

After I was caught in a dockside explosion, I was bound to a Survival Program. It gave me twenty-five years and four designated targets. If even one target’s Love Score or bond score reached 100%, I could wake up in my real world. But I failed all four. Because every target I tried to reach eventually turned toward Sophia Lane, the heroine of this world. They called my pain a performance. They called my tears manipulation. They said I was only pretending to break down so they would choose me over Sophia. But if they never loved me, why did they lose control when my mission failed and I chose to leave this world for good?

Urban security officer Alex Han is beaten to death by vampires. His father's lingering soul uses the Sun Seal to send him back to 1650, where he becomes a legendary demon hunter. Armed with future knowledge—repeating crossbows, gliders, financial futures—he slaughters the blood demons. He rescues his sacrificed aunt, snaps Dracula's neck, and pierces the thousand-year-old Vampire Lord's skull with three silver bolts. But victory comes at a price: all vampiric hunger floods into him, the golden seal transforms into a silver moon emblem, and an ancient "Night King" awakens in the East. The Empire's emperor is revealed as the Vampire Lord's vessel. Alex leads an army of half-bloods to storm the capital and personally breaks the emperor's neck. In the final battle, he uses the silver key to lock the Night King—a giant of pure fear—back into darkness. The curse shatters. Humans and vampires stand together in the sunlight. Selena rides east, saying, "When you return to your own time, I will be there waiting for you."

The night before our group trip, Raymond Kane tags me in the group chat and tells me to check my flight ticket. When I open the booking, I discover my ticket was refunded three days ago—without anyone telling me. Before I can even type a reply, the messages start pouring in. Madelyn announces, "I bet Ray that you wouldn't check the booking before we left. He got you to look it up yourself. That's cheating!" Raymond shrugs it off. "Doesn't matter. You still lost. She only just found out. Just book another one. We'll just have to sit apart." Their casual banter brings back a familiar ache. It reminds me of the time they bet on how long it would take me to realize my hotel room has been downgraded from a standard double to a shared triple, leaving me to sleep on a folding cot. And before that, they bet on whether I'd notice the art museum on our itinerary had been replaced with an escape room. Whenever I tell them it hurts, they always give the same tired reply. "How were we supposed to know you cared if you never said anything?" But they never ask. I close the booking app and open another one, searching for flights to Isvind. I imagine myself surrounded by the silence of a 5°F night, with the northern lights painting the sky above me. Perhaps a solo trip is exactly what I need.