The moment the words left his mouth, the air around Seo Eui-woo changed.
It felt razor-sharp, as if a single spark could ignite an explosion. The tension coiled tightly, constricting like an invisible noose.
“At first, I dismissed it as just a dream. But when it kept repeating, it felt… unsettling. And then…”
Like a warning, as if something horrifying still remained.
“It made me wonder if it’s still… connected somehow.”
“Connected?”
“No, I mean—”
Seo Eui-woo grabbed Kwon Jae-jin’s face with both hands, his grip firm. Then, with deliberate force, he tilted Jae-jin’s head back until his neck bent at an angle. Jae-jin, caught off guard, didn’t even struggle—his spine curved, his posture precariously vulnerable.
“What is?”
“…….”
“Connected to you?”
Seo Eui-woo leaned in closer. With the ceiling light behind him, his face was cast in shadow, his presence growing heavier as he closed the distance.
Their gazes locked. Seo Eui-woo’s eyes bore into him, his unwavering focus entirely on Jae-jin.
Jae-jin only realized belatedly that the sound hammering against his ears was his own heartbeat. The pounding intensified, a weight pressing down on his chest. He couldn’t look away from the piercing gaze pinning him in place.
Their eyes met, sharing a silent, uneasy tension—anxiety laced with uncertainty. Their emotions fractured, each struggling with the loss of certainty.
And at that moment, both of their communicators rang simultaneously.
Beep-beep. Beep-beep. Beep-beep. The emergency alert tone.
As one, they reached for their devices, reading the incoming message. The moment they had been waiting for had arrived.
It felt like fate was calling.
***
Beyond the endless horizon, a thick cloud of dust billowed into the sky.
In the uncharted territories, the ruins of a building were sinking into the ground.
Like a passenger ship sinking into the abyss of the ocean. Like a caravan wagon swallowed by the shifting sands of a desert sinkhole. Massive steel structures were vanishing beneath the surface, one by one.
A black void existed there.
A sinkhole so vast, its diameter was impossible to estimate. And it wasn’t just one—there were at least three or four. Vertical tunnels plunged into the depths, cutting off all light, their ends swallowed by utter darkness.
From far below, a deep, guttural sound rumbled.
Guuuuuuuuuu—
Something was down there.
And it was getting closer.
Stepping over the crumbling soil, scaling jagged cliffs, black creatures swarmed upward in relentless waves. They looked like a horde of monsters emerging from the maw of hell itself.
Among the β-creatures, those that had remained within the gate—creatures that had never before seen the light of day—were far more vicious and savage than the spectral wanderers that had already roamed the surface. Unlike the damp, suffocating darkness of the underground, the bright, unfamiliar surface world forced them to adapt. Their wariness was heightened, their movements sharper.
Krrrrrk, krrrrr…
The β-creatures that had poured out of the gate suddenly lifted their heads in unison, as if responding to some silent command. Then, as if possessed, they leaped forward, bolting at full speed. They merged with other β-creatures lingering throughout the ruined buildings, forming a single massive swarm. Like a flock of migrating birds or a school of fish, they moved as one, heading south.
And then, from deep within the sinkhole, something entirely different emerged.
An α-creature.
The monstrous being erupted from the depths, tearing through the sinkhole walls as if ripping open the entrance to the gate itself. A thick cloud of dust swallowed the sky.
Like a sovereign taking its rightful place, the α-creature joined the β-creature swarm. Then, with overwhelming dominance, it began its march southward.
[ Urgent! ]
A patrolling unmanned reconnaissance drone detected the creatures’ movement. The system immediately triggered a high-risk alert, the control panel flashing red. An emergency transmission was sent to central command without delay.
The drone banked sharply, circling above the horde while capturing live footage of the unfolding situation.
And then—it saw it.
Beyond the ridge, in the farthest reaches of the horizon, columns of tornado-like vortices shot into the sky. Not just one or two, but multiple, stretching high enough to pierce the clouds.
Dust storms spiraled across various regions, clear signs of multiple gates opening simultaneously.
[ Urgent! ]
[ Urgent! ]
[ Urgent! ]
The number of storm pillars kept growing.
Winds surged violently from the abyssal sinkholes, sending plumes of dust soaring into the sky.
Like signal flares igniting across the battlefield.
The opening shots of war.
The reconnaissance drone fired off emergency transmissions in rapid succession. But in that instant, a β-creature—one of the airborne variants—shot through the clouds like a missile, its wings slicing through the air.
Ududuck!
The reconnaissance drone’s propeller shattered instantly under the force of the attack.
As the drone’s wreckage plummeted, crashing into the ground below, the monstrous army surged forward, trampling over its remains without hesitation.
Creature Wave.
Second Wave.
The black tide grew taller, fiercer, and charged toward the outer defensive walls like a raging storm.
Kiiiiuuuuu—!
Karak, Karararak!
Grrrrr…
But this time, they were prepared.
The reconnaissance drones had detected the start of the war, and every Awakened soldier had already recognized the impending creature wave and was ready to deploy.
The bombers and missiles were already standing by.
Healing factors, guiding substitute drugs, and even the risk management protocols for Awakened berserk states were all in place.
The command center, having received the emergency transmission, immediately mobilized the special operations forces and issued the order for rapid deployment. Not just the army, but the air force and navy had also dispatched reinforcements, with transport aircraft swiftly ascending into the skies, ferrying troops to the outer perimeter wall.
“Formation in three shifts! Front line, kneel and fire! Second line, standing fire! Rear line, reload!”
“Yes, Lieutenant Colonel Jang!”
“Twenty kilometers ahead! A massive cluster of creatures is advancing rapidly!”
“The sky is swarming with airborne β-creatures!”
“The air force special unit will handle the skies! We will hold the ground and defend the outer perimeter wall with everything we have!”
“Understood! We will follow orders!”
The special forces moved with flawless precision, forming an optimal defensive formation.
During the previous battle, they had been thrown into war with no time to assess the situation. But this time, they had enough leeway to establish a solid defensive stance.
In the last battle, Seo Eui-woo and Kwon Jae-jin had only arrived on the battlefield after everything had already spiraled into chaos. But now, they had joined the front line ahead of time.
Seo Eui-woo, who no longer made any effort to hide his use of coordinate teleportation, arrived with Kwon Jae-jin in tow. A radiant burst of light shimmered, and their figures materialized atop the outer perimeter wall.
“…!”
The moment the special forces recognized them, they instinctively flinched.
Some glanced at them warily, but no major issues arose.
Kwon Jae-jin was dressed in his newly issued combat uniform and goggles, a rifle in his hands. His identification tag, embedded with his Awakened registration code, marked him as an ally.
And, of course, there was also the fact that Seo Eui-woo—a beast of a man with massive muscles—stood right beside him, eyes sharp and watchful like a guard dog ready to pounce.
At the front lines, Lieutenant Colonel Jang Tae-san turned to the two and offered them a slow, respectful nod. Following him, members of the 1st Special Operations Unit saluted Seo Eui-woo, their former comrade, one by one.
Further back, near the 7th Special Operations Unit’s defensive line, Major Mateo caught Jae-jin’s eye and gave him a slight nod in greeting. Even the unfamiliar soldiers standing beside him followed suit, bowing their heads in acknowledgment.
They were likely the comrades of Lieutenant Park Ho-won, who had gone berserk before. Seeing their friendly attitude toward Jae-jin, it seemed that Mateo had spoken well on his behalf.
Just then, Seo Eui-woo stepped forward, his broad shoulders blocking Jae-jin’s line of sight.
“Stop looking.”
His voice was firm—unyielding.
“That’s enough now. Stop looking.”
“…….”
“If you keep poking at it, I’m the one who suffers.”
Seo Eui-woo’s voice was serious—so much so that it was hard to tell whether he was pleading or threatening. He was clearly trying to maintain his composure, but the barely concealed frustration twisting underneath was impossible to ignore.
Kwon Jae-jin swallowed a slow sigh. The reason behind Eui-woo’s irritation wasn’t just the presence of the Awakened soldiers around them.
The Seo Eui-woo from the first timeline…
“I keep wondering if it’s still connected somehow.”
“Connected?”
Does he think, like I do, that this isn’t just a simple dream?
Or… does he have something more concrete in mind?
I don’t want to admit it, but… Seo Eui-woo and Seo Eui-woo are the same person. Of course, he would know himself better than I ever could.
Jae-jin stole a glance at Eui-woo’s face. His expression was dark, as deep and unreadable as the abyss.
Those gray eyes, usually sharp yet composed, were drier than ever, drained of warmth. Now, with the lethal focus that came before a battle, they burned even colder—sharper than a blade.
“Ha…”
Jae-jin tightened his grip on his rifle, his gloved fingers clenching around it with quiet force.
The unmanned bombers began launching missiles at the approaching creatures, obliterating the vanguard of the black swarm. Enemy numbers thinned, but the distant battle felt almost surreal. The deafening explosions and relentless gunfire pounded through his skull, muddling his thoughts.
“Jae-jin.”
“…Huh?”
“I’ll say this just once.”
Eui-woo’s power surged. A dense, overwhelming force condensed around him, chilling the air until it felt like ice was cracking in the atmosphere. The sheer pressure of his energy twisted the air into a vortex, sending his hair and uniform whipping in the wind.
“I don’t care if it’s myself I’m up against—I have no intention of sharing your heart.”
