Màu nền Màu tối Mặc định Xám nhạt Xanh nhạt Xanh đậm Vàng nhạt Màu sepia Vàng đậm Vàng ố

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'Chilly' was Kim Dokja's first impression of Seol as he stepped out of the airport. Behind him, Han Myung-Oh complained something about no one coming to pick them up as he pulled his luggage suitcase. A bit further on his left, Yoo Sang-ah was checking the map. From the outside, their group looked no different than a group of office workers who had just returned from a business trip.

It had been so long since the last time he stepped foot in Korea, his homeland.

Most of his memories had faded, but as the place containing the happiest times of his childhood, he still couldn't help but let the suppressed emotions in his heart rise, even if only for a moment.

The Europe-Asia supercontinent was far from DisCity, making Paradeiso reach here wasn't as strong. Even so, he could still be sure that there was no shortage of Paradeiso spies here, otherwise they would never have accepted him coming here with only two subordinates.

While they got into the taxi, Yoo Sang-ah said excitedly:

"Our appointment with the Meteorite Monitoring Department is the morning after tomorrow, during which time we will be free. What do you think about Yejiwon? It's a place offering traditional Korean etiquette education programs. They also serve to introduce the traditional cultures and living cultures of Korean etiquettes to foreigners."

"Is there a good place to go shopping? Women who study too much have a hard time getting married..."

"..."

They glanced at Kim Dokja nervously. This was in fact their first time meeting him. Before that, they knew nothing about the young man, just that one day, the high ups said they would go and protect this person on a business trip. During the whole time on the plane, he barely said anything, just focusing on reading something on his phone, causing their relationship to hardly progress at all.

Sensing their gaze, Kim Dokja just casually said:

"I will stay at the hotel, just choose wherever you want to go."

No matter where he goes, there will always be people watching. In that case, he would rather curl up in a blanket and read novels in comfort.

The following days, he did exactly as he said, to the point even Han Myung-Oh felt guilty, because all of their shopping and sightseeing expenses were all taken care of by him. When he saw the thin man wearing glasses handing him a huge bag of snacks, saying that Kim Dokja wasn't surprised was a lie. His impression of this man could not be said to be positive: paternalistic, cowardly, shameless,... but clearly, he was still a 'human', with all the aspects a normal human should have.

Kim Dokja politely received the bag and put it next to all the souvenirs Yoo Sang-ah had gifted him. Sprawled out on the table were all kinds of little things ranging from ornaments to tableware. He grabbed a bag of spicy fried Tteokbokki and started to eat with the pair of chopsticks provided by the hotel.

Those snacks were really good.

Two days went by quickly, and their meeting day came fast. In Korea, there were two observation stations for the dormant meteor, and they frequently exchange information, so they only need to meet one. At first, there were more than 10 stations scattered by the coast just to monitor the tiny piece of meteor. But gradually, they reduced and now, there are only 2 still active.

This meteor has been dormant since the day it entered the ocean, and produces no matter to mine, unlike the hypercube in DisCity. To put it simple, this meteor was useless.

Until a month ago, they received mysterious signals from it. Its frequency of occurrence was extremely low, and it wasn't until a few days ago that the second wave of signals was emitted. Thus, they were sent here to investigate.

Considering how long it was neglected, this reaction speed was already very fast.

However, this time it seems Kim Dokja was cursed, because their car once again didn't appear on time, due to a traffic jam. Seeing that their scheduled meeting time was getting closer and closer, Kim Dokja sighed, then decided to go by subway. Naturally, the kind Yoo Sang-ah didn't have any problem. Han Myung-Oh was a bit opposed, perhaps because he had been able to travel by taxi and luxury car these past few days. But since the person with the highest position had already decided, he could do absolutely nothing.

Rush hour has passed for a while, but the subway was still quite crowded. Kim Dokja secretly felt lucky as the scene of people huddled in the train compartment did not happen as he imagined. After picking an empty spot, he started dwelling in his phone again. Contrary to Han Myung-Oh who had long given up on making connection, Yoo Sang-ah still tried to make conversation with him:

"At this rate, you'll get sucked into your smartphone."

Sitting next to him, her shoulder extruded a subtle scent, much lighter than from those he met at the banquets. The perfume that those ladies and gentlemen used wasn't bad, but when too many scents were mixed in one place, his nose was basically clogged.

Yoo Sang-ah also opened her phone, and started mumbling after the words on it:

"Puede prestarme dinero..."

Studying Spanish on the subway? It really suits her hard-working image. When he thought about it, on the first day, she also suggested that they go to Yejiwon to learn Korean etiquette. As a superior, he felt that perhaps he should encourage her a little.

"You're working hard."

"! ...Thank you! By the way, what is Dokja-ni–ssi looking at?"

She almost used high-level honorifics to address him, but managed to change it in the final second. It was his request.

"Ah, it's a novel, just my hobby."

His world. To be exact.

In a white world where order and duty were put above all else, none reacted to a five years old child's tantrum who just got separated from his family. Except during classes, no one spoke to him for more than two sentences. He always felt that people in Paradeiso weren't human, but empty dolls in refined shells.

Slowly, he also retreated to his own shell. If the reading room was his favorite hiding spot at home, the library in Paradeiso was his only hiding spot, the only place where he could at least breathe comfortably. Despite knowing those eyes never truly left, he could at least curl behind pillars of books and pretend to be alone.

Only in these little spaces between words can he feel human emotion.

Suddenly, a shockwave of magic washed over him, pulling him out of his thoughts immediately. The distinctive feeling was almost identical to what he felt whenever getting close to The Perishing Star. Yoo Sang-Ah and Han Myung-Oh hadn't noticed anything yet, and still busy with their own when Kim Dokja suddenly stood up:

"We need to leave!"

"What?..."

Their confused eyes watched him with a startled expression, the same was to other people in the train. But it was already too late.

Kiiiiiiiik-!

The subway train shook loudly and let out a metallic sound. It caused Yoo Sang-Ah to scream and grab his arm. Then he heard the sound of other people getting stirred up. Yoo Sang-Ah gripped his arm so tightly that he paid more attention to the pain in his left arm than the sudden stop. It took a dozen seconds for the train to stop fully.

Then he heard confused voices coming from everywhere.

"Uh, what?"

"W-What is this?"

Yoo Sang-Ah still held his left arm tightly as she asked:

"W-What happened?"

Even Han Myung-Oh was gripping his right arm, as if he was their only life-saving thread:

"Did you know something about th—"

Without waiting for him to finish his sentence, the sky outside the subway train changed dramatically. It was only 9 in the morning, but the sky had turned completely red as if it was dawn. From somewhere outside, sounds completely different from human voices roared out somewhere.

Kim Dokja's nerves stiffened, he couldn't be more familiar with that sound. As Paradeiso's agents, Yoo Sang-Ah and Han Myung-Oh also had knowledge about the monster, but they were still limited to office staff. His was on a completely different level from them.

He furrowed his eyebrows, and gave the only answer he could come up with:

"The meteor has awakened."

But this wasn't on the same level as The Perishing Star at all. Was it due to its 'hatching' time?

Suddenly, a sharp pain penetrated his head, as if something was trying to drill a hole in his skull. At the same time, a blue hologram panel appeared in front of each of them.

+

[Main Scenario #1 – Proof of Value]

Category: Main

Difficulty: F

Clear Conditions: Kill one or more creatures.

Time Limit: 30 minutes

Compensation: 300 coins

Failure: Death

+

Undeniably, the manifestation of this meteor was completely different.

It was a [System].

Both of the two faces went pale at the same time - they knew exactly what this meant. Han Myung-Oh stammered:

"Does-does that mean...?"

"No, we won't die. This one is different."

"How do you know, you really did know something didn't you!?"

Yoo Sang-Ah finally couldn't hear anymore and intervened:

"Han Myung-Oh -ssi, please calm down. When The Perishing Star struck, it immediately turned the surrounding area into a death zone and triggered supernatural disasters all over the continent. But we are still alive."

Almost word for word, her grade when taking the test must be very high. Why did paradeiso let her work at a remote branch?

"Then we must contact the headquarters! They will sent people—"

"I doubt we can."

As he spoke, Kim Dokja pulled his phone out and showed them the signal icon.

None were working.

"You should have already learned about how much The Perishing Star halted the progress in technology and science when it broke out. This is why."

"No way..."

The people hesitated at the sudden message and tried to leave at first, but after they figured out that all the doors couldn't open, they started to get stressed. Human emotions were the easiest to agitate things in this world. And intense emotions were what Mania loves the most.

A boy holding an insect collecting net bumped onto his leg, crying, as a woman's body laid limply on the ground not so far away. Kim Dokja remembered him, the kid and his mother accidentally followed him onto the train, mistaking him for someone. They planned to get off at the next stop, but it had become impossible.

Although the manifestations were different, the two meteorites still had a common origin. Leading to their similarity in extruding Mania.

Caster had long existed on Earth. The history called them by many names like sorcerer, witch, paladin... the list could go on forever. But their power was still limited in their mortal body.

Âfter the meteor struck, humanity discovered a new stage in magic. As Caster walked further on their Path, they would eventually get infected with Mania. Mania boosted their power, but also corroded their mind. People with M-value exceeding the allowed threshold were called Sinners - monsters that could lose control at any time.

Not every Caster would become 'Sinner', but the strongest Casters were definitely Sinners.

The line laid on their ability to control themself.

Then what about normal humans?

Yoo Sang-ah gripped his arm tightly, couldn't believe the killing unfolded before her eyes:

"Why are they doing this? It was just a panel..."

"They have become 'Infected'. We need to get to the Meteorite Monitoring Department and find a way to deactivate the meteor. As long as its system still infected people with Mania, this madness would never stop."

The meteor 'system' had become the new 'rule'. He could feel it trying to break through the barrier of his mind right now and trying to imprint its rules into his head. If that happened, he would have no choice but to obey what was written on that hologram panel.

Their time was running low.

Still, he needed to do something about this situation first, before it reached them.

"Excuse me a moment."

He took the net from the child. Once he put his hand into the net, the chitin of a grasshopper reached his fingertips. He took one out and placed it in the kid's hands. Then he turned toward the people.

Now, they either die as 'Infected', or awaken as 'Sinner'.