I Picked Up an Abandoned Villain in the Polar Region

Episode 60

 

“Kyle!”

Is it a dream?

Kyle heard a voice before his body was completely submerged.

It was the same voice that appeared as salvation when he was abandoned in the cold snowfield one day.

Kyle thought about the owner of the voice.

A little rabbit came to mind, and with it her name, so strongly engraved in him.

Brody.

‘Kyle!’

A voice so hazy and foggy, like what he had heard so far, came into his ears.

But it wasn’t a gloomy voice, rather it was one as warm and clear as sunlight.

‘Then remember when you have free time that I loved you this much.’

Warmth spread through his heart that had been so cold. The voice that was always chattering tiresomely next to him sounded regretful today.

Brody was the one who took him in when everyone else had abandoned him.

It was she who saved him again and again and gave warmth to his heart for the first time.

“Kyle!”

Her voice rang out again, so desperate that it sounded like reality, not a dream.

He closed his eyes and began to sink deeper and deeper, but then he opened them.

At the same time, light shone into his dark, empty eyes. And through the rays of light, he saw a woman swimming toward him.

She was like an angel. She came toward him and held out her hand, like an angel coming to save him.

At that moment, Kyle remembered the conversation he had with Brody one night under the starry sky.

‘Why do you like me?’

‘There’s no other reason. It’s just because you deserve to be loved.’

I thought I had lost all will to live.

‘What makes one worthy of being loved?’

‘Just existing is a qualification.’

I thought my life was unloved and useless, but that wasn’t true.

Kyle didn’t want to die.

He had lived his whole life alone, so he didn’t want to die alone in a dark place like this at the end.

These were his true feelings. He wanted to live, so he reached out.

And Brody, as always, held his hand firmly.

Kyle thought as he followed her, holding her hand.

As I lived my ruined life, I may have always been looking forward to a moment like this.

Every time I went into the lake, exhausted from loneliness, or even when I was lying alone in that vast lake with no one around.

I didn’t know if I wished for someone, as I sank into the water, avoiding people and their words, and falling into that terrible loneliness, to please come and take my hand and take my out of that terribly lonely place.

To please save me from dying like this.

 

***

 

Brody and Ron camped in the nearby wilderness for two days while Kyle wandered through the rocky valley.

She didn’t even go south. She had to go south for the child even without Kyle, but she also had a hard time moving right away.

So she pitched a tent and stayed with Ron in that vast plain for two days.

But if there was one thing that had gone better for her than Kyle, it was that the rain had stopped where she was, and since she was with the goat, she could fill her stomach with goat milk.

That didn’t mean Brody had an easy time camping with the baby.

Even though she broke up with Kyle, she was still tormented by the constant worry about him.

For one day, she held onto her pride, hoping that Kyle would realize his faults first and come back to her.

But unlike Kyle, Brody’s pride didn’t last long.

From the beginning, the two people had different feelings for each other.

She had started this journey to save Kyle, and had overcome all its hardships for that, so she couldn’t give up on Kyle so easily.

The next day, she spent the night wondering whether she should go find Kyle.

And after much thought, she finally had an epiphany, and at that moment, she packed her bags and headed south, starting to look for Kyle.

Of course, all heavy luggage such as tents had to be abandoned.

She packed her bags with essentials for the goat, the baby’s diapers and similar things and walked south with Ron.

She then encountered the rocky valley where Kyle had gone. However, Brody, who had the map, naturally tried to go around it.

That foggy, rocky valley seemed like a long, winding road from her map.

Brody, who was about to pass by the place and turn around, suddenly miraculously confirmed Kyle’s traces there.

There was a long line of footprints that had been washed away by the moss while climbing the rock.

Brody was convinced that the owner of these footprints was Kyle, so she climbed the rugged rocks and went into the valley to find him.

Brody, who was looking for Kyle in a panic after seeing the bloodstain that played the most crucial role in finding him, soon discovered the lake where he was.

However Brody’s brow furrowed as she saw the man entering the lake.

I think this is Kyle… but why is he going in there?

“Kyle!”

Brody called out to him with all her might, but Kyle couldn’t hear her voice.

She felt something odd. His back as he headed into the water was strange.

He kept going into deep water as if he was determined to die.

‘Could it be that he’s… right now?’

Brody’s eyes widened as she suddenly felt that Kyle was having strange thoughts.

She immediately placed Ron and the goat away from the water’s edge and jumped straight into the lake.

“Kyle!”

There was no time to hesitate. She called out to Kyle loudly and swam into the water he was in. Kyle was sinking into the water without any resistance, as if he was really trying to die.

Brody tried her best to grab Kyle as she went towards him.

She couldn’t tell whether he had suffocated underwater and only came to his senses late.

But as she followed him into the dark, Kyle miraculously opened his eyes and took Brody’s desperately outstretched hand.

So the two people were able to come up to the shore safely.

“Ugh!”

Brody, who had a lot of hair hanging around his neck, groaned as she spit out the water she swallowed.

And after coughing everything out, she opened her eyes wide and glared at Kyle.

“What the hell were you doing? What on earth were you thinking when you did something like this?”

She crawled over to him, who was spitting water out of his mouth, gasping for breath, and grabbed him by the collar.

But at the moment she was about to get angry and ask what kind of crazy thing he tried to do, she was taken aback by the sight of his gaunt and thin face.

At the same time, her heart sank as she looked into his eyes that had turned completely black.

“You…really tried to die?”

Kyle didn’t answer, just gasped for breath with a weary face. That face, which seemed to have given up on everything, was the answer.

Brody realized that he was really going to die, and it felt like the ground beneath her feet was falling apart.

“Why…?”

She couldn’t be angry and it was so frustrating, but seeing Kyle like that made her cry.

It was heartbreaking to think about how the guy who had been trying so hard to go home alive had gone through such anguish to give up everything after only two days and think about dying.

“Why did you do that? If you left like you were going to get home on your own, you should have done everything you could to get there! So why were you acting like that?”

Brody squatted down in front of Kyle and punched him, screaming.

“What if you die! Why did I suffer all this trouble to come here! I suffered all this trouble to save you! What will I do if you die?”

As the sadness of the past burst out at that moment, tears began to pour out.

Brody cried and cursed at him, beating him in the chest.

Kyle, who had been quietly taking her punches since a while ago, soon raised his hand and grabbed her arm.

He took a deep breath and then leaned down, resting his head on Brody’s shoulder.

Soon, Brody could no longer hit his trembling body.

Kyle was crying.

Brody bit her lip at the sight of Kyle breaking down and crying quietly.

She didn’t know what happened to Kyle while she was away.

But even so, Brody, who felt the pain he had suffered in her heart, could not help but hug him without saying anything else.

 

***

 

As the night sky with pale clouds drifted quietly over the vast wasteland.

The three people gathered again in front of a small campfire.

Beside them, the goat grazed on short grass, while Brody and Kyle sat wrapped in blankets, filling their bellies with warm goat milk.

They looked much more gaunt and thinner than they had a few days ago.

But like the sea after a storm, their eyes looking at the campfire were more peaceful than ever.

Brody looked at Kyle sitting across from her.

He had been silently putting dried brushwood into the fire for some time.

Then, Kyle raised his head, perhaps sensing Brody’s gaze and their eyes met.

Brody, who was caught looking at him with a worried look, quickly winked at him to pretend not to notice.

Then Kyle burst out laughing as if he found it ridiculous. Brody felt a little relieved at that awkward smile. So they both chuckled.

After Brody left the rocky valley with Kyle, she never mentioned the story of what happened there.

If Kyle’s condition had still not been good, she would have asked him exactly what had happened and tried to figure out his state of mind.

But he looked pretty okay now. His eyes staring blankly at the campfire were somewhat lonely, but his heart still seemed light, as if he had let go of a heavy burden.

Kyle, who was looking at the campfire, asked Brody without taking his eyes off the fire.

“How did you come to me?”

Brody listened to his question and poured the milk into her cup.

After taking a sip of milk, she answered slowly.

“After you left like that, I pitched a tent and spent a day there. But I kept worrying about you and didn’t feel at ease.”

“…”

Kyle just listened to her quietly.

“Of course, I was also conflicted about whether I should go find you or not. But the next morning, I suddenly had that thought.”

Brody continued, recalling the moment of that morning when she realized something.

“You, before we enter the wilderness, Do you remember what Ason said?”

“Ason?”

“Yes, the leader of the yak tribe. He told us, ‘Be careful, in this wilderness there are things that will tempt not only the body but also the mind of the stranger.’”

Kyle, who had raised his head in question, furrowed his brows when he heard what she said. It seemed that he too had remembered Ason’s words.

Brody continued to speak to Kyle like that.

“Ason clearly said at the time, ‘They touch the weakest part of the opponent and put them in danger or torment their mind to the point of losing their soul.’ Suddenly, that thought came to mind. So I thought, maybe it was because of that delusion that we started to fall apart when we came into this wilderness.”

I am so sorry for the delay. I just finished two of my exams and the last one is one week away, so I will release more chapters from now on! ꒰⁠⑅⁠ᵕ⁠༚⁠ᵕ⁠꒱⁠˖⁠♡ Thank you so much for waiting patiently ❤️