Then all of them. LIKE ALL OF THEM.
Spoke in a low, vibrating chorus.
"RUN… LITTLE HUMAN…"
Si Hon's whole body trembled.
"Yes… haha shiver me timbers…"
And the girl in his arms whispered softly.
"Your heartbeat is elevated again, Summoner."
Si Hon's eyes twitched.
"…yeah. No shit."
He sigh and looked at the sky.
"When is this gonna end?"
Then suddenly, one second everything was pitch black, snow swallowing the world, shadows breathing between the trees, and then…
FLASH.
The darkness didn't fade.
It bled into morning.
Slowly… then all at once.
There was no true sunrise. Just a slow, silver gray bloom spreading across Snowfall Mountain, smoothering the slopes in pale, lifeless light. No sun peeked over the horizon. No warmth followed. Only an endless white world stretching into another endless white world.
Si Hon stared around, chest still shaking from climbing the mountain and running.
"…hah… what the fuck… is it morning already?"
He squinted at the sky.
"No… no this isn't morning this is the world forgetting how to morning. The day is Fucking tweaking out!!!"
The snow and tree's looked exactly the same as night. Except now everything was washed in that pale, ghostly light… like fog had replaced the sky.
Behind him, one of the MUNCHES chuckled.
Just this weird, rumbling, almost amused snicker.
"Heehee… normal… here… day…"
Si Hon turned around slowly.
"Normal? This is normal? Aigo~ y'all braindead as fuck"
Another MUNCHES let out a rattling laugh, its breath fogging the air.
The world wasn't brighter. It was just… visible now. Barely.
A morning that still felt like night pretending. And a morning only Snowfall Mountain could make.
Si Hon blinked.
"Oh. Great. To think this shit is normal, I guess I'll add that in my list."
Then— One of the MUNCHES reached out, massive rocky fingers closing gently around the little girl's wrist.
It didn't yank her. It just… lifted her.
Like a plush toy.
The girl dangled, completely expressionless, feet swaying slightly in the cold air.
Si Hon's eyes twitch, then he let out a shaky laugh.
"haha… hey— wait, wait. No. No, no, no… okay you big stone toothed motherfuckers, listen. You can— you can like… punch me, throw me, turn me into something whatever, but PUT. HER. DOWN."
The MUNCHES all paused at once.
Thier giant heads turning slowly then staring at him.
One leaned forward, breath steaming.
"What… human want…?"
Si Hon threw his hands up.
"What do I want?! Bro shut the fuck up. WHAT DO YOU WANT?!"
The MUNCHES exchanged looks.
A few tapped their bats. One scratched its chin with a claw. Another squinted like it was trying to remember what wanting even meant.
Then.
All together.
Low, echoing, almost childlike, laugh let out.
"We bored." The closest one grinned, teeth like cracked stone. "We want… play."
The freezing air fell silent.
Si Hon blinked once. Twice.
"…play."
The girl still dangling from a monster's hand like a keychain.
Si Hon exhaled slowly. "Okay. Okay cool. Cool cool cool. Play. You want to play. Of course you do. Can I… can I get context? Rules? A tutorial?"
The MUNCHES stared.
One tapped his bat once.
THUD.
Another tilted its head.
Then the one holding the girl lifted her up a little higher like showing a prize.
"Little… one… good toy."
Si Hon twitched.
"Hahahaha… no no Nah bro. That's enough. Nobody is playing with the living nuclear child today."
The MUNCHES all leaned in closer.
"Human play too…?"
Si Hon swallowed Hard.
"Oh… FUCKER!!! NOT THAT!!!."
Then the ground shifted not with wind or anything. But with presence— like reality itself held its breath for the next horror to step onto the stage.
The MUNCH who held the little girl shifted its grip, dangling her like a stuffed toy.
The others circled around Si Hon, bats dragging against the snow, leaving long trenches of frozen slush behind them. Their heavy footsteps made the ground tremble, slow, rhythmic, almost playful.
The gray-white morning light wasn't warm. It wasn't comforting. It just made everything visible enough for Si Hon to regret being awake.
The wind howled across the open slope, dragging sheets of powder like a white smoke. Up here, nothing blocked the cold— some bit of tree's, no shelter, just the spine of Snowfall Mountain stretching across the world.
He pinched the bridge of his nose.
"…Okay God. Universe. System. Whoever. This is the part where a miracle happens, right?"
And that was when he heard it. A sound completely out of place in the frozen hell.
Squelch. Squelch. Squelch.
Footsteps.
But not careful or cautious. Stumbling. Dragging. Sloppy.
Si Hon turned, squinting into the foggy snow and a silhouette stumbled over the ridge.
A figure appeared, swaying left and right like a drunk spirit that got lost on the way to the afterlife.
Black hair. Long, messy, unbrushed.
Sticking to her cheeks from sweat or tears… or alcohol.
She was wearing a bandaged chest, wrapping haphazardly around her torso. Bare arms covered in scars. Loose hakama pants dragging through the snow. A single katana strapped carelessly to her hip, the scabbard cracked, one string hanging loose.
Her feet were bare. In the snow. Zero reaction to the cold.
She tilted her head up, half lidded eyes glassy, cheeks flushed bright pink.
"H-Heyyy… hiiii… lil' trees… stop spinning…"
Then she hiccuped.
Si Hon stared at her.
"Yo… yo yo yo— hey! YOU! Samurai looking LADY!"
She then looked at Si Hon direction.
"Yes!!! You. Help. Help please."
The woman smiled weakly, lifting one hand in a slow wave.
Then— She fell.
Face-first. Straight into the snow.
PLOP.
No reaction. No twitch.
Just… dead weight.
Si Hon's body stiffen.
"WHAT!!! THE!!! FUCK!!!!!!"
Behind him, the MUNCHES burst into laughter. That type of horrible, vibrating, cracked rock laughter that echoed like a dozen bears choking.
"Heeheehee… human funny…"
"Hahaha… good sound… fwump…"
Si Hon ignored them and dashed across the snow toward the collapsed woman.
He reached for her katana.
Tried to pull it out of the scabbard.
It didn't move.
He grunted, pulling harder.
The katana was so heavy it felt like it was welded to a mountain.
He gave up immediately and raised both hands.
"Nope. Nah nvermind. That thing is staying there respectfully, ma'am, your sword weighs like shit!"
He then slowly turned around and froze.
A MUNCHES was holding the little girl gently…
And squeezing her cheeks with two giant rocky fingers.
"Squish. Squish."
Like a stress balls.
The girl dangled there, perfectly expressionless.
"S-summoner command me…" she murmured.
Si Hon then placed both hands in his head and started screaming internally.
Then one of the MUNCHES stepped forward.
Bat lowering. Knees bending. Posture shifting into a batter stance.
It wasn't joking. It was going for a full swing right at the little girl.
Snow crunched as it charged forward, dragging the bat through the ground.
WHOOSH!!!
And right as that monstrous bat was about to swing—
PAUSE.
Everything froze.
Everything was frozen.
Not slowed, paused, it was stopped.
Snow hung in the air like suspended glitter.
The wind froze mid whistle. Even the MUNCHES mid swing was stuck with its bat inches from the girl's head, its cracked stone teeth frozen in a smile.
Si Hon stared around, chest heaving.
"…oh you gotta be kidding me… again with this time frozen bullshit…"
He turned toward the unconscious samurai woman lying in the snow.
And her katana that was supposed to be too heavy was now in this frozen time, he lifted it.
The blade rose like someone turned off gravity. It felt weightless, unreal, like a prop rather than a weapon.
Si Hon squinted at it.
"oh…?"
He didn't question it long, he took the katana with him and sprinted toward the little girl.
or tried to.
His movements were slow, dragging through time as if running in water but the water is a thic syrup.
He cursed under his breath.
"Great… cool… I love this. I LOVE this! Everything's slowed down. Amazing! fuck."
He reached the girl.
She was still dangling by the cheek from the giant stone fingers, motionless, expressionless.
Si Hon grabbed her wrist.
Pulled. Nothing.
Pulled harder.
Still nothing.
"…oh come on!"
He stopped, then slowly pulled the stone finger around her cheeks and then instead of pulling, he wrapped both arms around her tiny body and hugged her tight.
And at that exact time.
THE TIME RESUMED.
"WFWOOOSH!"
The full force of the MUNCHES bat flew past where the girl's head had been and slammed straight into Si Hon's back.
CRACK.
Air ripped out of his lungs. His vision exploded white.
Something inside him snapped— ribs? Spine? Pride? No… Everything broke.
He hit the snow face first.
Blood sprayed across the snowy ground.
"H-HUMAN… TELEPORT… AGAIN…"
one MUNCHES whispered, confused.
"CHEAT… KILL HIM…"
another snarled, raising its bat again.
Si Hon tried to breathe.
Nothing came.
His fingers twitched. And then he felt small hands on his face.
Warm, shaking.
He opened one eye.
The girl, the summoned child, the emotionless being.
She wasn't blank anymore. Her eyes were wide. Her lips were trembling.
She hugged him back, tiny fists clenching his jacket.
And in a soft, tiny, breaking whisper only he could hear.
"…so you're the one."
The world shimmered.
The cold turned into static, like a broken TV.
Everything flickered.
And then—
***
Si Hon woke up in pitch black.
Not night. Not simple dark.
Pitch black. Like wearing a black sunglasses at night.
He sucked in a breath.
"…Night already?" he muttered, voice hoarse. His ribs ached like they were being held together with hope and tape.
Inside the tent, the warmth wasn't from kindness,
just the System obeying his Safe Zone boundary.
Outside the red barrier, the blizzard screamed.
Inside, everything was still.
Si Hon rubbed his face, then a rustle.
He froze.
Slowly… VERY slowly… he lifted the blanket.
And saw her.
The little girl.
Snuggled against his chest, sleeping soundly.
Her small hands curled lightly around his shirt.
Her breathing soft, steady, warm.
Si Hon stared at her.
"…Shit."
Because he finally understood.
The world didn't just freeze time. It rewind it.
And somehow— She was by his side.
Si Hon blinked hard.
The girl was still curled against his chest… but something else pressed against his leg.
He slowly reached down.
Steel.
Cold. Smooth. Heavy.
He pulled it up. A katana. The katana. It was the drunk samurai woman's katana.
Still in his hand.
"…oh that's bullshit… I did NOT have this before…"
He stared at the blade.
It reflected nothing.
Not light, not shadow— just endless black.
He groaned and flopped back into the blanket.
"Okay… okay… once there's at least light…"
His voice cracked.
"…then I guess I'll start making a fire…"
A sensible plan.
Reasonable.
Smart.
"I swear I said this before."
DING!
「HAHAHAHA
NO YOU WON'T.
YOU WILL PROBABLY LIE DOWN AGAIN…?」
Si Hon glared at the glowing text.
"…You're laughing behind my back now?"
「Yes… wait…」
"Traitor."
He then sighs and sat down and dragged himself toward the tent flap and cracked it open.
Cold air spilled in, sharp and unforgiving.
"Hehe… this shit again."
The blizzard still roared outside.
But something else… something much closer… was dead silent.
Too silent.
Too deliberate.
Too watching.
Si Hon narrowed his eyes and peeked out.
The Safe Zone's red circle glowed faintly beneath the snow.
And around it. pressed right up to the barrier. Silhouettes. Dozens. Tall. Broad.
And yep that was the MUNCHES.
Just staring at the tent. Their breaths fogging the darkness. Eyes glowing.
"Hahaha… yea" Si Hon whispered.
He then took one of his arms out of the tent and flipped them off. "Fuck y'all!!!"
Then the system flickered violently.
"..."
DING DRRRRRRRRT GLITCHEY I'M GETTING PRETTY GLITCHY.
A window exploded into view.
「WHAT THE FUCK?! NOW THAT I THINK ABOUT IT. WHY ARE YOU IN THE TENT AGAIN?!?」
Si Hon blinked.
"…uh. I slept?"
More windows spammed like panicking.
「IMPOSSIBLE. THE TIMELINE IS WRONG. THE MOUNTAIN CLOCK IS WRONG. WHY IS IT NIGHT AGAIN. Aren't you doing a 50/50 in the mountain.」
The text froze.
Then slowly scrolled.
────────────────────────
… … …
… Is that...The CHILD next to you?
────────────────────────
Si Hon looked at the girl snuggling deeper against him.
"…uh. Yea?"
The System froze.
Then.
「THE TIME IN SNOWFALL MOUNTAIN REWIND.」
Si Hon stared blankly.
"…cool. I wanna sleep."
He flopped back inside the blanket.
The little girl shifted.
Then—
purr.
Soft. Warm. Vibrating against his chest.
Like a cat.
Si Hon blinked at the ceiling. "haha."
He hesitated… then slowly raised a hand and gently patted her head.
"Thank you."
She purred louder.
The System popped up again.
────────────────────────
OH. OH NO. SHE'S… SHE GOT EMOTIONS NOW!!!
AND THAT GIRL USED HER REWIND TIME… TO YOU…
────────────────────────
Si Hon stared.
Long pause.
"Yea. Time froze…"
Another pause.
The System's text trembled.
「NO.
SHE DIDN'T FREEZE TIME.」
Si Hon's eyes slowly widened.
The System finished.
「SHE CANNOT FREEZE TIME. SHE CAN ONLY REWIND IT.」
Silence.
The wind outside stopped for a moment. The tent creaked softly. The girl nuzzled against his chest, purring faintly.
Si Hon swallowed.
"…oh wait… then was that you?"
「No… I can only stop time if I were by your side, I was doing something that time so it wasn't me.」
"...cool" then he flopped back to the bed and caressed the little girl's head and slept.