I was born as the supposed next chief of our settlement. That was supposed to be my future, if only I had been born as a boy...

From the moment I was born into this world, I felt an immediate hatred toward my own existence. My father hated me simply because I was a woman, and the entire village supported him, gradually treating me with the same hatred and disappointment.

My mother, however, was different.

She was the only person who never looked at me as though my birth had been a mistake. Unfortunately, she later died during one of her travels when a creature suddenly lunged at the plium she was riding, taking her life before she could return to our settlement.

I was only eight years old when my father finally broke.

Unable to bear the death of his wife, he began searching for someone to blame, and somehow, that person became me. He blamed me for her death, as though my existence alone had brought misfortune upon our family.

"Get out."

Those were the words that forced me away from everything I had ever known.

At the young age of eight, I began wandering through the forest, scavenging for anything that could help me survive. I had no home, no family, and no one willing to protect me, so I slowly learned how to survive by myself.

Then, I found an orb.

It possessed a strange glow that immediately caught my attention, and when I picked it up, I noticed how unnaturally cold it felt against my palm. I wanted to throw it away, but when I woke up the following day, the same orb was sitting beside me again.

I threw it away once more. Yet it returned.

Eventually, I decided to hold onto it and see what would happen. The moment I firmly grasped the orb, the surroundings around me began freezing, with frost spreading across the ground while the trees became covered in a thin layer of ice.

That was when I realized there was something unusual about this orb.

I began experimenting with it, trying to understand the strange power hidden within its cold surface. The more I experimented, the more I realized that its power was far greater than I had initially anticipated.

With that power, I eventually left the forest and began traveling from settlement to settlement, taking on mercenary work wherever I could find it. I hunted dangerous creatures for a fee, protected travelers, and accepted requests that allowed me to make a living while continuously testing the limits of my abilities.

As time passed, my name began spreading throughout multiple settlements.

People started calling me The Glacial One.

For the first time, I had earned a name that belonged entirely to me, one that had nothing to do with my father or the fact that I was born a woman. Yet shortly after my name began spreading, I heard about an approaching catastrophe.

The moment I learned about it, I knew what I had to do.

If I wanted to prove myself and ensure that nobody would ever judge me again simply because of my gender, then I needed to defeat that thing. I joined a group of people who shared the same goal, and warriors from different races eventually gathered together, each determined to stop the catastrophe before it destroyed everything.

But reality was far harsher than I had imagined.

Even with so many people from different races standing together, the catastrophe was far greater than anything we had prepared for. The more I witnessed its overwhelming power, the more I understood that our chances of victory were becoming almost nonexistent.

Then, amidst the chaos, I heard a faint voice.

"Allow me to use your body, and your name shall spread toward the endless sea, where even the lucrative individuals will hear your name."

I looked around, searching for even the faintest sign of another presence, but there was nothing. The moment I blinked, the world around me vanished, and I found myself standing in a strange room swallowed by endless darkness. There was no ground beneath my feet, no walls around me, and no sky above me. There was simply nothing.

Panic immediately seized my chest. Had I finally died? After everything I had endured, was this really how my life was going to end?

Before I could even gather my thoughts, a white figure began approaching from the depths of the darkness. With every step it took, the space behind it warped as though reality itself was bending to accommodate its presence. I could not see its face clearly, yet something within me instinctively understood that I was standing before something far beyond anything I had ever encountered.

"I am the Entity. I am what you would call the Creator of this world."

The words echoed through the darkness, carrying a weight that made it difficult for me to even breathe. At first, I thought it was some kind of hallucination brought upon by death, but then the figure took a single step forward.

The darkness beneath us vanished.

In an instant, endless plains stretched across the horizon, covered in beautiful grass and flowers I had never seen before. Vast mountains rose in the distance, their peaks touching the clouds, while rivers of crystal-clear water flowed peacefully through the land. The sky itself seemed impossible, brighter and more beautiful than anything I had ever witnessed.

I could only stare. It was the most beautiful sight I had ever seen in my entire life.

Yet even standing before something so magnificent, a single question remained buried within me, one that had followed me since the day I was born.

"If you are a god, then why did you let me suffer?"

My voice trembled. "From the very day I was born, I was hated simply because I was a woman. My own father despised me. My entire settlement turned against me. Even after everything I endured, I was blamed for something that was never my fault."

I clenched my fists. "So why? If you were watching all this time, why did you allow it to happen?"

The Entity remained silent for a moment, gazing across the beautiful plains as though it had heard this question countless times before.

"I do not interfere with every decision made by every life within this world."

Its voice remained calm, yet every word seemed to carry the weight of the heavens themselves.

"If I were to prevent every tragedy, correct every injustice, and remove every hardship from existence, then the choices of those who live here would cease to have meaning. Freedom cannot exist when every path has already been decided by another."

The Entity slowly turned toward me.

"I am not a benevolent god, Trias. Nor am I a cruel one. I simply allow this world to exist as it was created, with all the beauty and suffering that comes with it."

The wind gently passed through the endless plains.

"Pain is a part of life. Loss is a part of life. Even death is a part of life. But suffering does not continue forever."

Its voice became quieter.

"That is where the afterlife begins."

I lowered my head, gritting my teeth as I struggled to contain everything boiling inside me. What was I supposed to say to a god? What could someone like me possibly demand from the being who created the very world I lived in?

"Then what is the purpose of bringing me here?"

I finally raised my head. "Why did you bring me before you?"

The Entity looked at me for several seconds before answering.

"Even though I am not a benevolent god, I cannot simply watch millions of lives disappear."

My eyes widened.

"There is a creature below that threatens countless lives. I intend to erase it, but doing so requires something I cannot obtain without your cooperation."

My heart stopped for a moment.

"I want to take control of your body."

I stared at it."You mean... you want to use me?"

"Yes."

There was no hesitation in its answer.

"The process may cost you your life."

I barely gave it time to finish.

"Then do it!" My voice echoed across the plains.

"If that is the only price, then take my life! If sacrificing me means you can save everyone down there, then do it!"

I stepped toward the Entity, desperation overwhelming whatever fear I had left.

"Please. Just do it."

For the first time, my voice cracked. "I have nothing."

The words escaped my mouth before I could stop them.

"I have no family waiting for me. No home to return to. No one who would mourn me if I disappeared. My entire life has been nothing but hatred, rejection, and bloodshed."

My hands trembled. "But there are people down there who still have something to lose."

I thought about the countless faces I had encountered during my travels. The merchants who had shared their meals with me, the children who had looked at me with admiration, the adventurers who had fought beside me, and even the strangers who had simply called my name.

"If my life can protect them..."

Tears began gathering in my eyes.

"If my death can allow hundreds of thousands, even millions, to continue living... then what reason could I possibly have to refuse?"

I swallowed hard, forcing myself to look directly at the being before me.

"For my entire life, I wanted to prove that I was worth something."

My voice became quieter. "I wanted to prove that being born a woman did not make me weak. I wanted to prove that I could become someone whose name would never be forgotten."

I clenched my fists tightly.

"And now... you’re giving me a chance to finally do that."

I took a trembling breath.

"If this is the purpose you are offering me, then I will accept it."

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