The cold didn't arrive all at once.
That was the first thing Kang Min-jae realized when he died.
There were no cinematic solar flares, no global alarms, no sky tearing itself apart like in cheap movies. The world didn't end with a bang.
It simply… got colder.
The wind cut through the ruins of Seoul like an invisible blade, slicing through everything that still insisted on existing. Cracked buildings were buried under thick layers of ice, cars frozen in the middle of avenues looked like abandoned sculptures, and bodies—so many bodies—remained preserved, motionless, as if time itself had given up on them.
Min-jae was kneeling in the middle of a street swallowed by snow.
Or rather… collapsing to his knees.
His legs no longer responded.
"…damn it…" he murmured, his voice weak, brittle, almost swallowed by the wind.
Every breath burned. Not from heat—from cold. A cold so deep it no longer hurt; it simply stole. Sensation. Strength. Will. He knew this stage well. Too late to pretend escape was still possible.
The sky above was gray. Always gray. He couldn't remember the last time he'd seen the sun for real.
Maybe years ago.
Maybe never.
Min-jae tried to stand. Failed. He let out a humorless laugh.
"Heh…" his breath escaped as faint vapor. "So this is how it ends, huh…?"
The world didn't answer.
It didn't answer when he lost his family in the first months.
It didn't answer when the shelters fell.
It didn't answer when the "preserved dead" began to move.
Why would it answer now?
The cold crept up his hands, stiffening his fingers. His vision darkened at the edges. He felt his body tilt forward, his forehead nearly touching the snow.
Funny.
He had survived until the very end of the world.
Years stealing food, killing frozen creatures, running from human factions even more dangerous than the monsters. He did everything right. Everything he could.
And still…
"What a shitty ending…" he muttered.
Just as his consciousness began to fade, something changed.
It wasn't warmth.
It wasn't divine light.
It was… text.
A blue-white interface appeared before his eyes, floating in the frozen air.
Final Winter Resource System activated.
User Status: Death Confirmed.
Min-jae's eyes widened.
"…huh?"
Failure record completed.
Reversion authorized.
The world shook.
The cold vanished.
And everything went dark.
---
Min-jae woke up screaming.
"FUUUCK—!"
He shot upright, heart pounding, body drenched in sweat… sweat.
The air wasn't cold.
There was no cutting wind.
No snow.
There was… traffic noise.
Horns. Voices. The distant sound of a passing train. The smell of instant coffee and fried food filled the room.
Min-jae blinked several times.
He was in a small, messy room, old posters on the walls, and an open window showing… Seoul alive.
Very alive.
"…no…" his voice came out hoarse. "No, no, no, no—"
He jumped out of bed, tripped over his slippers, and rushed to the window.
Outside, people walked normally. Couples arguing. Someone scrolling on their phone. A convenience store open on the corner, its lights bright and welcoming.
No snow.
No corpses.
No monsters.
Min-jae pressed his forehead against the glass.
"…I'm back?"
Before he could process it, a familiar interface appeared before him.
Blue-white. Minimalist. Cruelly clean.
Final Winter Resource System
User: Kang Min-jae
Status: Alive (temporarily)
He stayed silent for three seconds.
Then he laughed.
A real laugh. Loud. Broken. Half-hysterical.
"Hahaha… hah…" he dragged a hand over his face. "Of course. Naturally. I freeze to death and get a New Game Plus."
Warning: Unstable sanity detected.
"Shut up," he muttered automatically.
The system didn't reply.
Min-jae took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. He knew this feeling. It wasn't a dream. The smells were real. His body was warm. His heart was beating far too fast to be imagination.
He looked at the phone on the table.
Date: November 17, 2025.
The apocalypse would begin in less than two weeks.
"…Alright." He clicked his tongue. "Fine. Let's do this."
The interface shifted on its own.
USER STATUS
Vitality (VIT): 92%
Energy (ENG): 78%
Body Heat (HEAT): 100%
Sanity (SAN): 61%
Hunger (HNG): Moderate
Thirst (THR): Low
Min-jae raised an eyebrow.
"61%? Seriously? After everything I went through, that's actually impressive."
Note: Accumulated trauma has not been reverted.
"…Ah." He sighed. "Of course it hasn't."
He sat back down on the bed, running a hand through his messy hair.
So that was it.
He had returned.
With the system.
With memories of the end of the world.
And with a very clear choice in front of him.
Save everyone?
Min-jae let out a short laugh.
"No fucking way."
He remembered exactly what "everyone" did when the cold tightened its grip.
They betrayed. They stole. They killed.
He had no illusions of being a hero.
"I just need to survive," he murmured. "Again. But better."
The interface flickered.
New directive registered.
Implicit objective: Optimized Survival.
"That's it. See? We understand each other." Min-jae stood up, already grabbing his jacket. "First step: resources."
He looked out the window at the convenience store on the corner.
A crooked smile formed.
"Before everything freezes… I'm cleaning that place out."
The system remained silent.
But somehow, Min-jae felt like it was… watching.
And for the first time since the world ended—
or rather, before it ended—
Kang Min-jae felt something close to an advantage.
Even if winter hadn't arrived yet…
He knew.
And that changed everything.