In a small, 177.5 sq ft one-bedroom apartment, only the lights coming off from a computer monitor lit the space.
Clack, claaack. Intermittent typing noises and notification alarms filled the room and were broken by deep sighs in between.
Sigh…
Clack, clack.
Ding, ding.
“Haaaa.” This dreary and dark room was my work studio and home. The non-stop ringing notification alarms were the comments I was getting for the last chapter of my fantasy web novel that I had been writing for about a year. These were the sort of responses I was getting:
—The master of great beginnings and terrible endings.
—Damn it, I can’t believe I followed this novel until the end. I want to cry.
—I was mentally scarred from his last novel, so I was planning to skip this one but…
—I think the author is seriously sick. His endings are always crazy.
—I kept thinking about dropping this novel but held on till the end. Why do I love torturing myself?
Every single one of them was insulting the ending of my novel. It was understandable because all my stories ended with bad endings.
‘I killed all of them this time too.’
It wasn’t just an ordinary bad ending but the worst kind where all the main characters died. I didn’t want to make an ending like this either, but that was what ended up happening as I continued writing. Perhaps, this was one of the symptoms of my trauma, and it was impossible for me to make an ending while keeping any of my characters alive.
“…Damn it,” I recalled a past memory. It clung to me harder the more I tried to push it away and its fragmented pieces solidified into shape. It was late in the night when we were on the road. The inside of the car was quiet, and my older teammates were dozing off in the backseat. It was then a huge truck appeared in view all of a sudden. The truck’s headlights trespassed into the center line and flashed the inside of our car instantly. By the time I realized what was going on, everything was over then.
‘Stop.’ I tried to stop thinking, but the more I struggled, the image of that memory became clearer in my head.
Tick, tock. The ticking sound of my watch filled up my room.
Drip, drop. Water droplets dripped from the faucet that wasn’t fully turned on.
Ding, ding. And notification alarms continued to ring nonstop.
—Everyone dies for real lolol.
—Is this the rumored novel with the best ending of all time?
—Stop making fun of the few readers who stayed behind to finish this story and piss off.
Sigh. I thought my head was going to burst. I was a web novelist for three years and already had two works completed under my name.
‘But why can’t I control myself?’ The symptoms of my illness were even influencing my work, and I thought it wasn’t good for me to continue reading the comments. I closed my laptop and got up from my seat. When the monitor’s lights went off, my one-bedroom apartment turned completely dark. I fumbled my hands on the walls and turned on the light switch.
Flick. The lights flickered once before it brightened my room, and the room that came into view under the bright fluorescent lights was truly devastating.
“It’s a mess.” There were empty water bottles scattered messily on the ground, crumpled delivery food boxes, and various trash that I collected in my daily life. They had been piling up for three months already.
‘Maybe I should go out.’ I wasn’t a naturally dirty person. I mean, who liked living in filth? I simply didn’t want to step outside the door. After pushing away the pile of trash with my feet, I lay on the ground. Without a single mattress to support me, I felt the cold, hard surface directly on my skin and the memories that had been tormenting me grew stronger.
Five years ago—before I became a reclusive shut-in, I was shockingly an idol trainee.
‘I can’t believe I’m seriously trying to be an idol,’ I thought to myself then. It was the time when I managed to join a debuting group for a middle-sized management company. Our disorderly company couldn’t guarantee our success, but I was happy during this period. I no longer had to go in and out of relatives’ houses and be wary of getting on their bad side and had a comfortable place to sleep in.
And though they were a bit ditzy, my older teammates were gentle and nice. It was fine even if we didn’t achieve massive success. I would have been happy if we had just did all right, and I could stay with these people for a long time.
Then, I thought my life would be quite worth living and there was no need for me to be envious of other successful idols. Yet, the universe sometimes relentlessly ruined people’s lives, and my humble dreams were crushed because of one drunk-driving truck driver. I didn’t have any memories after the truck’s headlight flashed at us. I simply felt my body float and my head collide strongly against the wall. I lost consciousness then and when I opened my eyes again…
‘No, I should stop thinking about it.’ Yet, the more I tried not to think, the more that thought came to my head. I clenched my fists and gritted my teeth at the images relentlessly popped into my mind. The car on the road smashed into the wall just like that.
Among us five, the only people who survived were our team’s leader on the wheel and me in the passenger seat. Three people died while two suffered serious injuries; and among the two injured, the team’s leader entered a coma and didn’t wake up for the past five years.
‘He’s probably still asleep.’ In the end, the only one who returned to everyday life was me. No, even I couldn’t return to my everyday life. Because the memory of that day was so intense in my head, I became obsessive about death. Whenever I had to decide between death and life, I began to always choose death whether it was in games or in writing.
The therapist consulting me told me to free myself of guilt from that day. But the therapist was only half-right. I didn’t need to get rid of my ‘guilt’ but cast away the ‘resentment’ that I was the only one who had survived. I didn’t know what kind of divine existence decided who died or lived, but if they were going to do it…
“They should’ve also taken me,” the words habitually popped out of my lips. I lay on the ground and stared at the wall. If I stared at the wall listlessly, my mind became duller. Like the wall, my heart and mind became blank, and I entered a subtle unconscious state. It was only at times like this that I felt like I could breathe. As this nice hazy feeling was about to spread throughout my body, I felt my phone vibrate.
Zzing.
It was a text message. I supposed it came from my publishers asking me why I wrote an ending like that. I didn’t even need to read it. But for some reason, my hand reached for the phone. It was something I would’ve never normally done, and I immediately regretted it when I saw the message’s content.
—With deep sorrow, we inform you of the death of Woo Yeon-Hoon on December 4, 2027, at 11:45 pm.
It was a notification message, telling me that the team's leader who had been in a coma for the past five years had died.
“Ha,” I laughed humorlessly. “Ha, haha.” It wasn’t the time to be laughing. Nothing was funny about this situation. “Ha…ugh.” I bit my lips hard and tasted blood. I clenched my fist so firmly that I felt my nails dig into my skin. Then, I curled my body into a ball.
“Urgh.” It felt as if someone was slashing my heart after it already hit rock bottom. I wanted to scream and cry, but I had no target for my anger. There was a saying that life was a tragedy from up close but a comedy from a distance. Yet, my life seemed like a tragedy no matter which way one looked at it. Instead of continuing to live a life like this and endure the pain and sorrow and drag myself through obstacles I never asked for, I would rather…. As my thoughts whirled out of control, my phone vibrated again.
Bzzz. Bzzzz. Bzzz. It was a long vibration this time because it was a phone call. I reached for my phone instinctively even while my curled-up body was trembling.
“…What?” My body froze seeing the number on the screen.
It was Yeon-Hoon’s phone number. I had never received a call from this number since he entered a coma five years ago. Though I exchanged some calls with Yeon-Hoon’s brother and his parents occasionally before, this had never happened before. Perhaps, someone from his family was calling me to notify me of Yeon-Hoon’s death using his phone number.
“But why would they?” A part of me thought it could be Yeon-Hoon though there was no way. I just got a message notifying me of his death, and he was someone who had been unconscious for years. Yet, for some strange reason, my heart and thoughts kept leaning toward the direction that he was alive. I slowly accepted the call and placed the phone to my ear.
—…
A heavy silence circled my ears for a while. I wondered if there was some mistake with the telecommunications company and if I was getting an erroneous call.
—Tae-Yoon.
I heard Yeon-Hoon’s voice then. I gripped the phone tighter, and I almost bit my tongue from shock. Is this really his voice? Maybe it was someone who had a similar voice to him. No, it was definitely Yeon-Hoon’s voice. I didn’t know how to answer him or what was going on. How was I getting a call from a dead person? But I couldn’t miss this chance to talk to him after so long. My voice trembled as I spoke, “…Yeon-Hoon.”
Whoosh!
The moment I called his name, I felt a strange sensation all over my body. It felt as if my entire body was being lifted by an invisible hand.
“What is going on…!” Then my vision spun, and the space around me changed.
“What?” I was sure I was lying in my narrow, dirty one-bedroom apartment, but in an instant, I was transported to a pure white space. I floundered in the air but while all this was going on, I didn’t let go of my phone. I wasn’t even curious about the reason for this sudden strange phenomenon.
“Yeon-Hoon…!” The only thing on my mind was conversing with the voice that I heard across the phone.
[Beginning Transference.]
A robotic voice that sounded void of all human-like qualities rang inside my ears.
Whoosh! My vision whirled once more, and I was transported to another space. I thought I had returned to my one-bedroom apartment when I heard another voice.
“Tae-Yoon, aren’t you sleepy? All the other guys are sleeping. Why don’t you also take a rest? I will wake you up when we arrive at our dorm.”
But it was somewhere else. It was the place of my memories that I didn’t want to recall at all costs—the memories of the incident that ruined all of us and had been tormenting me for the last five years. I was inside the car that Yeon-Hoon was driving.
“…This is insane.” And across from our car, there was a 10-ton truck flashing its headlights and heading our way from the center line. Simultaneously, a mechanical voice rang inside my ear.
[Save the members of the group, ‘Siren.’]
[Upon success, you will progress to the next mission.]
[Upon failure, all members will die.]
[You’ll be bestowed with the power of ‘Insight’ as a variant.]
What in the world was going on? I didn’t understand the situation at all, but I knew what I needed to do.
“Woo Yeon-Hoo, step on the gas pedal!”
I couldn’t let my teammates die again.
Raven Valt dragged his weary feet along the wilderness, his back draped by the setting sun. Every one of his footsteps was accompanied by the dripping dark-red blood that trickled down the edges of his rusty sword.
He trudged on.
After a while, Raven paused to fix the leather strap of his bag slung over his shoulder. The bag was filled with decapitated heads, some with their tongues sticking-out, and others with their blood-dried eyeballs half out of their sockets.
Raven looked at the heads indifferently, fixed his bag, and continued forward with his footsteps.
The sight of countless tents and rising white smoke came into Raven’s line of sight. The gigantic makeshift village in the middle of the wilderness was bustling with life.
There were half-naked drunkards with upper bodies plastered with crude tattoos, savages ripping into the morsels of unknown origins, those smirking while sharpening the blade of their stone-made axes, and soldiers forcing fair-faced recruits into their tents.
This anarchic group of soldiers were focused on their own matters at hand. They were spending this evening as usual, even though no one knew if it would be their last.
“The scouts must have come.”
“Only that damned Raven’s returned.”
The group of humans stopped what they were doing and stared at Raven, who was silently walking past the tents.
Their gazes were filled with blatant hostility and fear.
“Damned Raven, surviving by himself again.”
“That cursed Raven’s a symbol of bad luck.”
“He is the grim reaper, I say…”
The streets were full of whispers of the crowd, but Raven still walked towards his destination, his face seemingly devoid of any emotions.
He had no reason to give any attention to the murmurings of insects who probably wouldn’t even survive tomorrow’s battle.
Raven came to a stop in front of a tent that was easily three or four times bigger than the others. The two guards’ eyes came to rest on Raven’s shoulder bag full of heads, and they hurriedly opened the entrance to the tent.
The tent was decorated with the hides of various animals, and bottles of liquor were lying around everywhere.
“Aaah!”
“Oh, oh, oh!”
The stench of alcohol permeated the room while screams and animal-like moans resounded within the walls of the tent. After looking around with a blank expression, Raven walked towards the giant, bald man in the middle of the tent, who was being served by two women at each side.
The bald man’s hands dug deep into the thighs and breasts of the women, but the women could only flinch, unable to make even a sound.
The gazes of the two women were fixed on the lifeless figure of a woman at the corner of the tent, and the many women that were struggling against the weight of men pressing down on them.
Raven overlooked the sad but heated orgy with a lack of interest and stood in front of the bald giant.
Plop.
“The brown goblins are set as the vanguard with around ten swamp ogres. All armed and organized.”
The two women shifted back in fear as the heads dropped right in front of the bald giant’s feet.
The giant raised his reddened head displeasingly.
“Fuck. What happened to your men?”
“As you can see, I’ve had a hard time just saving myself and bringing back a couple of heads.”
“Or perhaps you’ve decided to kill them all?”
Raven frowned.
“It was a joke; take it easy. You did good work and we have valuable good intel. It is a shame for the ones we lost. This information will help us greatly in tomorrow’s battle.”
The bald giant looked back and forth between the heads and Raven, revealing his yellow teeth in a crooked smile.
Raven looked at the giant in silence, observing the sneaky, brutal man whom he knew didn't have an ounce of sincerity in him. Raven spoke.
“From the size of their vanguard. It is accurate to say that their main army is at least triple the size. We do not have a good chance of victory.”
“With just 'us' that might be true. But that is why 'he' came here.”
The giant gestured with his chin.
Raven turned his head. The edge of the so-called village. No, even further away from the outskirts. He saw a tent several times larger than the one he was in.
“Ogres, goblins or whatnot. They’re not even a close match for ‘that'.”
“There may be more to it than just ogres in their main army. We need to be especially wary of sorcerers that may have bound griffons as their contracted creature. You know, griffons are native to the Karon Valley.”
“You worry for nothing. Who cares if they have ten, or twenty griffons? ‘That’ will take care of all of them. What are you worried for? Are you scared? The almighty Raven Valt? Hahaha!”
The giant laughed in his self-amusement then suddenly stopped his cackling.
“Raven, I know you do good work even without me worrying. But you do not have to do anything tomorrow. You’re allowed to take it easy in tomorrow’s battle.”
“What do you…. mean?”
“Other than the ones who got themselves killed today, you’re the only one who’s useful from your company anyways. Give the rest of your men to another company. Right, that damned Isaac offered thirty men to the ogres as fucking nutrients a while ago. His company could probably use some men.”
Raven observed the bald giant, still maintaining his silence.
If anyone else had said those words, they would’ve already been dead on the ground.
But the giant had every right to say those words. This bald giant was Baltai, the leader of the demonic army. It was infamous, composed of all sorts of garbage not fit to be called human.
“What. You do not want to? You just have to last one more month until you complete your 10-year quota and take your freedom. This will likely be your last battle. You should take care of yourself until then. Your bitches will have to find another company after you leave anyways. Might as well send ‘em off now. It is good to get things done, is it not?
Raven’s forehead creased.
It didn’t make sense for Baltai, known for his vicious actions and shamelessness, to care for someone else’s well being. He must have something else planned.
“Well, the rules state that you’re not allowed to avoid battle unless severely injured… But it seems like you only got off with small scratches today as well?”
Baltai scanned Raven’s body, his eyes resembling a snake scanning its prey.
‘This bastard… Does he…’
Raven was inwardly startled, but he tried not to show it.
He had hidden it carefully for so long. Baltai did have good awareness and thinking, unlike his ugly appearance, but he could not possibly know Raven’s secret. No, it didn’t really matter even if he did.
Only one month. Only one more month in this filth. Then he would finally taste the freedom that he’d been yearning for.
After ten years, he would finally become a free man, free from his title of traitorship.
“So anyways… I want you to be a guard for His Grace over there.”
Baltai’s eyes looked to the gigantic tent.
Raven knew that Baltai wasn’t referring to the being of “that,” which would supposedly turn the tides of tomorrow’s battle.
“He’s a damned Duke. Well, not yet at least, but he is going to receive the title officially after this battle. Maybe if you catch his eye, he might just make you a knight of his duchy!”
“…….”
Baltai’s bullshit didn’t even catch Raven’s ears.
Baltai had practically sent Raven’s men to die, sending them on a mission to scout the enemy.
But Raven could only stay curious as to what made Baltai spout this nonsense.
He had no right to decline.
No matter the circumstance, Baltai was the leader of the demonic army, and Raven had just lost all his experienced subordinates. He was now left with thirty or so inept soldiers that would probably not make it past tomorrow’s battle.
And there was no guarantee that they would even listen to the commands of Raven, since he would be leaving shortly.
“So, I just have to guard him?”
“Yeah. Stay by his side the whole time.”
Baltai’s yellow teeth seemed rather more chill inducing today, yet Raven had no choice but to nod his head.
“Good, good. Then go and report to the future duke. It will make life easier for you to build up a relationship earlier on.”
Raven stepped out of the tent, barely bothering to register Baltai’s words.
“Ah, one more thing. Give my regards to our guardian. I hope he takes good care of the enemy and me tomorrow. Kuhahahaha. Now come here you bitches!”
Following Baltai’s bellowing, the tent was once again filled with the cries of animals.
* * *
The tent was even bigger up close.
It was hard to believe that one contracted creature residing within that tent could decide the fate of tomorrow’s battle. Raven was filled with a sinking feeling of anxiousness.
Maybe it was due to the countless flags decorated with the Pendragon coat of arms that surrounded the tent.
For Raven, the illegitimate child of a common noble family, the duke of the empire was like the Sun to him. More so, since Raven’s family name was dishonored and eliminated by false accusations of treason.
“So, what…”
Raven muttered to himself. Ten years had already passed, but the sense of inferiority and reverence towards the imperial family still burned in Raven’s unconsciousness. Raven walked past the Pendragon family’s white crested flag without reservation. Then as he was about to call out the name of the future Duke, whom he would guard tomorrow…
“Who is it…?”
A hoarse voice called out from within the tent. It was almost hard to believe the voice belonged to a human.
Raven hesitated, startled by the unexpected promptness. He immediately brought up business.
“I am the leader of the 12th company, Raven Valt, Your Grace. I have been ordered to serve as your guard for tomorrow’s battle. I am here to report in.”
Raven words carried some etiquette, unlike the others in the demonic army.
There was no answer.
Feeling that the silence had run its course, Raven was about to open his mouth once again to repeat himself. Then, the voice spoke.
“No need for formalities. I will see you tomorrow when we head out. You may go rest…”
The more Raven heard the voice, the eerier he felt at the strangeness of it. He had been through quite a few life-or-death experiences over the last ten years, but even so, the voice gave him chills.
Oddly enough, Raven felt a certain ‘emotion’ from its tone. He could not quite put a name to what it was, but it was certainly something he had felt before. Pondering for a moment, he shook his head. There was no need to concern himself over someone whom he would have nothing to do with after the battle.
Regardless of the outcome of the battle, Raven would live to taste freedom, and the soon-to-be Duke of Pendragon would return to his own place.
“Of course. Then I will set up my tent beside Your Grace’s. If you have any orders, please let me know.”
“Sure…”
The short conversation ended, and no presence could be felt from the giant tent anymore.
An eerie stillness.
The tent was quiet. One would even think that it was empty. It was definitely too quiet to be accompanying an heir of a duchy and his vicious contracted creature.
Raven felt like he was standing in front of a mortuary of sorts. Death reeked here.
‘Hmm?’
Raven’s forehead creased with confusion. Inside the giant tent, there was only one ‘human.’ One of the most important people in the empire, the sole heir to the Pendragon duchy, coming to aid the demonic army which was full of human scum. He had come all ‘alone.’
Even if he did have a powerful contracted beast, there was something odd about it.
But Raven quickly threw that thought away.
‘Well… they did say that he was unconscious for ten years as a cripple. And the Pendragon family didn’t fare well either during that time.’
He knew that it wasn’t his business. Rather, he turned his attention to setting up his tent. Hopefully, this would be the last day he fell asleep chewing on dirt in this damned desert.
* * *
It was morning.
The soldiers, who had enjoyed themselves with drinks the night before, groggily crawled out of their tents, knowing fully well that last night’s feast could be their last.
“Fucking 6th company bastards, hurry your ass!”
“The artillery will lead the rear! Check our carts and equipment one more time!”
“Boss! The girls we bought yesterday ran off.”
“What the fuck does that matter, you retard? They’re gonna die anyway if we lose.”
The shouting and the noise were reminiscent of a marketplace, and Raven gathered his equipment, not heeding the noise any mind.
After packing some water and salt, Raven put his rusty seven-year-old scimitar on his waist and decided to wear a cloak that would help block the sandy winds.
Compared to the other soldiers, it was a plain outfit, but it was enough for him.
The morning routines started to quiet down and the hundreds of tents that filled the desert were gradually taken down.
All sorts of soldiers stood beneath their respective flags, and Raven stood far from them, lost in thought.
Baltai walked with heavy footsteps, his steps adorned with a strange silence mixed with anxiety and fear. On his head was a helmet made from carved out ogre bones.
Three thousand pairs of eyes followed Baltai’s footstep.
There was one tent still standing in its place after all the preparations were finished — the being that would decide the battle and their fate was set to reveal itself.
“Ahem!”
Baltai was unlike his usual self. He had a habit of swearing with every second word he spoke, but today he was silent, only coughing to clear his throat.
“Your Grace Pendragon. It’s time to set off.”
The tent was motionless, devoid of any presence.
The 3000 men-strong army stood still amidst the curiosity and anticipation.
“Fucking hell…”
Baltai became a little impatient, and his face scrunched up even more.
“Pendr…”
Boom!
A massive eruption interrupted the silence and Baltai’s voice, attacking Raven’s eardrums.
“You really like ants, huh?”
Im Dogyoon, the teaching assistant at Hanguk University's Department of Painting, seemed bored with Suho’s work.
In one section of the wall at the exhibition hall, a tightly packed assortment of art depicting ants was displayed. The pieces included oil paintings, watercolors, and various sketches. The artworks showed great diversity, and the depictions of ants varied significantly in appearance. Dogyoon attached a nameplate he had brought below Suho’s latest artwork.
—Hanguk University Department of Painting Exhibition
—Third-Year Student, Sung Suho
“If we had collected all the ant paintings you drew since your freshman year, we’d have enough to fill up a truck. Don’t you think you should have chosen entomology instead of fine arts?”
“I thought about it, but there wasn’t a separate department for ant studies,” Suho replied.
“So, you’re not into insects, just ants?”
“That’s right. Strangely enough, I’ve liked ants since I was a kid. Whenever I spotted a line of marching ants, I would walk carefully, making sure not to accidentally step on them…”
“You’ve liked them since you were a child? Your taste sure has remained consistent.” Chuckling, Dogyoon continued to observe Suho’s artwork. Then, he curtly remarked, “This ant looks a bit different.”
In front of them was a painting of a humanoid ant with a menacing dark aura.
“Hmm, it’s dynamic and appealing. Is this some evil monster?”
“Evil monster? Not at all. It’s an ant that appeared in a dream I had when I was younger.”
“I see… Do you love ants so much that you dream about them? When was this?”
“It was before the Great Cataclysm.”
The Great Cataclysm was a catastrophic event from two years ago. It referred to the sudden global crisis known as the “end of the world.” Horrific monsters emerged out of mysterious gates that appeared all over Earth to invade the planet. Fortunately, a tiny fraction of humans awakened their supernatural abilities just in time, and humanity was able to narrowly escape the crisis.
That was just two years ago. At the time, Suho was barely twenty years old, a freshman, but his prime “ant dream” phase actually began back in middle and high school.
“Anyhow, you’re quite the peculiar one.” Dogyoon chuckled and attentively looked over Suho’s artwork again. He was tired of seeing Suho’s numerous ant paintings, but he couldn’t deny their quality. “Nevertheless, you did a really good job. It feels like it could jump out of the picture at any moment. Wait, was that too much? But that’s how vivid your artwork is.”
Suho quietly chuckled to himself in response.
Of course, it is.
They weren’t empty words—the ant in the painting was his worst nightmare. It was the very monster that would come unannounced into his dreams and try to kill him every now and then during his teenage years.
Looking back, those were truly dreadful dreams.
Suho took a moment and recalled the dream.
[Level up!]
In the dream, Suho had to battle for his life against various monsters without knowing why. An endless line of armored knights, ant soldiers, and later, massive dragons blocked his path. When he killed those monsters, he leveled up as though it was a game, or if he died, it would reset immediately. He’d had to start over from the beginning at level one, everything having been reset.
The only way to escape from that dream had been to somehow survive until he reached the final boss’s room. After fighting tirelessly and making it to the final boss, to Suho’s disbelief, the face of that final boss… Resembled my father.
Suho chuckled. It was typical of him to reminisce about the ant dreams from his adolescence. From some point on, he stopped those dreams. It was probably around the time… It was the summer of his first year in high school. After his parents went missing. The day Suho’s peaceful life crumbled.
***
Something unusual was happening in a corner of the art gallery.
“Is it here?”
“Yes, the teaching assistant said that he stored them here.”
Clank! The painting department students opened the storeroom door to retrieve the art displays. Once inside, their eyes widened in astonishment upon discovering something they didn’t expect.
“Huh?”
A pitch-black hole hovered over the wall.
“Ahh! Isn’t that a gate?!”
“Call for help, quickly!”
The terrified students backed away. Their shaking hands reached for their phones to report what they saw, but a fourth-year senior immediately stopped them.
“Calm down! It’s clearly a closed gate!”
“Oh, I see. The blue mist hasn’t started flowing out yet.”
“Right. It’s still a long way away from a dungeon break.”
“Phew… It really got me.”
The students late to comprehend the situation released a belated sigh of relief. The term “dungeon break” referred to the phenomenon of magic beasts pouring out of a gate. However, a dungeon break didn’t occur immediately upon a gate’s formation. Before that, a blue mist had to flow out from the gate, polluting the surroundings. Only then could the gate open, allowing magic beasts to emerge.
“So, for now, it’s safe, you see.” The senior student chuckled confidently.
“Hey, why are you laughing like that? It’s making me nervous. Anyway, it’s still dangerous, so shouldn’t we report it right away?”
“You morons. Haven’t you heard the rumor? That breathing in the blue mist can awaken abilities?”
“Oh!”
The other students’ ears all perked up once they were told the rumor. There was still much uncertainty surrounding the blue mist’s true nature, but at some point, a rumor began to spread furtively on the internet like some urban myth.
The rumor was that the mist was imbued with magic and that breathing it in could instantly awaken magical abilities, even in ordinary individuals.
“Isn’t that just a baseless rumor?”
“It’s never been disproved.”
“Hmm.”
“All right then, let’s check it ourselves. Who knows? Maybe we’ll have an S-rank hunter among us.”
The hushed words of the fourth-year student changed the way the other students looked at one another. They couldn’t help but think of the enormous earnings made by S-rank hunters.
With the emergence of magic beast remains and dungeon ores as new resources, hunters were in prime position to sweep up the new riches. The profession had become a symbol of wealth and prosperity..
But only two years had passed since the Great Cataclysm occurred, and there was still no clear understanding of how one could awaken their magic powers.
“Also, do you all know that teaching assistant Dogyoon is an E-rank hunter?”
“We’ve heard. He’s always complaining about how being an E-rank hunter doesn’t pay well. That’s why he juggles teaching assistant duties during the semester, right?”
“Tsk, tsk. You don’t know what you’re talking about. That’s deception, buddy. He earns so much for just going into dungeons with the mining team, even though he’s not part of the combat squad?”
“How much does he make?”
The fourth-year student spoke as if he was revealing a great secret, and once his whispers reached the other students’ ears, their eyes widened in curiosity.
“Really? He makes that much?”
“Even as an E-rank?”
“Yeah, kid. Even if you’re lucky enough to be the lowest-ranked hunter, it’s still that much. So, are you going to let such a good opportunity slip through your fingers? Come on.”
“Wow, hunters really are amazing. Then, why is Dogyoon still a teaching assistant at our school if he earns so much?”
“He makes his money from the dungeons then splashes out when it comes to studying art. Besides, working in the teaching assistant’s office provides plenty of exhibition opportunities.”
“That’s the way to live.”
The chances of an S-rank awakening were even rarer than winning the lottery, so it was more convincing to share what E-rank individuals earned to motivate the other students.
The students eventually cracked under the senior’s persistent persuasion and set aside their phones.
“Well, they say the first few moments when the blue mist starts flowing is relatively safe…”
“Then, should we wait a little longer? Just a few seconds or so?”
“You punks, now you’re talking sense. You only live once. Take a small sip of the mist as it comes out, then report it. It won't kill you.”
A few moments later, a deep blue mist began to slowly seep out of the gate.
***
Thud! Suddenly, the building shook.
Huh? Suho, who was in the exhibition hall, raised his head. What was that? An earthquake? He felt that something was off, the space itself felt unhinged. However, he was the only person to notice the disturbance. No one else took any notice.
At that moment, a figure slowly approached the entrance.
“Ugh…”
A student limped into the exhibition hall.
Dogyoon happened to be near the entrance and approached him to ask, “Youngcheol, what took you so long? I only asked you to go to the storage room…”
“I tried to stop them…”
“Youngcheol?”
“The senior kept…”
“What’s going on?”
“The smoke…”
Chills ran down everyone’s spines.
Something’s gone wrong. Dogyoon’s expression stiffened significantly as he closely examined Youngcheol’s condition. His student’s eyes shook uncontrollably as he continuously mumbled something indecipherable.
“Youngcheol, what’s in your mouth?”
Dogyoon’s question broke Youngcheol’s confusion, bringing him back to his senses.
“Aaargh!”
Before he knew it, puffs of blue mist began to leak out of his nose and mouth.
“Uh, th-this shouldn’t be happening. Ugh…”
Panicking, Youngcheol covered his mouth with his hand. But the more he tried, the more smoke escaped through his fingers. Then in a flash, scorching heat and blue smoke engulfed Youngcheol’s body.
“Dogyoon!” Just in time, Suho rushed from behind and firmly pulled his teaching assistant toward him.
Youngcheol screamed, “It’s h-h-hot!”
Dogyoon couldn’t believe what was unfolding before him.
He saw that Youngcheol’s body was beginning to burn as the blue smoke began to swallow him whole.
“Ahhh!”
“Wh-what is that?!”
The students nearby witnessed the ghastly scene and screamed in horror.
Suddenly, a wailing siren echoed from the school’s loudspeakers.
“This is an emergency!”
The students were startled by the unexpected alarm and crowded around the loudspeaker.
“A gate has spawned on campus!”
There was a shocked silence.
“G-gate?”
“The current location of the detected gate is within the art gallery building…”
“F*ck! That’s here!”
“Uwaaah!”
“Ahhh!”
The chaos inside the hall intensified. The students, now in a state of panic, began to run frantically. The indescribable horror of seeing a person burn to death right before their eyes had undoubtedly triggered the panic.
Unfortunately, there was a major hurdle when it came to going outside—Youngcheol’s burning body was right in the middle of the exit. They had no choice but to pass by the corpse to leave.
One of the students who had been running ahead hesitated in surprise at the intense heat.
“Is there another exit somewhere?”
The student frantically looked around but there was none to be found. It was becoming clearer by the second that there was only one way out. Frightened, everyone inside the hall was clueless about what to do next.
“Grr…”
Amid the chaos, an unbelievable sight was beginning to transpire.
“Huh?”
“Th-that person?”
Youngcheol’s charred corpse, consumed by the blue smoke, slowly began to rise once more.
“W-wait… Is that?”
Dogyoon’s eyes couldn’t hide his disbelief. “It’s a magic beast! Get away from there right now!” he shouted frantically.
“Aaargh!”
But it was already too late, the blue mist had taken control of Yoongcheol’s corpse, and the magic beast lashed its arms out like whips.
Crack!
Some students screamed while others convulsed on the floor, spewing blood. As the blue mist clung to their clothes, their bodies also began to burn fiercely.
“Uwaaah! Fire! Fire!”
“No!”
In utter chaos, the students scattered in all directions as their desperate screams filled the air.
“Good heavens. It’s a real mist burn…”
Dogyoon urgently took out his cell phone. A mist burn wasn’t something an E-ranked person like himself could handle alone.
Suho urgently asked Dogyoon, who was sending a request for help, “A mist burn? What kind of magic beast is this, exactly?”
“If that creature defeats us…” Dogyoon bit his lip, “we’ll turn into the exact same thing.”
“Krrraaaah!”
As the beast screamed, Suho and Dogyoon saw the fallen students afflicted with mist burn begin to rise again, with blue smoke emitting from their bodies.
