The forest was silent when Jin Mu-Won stirred. His body ached like shattered glass, every breath fire in his chest. He tasted iron.
Alive. Barely.
He pushed himself up, leaning on the spear like a crutch. Around him, three corpses sprawled in death. His first battlefield.
His hand trembled as he searched the leader's body. Beneath the bloodied robes, he found a small pouch tied with a black cord. Inside: a folded parchment and a strange bronze token, etched with a wolf's head.
The parchment was a map, marked with red crosses leading deeper into the mountains. At its center was a single word: "Den."
Jin frowned. "A bandit nest?" His lips curled into a grim smile. "Or an opportunity."
He slipped the token and map into his tattered clothes. The pain in his body urged him to rest, but his mind burned. Survive. Grow. Take.
Far from the clearing, a group of travelers passed along a dirt path. Their leader, a broad-shouldered man in scholar's robes, paused when he spotted faint smoke curling above the trees.
"Smoke?" he murmured.
One of his guards stepped forward. "Should we investigate, Master?"
The man hesitated. He was no warrior, but he recognized the sharp tang in the air drifting with the wind. Blood.
"Stay alert," he ordered.
The group moved cautiously, weapons ready. When they reached the edge of the forest clearing, their eyes widened.
Three bodies. Brutally slain. Blood spattered across the trees like wild brushstrokes.
But what unsettled them most was the trail of crimson footprints leading away into the forest. Small, unsteady — yet they did not falter.
The scholar's expression darkened. "A survivor. No… a killer."
He crouched, studying the prints. "Whoever did this… they are dangerous."
The guards exchanged wary glances.
The scholar's eyes gleamed with curiosity and unease. "A storm is coming to these lands. Perhaps we have just glimpsed its spark."
Meanwhile, Jin Mu-Won staggered deeper into the forest, clutching the bronze token. Each step felt heavier, but his smile grew colder.
He whispered into the night, "The furnace… burns hotter still."