episode_0053

I run through the night streets again.

Every time I exhale, my breath blurs my vision.

Shaking off the dark feeling that remained at my fingertips.

Deltan continued to run through the snow-covered alley.

‘next… .’

Meanwhile, accidents do not stop.

I go back to my memory and recall the events that happened that day.

Now, if I go through just two more incidents, this night will be over.

‘Next is the gang.’

Deltan slowly stopped walking.

Then I raised my head.

There was a shabby bar in front of me.

A one-story wooden building, different from the surrounding concrete buildings.

Above the door was a sign that read [Rucid].

It was a gang stronghold.

-Sa, please save me.

Deltan went into this bar.

To run away from the junkie and get help.

and.

‘… ‘I was kicked out.’

They had abandoned the young Deltan as if he was not worth dealing with.

‘It’s not important.’

Deltan actually thought so.

Anyway, isn’t it all in the past?

Doesn’t this nightmare have no meaning anymore?

Squeak.

Deltan opened the door to the bar.

“What is it, little one?”

Eyes are focused.

They were vicious black people with tattoos all over their bodies.

‘here… .’

Did you cry?

Deltan’s expression wrinkled.

I let out a sigh and my body trembled.

“Sa, please save me… !”

It was an act of desolation.

In fact, there was nothing to call it acting.

The shape of the body was already a mess.

The burnt clothes and bruised face were ugly, and the runny nose was dirty due to the cold.

It’s a look that anyone can sympathize with.

However, it was not for them.

“Are you from Koreatown?”

“Rotten little boy.”

“Judy!”

With someone shouting, a man with a giraffe-like appearance stood up and approached Deltan.

Immediately afterwards, I grabbed his backside.

At that moment, I smelled perfume.

The smell of perfume is so strong that it paralyzes your sense of smell.

“Troublesome.”

Judy clicked her tongue and threw Deltan away.

Deltan acted out the past as soon as his body floated in the air.

-evil!

“Evil!”

Letting out a scream filled with pain.

-go away. Kid.

“Get out. Little boy.”

Hearing the same words over and over again.

And so, he looks at ‘Judy’ with a bewildered face.

‘Judy’ snorted and went into the bar.

Sweet.

The door to the bar is locked.

The warmth I felt the moment I entered was gone, and the cold enveloped my body again.

I was thrown so hard that my ankle was throbbing when I tried to stand up.

What he could see was a cozy bar emitting yellow light that he could not enter.

Even this was like the past.

Deltan gritted his teeth.

Then he got up shakily and walked towards the wall.

‘next… .’

Mechanically, think of the following:

Inside, I was saying the same thing again.

This is nothing.

It’s just a thing of the past.

‘… last.’

You will encounter Verdi.

The man who made his childhood painful.

Sabak.

There were no shoes on the feet that stepped on the snow.

It was removed when they were kicked out.

But it was okay.

Now the end of the night is approaching.

Sabak.

I couldn’t feel my feet.

The tip of my nose was tingling, and my cheek hurt as if someone was hitting me.

My chin was shaking.

As a result, my breath became disheveled.

It was okay.

Sabak.

As I left the alley, I saw something.

It was a brighter street.

‘Snow… .’

I can’t see well.

I feel like I got hit wrongly when I got hit by beggar kids.

The sky is so blurry that my vision becomes hazy.

The street looked like a crude oil painting.

Spray white under the pitch-black canvas.

If you erect a gray pillar there and paint the tip round with yellow paint, wouldn’t it look like this?

That sentiment came to mind.

Deltan looked at it for a moment and then took a step forward.

Just go two more alleys.

Then you can go to the border of West Harlem.

I was moving with that thought in mind.

“What is it?”

A voice was heard.

Deltan creaked and turned his head.

‘found.’

Verdi.

A stocky white homeless man who resembles a bulldog.

This man will drag him to the beggar’s den.

And he was going to teach pickpocketing and take advantage of it.

‘For the next four years.’

I was going to live that kind of life.

It didn’t matter though.

With this, all the tragedies of that day have come to an end.

It’s finally morning.

Because he was going back.

“Child, what happened to your parents, why are you here alone?”

“… no. Parents.”

As he said that, Deltan looked up at Verdi.

Behind him, the dawn of dusk was rising over the buildings of Harlem.

The man wearing a halo of dim, faint light grinned.

“Oh my, did you eat?”

If you shake your head at those words, he will take you away.

At that time, I fell thinking that he was my savior.

This time too, it will have to be that way.

“… No.”

Verdi clicked his tongue.

And then he hugged Deltain.

There was a bad smell, but the warmth made me relax.

“Let’s go and eat something.”

Deltan nodded and closed his eyes.

‘end.’

Christmas night is over.

The proof will end here.

With that thought in mind, I am becoming more and more dizzy.

That alarm rang.

*

Tribal hut.

Agnes looked at Deltan lying on the bed.

Immediately after speaking with the Spirit King, he suddenly collapsed and has not been able to wake up since.

One peculiar thing was that although the inside of the hut was warm, the body of the Delta man was as cold as ice.

That wasn’t all. Even if I was lying still, there were times when my body would tremble intermittently, and there were times when I would frown and moan.

It looked like I was having a nightmare.

“… Horn Lake.”

[yes!]

Horn Lake rose into the air.

Agnes asked.

“Why is Delta like this?”

[Ah, it’s because we’re going through the ordeal of winter!]

“Winter’s trials?”

[yes! This is an essential process to deal with spirits!]

Agnes’s brows narrowed.

“Explain it properly.”

[Oh, uh… .]

Hornlake said, shrinking from her stern expression.

[…] Well, this is what I’m supposed to do, right? When the tribe here selects a new chief, they are trying to see if I am qualified to sign a contract, but I think my father took advantage of that.]

“Why?”

[Well, I don’t know about that, but… .]

Hornrake rolled his eyes and looked at Deltan.

[…] Isn’t there something to prove through trials?]

It was something I couldn’t understand.

I’m so stupid that I wonder what the heck I know, and when I ask questions, they only come back with more frustration.

Agnes felt mildly annoyed by that.

“What is the ordeal about?”

[Well, I usually show the sight that person is most afraid of.]

“So?”

[Nothing much, just keep repeating the scene until the challenger wins.]

“What if I don’t overcome it?”

[yes?]

“What happens if I don’t overcome it?”

Hornrake was embarrassed.

This was because there was no one who had not been able to overcome the ordeal until then.

‘It wasn’t that difficult to begin with… .’

Ordeals usually proceed in the direction of simply being chased by a scary monster or fighting and winning against something you were afraid of.

There was no need to be perfect.

To the point where I am no longer afraid of nightmares.

This is because the ordeal is over once we meet face to face.

But it was.

Isn’t it obvious what will happen if we don’t overcome the ordeal?

[…] You can’t come out, right? Once an ordeal begins, it cannot be stopped… Heehee?!]

While Hornrake was speaking, he got scared and bit himself.

That’s why Agnes’ eyes were so cold.

‘What the hell… .’

What were you thinking that made you do that?

Hornrake felt afraid.

Hornrake, the foolish winter spirit.

she didn’t know

The Spirit King’s trials were not as humane as hers.

*

Deltan let out a laugh at the scene that unfolded with such an alarm.

‘What’s this.’

When I came to my senses, I was back to the beginning.

I was just standing in the center of East Harlem looking at an unlit clothing store.

What kind of cause and effect is this?

After a short period of thought, Deltan figured out the answer.

‘Wasn’t the purpose to survive the night?’

When I think back to the last alarm I saw while my vision was blurring, I feel like I need to approach it in a different way.

However, it did not mean that there was no harvest at all.

‘Even if you fail, you can proceed again. And the proof must be completed by daybreak.’

I got two new clues.

If so, there is one thing to think about.

What does proof mean?

‘The quest is basically structured to confront trauma. ‘Winter should be approached in a more metaphorical sense.’

winter.

Usually, in a poetic sense, it refers to a dark time or experience.

If you combine that with what came to mind earlier, there is only one answer.

‘… End the trauma?’

Overcome trauma.

Wouldn’t it be appropriate to view it in that sense?

Deltan said ‘Hmm’ and rubbed his chin to check his body condition.

‘There are no cumulative wounds.’

Before rewinding… So, assuming that the previous situation was the first time, any wounds or fatigue gained there will be reset.

There is still some mental fatigue, but this is bearable.

If I followed the answer I thought of earlier, what needed to be done was clear.

‘Is it okay to just kill all those bastards?’

Wouldn’t it be enough to fight head-on and overcome all four elements of trauma?

‘It’s worth a try.’

Deltan’s eyes turned to the alley.

Even though he had the young body of a 7-year-old, he had no hesitation.

It was a confidence that arose because of the fact that even if you fail, you can try again.

Sabak.

Deltan stepped on the snow and entered the alley.

*

First and foremost, beggar kids.

The Deltans thought of a way to deal with them.

Even though they’re just kids, there are four of them who got into trouble in the back alleys in their early teens.

Since the body that had to deal with it was that of a 7-year-old child, a head-on fight was impossible.

‘But it’s not difficult.’

Deltan overturned the trash can, scattering the trash around, and lay down in the snow.

The beggars showed up less than five minutes later.

Deltan narrowed his eyes and paid attention to their steps.

‘I’m not careful.’

Normally, when trash is spilled like this, don’t you consider the possibility that it’s a trap?

I don’t know if it was because he was a kid or because he had only ever punched, but he was walking at a fairly stupid pace.

It was soon after that they would pay the price.

“Ugh, ugh!”

One of the turtles slipped and fell on the crushed ball hidden under the snow.

The guy next to me who was trying to catch it also fell down.

Because it was a snow field, the impact may not have been great, but it was enough to create a gap.

The moment the leader and the other dogs looked at him in surprise, Deltan jumped up from his seat.

And then he rushed in, holding the lid of the tin trash can like a shield.

The target was the back of the leader’s head.

“Inhale!”

Cough!

It was a refreshing blow.

The leader held the back of his head with tears in his eyes.

“Billion!”

Is Hana also a leader?

Immediately after, he quickly turned his head to check on Deltan and clenched his fist.

Deltan grinned and swung the trash can lid again.

“Sleep up dude.”

Cough!

This time too, the sound is clear.

The leader of the beggar kids has fallen.