I had never met the man kneeling beside me in my life.

Yet somehow, this complete stranger already knew exactly who I was.

PART 2

The first thing I became aware of after recognizing the man’s face was the faint rhythm of my own heart.

Each beat came slower than the one before it, weak and uneven, as though my body had already started giving in to the freezing cold.

I could barely sense the pulse inside my chest, and for one frightening moment, it felt strangely distant, almost as if it belonged to someone else.

The rescuer who had descended the cliff on a rope immediately dropped to his knees beside me and focused completely on keeping me alive.