Although Calin wasn't physically stronger than Yeri, the gun completely shifted the balance.
Yeri stumbled forward onto the snow-covered balcony.
Snow immediately clung to her pajamas as the freezing wind swallowed her whole.
Calin watched with morbid fascination, laughing and screaming in delight.
Then, right before her eyes... Yeri suddenly sprinted toward the balcony railing and jumped.
The smile vanished from Calin's face.
For a split second, her mind went completely blank.
Why would Yeri jump?
Was she so desperate to avoid suffering that she'd chosen suicide instead?
No.
Something wasn't right.
Calin's eyes widened as realization struck.
They were only on the fifth floor. With this much accumulated snow, the impact might be cushioned.
What if Yeri survived and ran straight to the hotel entrance for help?
"Bitch!" Calin screamed as she rushed to the railing and looked over.
At that exact moment, a white figure lunged from the side.
Yeri slammed into Calin, tackling her to the ground.
The gun flew from Calin's hand, landing somewhere in the thick snow before disappearing beneath the rapidly falling flakes.
Earlier, Yeri had deliberately pretended to leap off the balcony. Instead, she had immediately crouched behind one of the outdoor chairs that had already been buried beneath the snow, assuming the raging blizzard had obscured Calin's vision just enough for the gamble to pay off.
Jumping from the fifth floor was far from safe. Even with the thick blanket of snow below, the height alone meant that, even if she survived, she would most likely suffer fatal injuries or be left permanently disabled.
The two women tumbled across the snow, with Calin clinging tightly to Yeri, refusing to let her escape.
In reality, Yeri hadn't been outside for long, but in this weather, her thick pajamas were practically useless, her teeth chattered uncontrollably as the freezing cold seeped deep into her body.
Meanwhile, Calin was bundled up in a thick winter coat and sturdy boots.
"Ha! So you've been pretending to be weak this whole time! I knew it!" Calin shrieked. "Bitch! I'm going to rip apart all your pretense-"
Yeri scooped up a mouthful of snow and shoved it into Calin's mouth, cutting her off.
She immediately scrambled to her feet and rushed toward the balcony door, but Calin quickly grabbed her leg, sending her crashing back into the snow.
"I only wanted to make you suffer a little before, but now I'm really going to kill you!" Calin snarled as she stood up and drove a kick into Yeri's stomach.
Yeri shuddered violently.
There was only so much longer she could endure. Dressed in nothing but pajamas while facing someone properly bundled against the cold, she could feel her strength slipping away with every passing second.
"I heard students at school calls you the Snowflake Flower," Calin sneered. "Beautiful, delicate, and fleeting. Hahaha~ How ironic! Soon you'll really become one of those snowflakes... Let me help you make that title come true."
Yeri tried to push herself up, but her body felt unbearably heavy. The biting cold was numbing her limbs, and dizziness washed over her as her vision gradually blurred.
Could this be the end? Is she really going to die there?
She thought of her parents and her brother, who had never once given up on her despite the overwhelming burden of her medical expenses.
And then there was Shin Keir.
Would he be sad?
Would he be heartbroken?
It just so happened that they had parted on bad terms after their argument. Although he had continued reaching out to her, she knew there was still something unresolved between them.
Most importantly, he had confessed his feelings honestly.
But what about her?
The last thing she wanted was to leave him believing she had only stayed by his side because circumstances had cornered her. She couldn't bear the thought of him spending the rest of his life believing that lie.
She wanted to tell him...
That she-
Yeri's thoughts came to an abrupt halt when she noticed something utterly unnatural lurking behind Calin, who was still hurling curses at her.
"C-Calin... b-behind... y-you..." Yeri stammered, whether from the freezing cold, shock, or both.
However, her voice was barely louder than a whisper that Calin didn't hear a single word.
"Hmm... should I let you die... or let you live but make sure you never have children?" Calin smiled darkly. "I've seen those news reports saying you're pregnant... Is it true?"
Her sinister gaze settled on Yeri's stomach as she lifted her foot, preparing to stomp down.
Before she could, something enormous suddenly coiled around her body and hurled her into the air.
"AHHHHH! W-What's happening?! W-What is this?! W-What are you?!"
Calin screamed incoherently, her face twisting into pure horror.
A gigantic golden snake had wrapped itself tightly around her.
"Y-Yeri! Save me! Help! Help me!"
But Yeri was just as terrified, lying in the snow, nearly half buried beneath it, staring blankly.
Has her brain been filled with snow? Was she already hallucinating?
She had heard that people suffering from hypothermia often experienced vivid hallucinations before death.
Otherwise...
How else could she explain a gigantic golden snake appearing on the balcony?
Was she about to start paradoxically undressing too?
A weak laugh escaped her trembling lips.
"Calin..." she whispered faintly. "Don't worry... this is probably just a hallucination because we're about to die... Maybe... maybe you're not even real either."
Hearing that, Calin let out an ear-piercing scream and somehow still found enough energy to curse Yeri at the top of her lungs.
But the very next second, she was no longer able to.
The giant snake sank its fangs into Calin's other arm, cleanly tearing it off her body.
A guttural scream, more beast than human, erupted from Calin's throat.
Blood gushed out, staining the once immaculate white snow crimson.
Yeri trembled violently, unable to understand why this hallucination felt so horrifyingly real.
But soon, that was no longer her concern with her consciousness gradually fading.
Somehow, she felt her body becoming lighter, almost as if she were floating. The biting cold was replaced by warmth, and every ache and injury Calin had inflicted upon her simply disappeared.
Yeri suddenly jerked upright.
She was back on her hotel bed.
Still, it hadn't been entirely a dream nor a hallucination.
Because standing before her was... a child?
Yeri "..."
What is going on this time?
She instinctively turned toward the balcony.
To her horror, the massive golden snake was still there.
Its enormous mouth dangled the arm it had bitten off from Calin. However, it seemed disgusted by what it had apparently thought would be a delicious meal and spat the severed arm onto the floor.
At the same time, Calin's body was flung violently against the wall, and her shrill screams came to an abrupt end.
Did she die... or did she just faint?
"No... why am I still seeing this? Am I not awake yet?" Yeri muttered to herself.
Her gaze slowly shifted back to the child standing quietly at the edge of her bed.
The doll-like child, perhaps a boy... or maybe a girl, looked no older than four or five years old. The child had ruby-red eyes, shoulder-length silver hair, and tiny horns protruding from their head.
Around the waist was an intricate belt adorned with exquisite black obsidian gems.
Even more unsettling were the two fist-sized flames floating around the child. They weren't ordinary fire. They swirled with shades of black, crimson, and gold, flickering as though they possessed a life of their own.
Is it some kind of AI-powered robotic toy?
Forget it. That wasn't the real problem.
The real question was...
Where did this child come from?!
In this weather, with the hotel room door firmly closed, could this be a child from the room next door?
"...No, that can't be it." Yeri unconsciously grabbed her hair.
That entire floor had been reserved for half of their class.
Seeing her reaction, the child tilted its head and spoke.
Yeri flinched.
Such a pretty child, yet she couldn't understand a single word they were saying.
What language is that?
It sounded both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time.
There was also the child's bizarre clothing, yet every piece unmistakably screamed luxury.
For a long moment, the two simply stared at each other.
The child pouted before asking, "You don't want that human to die?"
Yeri's eyes widened.
This time, the child had spoken in her language.
How cute...
Snapping out of it, she glanced at Calin and remembered that the latter still had to face multiple lawsuits.
Just as Calin had said earlier, perhaps she was just as vicious. She didn't want Calin to die before paying for all of her crimes.
"She can't die... not yet," Yeri said softly.
She had originally intended to drag Calin back inside herself.
Before her eyes, however, Calin's body suddenly floated into the air, drifted through the balcony doorway, and landed on the carpet with a heavy thud.
Even more shocking, the massive golden snake gradually shrank as it slithered inside. Hissing softly, it coiled itself around the child's neck and settled there like an elaborate necklace.
Yeri felt as though her entire worldview had shattered.
She could explain away many things, but Calin floating through the air, and a gigantic snake shrinking into something that could wrap around a child's neck...
No technology or scientific explanation could possibly account for what she had just witnessed.
Is this child an alien? A supernatural being?
Or...
Had she finally gone insane as well?
"Do you want to reattach the human's arm too?" the child asked casually.
Yeri, "..."
The child didn't wait for her answer.
With a casual wave of a tiny hand, the severed arm outside floated into the room and dropped neatly beside Calin, who now resembled a broken marionette with one arm missing.
Just then, a loud commotion erupted outside the room.
Someone kicked the door several times until it burst open with a loud bang.
"Miss Ricci! Are you done?"
A rugged-looking man rushed inside, followed by several others and immediately froze seeing Yeri completely unharmed.
A strange child was there too.
Meanwhile, Calin lay motionless on the floor, her head hanging low, with one arm...
Only then did Yeri realize Calin had brought backup with her. If she failed, these men would simply finish the job instead.
The moment they took in the scene, their expressions changed.
Without hesitation, they drew their guns, aimed straight at Yeri, and opened fire.