Chapter 1
The mission was simple and straightforward.
“4:00 PM. Osgum Pass side trail. Capture the Hakot Kingdom commander attempting to flee.”
The pass was a valley nestled between two mountains. Jagged gray-white rocks lay shattered across the ground, moss-covered boulders dotted the landscape, towering conifer trees stood in dense rows, and thick fog cloaked the area in an eerie gloom.
Countless people had died there over the years. The terrain was so treacherous that it had earned the infamous nickname Death Pass. No one would ever expect someone to choose such a place as an escape route.
Captain Kal, trudging along behind his superior and longtime comrade, finally spoke.
“Colonel, I honestly don’t understand this. It’s difficult enough to escape through this terrain, but why would they choose a place they’re unfamiliar with? It’s not even their own country.”
It was the second time he had voiced the same concern. He had questioned the order the moment they received it.
Valentin glanced back with his clear blue eyes. Aside from himself and Kal, only about ten soldiers followed behind.
It was, after all, a special operations mission.
“Brigadier General Wilkerson said the information came from a defector who sought asylum in this country. That same informant predicted the last two major battles.”
“…But you never met that informant yourself, Colonel.”
“They say he’s already proven useful. Besides, when headquarters gives an order, we follow it. It’s not like I have the power to argue.”
He adjusted his dark navy cap lower over his dull wheat-colored hair.
Although they had come as reinforcements for an allied nation, he had never expected to be assigned such a covert mission.
Kal wasn’t the only one who found it suspicious.
Every member of the unit was thinking the same thing.
Why here?
Yet Valentin had no choice but to obey.
Despite surviving countless hardships and impossible battles, his standing within the army remained fragile.
…Sigh.
The soldiers, burdened with weapons and restraint equipment, let out weary breaths.
Heavy military boots crunched against broken stones.
Because they had to weave carefully between razor-sharp rocks, every step demanded caution.
The steep mountain path twisted dangerously upward, and the barely visible trail wound through narrow gaps between the boulders.
According to the map, once they crossed the pass, they would have a clear view of the enemy’s escape route below.
“Colonel…!”
Kal pointed ahead, calling out in a hushed voice.
As soon as they passed a massive boulder, they spotted flashes of crimson uniforms stained as though soaked in blood and white trousers dirtied with ash and mud.
Several enemy soldiers were running desperately through the stale mountain air.
The distance was considerable, but if they hurried, they could close in within rifle range.
Valentin lowered himself and gave a silent hand signal.
Following his command, the squad muffled their footsteps and advanced quietly.
With rifles leveled, they darted between the rocks, steadily narrowing the gap.
Yet something felt strange.
The fleeing enemy carried no weapons.
Nor did they bother scanning their surroundings.
They simply kept running straight ahead.
Even stranger…
The area around them was unnaturally quiet.
Behind Valentin’s unit lay an active battlefield filled with artillery fire.
Yet only this tiny group was escaping through Death Pass?
He continued the pursuit because the commander resembled the enemy officer he had glimpsed during the previous battle.
Still…
Everything felt wrong.
Even so, Valentin raised his rifle.
A colonel of Alstow refusing a superior’s direct order was the same as resigning his commission.
“Aim!”
Just then—
“Aim!”
A sharp voice echoed across the ridgeline.
Startled, Valentin and his men looked toward the mountaintops.
His face instantly drained of color as he searched for cover.
“Fire!”
“Take cover!”
The two commands overlapped, reverberating throughout the valley.
Valentin pointed toward a massive boulder while diving in another direction.
There wasn’t even time to catch his breath.
Shells and bullets rained down upon them.
BOOM!
BANG!
CRASH!
The explosions twisted the mountain air with scorching heat, sending dust erupting from every crack in the rocks.
“Aaaagh!”
The blasts pounded against their chests while gunfire and screams pierced their ears like blades.
For a brief moment, his mind nearly went blank.
Three times their numbers…
No—
Five times.
From both mountain ridges, Valentin could smell death itself.
“Don’t expose yourselves! Just think about escaping!”
“Damn it… damn it!”
Kal, hiding behind the nearest rock, cursed through clenched teeth.
Several soldiers had already fallen.
Blood splattered across the white stone.
Setting aside every suspicion surrounding the operation, Valentin focused on one thing alone.
Save as many men as possible.
His eyes searched desperately for an escape route.
But with enemies firing from above, there wasn’t a single blind spot.
Grinding his teeth, he raised his rifle.
Bang!
Bang!
Whizz—
“Ugh!”
“Damn it, Colonel!”
One out of every three shots found its mark.
But the concentrated barrage grazed his arm.
When Valentin fired back, another soldier followed his example and exposed himself with his rifle—
Only to be killed instantly.
Their already precious manpower dwindled even further.
There was no way out.
Bang!
“Argh!”
Then suddenly—
Enemy soldiers cried out in pain.
BOOOOM!
One side of the mountain shook violently.
Earth and rocks flew into the air while shrill screams erupted among the enemy lines.
Apparently, a grenadier’s grenade had detonated unexpectedly.
“What the—? Where did that come from…?”
“Ghk!”
Moments later, distant rifle shots echoed across the mountains.
Hidden enemy soldiers began shouting in confusion.
As the gunfire briefly ceased amid the chaos, Valentin quickly signaled Kal.
The sniper’s position was so far away that there wasn’t even time to locate it.
Seymour!
Kal silently mouthed his name in panic.
Valentin shook his head firmly.
Realizing there was no time to argue, Kal led the surviving soldiers toward the next cover position before glancing back at Valentin and the remaining man.
BOOM!
Rumble…
“Aaaah!”
“Holy shit! Run! It’s a landslide!”
Before anyone could even call out—
A massive boulder atop the mountain shattered apart.
The entire mountainside trembled.
Countless rocks tumbled downward, crashing into one another.
The enemy scattered in utter panic.
The instant the rain of bullets and stone fragments ceased…
Valentin searched frantically for the person who had covered them.
Judging by the angle of the shots, they had come from a hill just before the mountain pass.
Not the battlefield.
The only soldier capable of making shots from such a distance…
A sniper.
Just as that thought crossed his mind—
Flash.
A glimmer of blue reflected in the distance.
At the same moment, someone leapt from the hillside.
Long black hair tied into a single ponytail fluttered beneath the ash-gray sky.
The moment he realized the figure possessed a slender frame unlike that of an ordinary man—
The artillery struck.
The sniper’s position exploded into rubble.
“Colonel!”
Kal’s shout snapped Valentin back to reality.
He sprang to his feet and ran.
The enemy opened fire too late.
They had already secured an escape route.
Believing it wouldn’t be difficult to find his mysterious savior later, Valentin retreated with what remained of his unit—
Barely half of the soldiers who had begun the mission.
He never imagined that he would not see that person again until six months later, after the war had finally ended.
The war, which everyone believed would drag on much longer, came to an end after only a year and a half through diplomatic negotiations.
Following the operation, Valentin submitted a full report to his superiors.
He received nothing but a harsh reprimand.
After that, he was no longer sent directly to the battlefield.
Instead, he became overwhelmed at the temporary operations headquarters.
Kal, now commanding troops as a company commander, constantly relayed reports from the front.
Revising battle strategies, writing combat reports, and handling endless military paperwork left Valentin with almost no free time.
Only when things finally settled down for a brief moment did he remember the unknown sniper who had saved them at Osgum Pass.
He asked Kal and the surviving soldiers to help identify the allied female sniper.
That was when the problem surfaced.
She belonged to the very family whose actions had ignited the war.
Worse…
She was a Hakot native—the former enemy.
Shocked, Valentin abandoned the search.
The incident had already caused enough political turmoil within the alliance.
He decided it was better not to get involved.
“I heard she became a sniper because of her little sister.”
When Kal later brought him more information, Valentin couldn’t help listening.
“Our savior from Osgum… apparently her entire family was wiped out, and no one took her in. She was caught crossing the border by a Sahiris negotiator, who offered her a position as a sniper.”
The moment Kal mentioned an old friend from their study-abroad days, Valentin turned his head.
“Todd Haskins… you mean Sergeant Todd?”
“Yeah. Your old roommate from the academy. You said you saw him at the negotiations.”
Their countries were neighbors and allies.
It was only natural they would meet at the negotiating table.
Since Valentin’s homeland had no official negotiator, he had attended as one of the senior officers.
Todd was a friend he had met while studying at the Tegrin Empire.
To save money, they had shared a tiny room together for years.
After graduation, however, life pulled them in different directions.
They had hardly spoken.
Even the look in Todd’s eyes had changed.
“Anyway, I think we ought to see our savior again. She covered our retreat that day. We would’ve died otherwise.”
Valentin couldn’t argue.
He simply listened quietly as Kal praised her with heartfelt admiration.
She had endured bullying and beatings without complaint.
Even after being captured and nearly tortured as a prisoner, she never uttered a word of protest.
Instead, she broke military records.
No wonder Todd had recommended her as a sniper.
That reputation eventually carried over to the victory celebration they were invited to.
More specifically…
To the announcement of her engagement to his old friend.
“It is our second meeting.”
Seeing the earrings that matched the color of her eyes, the words escaped Valentin’s lips before he realized it.
More than anything…
She looked completely different from what he had imagined.
“…Second meeting? We’ve never met before.”
Her voice was calm.
Deep.
Unexpectedly so.
“We’ll be seeing each other often from now on.”
He gave her a faint smile.
“So… please make yourself comfortable.”
“My savior.”
That was how it all began.
