Darkness.
That was the first thing Raon felt—not pain, not fear.
Just an endless, swallowing void.
He opened his eyes and saw nothing.
Pitch-black stretched in every direction, thick enough to choke on.
His body felt weightless, floating in a world that wasn't a world.
Then—
Grab.
Cold fingers wrapped around his ankle.
Raon jerked.
More hands burst from the darkness below, pale and thin and countless, pulling, dragging him down into a bottomless pit.
"Let go—!"
He kicked, thrashed, tore his leg free, but for every hand he broke there were ten more clinging to him. Their nails scraped his skin. Their touch felt like drowning in nightmares that had never been born.
The abyss whispered.
A voice—faint, broken, muffled—echoed through the void.
"…on…"
Raon froze.
Was that…?
"…aon…!"
The hands tightened.
He felt his knee sink into the abyss. Then his waist.
Darkness swallowed him higher and higher.
The voice came again—clearer this time.
"RAON!!!"
A light burst in the distance.
Small.
Flickering.
But real.
Raon dragged himself upward, ripping through the hands as they screamed in silence. He clawed toward the light, reaching, pushing, fighting—
And then—
FLASH!
His eyes snapped open.
The real world slammed back into him.
He lay on the wet concrete floor of the giant tank. Han was kneeling in front of him, holding a trembling round shield, a glowing force-field stretching around them in a dome.
The centipede monster hammered the shield again.
BOOOOM!
Cracks spidered across the barrier.
Han shouted over the shaking, "Raon! Raon, are you alive?!"
Raon coughed, chest burning. "…Barely."
Another strike.
CRRRR-KKKKK!
A chunk of the shield shattered like glass.
Han's voice trembled. "I can't… I can't hold this thing for much longer! Do something!"
Raon sat up, gasping for breath.
"Five minutes," he whispered.
"What?!"
"Give me five… just five."
He opened the system shop. Screens flashed. Items blurred. His thumb scrolled through categories desperately.
The centipede reared back for another attack.
Han screamed, "HOW MUCH MORE TIME?!!"
Raon didn't answer.
His hand slammed down on a purchase.
Then he grabbed a small bottle from the materialized window—a glowing blue potion crackling faintly with energy.
He uncorked it with his teeth and drank.
Lightning exploded in his veins.
Raon's pupils shrank to slits of electric blue.
He stood.
Han's jaw dropped. "Raon…?"
Raon's voice was a whisper of thunder.
"Move when I say move."
The centipede reared back, gathering its full strength for a killing blow.
Han screamed, "IT'S COMING!"
KRAAAAA—!
The shield shattered like a bursting star. Pieces of glowing light scattered across the chamber.
Han rolled away as the monster's strike smashed the ground where he had been.
Dust filled the room.
A shape emerged inside the cloud.
Raon.
Standing tall.
Blue eyes blazing like storms.
Lightning flickering under his skin like a caged god waking up.
The centipede locked onto him.
Its screech tore the air.
Raon tilted his head slightly.
"Come."
The monster lunged.
Raon vanished.
CRACK—!!
A sonic boom slammed through the chamber.
Raon appeared behind the centipede, then vanished again.
CRACK—CRACK—CRACK—CRACK!!
He was everywhere.
On the walls.
On the ceiling.
Across the floor.
A zigzagging thunderbolt tearing through the darkness.
Each strike pierced the centipede's joints.
SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!
Armor plates cracked under the barrage.
Black blood sprayed in arcs.
Han's eyes widened. "What… what is his speed…?!"
Raon reappeared in front of him—
—and collapsed to his knees, vomiting blood.
His ears were bleeding.
His eyes were bloodshot red.
His veins glowed painfully blue.
A system window flickered in front of him:
[Light Potion — Time Remaining: 1:00]
Raon staggered.
He pulled a healing potion from his pocket with shaking hands.
Behind them, the centipede screeched and dragged itself upright again, damaged but not defeated.
Raon forced the healing potion down.
The centipede charged.
Raon blurred.
CRACK!
He struck again—
Plates shattered.
More pieces of armor fell.
The beast screeched, thrashing violently.
[Time Remaining: 0:30]
Raon landed hard, knees giving out. Blood splashed from his mouth.
Pain exploded down his spine.
Han ran to him. "Raon! STOP! You'll die—"
Raon pushed him away weakly.
"…Not yet."
He forced himself to stand.
Lightning crawling up his arms.
[Time Remaining: 0:15]
The centipede roared.
Raon roared back, voice cracking with agony.
He launched himself one last time—
CRAAAAAACK!!!
The world blurred into streaks of blue.
Raon's blade slashed in a storm-like frenzy, cutting faster than the eye could follow.
Each strike chipped.
Split.
Shattered.
Until—
CRRRRRRRRSHHHHH!!!
The monster's armored shell exploded outward.
The centipede collapsed, screech dying in a wet rattle.
Raon landed behind it.
[Time Remaining: 0:10]
His vision doubled.
His knees buckled.
[0:05]
He forced one last step.
Then leapt.
With every shred of strength—
SHIIING—!!!
Lightning erupted around him as he cut through the monster's neck, severing it completely.
The centipede's head hit the ground with a sickening thud.
Raon landed.
Blue light flickered once…
[0:00 — Effect Ended]
—and the centipede was died.
All lightning vanished.The world froze.
Raon collapsed face-first onto the concrete. Unmoving.
Raon didn't remember when he lost consciousness—only the cold stone beneath him, and a distant echo like something dragging him into darkness.
His eyes snapped open.
The ceiling was a jagged dome of broken concrete. Light seeped in through cracks where the centipede had thrashed earlier. Han sat beside him, slumped with exhaustion but awake, breathing heavily.
"You're finally up…" Han let out a shaky laugh. "I thought you died for real this time."
Raon pushed himself up. Every bone screamed. The Light Potion's aftereffects made his muscles feel like they were tearing apart each time he moved.
"…How long was I out?"
"No idea. But look." Han pointed upward.
The tank's ceiling—the manhole they initially spotted—had collapsed halfway. The centipede's final rampage had crushed the surrounding concrete, creating a slope of rubble that climbed almost all the way up.
A natural escape route.
Raon clenched his jaw. "We have to climb."
Climbing the debris was like climbing broken knives. The rocks shifted under their weight. Each movement made Raon's vision blur.
But they climbed anyway.
When Raon finally reached the top, his hands bleeding and lungs burning, he pushed against the bent metal hatch. It groaned—but opened.
Fresh air rushed in.
Han crawled up beside him. Together, they pulled themselves onto the surface.
And collapsed
Above them, the night sky stretched endlessly, cold and quiet. Not a single star. Only drifting gray clouds moving like they were hiding something.
Raon stared up for a long time.
"…We survived again."
Han chuckled weakly. "Barely."
After several minutes, Han forced himself to sit up and pulled out his phone. No signal—of course. But the offline map still worked.
"According to where we fell and the underground map…" Han zoomed in. "We should be near Gimpo Hangang."
Raon nodded slowly. "From here, we can reach Seoul if we pass through Gimpo City → then the Gayang area → then Mapo."
"That's our route, then." Han tightened his fists. "Let's go find your brother."
Raon didn't reply.
Instead, he stood.
Because far in the distance… the city didn't look like an abandoned place.
It looked like something was moving.
They walked for almost an hour before reaching the outskirts.
The city was a ruin—splintered buildings, overturned buses, claw marks along the asphalt. Charred monster corpses lay scattered like burned logs.
But the strangest part?
Human traps.
Rusty wires stretched across alleys. Wooden spikes hammered into the road. Bottles hung above streets like alarms.
Someone lives here," Han whispered.
"Someone organized," Raon added.
They walked deeper into the city.
The air grew heavy.
The silence grew sharp.
Then—they hear an voice of someone.