***
CRACK. Not loud, not sudden— just the subtle sound of ice shifting somewhere far off, a kind of noise mountains made when something enormous decided to move.
Si Hon's eyes snapped open.
And the first thing he seees, was gray— that same dead silver light seeped through the tent fabric like diluted ash settling over everything.
"Ah." He stared up at the ceiling. "Morning again… still got a good sleep at least."
The girl was still there, curled tighter now, forehead pressed against his collarbone, one small hand gripping his jacket like she was afraid he might disappear if she loosened her grip even slightly.
She purred again.
Si Hon exhaled slow. "Okay. That's… still happening. It's not cute or anything though."
He shifted carefully, testing his body, and pain flared instantly— his back screaming, ribs feeling like someone had stacked broken glass directly under his skin.
"…Aigo… fuck, ouch ouch…"
But atleast he wasn't paralyzed, and that alone felt wrong given what he remembered taking a hit to the spine. {He's talking about the hybrid monster lat time}
He glanced down and found the katana lying beside them inside the tent, half-unsheathed, the blade different now— still dark, but no longer empty.
Thin lines, almost vein-like, ran faint along the metal, pulsing once before fading, like a heartbeat that wasn't his own.
Si Hon frowned. "I'm not touching you again," he muttered at the blade, like it might apologize.
The girl stirred, eyes opening slow, and for the first time they weren't blank or distant or mirror-flat— they are focused on him, warm in a way he hadn't seen from her yet.
"Papa," she murmured, voice still soft with sleep. Si Hon stiffened.
"What…?"
She tilted her head, expression no longer neutral at all. "Papa." Her eyes sparkled, and then she lunged forward and hugged him tight, small arms locking around his neck.
"Papa were supposed to die," she said quietly, almost marveling at the fact that he hadn't.
"What a way to say Good morning… alright. Good morning to you too," Si Hon managed.
She pushed herself up, still sitting on his chest— small, light, and somehow dangerous in a way the entire mountain seemed to instinctively respect.
"I rewound," she said simply. "Because you are my Papa."
Si Hon's humor drained out of him fast. "You rewound the entire mountain?"
She shook her head. "Only your thread."
The tent creaked softly as wind brushed against it, but outside there was no roaring blizzard anymore— just silence, heavy, pressurized, deeply wrong for a place that had been trying to kill him nonstop since he'd arrived.
The System flickered to life.
「This should be impossible.」
Si Hon glanced at the glowing text. "Buddy, at this point? You gotta stop using that word."
「Snowfall Mountain does not allow selective rewinds. The cost should have erased both of you.」
The girl looked at the window, frowned, and said flatly, "I paid."
The text jittered visibly.
「With what?」
She looked back at Si Hon, small fingers tightening in his shirt. "With all my strength."
The System window trembled. 「Strength is not a valid currency.」
She stared at it for a long second without blinking, then tilted her head. "It was all I had! (=｀ェ´=)"
The tent fabric groaned, not from wind but from some invisible weight pressing down.
Si Hon felt it too— the air itself thickening, breathing turning heavier, like Snowfall Mountain had leaned in close to listen.
The System stalled.
A line appeared, erased itself, then appeared again.
「ERROR: PAYMENT ACCEPTED.」
Si Hon froze. "Wait huh."
Another line slammed down beneath it.
「WARNING: THREAD ANCHOR ALTERED.」
The katana beside him pulsed again, harder this time, the faint vein lines along the blade flaring dull silver to match the dead light bleeding through the tent.
The girl flinched, fingers curling tighter into his shirt.
"It noticed," she whispered.
"What noticed?" Si Hon asked quietly.
She didn't answer right away— instead she leaned down and pressed her forehead against his chest, right over his heart, listening.
"The Mountain," she said finally. "…And the Tower."
"Ah… okay… you know I'm too dumb for this talk." Si Hon stood— the little girl fell from his chest toward the makeshift mattress below —stepped out of the tent, and found everything exactly as he'd left it, the red circle, the tent, the tower looming silent in the distance.
"Ah… I see."
The girl followed him out and wrapped her arms around herself like she was cold, and Si Hon stared at her.
"Aren't you supposed to be… like, not cold or something?"
"All of my power is gone, Papa," she answered simply, "because of you."
Si Hon froze for a long second, then sighed. "Sure. Sure, okay."
He walked toward the edge of the Tower, bent down and grabbed a spare shirt half-buried in the dirt nearby, creased and a little dirty, one he'd left behind since he only needed the one, shook it out once, and draped it over her small shoulders.
"Here," he muttered, patting her head awkwardly. "Thank you, by the way. Change into this first. Then we'll talk."
She looked down at the shirt, then up at him. "Okay, Papa."
His eye twitched.
She slipped back into the tent, fabric rustling softly, the sound strangely domestic against the dead silence of Snowfall Mountain— no system windows, no monsters laughing, just cloth and wind and snow whispering.
Si Hon walked a few steps away and sat down against the base of the tower, cold stone at his back, knees bent, arms resting loose across them.
"This is my life now," he muttered, looking down at his own clothes. "Haha… so like— I'm the only one who got rewound, so my clothes are the same…"
He sighed, pinched the bridge of his nose, and spotted his old torn clothes still lying beside the tent. "Ah… hahahaaa…."
The tent flap lifted.
She stepped out wearing his shirt, too big on her, sleeves hanging past her hands, hem brushing her knees, hugging herself once before spotting him and walking straight over without hesitation to climb onto his lap.
Si Hon froze completely.
She curled against his chest like it was the most natural thing in the world, small body warm despite the mountain around them, and then— PURR, soft and steady.
Purr, purr.
Si Hon stared straight ahead, his soul visibly leaving his body in slow motion.
"Papa," she said again, content.
His shoulder jerked. "Ahem." He cleared his throat carefully, like one wrong move might shatter something. "Okay. Uh… question."
She looked up, eyes calm and present now. "Why are you calling me that… that word now?"
She tilted her head, thinking it over. "In the place I came from," she said slowly, "someone told me a rule."
Si Hon listened.
"If someone protects me… doesn't command me… and doesn't abuse my power…" she reached up, fingers curling into the fabric of his shirt, latching herself to him fully, "…then they are my Papa. Or my Mom."
Silence settled between them, the tower looming above, the mountain and forest listening in their own quiet way.
Si Hon swallowed. "That's a messed up rule," he muttered.
She blinked. "But you followed it. You sacrificed yourself for me." Purr.
Si Hon closed his eyes. "Yeah," he sighed. "Looks like I did." (Unintentionally…)
The girl settled comfortably against his chest, purring like nothing in the world could touch her anymore, and Si Hon stared out at the forest, expression flat.
"Weird life." A faint flicker caught the edge of his vision— no alarms, no red warnings, just small, hesitant text.
「You have that one weird girl, was it Ivy? Yea, in the real world. And now you have another daughter here. …What are you? An adoption center? ( ͡°ᴥ ͡° ʋ)」
Si Hon closed his eyes and sighed. "Yes, yes… I know."
The girl shifted closer, purring unbroken.
He glanced down at her, then back at the endless dark white forest.
"Alright," he muttered. "Let's do jokes later." He rubbed his face with one hand. "I need firewood. Food. Water. Preferably before I pass out or die."
He paused, then very deliberately softened his tone.
"So," he said slowly, tilting his head. "Dear, wise, very beautiful or handsome System."
The text froze mid-render.
He continued, voice almost polite. "You wouldn't happen to have, like… a hint? A direction? A friendly nudge so your favorite human doesn't die?"
A long silence stretched out.
The girl looked up at the empty air, curious.
The System flickered once.
「…」
Another pause.
Then— 「Don't say it like that.」
Si Hon cracked one eye open. "Like what?"
「Like you're being cute on purpose.」
He snorted. "Worked though, didn't it?"
The System hesitated, text reappearing smaller, quieter.
「It's not because you asked nicely.」
(Tsundere…) Si Hon waited.
「It's because I don't want you to die.」
The words just sat there.
No jokes attached.
Just that.
(Yep, tsundere.) Si Hon exhaled and let out a small, surprised giggle. "Yeah," he murmured. "Thought so."
The girl nuzzled closer. Purr.
The System added one last line.
「Head east. Dead trees. Frozen stream beneath the snow. And… don't get stupid.」
Si Hon smiled faintly. "No promises." He looked down at the girl. "Alright, kid. Field trip."
She looked up, eyes bright. "Okay, Papa."
Si Hon winced. "We'll talk about other things later."
But he stood up anyway, careful and slow, adjusting his grip so she wouldn't slip.