The small country in the East—Han.

Blessed by the Four Guardian Deities, this nation was known for its mountains, covering more than half of its land.

‘Haa…’

In the capital city of Han.

At the outskirts of Daehan.

Jungcheon-dong was the kind of place everyone pictured when they thought of a slum.

Foreign laborers, illegal residents, and welfare recipients all gathered there—and it was where this young man currently lived.

‘Even my living expenses… barely hanging on.’

Should I try to find another day job?

Scratching his head, the young man fell into thought.

An ordinary job seeker in Han.

That was his current position.

He searched for proper employment while earning what little he could through day labor.

Thanks to that, his stamina was decent, but…

‘This is tough. Rejected again, huh.’

Considering his unimpressive résumé, finding a job wasn’t easy.

He hadn’t gone to a good university, didn’t have connections, and didn’t have any outstanding qualifications.

Above all, these days most companies wanted experienced workers, which made it even harder.

‘Maybe… I should just take that factory job.’

He remembered the man he’d met while doing cargo loading work recently, who had recommended it.

It was tough to get a job in his major anyway.

At this point, maybe it was better to give up on his field and just find something to make a living.

To clear his head, the young man did what he always did—he climbed the mountain behind his neighborhood.

Though called a “hill,” Baekeun Mountain was actually one of the largest mountains in the entire country.

There were even rumors of tigers roaming it.

‘Tigers, in this day and age? Yeah, right.’

He dismissed it as an old man’s tale.

Tigers had long been extinct here—eradicated after being classified as pests.

These days, you could only see one in a zoo.

‘Probably just an overgrown stray cat someone spotted.’

Maybe some cat that scavenged scraps and got fat.

After all, there was a military base nearby.

Thinking that, the young man continued up the mountain.

Strength is power.

Since he didn’t have much else to do, he hiked daily to build stamina.

‘Still… it’s nice up here.’

Sweating as he reached the midsection of Baekeun Mountain, he smiled as he looked down at his neighborhood.

Climbing all the way to the top would take hours, so this was usually his goal.

‘Funny… from a distance, even this shabby town looks decent.’

It always amazed him how something ugly up close could seem beautiful from afar.

‘Alright! Starting tomorrow, I’ll give it my all again! Let’s go.’

Smack!

He slapped his cheeks to shake off his weakness and began preparing to descend.

He needed to find a short-term job quickly to cover living costs…

Chill.

That was when it happened.

A sudden coldness ran down his spine, making him tremble instinctively.

‘What… is that?’

He had never felt anything like it before.

Every hair on his body stood on end.

It was as if he were prey, frozen before a predator.

Drip.

Sweat poured down like rain.

Despite the mild spring weather, his drenched body felt like it was midsummer.

The tension was suffocating, like standing on thin ice.

And in that moment of incomprehensible dread—

Thud!

“…Ah?”

Something pierced through him.

He stared blankly, unable to comprehend what had just happened.

Red.

Red. Red. Red.

His vision turned crimson.

Squish.

Slowly, his trembling hand touched his abdomen.

It came away wet—with blood.

Thump.

His heart pounded violently.

Only now did his brain register the pain.

“Urgh…”

“Aaaaaargh!”

He screamed.

Whether to acknowledge the pain or because it had finally struck him—he didn’t know.

But as his scream echoed, his body began to crumble.

‘Ah…’

Soon, he didn’t even have the strength to scream.

His consciousness faded.

And in that fading vision… he saw the grotesque face of whatever had impaled him.

Grrraaaaah!

A monstrous roar shook the entire mountain.

Thanks to that, his fading consciousness barely held on.

‘Ah… am I dying?’

That was his final thought.

He didn’t want to die—not like this.

And then—

[Do you wish to live?]

It appeared out of nowhere.

A massive white tiger, with fur as white as snow.

The small country in the East—Han.

In this country existed four guardian deities known as the Four Symbols.

The Azure Dragon of the East, the White Tiger of the West, the Vermilion Bird of the South, and the Black Tortoise of the North.

They protected the nation from evil spirits and monsters with their divine powers, and in return, the nation offered them faith and tribute.

Among them, the White Tiger—called Baekho—was deeply tied to the mountains and thus protected Baekeun Mountain, where the most spirits gathered.

Baekho maintained a barrier around the mountain, sealing or exorcising malevolent entities that threatened humans.

Even so, there were still many spirits drawn to the mountain, and victims appeared from time to time.

Even Baekho, who oversaw the entire western region, couldn’t stay here constantly.

So such incidents occasionally occurred.

Baekho ripped apart the monster with a roar and gazed down at the poor human who had fallen victim to it.

Death was a familiar sight.

He should have been indifferent to it by now.

‘A young man.’

The dying human was a young man.

Black-haired, kind-looking—someone who might have been called handsome.

But that didn’t matter to Baekho.

He was just another pitiful soul shredded by a monster.

All Baekho could do was wish him peace in the afterlife.

That should have been it.

But then—

‘How strange.’

Those eyes.

Even on the verge of death, they burned with a fierce will to live.

Despite his fading consciousness, his determination refused to die out.

That stubborn spark—its color, its strength—

It caught Baekho’s gaze.

[Do you wish to live?]

And so—

Before realizing it, Baekho had spoken those words.

The answer was predictable.

That kind of tenacity could only give one answer.

“I… I want to live!”

As expected.

Baekho smiled faintly.

He knew how drastically this choice would change the young man’s fate.

Even so—

Shrrrk.

“Good. I like that answer.”

He felt it would be alright.

Looking down at the barely-breathing young man, Baekho’s form began to change.

There was only one way to save him.

The massive white tiger transformed into a beautiful woman clad in a pure white robe.

Her long white hair flowed down her back, and her golden eyes, shining with divine strength, softened as they looked at him.

Kneeling beside him, she gently rested his head on her lap and stroked his hair tenderly.

To alter fate required sacrifice.

To save one doomed to die, she had to rewrite destiny itself.

She steeled herself.

This act was a forbidden one.

Yet she had already resolved to break that taboo for this young man.

Looking at his exposed forehead, she pressed her soft lips upon it.

Smooch.

A strange sigil appeared on his forehead—then vanished.

His body began to heal.

The gaping wound in his abdomen closed, and every smaller injury mended rapidly.

Watching that, Baekho murmured in her serene, beautiful voice.

“…I do not know what consequences this choice will bring.”

With the young man resting on her lap, she smiled softly.

She no longer knew what the future would hold.

But—

“I have a feeling… it won’t be such a bad one.”

Perhaps it was just intuition.

But she could only hope—

That her future self would not regret this choice.

Because this decision—this single act—would not only change the young man’s fate…

It would also change hers.