Chapter 3

"Haha, ha."

All that came out of Kyunghoon was laughter.

While ascending to the ground, he had imagined all sorts of scenarios, but he never once thought he would see a ruined Seoul.

'Could I have taken a time machine to the future?'

It was the most plausible thought at the moment.

It seemed that one of the many stories of the world's end had unfolded in this Seoul. Or perhaps, Seoul had turned into a wasteland due to a war with North Korea.

However, the scene before him didn't look like the ruins of a war. There were still many intact buildings, and the damaged ones didn't appear to have been destroyed by bombing.

Apart from war, he couldn't figure out how Seoul had ended up in such a state.

Fortunately, the shock didn't last long. Thanks to the mental fortitude he had built up while ascending to the ground.

Once he regained his composure, he noticed some peculiarities.

The broken cars and buildings that hadn't collapsed all seemed a bit outdated.

They looked at least 10 to 20 years old. While he saw some designs he had never seen before, some of the cars were models from 20 years ago.

Seoul, this city, had broken down in a somewhat strange way.

However, the city wasn't just an empty wasteland.

Roar!

A roar echoed from a distance. Between the intact buildings, the silhouette of a giant creature could be seen.

'At least a four-story tall quadruped... Could it be a dinosaur?'

Given that a rat as big as a large dog had appeared earlier, it wasn't surprising to see a monster five stories tall.

"Well, it's not surprising."

This was Kyunghoon's resigned muttering.

In any case, the presence of such a creature meant that the outside wasn't safe.

At the moment, he could only see the giant monster in the distance, but there were surely other monsters in the remaining buildings. If he had a clear view, he might have moved, but in a city full of abandoned buildings, he couldn't move recklessly.

Kyunghoon took a step back first, hiding behind the broken main gate.

He was in a dilemma.

He hadn't finished searching the building, but the outside was equally dangerous, leaving him at a loss for what to do.

That's when it happened.

Buzz, buzz.

His phone, which he had put in his pocket, vibrated again.

'What's happening now?'

He hurriedly took out his phone.

He pressed the button, and the screen changed.

The short message on the screen only made him more confused.

But now wasn't the time to stare at the screen.

Squeak!

As feared, two large monsters appeared from behind the collapsed buildings across the road.

Compared to the giant monster seen from a distance, these were smaller.

They were the size of sedans. Smaller than the distant monster, but still terrifying up close.

Moreover, the monsters that revealed themselves were very similar to the giant rats he had killed earlier.

"Could the ones I caught be their offspring?"

The monsters looked like rats, but the ones that appeared this time were several times larger than the ones he had killed.

One was the size of a small car, and the other was the size of a small van. It was clear that they were male and female.

'Could they be the ones that left the bite marks in the nest?'

One problem after another. Kyunghoon clenched his teeth without realizing it.

Moreover, the monsters seemed to have caught his scent. The giant rats sniffed with their large noses and growled at the building.

'Will bullets work on them?'

Kyunghoon's expression hardened as he watched the two giant rats slowly approach.

It wasn't an armor-piercing bullet from a rifle but a 9mm pistol round. Such a bullet wouldn't easily bring down a regular bull.

However, he had no choice but to rely on the unexpected power of the pistol.

Kyunghoon decided to attack before the monsters got any closer.

He hid behind the wall and aimed his gun. His target was the smaller one. He aimed at the smaller monster's head and pulled the trigger.

Bang!

The sound of the gun echoed in the distance.

Clang!

The bullet bounced off with a spark.

"Damn it."

The bullet didn't even touch the giant rat's head. A translucent barrier appeared the moment the bullet hit, blocking it.

The gunshot seemed to only anger the giant rat.

Kyunghoon quickly ran inside. No matter how he calculated, he had no chance of winning. He needed to find a place to hide first.

The two giant rats, having been attacked, roared and ran towards the building.

The previously quiet area around the building began to stir. The gunshots had started to move the other monsters.

Kyunghoon ran into a door deep in the lobby. It was a place he had noticed while passing through the lobby.

A door that was close to the lobby and still intact. It was the conference room.

He ran into the conference room, closed the door, and locked it. Then, he ran to the farthest corner of the room and hid between the chairs. He covered his mouth and nose and held his breath. If he hadn't been detected, he still had a chance to survive.

'Please go down to the basement.'

The moment the monsters went down to the basement, Kyunghoon planned to run outside.

While other monsters were moving due to the gunshots, Kyunghoon was unaware of this fact.

Creak.

The sound of the giant rats came from right in front of the door. Unfortunately, the giant rats didn't go down to the basement.

And in the next moment, the giant rats started to break down the door.

Crash! Creak!

The door that Kyunghoon had blocked was crushed in an instant.

The two giant rats leaped into the room and ran forward.

One leaped over the chairs as if flying, while the other smashed through them and ran towards where Kyunghoon was hiding.

He had hidden his appearance, but he couldn't hide his scent.

The giant rat that had reached the front of the conference room buried its mouth where Kyunghoon had been lying.

Crash!

The chairs flew in all directions.

The other giant rat, which arrived next, also went on a rampage, turning the area into a mess.

The giant rats seemed intent on not only finding the human but also destroying the conference room.

However, at some point, the two giant rats stopped moving.

There was no sign of a human. Not in the giant rat's mouth, not among the broken chairs, not on the cracked marble floor. Kyunghoon was nowhere to be seen.

The two giant rats tilted their heads and wandered around, eventually going down to the basement.

And a short while later, the mournful cries of the monsters could be heard from the basement.

***

Rewinding time to just before the monsters burst into the conference room.

Kyunghoon, who had been hiding between the chairs, felt a strange sensation.

It felt as if something inside his body was awakening. It was as if a new organ had taken its place.

It felt like he had grown an extra eye or ear, or an extra arm.

At the same time, a method to use the new organ came to mind.

'Crazy as it sounds...'

-First, name it to easily visualize it.

"Create a dimensional corridor."

-Use the newly formed organ to open a space.

Whoosh!

A black hole appeared before his eyes.

-Then, connect the open space to the dimension from which he came.

A virtual line was drawn into the black hole.

It was a method that had been imprinted in his mind in an instant, and Kyunghoon, though disbelieving, followed the remembered method. The dark and gloomy hole felt very comforting.

Bang!

At that moment, the sound of the door breaking was heard.

Without a second thought, Kyunghoon jumped into the black hole.

Whoosh.

Before his eyes was a black space. No, a space filled with twinkling stars.

It felt as if he had jumped into the universe.

The moment he leaped into the empty space, his body began to move along the line he had drawn. He quickly advanced through the empty space.

He looked back. The hole he had jumped into was getting smaller, turning into a small light.

And the light in the distance was getting closer. Kyunghoon felt as if he was flying through space.

The destination was almost in sight. The light of the destination was now visible as a bright circle.

And a fork appeared.

The circle of the destination was not one but two, with paths diverging to either side.

'Am I supposed to choose?'

He chose the brighter side. Fortunately, he didn't end up on the other path.

He jumped into the light.

Flash.

The light was overwhelming.

When the light faded, Kyunghoon found himself standing in the center of his room.

He looked around. No matter how he looked, it was clearly his room.

A shabby one-room apartment in an old office building. His belongings were still there, and the signs of where he had slept the night before were still visible. He could even see the empty beer cans.

He approached the window and looked outside, letting out a sigh of relief.

"Phew... It's the same. Everything's fine."

The Seoul he saw outside the window was no different from before. The tall skyscrapers and the densely packed buildings.

The scene, which had been very oppressive, was now a source of gratitude.

Everything had returned to normal.

Seeing the intact Seoul made the events of the past few hours seem like a dream.

However, he couldn't think of it as a dream.

The clock on the wall already indicated the afternoon, and his body was tired and hungry.

In his hand was something that would get him arrested by the police if discovered. A somewhat unusual military pistol.

As he examined the pistol, other items came to mind.

His phone and lighter. And various small items.

Finally, the various glittering precious metals.

He stared intently at the jewelry he had placed on the desk.

"Are they real? Not just plated, right?"

No matter how he looked, they didn't seem fake.

With the reality clear, he had a lot of work to do.

Dealing with the precious metals and deciding what to do with the items he had brought.

And his body.

But there was something he needed to do first.

He took off all his clothes and pushed the dangerous items under the bed.

Then, he quickly took a shower and boiled a cup of ramen. The tension had eased, and he was starving. He mixed the ramen with rice and ate it hurriedly, then immediately fell onto the bed.

With a full stomach, fatigue set in.

It had been only half a day, but for him, who had been worn down by society, it was no ordinary adventure.

Kyunghoon fell asleep immediately, using the news from the next room as a lullaby.