Ever since he came to this city for college three years ago, he had been living at his uncle’s house, where his uncle and aunt treated him as a member of the family—gentle and selfless.

Whether in character, medical ethics, or conduct, they had always been admired by William Carter.

Even though there was no blood relation, he regarded them as family.

He never expected that, just as his winter break began, they would pass away so suddenly...

Lost in thought, he was jolted by a piercing, shrill sound. Blinding lights shone from behind, illuminating his face, which turned pale as he hastily turned his head.

In the darkness, a heavy truck charged forward like a crazed beast, its two headlights emitting a glare that made his eyes ache.

William Carter’s pupils trembled as his gaze passed through the windshield, seeing the exhausted driver with dark circles under his eyes and a panicked expression.

The screech of tires locked by the brakes echoed out, and the terrifying wind pressure from the truck whipped up the falling snow, scattering it in an instant.

The rampaging beast could no longer be restrained by chains; propelled by high-speed inertia, the short distance of a few meters vanished in a flash.

And then—

Bang!

Chapter 3: Just One Step Away

How much inertia does a container truck weighing about nine tons, loaded with thirteen tons of cargo, carry when driving normally?

Not accounting for friction loss or external factors, would this be a typical high school physics homework problem?

What’s the correct answer?

In that instant, William Carter didn’t have time to calculate. All he heard was the howling wind and the roar of the engine in his ears.

Immediately after, a terrifying impact struck him, and a dull sound spread out in an instant.

The violent collision threw William Carter’s body from the seat, briefly freeing him from gravity’s hold, sending him flying into the air.

That moment seemed stretched to its limit, time breaking into disjointed fragments, the whole world turning into a projector loaded with cheap film, playing frame by frame in tedious stills.

He could feel the icy snow slipping into his collar, the suppressed wails from his ribs and organs, and the shattering sound from his chest.

Agonizing pain, as if half his body had been fed into a meat grinder, finally surged from his nerve endings, but William Carter was already trapped in a hallucination-like slow-motion world.

A strange spasm, like an electric current, spread from his spine. It was as if his hands were gripping a high-voltage wire laid bare to his heart—skin, muscles, and organs all convulsed painfully under this wild, unrestrained force.

His thoughts ran wild, uncontrollable like a runaway horse, breaking free from the constraints of time, becoming a miracle of stillness in this instant.

The world spun around him, the blood-red haze in his eyes fading, leaving everything shrouded in a misty blue.

A burning sensation, like a branding iron, spread from his chest, making him want to let out a hoarse roar from the pain.

It felt as if something was burning—or perhaps sprouting—in his chest.

The wooden pendant he wore shattered, the character engraved on it splitting with fine cracks, and as something sealed within it spread out, it instantly weathered into fine dust.

As if it had finally found the long-sought land, the dying ‘sapling’ spread its delicate roots, piercing deep into the earth, spreading, madly absorbing the ‘water’ it needed to survive.

Under the cover of his gloves, the veins on the back of William Carter’s hand bulged and throbbed wildly.

Like an insect trapped in amber, William Carter fell and spun endlessly in this frozen world, witnessing his own blood slowly spurt into the night sky.

Reflected in the crimson were faint starlight and drifting snow—poetic, yet cruel.

But for William Carter, this was an unending torture.

Everything was so strange it felt like an unreal dream, yet the searing pain from his heart reminded him of this cruel reality.

The agony in the left half of his body spread slowly like a tide; his ribs fractured and collapsed, slow and inexorable, his organs tossed about by the violent impact, as if about to shatter.

It felt as if he would die in the next moment, as if he was just one step away from crossing the boundary between life and death, yet he could never reach it.

Even though it was only a single step away.

‘A single step away’?

In Spanish, it’s called: ‘Por Una Cabeza’, the famous violin piece featured in “Schindler’s List” and “Scent of a Woman”... It sounds pretty nice.

Even at this moment, William Carter couldn’t help but let his mind wander, recalling once again the mournful melody playing in his mind...

The sound flowing from the violin strings circled, stepping to the beat of his heart, spinning like a solo dance, yet never able to stop.

If it stopped, would he die?

William Carter gazed up at the overcast night sky, his eyes piercing the thick snow, reflecting the dim starlight that was about to go out.

Moisture drifted from the corner of his eye, slowly freezing and scattering in the nearly motionless time, merging with the falling snow.