[Day 22 — The Morning After the Second Wave]
The city burned quietly.
The rain had stopped, but smoke still rose from the shattered skyline. Once-bustling districts were nothing more than empty streets littered with ash, broken glass, and the scent of iron.
And in the middle of that silence, the SunMart Gas Station still glowed faintly — one of the few surviving safe zones left standing.
Inside, Min Jae leaned against the counter, his breathing ragged. His hands were still trembling, knuckles raw and covered in drying blood.
He had fought until his vision turned black, until the monsters stopped moving. Now, there was only quiet.
The children huddled together in the corner, wrapped in emergency blankets, eyes wide and hollow. They watched the woman lying motionless near the wall — Evelyn Park.
Her body was pale, her clothes torn and soaked in crimson.The faint shimmer of green light around her was the only sign that her life hadn't yet flickered out completely.
[Subject: Evelyn Park]
[Condition: Critical]
[Auto-Regeneration: Suspended — Insufficient Mana]
[Stabilization Required.]
Min Jae crouched beside her, his newly awakened system flickering across his vision. His own health bar pulsed erratically — Berserk Mode backlash. His head pounded. Every heartbeat felt like thunder.
He reached out, brushing her hair away from her face."You saved them," he murmured. "Now it's my turn."
He didn't know what to do, but he knew he couldn't let her die.
Elsewhere — Government Emergency Command Center, Seoul
Miles away, deep beneath what used to be the Ministry of Defense, the military base buzzed with frantic energy. Dozens of monitors showed satellite feeds, global casualty numbers, and shifting monster activity maps.
The world was in free fall.
[Global Communication Offline: 74% of Regions Unreachable]
[Confirmed Human Survivors: 38%]
[Safe Zone Network: Fragmented — Majority Unregistered.]
Inside the command chamber, soldiers moved quickly — but without unity. Orders overlapped, channels jammed. Half of the officers were newly awakened, their power levels unreadable, their discipline gone.
Without a strong chain of command, chaos was only a matter of time.
That was when the doors opened — and silence fell.
A tall man in a black military coat entered, his steps steady and measured. His aura — cold, sharp, and impossibly heavy — pressed against everyone in the room.
[Name: General Park Hyunsung]
[Class: Archmage – Supreme Tier]
[Title: The Commander of Flame and Frost]
[Power Rank: SSS]
His presence alone made even awakened soldiers step aside. His eyes were dark — the kind that saw everything and cared for nothing.
"Status," he said quietly.
An officer straightened immediately. "Sir, we've lost contact with over eighty percent of outer districts. Civilian signals are unstable. Most communication lines are dead. We can't reach survivors outside the military safe zone."
Hyunsung nodded once. "Then seal the perimeter."
The officer hesitated. "Seal, sir? There are still people—"
"People we can't protect," the general said, his voice calm and unyielding. "We hold the line here. That's an order."
Silence rippled across the room. No one dared argue.
Behind the Curtain
After the officer left, Hyunsung stood before the central map display — a flickering digital outline of Seoul, red dots marking known dungeons, yellow signals marking unidentified awakeners.
He tapped the largest cluster near District 13 — the only one still glowing faint green.
[Entity Signature: Life-Type Magic Detected.]
[Class: Life Artisan]
[Power Level: SSS+]
[ID: Unknown.]
He stared at the reading for a long time, expression unreadable.
Then he murmured, almost to himself,"Life Artisan…that reminds me of someone"
He stopped. His jaw tightened. His pulse spiked for the first time in years.
[Search Query: Evelyn Park — Status Unknown.]
The computer flashed static, then a result.A faint signal pulsed weakly near the outskirts of Seoul.
[Match Found.]
[Subject: Evelyn Park]
[Condition: Critical — Alive.]
For the briefest second, something flickered behind his cold eyes — regret, pain, memory — but it vanished almost instantly.
He exhaled slowly. "...So you're still alive."
Meanwhile — SunMart Gas Station
The morning light was gray and thin when Evelyn stirred.
Her eyes opened slowly — her body heavy, throat dry, head pounding. The first thing she saw was the flickering green barrier ceiling above her. Then the faint, rhythmic breathing of children asleep nearby.
And beside her, Min Jae, sitting cross-legged on the floor, half-asleep, his knuckles still bleeding, his system flickering red.
She blinked weakly. "You didn't sleep."
He rubbed his eyes and smiled faintly. "Didn't dare to. Every time I closed them, I heard something outside."
She tried to sit up — pain exploded through her chest. He caught her shoulder instantly."Don't move! You're not healed yet."
She grimaced. "I'm fine."
"You're bleeding through your shirt."
"I've been worse."
He sighed, exasperated. "You almost died."
She looked at him then — really looked. The mild-mannered teacher she'd met had vanished. His aura now burned faintly crimson, unstable but powerful.
"I saw what you did," she said quietly. "You awakened."
He looked down at his hands. "If you mean losing control and killing everything that moved… yeah. I guess I did."
She shook her head slowly. "No. You protected them."
He didn't answer. But the guilt in his eyes said everything.
The Broadcast
A sudden static burst from the small convenience store radio made everyone jump.
[—This is Military Command speaking—]
[All remaining civilians are instructed to remain in local safe zones. Do not approach the perimeter.]
[Government shelters are sealed until further notice. Survival priority is limited to military personnel and confirmed awakeners.]
The line crackled, then cut off.
The children starred, confused. The adults looked at each other, horrified.
Evelyn's hands clenched into fists."They're closing the doors on us."
Min Jae's jaw tightened. "Even the kids?"
"Especially the kids," she said bitterly. "They can't afford dependents."
He stood slowly, anger rising. "Then we'll do it ourselves."
Evelyn looked up at him — and for the first time since the world ended, she smiled faintly. "That's the spirit, Teacher."
Her system flickered weakly to life again, as if in agreement.
[Emergency Quest: Establish a New Safe Zone]
[Objective: Relocate Survivors to Secure Area]
[Reward: Sanctuary Upgrade]
[Warning: Monster Activity Increasing.]
She rose unsteadily, gripping her sword. "Let's move before the next wave."
Back in the Military Base
General Park stood on the balcony overlooking the courtyard, where thousands of newly awakened soldiers trained with unrefined power. Flames, shadows, lightning — uncontrolled, wild.
The world was changing faster than they could adapt.
One of his adjutants approached. "Sir, about the signal you detected earlier…"
Hyunsung didn't look at him. "Erase it."
The man hesitated. "Erase it, sir? It could be—"
"I know who it could be," he said coldly. "If she survived, she doesn't need me."
He turned away, his voice dropping to something almost human."She made her choice when she took her mother's name."
End Scene — The March of Survivors
Far away, the survivors of SunMart began their journey.
Evelyn walked at the front, cloak torn, sword in hand. The air around her shimmered faintly with green energy, her life force still unstable but growing stronger with each step.
Behind her, Min Jae carried a child on his back, the crimson glow of his Berserker aura faint but steady — tempered by sheer will.
They walked through the ruins of Seoul, past burnt cars and collapsed buildings, toward a horizon lit by fire and lightning.
Above them, the system pulsed once more:
[Chapter Complete: "The Price of Order"]
[Next Event: The Third Awakening.]