"Ha... hahahahahahaha!"
It was so absurd that a hollow laugh burst out involuntarily.
"Kkahahaha!!"
Until just now, I had been so ridiculously foolish and stupid.
To have been so disgustingly clinging to a futile 'life' even now! If I went back down the mountain, those hideous Mutans would shamelessly be waiting to devour me, that much was obvious.
No, in the first place, with this terribly frozen body, could I even properly walk all the way to the place teeming with those terrible Mutans? Even that was questionable.
My entire body, even though I was wearing so many thick layers of clothes, was already half-frozen and creaking.
The terrible wounds, far from healing, had torn and widened even more severely, leaving not a single unscathed spot. I should have already died from excessive bleeding.
But, paradoxically, this terrible cold had performed a miracle, instantly freezing the blood that flowed out, stopping the bleeding and keeping me alive.
Still, perhaps because I had shed so much blood, my vision had blurred as if smeared, and my mind had grown hazy, as if I would collapse at any moment.
If it weren't for the hot surge of exaltation boiling within my chest right now, the uncontrollable will dominating my brain like a powerful drug, I would have lost consciousness and collapsed long ago.
At this moment, even stopping to hesitate was a luxury.
Like smashing through a firmly closed door, I stepped resolutely into the terrible ice fog with a ferocious momentum, without a moment's hesitation. I had finally, truly transcended the futile fear of death.
As I entered the ice fog, my already hazy vision became even more terribly distorted, so dark that it was truly difficult to discern even an inch ahead. A biting wind blew so strongly that it made my body sway precariously. Afraid of falling, I lowered my body as much as possible, extended both hands forward, and carefully moved my feet, ready to grab onto anything on the ground in a moment of perilous unsteadiness.
*Shya-ga-ga-ga-ga-ga-gak!!*
Hard, rough ice particles swirled fiercely from all directions like sharp blades, relentlessly striking my entire body like enormous waves.
In that moment, a line from an old poem passed down in our village long ago vividly surfaced in my mind, as if etched there.
Aimlessly, without any will, the tiny water droplet merely floats, following the flow of the wind
By chance, it clings to the warm body of a noble being and 'imitates' its form Finally, it blossoms white, so white, in full bloom
> - Poem, A Person Frozen to Death.
The sensation that had begun at my fingertips and toes was gradually disappearing. Occasionally, as I moved forward, I would bump into something due to my narrow field of vision. I estimated that it was a snowman in the shape of a person, or rather, trapped inside it was the corpse of a once-ambitious, excellent climber who had ascended this mountain.
Because it was such a vivid form, as if it would start walking forward at any moment.
Just one more step... just one more step... Like a flame fading away meaninglessly, even if it was just my weak, lifeless corpse, I wanted to reach that summit.
Then, someday in the distant future, when someone finally reached the summit, I wanted to proudly shout out to them, overflowing with emotion.
Just imagining that I had finally overcome all hardships and adversities and stubbornly reached this summit filled my heart with exhilaration and joy.
'Even death won't be able to stop me.'
"Huh... huh... huh... heu... ha... ha..."
The cold wind ceaselessly pierced through the gaps I had torn in my clothes with the sharp dagger to ensure mobility, and my joints were slowly beginning to freeze. My moving speed was noticeably slowing down.
*Crack... crack-crack-crack!!*
My body was slowly freezing solid, standing upright like a stiffening corpse.
"Ugh."
Countless precious people who had passed by me until now flashed through my mind like a panorama. Every time I saw the faces of those who came to mind, the short but precious times I had spent with them surfaced like fragments of memories.
"Ah."
Finally, my father's figure came to mind. I imagined what words he would leave behind if he saw my miserable state now.
'Pre, you've worked hard. You've done well enough.'
"No, that's not it."
'What my father would say is...'
"Pre, just a little further, just a little further and you'll reach the summit."
'That's it.'
I smiled intensely for a moment, then gathered even the last remaining strength.
"Uwaaaaaaaaa!!"
And, like a final flame burning everything, I ran forward with all my might. Then, finally, in the distance beyond the dark field of vision, I saw a powerful red light surging upwards.
I didn't know what it was.
But, I vaguely thought, that's the summit, let's collapse there, and squeezing out the last of my strength, I ran towards the red light.
*Whoosh!*
Finally, as I broke through the thick veil of ice fog, an unbelievable, mystical sight unfolded before my eyes.
There, a giant, blast furnace-like pool was boiling, which I had found so impressive before.
But this fiercely burning lava was far stickier than molten iron in a furnace, and seemed to contain more impurities, showcasing vibrant colors as it ceaselessly churned and bubbled.
"Lava?"
'Does this make sense? How can there be such hot lava when it's so terribly cold all around?'
"Why?"
In that deep, sunken place, resembling a massive pool, there was no white snow or cold ice, but rather red and yellow-orange lava boiling with ferocious intensity.
Due to the intense heat, enormous amounts of steam rose around it, forming thick clouds. It was as if this lava pool had sucked in all the heat of the Devil's Fangs; the heat was unimaginable.
For now, I didn't approach rashly, maintaining a suitable distance. I took off my thick clothes and slowly thawed my frozen body.
As I sat there silently for a long time, intently observing the lava pool, I noticed an object in the very center of it. I approached the lava pool again to examine it more closely.
"A handle?"
It was clearly a handle. Exactly like the kind you'd find on a sword, an old hoe, or a worn frying pan.
Despite being almost submerged in the scorching lava, it hadn't melted at all, maintaining its noble form, firmly embedded there.
'This doesn't seem like an ordinary object. Could I pull it out and take it?'
The handle barely protruded above the lava's surface, its lower part completely submerged in the red molten rock, making it seemingly impossible to grasp.
No, even before that, just getting a little closer sent immense heat radiating onto my skin, making me too afraid to even approach.
"I wore as many clothes as possible, and that alone made my body so heavy that I didn't even think to bring a rope or anything."
'My body temperature is so low right now that this lava feels even hotter. Like there's a huge temperature difference.'
"Temperature difference?"
At that moment, something powerful flashed through my mind as if I'd been struck by lightning. I muttered to myself unknowingly.
"...Lava... molten iron in a furnace?"
My father had once plunged his hand into molten iron flowing from a hot furnace and emerged completely unscathed, without a single burn mark.
'I don't know why my father showed me that then, but he definitely said he prevented burns by evaporating moisture.'
I dragged my battered body backward and slowly walked back into the dense ice fog.
As I refroze my body, which had barely been revived by the warmth of the fire, pain like sharp blades tearing at my skin pierced my entire body. Especially since I had now shed all my cumbersome clothes, the pain amplified incredibly quickly.
When I was slowly freezing to death, my mind had been hazy, which was somewhat better, but now, with every brush of the biting wind and sharp ice particles, a pain like being torn to shreds assaulted my entire body.
"Kuh-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh-uck!"
'Just a little more... just a little more... endure just a little longer!'
I reached out my hands, grabbed handfuls of the cold snow piled around me, and desperately smeared it all over my body as if applying mud.
"Ugh-huh-huh-huk!! Kraa! Just a little more! If I can just endure a little longer!"
When I thought I could no longer endure, I charged fiercely towards the red light. And, finally, I threw myself without hesitation into the lava pool, the source of that red light.
*Thump!*
My body sank into the red lava with a sticky sound, like falling into a hot swamp, but surprisingly, it wasn't as hot as I had expected. However, I knew this was only for a fleeting moment, and I had to move as quickly as possible.
Without a moment's hesitation, I immediately gripped the old handle submerged in the lava with all my might.
"Pull... it!?"
*Clunk! Clunk! Clunk! Clunk!*
Something was stuck below, it seemed; the handle wouldn't budge.
In an instant, like cotton candy placed on water, all the white snow covering my body melted away and vanished.
My pupils constricted to their largest size in my entire life.
The next moment, like a flame touching oil, my entire body uncontrollably ignited and began to melt.
*Chiiiiiiiiiiiik-!*
A repulsive and gruesome sound, like flesh burning, ceaselessly assailed my ears.
"Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!!!!"
With a terribly contorted face, I cried out desperately. Unable to bring myself to look directly at my body melting, I squeezed my eyes shut. Just like this, my long adventure came to a futile and miserable end.