In the aftermath of the Break, Hana didn’t speak for months. Youngho did his best to comfort her, but there wasn’t much he could do. In one fell swoop, the child lost both parents along with any connections to existing blood relatives. Whatever her future may have held for her, her past could offer no help.
He did his best to comfort her during the day and at night, he did his best to keep the cold drafts out and used his blanket to keep her warm.
As sad as it was to say, her youth was what saved her. She was young enough that eventually she forgot her parents. More importantly, she forgot what the world was before the Break. The new world, broken as it was, was home to her.
Youngho watched, with more than a little sadness, as Hana adjusted to loss. First her parents, then her adopted brother, then her friends and allies. Each loss affected her deeply, but she carried on. She was a survivor.
But Jinyoung struggled.
The loss of his mother was one thing, but Jinyoung wasn’t Korean. Or at least, he wasn’t Korean born. The boy had grown up half a world away and didn’t speak the language, at least not well enough to get by on his own.
Youngho was a high school graduate who was barely getting by as a bus driver when the care of two orphans was thrust upon him. He tried his best, but the only English he knew were leftover phrases from his childhood.
It was years before they could communicate properly, and only a few years before Jinyoung learned the truth.
Jinyoung’s father, his real father, was alive.
***
“We need to get above ground, now!”
Jinyoung’s voice carried through the underground silo and the echoes bounced through the corridors endlessly. If the wraiths were anywhere in the vicinity, there was no doubt they heard him.
He studied the lip of the shield door opening. “If I can [dash] up there, I might be able to pull myself up. Then-”
“Then, you’ll be facing off against the horde of Frostbitten with ‘em,” Youngho reminded him. “You think you can handle forty or fifty of them, boy?”
“You got a better idea, old man?” Jinyoung snapped.
He [scanned] their surroundings and spotted four other corridors that led out of the silo. Two were inaccessible while the others were located below their position, not above.
The only clear access point above ground was the silo opening itself which stood about 40 meters above his current position. Based on his previous attempts to [dash] large distances, he was at least 25 meters short. Worse still, if he missed, chances were he would fall through the center of the silo where there were no catwalks or landings except for the hard concrete flooring deep below.
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His only option was to [dash] onto the broken catwalks above him until he was close enough to grab ahold of the lip. Assuming the catwalks could hold his weight and assuming he could correctly predict the placement of his hand in relation to the lip when he came out of the [dash]. If the catwalks collapsed under his weight or he misjudged his landing, then-
“Where are they?” Youngho shouted.
“What?”
Youngho looked hard at Jinyoung and Hana before repeating himself through gritted teeth. “Where. Are. They.”
After a moment’s pause, Hana replied to her father. “They’re heading north to the converted shopping mall where we met you. But I don’t understand why that-”
“Because,” he interrupted. “You’re not the only ones with friends above ground.”
***
The shopping mall stood exactly as it had when Willow first saw it. This time, however, the entrance was barricaded.
Try as she might, Willow could see no way through. And even if they could break their way through, it would leave the entrance completely open to the Frostbitten who were no doubt close behind.
“We need to head back,” she said. Despite her best efforts, her voice faltered.
A firm hand gripped her shoulder. “Too late.”
Willow slowly turned to face thirty Frostbitten. Their eyes glowed with a pale blue flame that chilled her to the bone. As a scholar, the most reliable spell in her arsenal was undoubtedly [arcane bolt]. There was no difficulty in casting it and regardless of her own aptitude (or lack thereof), the efficacy of the spell was unchanged.
“Try not to think too much,” Seunghyo whispered. “Take down one, then move on to the next. Okay?”
She nodded quickly in response. “Should we make the first move?”
The veteran player’s eyes focused on the mob of monstrous and armored players before him.
“No, they’ll attack soon enough. Just be ready when they do.”
Willow did her best not to shiver. It was one thing to run through the ruins of the city, but now that she was standing still, the frigid chill was creeping in. She glanced at Seunghyo who stood perfectly still and slowly adopted an active grip on his short sword.
Shrieek!
One of the Frostbitten opened its maw and let out a terrifying screech. The cry was echoed by the others in the crowd before they rushed forward like a frozen wave of death.
Seunghyo took a step forward and readied himself for the onslaught. At the least, he could provide cover for Willow in case she saw an opening to slip away. With every heartbeat, the Frostbitten moved five feet closer.
At this range, Seunghyo could see the things for what they were. Mindless, hungry. Death.
He was so intent on the mob that he barely noticed the movement behind him. It wasn’t until the first of the frozen monsters was in range that he realized someone or something was behind them. And just as Seunghyo moved to cut down the first of the monsters, he saw the flash.
It took a second for him to recognize the shape of a wicked axe as it cut through the air and halved four frozen players in front of him. Just as quickly, another flash of light mowed down another half dozen.
Before Willow or Seunghyo had the chance to react, two burly figures threw themselves in the crowd and cut through the Frostbitten like they were a field of wheat. When they were done, they slowly walked back to the two frozen players.
The smaller of them, an older woman spoke up.
“I’m Halmae, that’s Grim,” she said pointing at a bearded man holding a frightening looking axe. “You’re the ones Youngho told us about, right?”