the tears running down her face.

Even so…

The only thing Hayeon could do was beg.

“Gasp…! P-Please… save me… gasp…“

The metallic scent of blood mixed with the stench of the river.

She could feel herself running out of air.

“Hehehe… she’s dying… hehehe… she’s dying!”

“I told you… you should’ve stayed where you belonged…”

The ferryman laughed.

The patrol officer laughed.

The two of them watched her slowly die…

And delighted in it.

‘If demons truly existed…’

‘Then they were standing right in front of her.’

The image of the blades that had pierced her father and older brother flashed through her mind.

Steadily, the strength drained from her body.

Slowly…

She sank deeper.

And deeper.

She couldn’t breathe.

Yet she kept swallowing water.

It felt as though her organs were twisting inside her.

Just like…

Just like when she had fallen into the lake inside the cave.

‘Is this… really how I die?’

‘I can’t die like this.’

‘I don’t want to die.’

‘I didn’t do anything so terrible…’

‘I only…’

‘I only wanted to live an ordinary life with my family…’

‘Father…’

‘I don’t want to die.’

‘I still have to…’

‘I still have to find Yugang… and Yuha…’

As her consciousness began to fade, Hayeon’s eyes slowly closed.

Then they fluttered open once more.

The freezing river was steadily pulling her towards death, making it impossible to breathe.

Then…

Something stirred beneath her.

Deep below…

Something enormous was rising.

Through her clouded vision, she watched it draw closer.

It was colossal.

Thick and grotesque.

Its massive body was covered in countless eyes.

A monster.

“Mm…! Mmmph…!”

The moment Hayeon caught sight of the creature emerging from the abyss, she began to struggle frantically.

A primal terror seized her.

What had she been thinking only moments before?

She couldn’t remember anymore.

The terror was overwhelming.

A colossal monster…

It seemed to belong to a different world entirely.

It was closing in on her.

“Gasp…! Ngh…!”

Desperate for air, Hayeon swallowed mouthful after mouthful of freezing water.

Still…

She fought on.

She kicked.

She struggled with all her might.

Before she knew it, the monster had opened its enormous jaws.

It was right in front of her.

She swam desperately towards the surface.

Again…

And again.

Then…

Half of her body disappeared into the creature’s gaping mouth.

Its teeth were densely packed, like the countless eyes covering its monstrous body.

Long.

Razor-sharp.

Hundreds of jagged fangs closed in around her.

Each one was sharp enough to tear through flesh at the slightest touch.

‘No…’

‘No!’

‘Please…!’

‘Someone…’

‘Please… someone save me!’

The instant she reached one trembling hand toward the surface—

Crunch.

With a sickening crack…

Her legs…

Her torso…

Everything below her waist was crushed beyond recognition.

***

“AAAAAH!”

Hayeon screamed and opened her eyes wide.

The agony of her body being crushed…

The icy river filling her lungs and robbing her of her voice.

Every sensation lingered with terrifying clarity, as though it had all happened only moments ago.

Then…

It was gone.

She wasn’t underwater.

Her dazed eyes drifted to the gently rippling river beside her, and then she looked down at herself.

In the chaos, the padded vest and overcoat that Muhyeon had given her had apparently been swept away.

All she had left was her jacket and skirt.

But at that moment…

None of that mattered.

“Gasp…! M-My… my legs…”

Her trembling hands frantically searched her body.

Her legs.

Her arms.

Her waist.

Though she was soaked through and chilled to the bone…

Every part of her body was still there.

Intact.

“T-Then… what was that…?”

Was it all just a hallucination brought on by the brink of death?

But what about the sensation of her flesh being torn apart?

Or of her body being crushed?

It had felt unmistakably real.

Even now, she could vividly remember the unbearable pain of her organs being pulverized and blood erupting from within.

Nothing made sense anymore.

One incomprehensible event followed another.

Hayeon wrapped her arms tightly around herself and curled into a ball.

Tears poured down her face like a waterfall.

“Hic… ah… ahhh…”

She was terrified.

And utterly heartbroken.

Most of all, she couldn’t understand why this was happening to her.

She had always known that life was unfair.

But how could it be so merciless?

Sobbing uncontrollably, Hayeon clutched at her aching chest.

She remained crumpled on the riverbank, weeping until she had no more tears left to cry.

But grief could not keep the cold at bay.

Soon, the freezing air crept back in and bit into her skin with ruthless cruelty.

The sun was already sinking below the horizon.

Each time she looked at the river, she could see that monstrous creature in her mind’s eye, squeezing the breath from her lungs.

Trembling, Hayeon gathered her remaining strength and forced herself to her feet.

“At least… I’m alive. I survived. It’ll be all right… Somehow… it’ll be all right…”

In the end, Hayeon convinced herself that she must have instinctively swum to shore.

That had to be why she was still alive.

She gave herself a light slap on the cheek.

“As long as I’m alive… there will be another way.”

Hayeon whispered those words like a prayer as she made her way towards the village.

There was only one place she could go: Lord Muhyeon’s home.

It was shameful to ask.

But if she wanted to survive, she had no choice but to beg him for shelter for one more night.

Even if it was only in the storage shed.

Perhaps he would agree.

He was a kind man.

Clinging to that fragile hope, Hayeon pulled her frozen clothes tighter around her and pressed on.

“S-So… cold…”

Her pale lips trembled uncontrollably.

By the time she reached the estate and its towering pagoda, her toes hurt so badly that they felt as though they had frozen off.

They hurt so much that she thought they had frozen off.

Then, in the distance…

She saw several men making their way lazily towards her.

‘N-No…’

Her teeth began chattering violently.

The nightmare aboard the ferry flashed through her mind.

“Huh? Isn’t that…?”

One of the men pointed at her in disbelief.

“I thought she was dead.”

“She was! They said they killed her! Didn’t they say she got on the ferry?”

Hayeon spun around, intending to run.

But before she could take more than a single step…

Five men had already surrounded her.

“So… what should we do with the b*tch?”

“What else? If we play our cards right…”

“Then the reward they’ll hand out… will be ours, won’t it?”

“…If we get the reward… forty-nine days… the Tower… the wish…”

The men muttered strange, incomprehensible words among themselves.

Then they noticed Hayeon edging backward.

Slowly…

One of them reached out.

And—

“Gasp! Ahhh!”

Suddenly, she felt a hand seize her by the hair.

She was dragged along the dirt road.

The pain of her body scraping against the ground was almost imperceptible.

All she could feel was the horrifying sensation of her scalp being ripped away.

They dragged her into a dark, deserted alleyway and threw her to the ground.

“Hic… p-please… spare me… please… I… I only…”