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~ Prologue ~
Q. When I opened my eyes, I found myself in a vast white snowfield. What kind of situation is this?
A. Hell, probably. Or Heaven.
But it was too cold to be Heaven and too quiet to be Hell.
What on earth is going on?
I tried to recall my memories.
My last memory was nothing unusual. I had come home late from work, set my alarm for dawn, and gone to sleep.
When I woke up, I was supposed to prepare breakfast and leave a simple note for my younger sister, and then…
I remembered collapsing onto my bed without even taking off my coat, sinking into something that was neither quite sleep nor quite unconsciousness.
And when I opened my eyes, I was here.
Something was wrapped tightly around my body, preventing me from moving, and everything before me was pure white… pure whi…
Wow, it’s so cold I can’t even think straight!
At least I understood that I had died.
As my consciousness faded, I had instinctively known it wasn’t ordinary sleep. I had been working without proper rest for days, and there had been countless moments when I’d thought, At this rate, I’m going to die.
Apparently, the youth I had spent as though it were endless couldn’t withstand four years of overwork.
Strangely, I felt relieved.
If I was dead, I didn’t have to work anymore. My younger sister was an adult now. I felt sorry leaving her behind, but honestly, I was exhausted. I wanted to quit everything.
For four years, I hadn’t enjoyed a single day of peace. The burden of being responsible for my sister had weighed heavily on me.
I wanted to rest.
I wanted to sleep.
…
That was what I’d been thinking when I closed my eyes.
So why, when I opened them, was I abandoned alone in a snowfield?
Do people die and then get killed again? What terrible taste.
This felt exactly like someone’s attempt to murder me.
At this rate, I was definitely going to die. I hadn’t even been dead for long, yet it looked like I was about to die again.
Tears welled up in my eyes.
I didn’t want to die again, but there was nothing I could do by myself.
I couldn’t even move, let alone walk.
And it was so cold that my entire body felt frozen solid.
Couldn’t they just finish me off in one blow? How cruel. If I’m going to die anyway, it’d be easier for everyone if they’d just kill me quickly…
I exhaled.
A white puff of breath rose and scattered into the air.
Since there was nothing else I could do, I found myself focusing on something as pointless as that.
Even watching my breath disappear is getting bor— huh?
Just as I was getting bored of lying there waiting for death, a wolf with white fur appeared.
I said I wanted to die in one blow, not get eaten alive!
A wolf!
An actual wolf!
I briefly hoped it might just be a very large dog, but no matter how I looked at it, it was far too big to be a dog.
Cold sweat ran down my back.
I knew wolves were larger than dogs, but were they really this huge?
Or… am I the small one?
The cold must have frozen my brain.
I was lying abandoned in a snowfield with a wolf right in front of me, and I was thinking about something completely unrelated.
Though honestly, there wasn’t anything else I could do.
It’s not eating me right away?
I blinked twice.
Wasn’t that some kind of greeting for cats?
Well, anything was better than doing nothing.
Getting eaten would hurt…
Maybe if it liked me, it’d spare me.
The wolf, which had been standing at a distance, began approaching.
Oh no, it probably thought I was winking at it and got annoyed! I shouldn’t have done that! I should’ve just sat quietly and pretended to be harmless!
Realizing I might have hastened my own death, I tried to make a sound.
But my lips wouldn’t move, as though frozen solid.
Aaagh.
It wasn’t that I didn’t want to speak.
I literally couldn’t.
No voice came out.
Unlike my panicked thoughts, my frozen facial muscles were stiff and sluggish. Even blinking felt slow.
The wolf stretched out its long snout and sniffed me.
Then it tilted its head as if deep in thought.
The wolf might end up eating me, but honestly…
it was kind of cute.
Well… if it’s cute, I guess it can eat me. It’s probably hungry too…
I was busy rationalizing that being eaten might be better than freezing to death when I noticed blood dripping from one of the wolf’s legs as it paced around.
Ah. It must be injured and in need of food.
The wound looked serious.
Bright red blood soaked the fur of its broad thigh, and whenever it moved, the gash opened enough for me to see it clearly.
That must hurt.
Especially for something so cute.
I’d heard that leg injuries were often fatal in the animal world.
If they couldn’t run, they couldn’t survive.
And the scent of blood attracted predators.
I hope it gets better.
Not that I was in any position to worry about others.
Still, who knew?
If it recovered, maybe it wouldn’t have to eat me.
Then something astonishing happened.
The wolf’s wound began healing rapidly.
I hadn’t known whether this was Heaven or Hell, but maybe I was simply having a bizarre dream.
The wolf stared at its leg for a moment before plopping down heavily beside me.
Whoa. Whoa. Whoa.
So fluffy! So soft! And it smells a little weird! But I love it!
As the wolf lay down behind me, the cold surrounding my body eased considerably.
It seemed the wolf thought I had healed its leg.
Was it trying to repay a favor?
I hadn’t done anything, but I couldn’t speak anyway, so there was no way to deny it.
Might as well shamelessly accept the benefits.
More importantly…
I had already suspected it.
Apparently, I really was the small one.
No matter how large a wolf was, it couldn’t possibly be several times larger than an adult woman.
I think I’ve become a baby. This is insane.
Who was the horrible person that abandoned a newborn in a snowfield?
Thanks to the wolf, I probably wouldn’t die immediately.
But even if I somehow survived the cold, people needed food to live.
Sooner or later, I’d starve to death.
The safest future I could imagine was being raised by a pack of wolves like some famous jungle child…
Hey, are you female? Could you maybe share some milk? I won’t drink much. I’m really good at eating small portions. I’ve gone hungry plenty of times when money was tight.
From where I was, only the wolf’s massive head was visible, so there was no way to tell whether it was male or female.
Its tail, however, was incredibly fluffy, warm, and soft.
Even if it had fleas, I didn’t care.
Survival came first.
Talking to myself endlessly inside my head was making me feel slightly insane.
But it was the only way to stay sane.
What was going on?
Why was I here?
Why was I a baby?
Then was the thing wrapped around me a swaddling cloth?
Who abandons a baby in a snowfield while it’s still wrapped up?
Whoever did it was trash.
Am I really dead? Am I?
This has to be a dream, right?
Though it felt far too cold to be a dream.
More importantly, is this even Korea?
My head spun.
The wolf thing, the snowfield, everything…
Where was I?
What had happened to me?
“Huwaaah…”
My frozen lips finally parted, allowing a tiny sound to escape.
Right.
I really was a baby.
The sound was an incredibly small, thin cry that I could hardly believe was my own voice.
Anyone who heard it would immediately know.
A baby.
It was the cry of a baby.
Hearing the tiny cry, the wolf lifted its head.
Its large snout approached and gently nudged my cheek.
A huge wet nose touched me.
As if telling me not to worry.
Are you going to raise me like some fairy-tale child…?
Leaning against the wolf as it curled its body around me protectively, I steeled myself.
Whatever the wolf gave me, I’d eat it.
Seriously.
Please be female…
At least let me live on milk until my teeth come in…
“I thought it was a wolf cub.”
Huh?
A young voice.
From within the wolf’s embrace, I lifted my eyes.
A child stood there.
Perhaps five years old at most.
The first thing I noticed was a pair of golden eyes sparkling with curiosity.
A gust of wind swept through, scattering his silky blond hair.
For a moment, I thought I was dreaming.
He was simply too beautiful.
Standing before the dazzling white snowfield, the golden-haired child spoke.
“What is this?”
