[Twenty-Four Hours Before Doom]
"Pfft. Same nonsense on the news again. Can't they focus on their own lives and birth control for once, and just leave the weather alone? Absolute rubbish," Daniel muttered with a tone of contempt as he slung his school bag over one shoulder.
His appearance was far from proper — he wore no tie, his school shirt hung open, and instead of regulation trousers, he had on a pair of grey joggers.
His hair was styled in a simple black wolf cut, framing a sharply defined face.
Handsome, despite the trouble he always found himself in.
Not a scratch or tattoo could be seen — at least, not beyond the coverage of his clothes.
In the kitchen, his mother was busy preparing her coffee, moments away from heading out to work.
She heard his complaint and let out a soft laugh as she dropped the empty mug into the sink and slung her bag over her shoulder.
"Come on, Daniel. Get moving. You're already an hour late. And by the way, the news isn't entirely wrong — the weather has been strange lately. It's winter, yet the sun's been blazing like it's midsummer," she said, smacking the back of his head with her usual playful reprimand.
Daniel scoffed and stepped out the door before she could say another word, striding towards school with the cocky demeanour of a gangster off to claim his turf.
Oddly enough, she wasn't wrong at all. In fact, she might have been the only one paying close attention.
The climate had been growing increasingly unnatural.
Just yesterday, the sun hadn't set until nearly 10 p.m., an abnormality no one could reasonably explain.
Even stranger, winter had supposedly begun three weeks earlier, yet not a single flake of snow had fallen.
It was as if a false summer had taken root in late November and showed no signs of retreating.
More peculiarities had occurred as well—though Daniel never bothered to care.
Anything that couldn't make him money was irrelevant in his eyes.
Romance wasn't even a passing thought, no matter how many girls tried to catch his attention.
He was the undisputed most popular boy in school and the top bully in Mapo-gu.
A few minutes later, he arrived at the school gate and found several other students, clearly late, kneeling behind the locked entrance.
The security guard was, as always, fast asleep in his booth.
Daniel approached cautiously, eyeing the old man through the window.
Confirming the coast was clear, he stepped back, bracing himself.
"I hate this part… struggling to break into a prison instead of escaping one. Tsk."
With a low sigh, he dashed forward, grabbed hold of the gate, and began scaling it with ease.
Athletic by nature and well-practised from doing this nearly every day, he made it over the 3.2-metre-high gate in seconds, landing silently on the other side.
The kneeling students could only watch in silence. They knew exactly who he was—and none of them had the guts to say a word.
Better to suffer in the sun than end up on the wrong side of his fists once inside.
Inside the school building, Daniel kept a low profile, ducking past classrooms and avoiding any teachers until he reached his own.
The chemistry teacher was droning on about organic chemistry and its four strong covalent bonds—a topic they had already covered.
A recap, clearly.
In South Korea, the academic year starts in March and ends the following February.
The first semester runs from March to July, with a brief summer break in August.
The second semester starts in September and ends in December, followed by a winter break.
February is mostly reserved for graduation and final preparations for the next year.
At present, they were in early December. The semester was still ongoing, and examinations loomed just four days away.
Originally scheduled for late November, they had been delayed due to a disruption in the school calendar.
Daniel slipped into the classroom unnoticed and took his usual seat at the back.
He pulled out his books and began scribbling notes, blending in as though he had been there all along.
Only one person noticed him—his self-proclaimed best friend and sidekick.
While the title was more of a promotional stunt than an earned bond, it was true that he was the only one who stuck close to Daniel.
Unlike his infamous friend, however, he couldn't fight, and he often relied on Daniel's protection to survive.
The day passed quietly.
To everyone's surprise, Daniel remained in school the entire day without any excuses to escape early under the guise of an "emergency".
After the final bell rang, Daniel walked outside to find his mother's car parked at the school gate. He got in, and they drove off.
His mother had left work early, something she could do easily since she ran her own clinic.
She set her schedule, and her priority—whether she admitted it or not—was always her son.
"So, no chaos today?" she asked, smiling as she kept her eyes on the road.
Daniel stared out of the window, disinterested.
"No one pissed me off today, so there was no need to knock anyone out or get called into the staff room—or worse, the disciplinary committee."
She chuckled, then the car fell into a comfortable silence.
They returned home without much conversation.
Daniel headed straight to his room and began testing out investment platforms online.
As usual, he ended up losing every thousand-won note (the South Korean Currency) he had put into cryptocurrency. It was becoming a frustrating habit.
"Bloody hell. I was hoping this would be easy money. Goddammit," he muttered, slamming his laptop shut. He flopped onto his bed and drifted into an angry sleep.
Around 9 p.m., he awoke to the sound of heavy rain. He sat up groggily, eyes narrowing at the sight outside.
"Rain? In winter?"
Now, for the first time, he found himself genuinely curious.
He stood and walked to the window, observing the downpour hammering the glass.
But something was off.
The rain wasn't falling normally. It hovered mid-air at a specific height, frozen in place.
Then, suddenly, it dropped—and a deafening crack of thunder followed.
Daniel stared, dumbfounded.
"Maybe I should pay more attention in Physics class," he mumbled. "And maybe get an eye… what's it called again… optician, yeah. Get my eyes checked."
***
[D-Day — Nine Hours Before Doom]
Surprisingly — for the first time since starting high school — Daniel arrived at school as early as 7 a.m.
He wasn't turning over a new leaf; he simply wanted to escape early so he could check the stock market, which would open in the next nine hours.
He met up with Dae Min, his unofficial sidekick who, unlike Daniel, came from wealth.
Daniel was from a middle-class background.
His father, a top Korean model nine years ago, had died in a plane crash, while his mother was American.
That's how he had managed to get Korean citizenship so easily — he was part-Korean by blood.
"Impossible! No hecking way!" Dae Min gasped.
Seeing Daniel early — and dressed well — was unheard of. Then again, fashion was never his issue.
Daniel gave him a dead stare as if to say, "Stop making a scene," especially since they were attracting attention.
He hated attention when it wasn't on his terms.
Other students stared in disbelief as he walked through the school gates.
One student turned to his friend, throwing an arm around his neck in mock scolding.
"I told you to stop drinking soju. Why would Daniel be at school by 7 a.m.? You dumb, Stonehaven?"
That was definitely a nickname.
His friend laughed and replied, "Yeah, maybe I should stop. This can't be real, right?"
"Of course not, you dumbo. We're both hallucinating... now that I think about it, I should probably quit chain-smoking, too."
"Yeah, good luck with that."
The two of them dashed off, chasing each other towards the main building.
Meanwhile, Daniel and Dae Min strolled down the hallway towards their classroom.
Students moved aside, gasping as Daniel passed by.
A silk strand of his wolf-cut hair dangled over one eye—a subtle flex of his usual coolness.
And then it hit him.
He had gone completely broke the night before.
'How am I supposed to buy Mirolosoft stock?'
Yes, it's misspelled—he always called it that out of habit or maybe ignorance.
He turned sharply to Dae Min and whispered as they approached the classroom.
"Yah, I need about 1,000,000 won (*$723.50 USD). Can you get it for me? I swear this is the last time I'll borrow from you."
Dae Min sneered and rolled up his sleeve, replying in a husky tone, "You said that last week when I lent you 2,000,000 won (*$1,447.00 USD)... Don't tell me you lost all that to crypto!??"
His voice rose in shock with that last word.
Daniel quickly slapped a hand over his mouth as the rest of the class turned to look—except for Dea-Hyun, the class rep and top student of Class 1-4.
She was always serious, always focused.
Daniel, on the other hand, was the unofficial "boss" of the class—and not just this one. He had influence over all four first-year classes.
Realising who was being talked about, the students returned to whatever they were doing.
"Shhh! Keep it down, you squam-head."
Dae Min rolled his eyes, and only then did Daniel remove his hand.
He resumed his whispering, pleading as they stood in the back of the room.
"Seriously, man. This is the last time. I mean it. It's not crypto, and it's big—I swear. And no, it's not a meme coin."
He leaned in, puppy-eyed, his unnaturally blue irises practically sparkling.
Dae Min sighed heavily but eventually gave in. He always did.
"Fine. I'll transfer it over now."
Daniel grinned.
This was why he kept Dae Min close — he was rich and willing to throw money at stupid ventures.
Easy money.
Better this than turning to the loan sharks—unregulated lenders who offered quick cash at sky-high interest rates and collected with threats or worse.
That's what led to the full-on war with the infamous Mapo-gu gang last year.
Daniel had come back covered in blood, but victorious, having wiped them out completely.
Naturally, the loan he took from them never got repaid.
Dae Min tapped his phone, and Daniel got the alert within seconds.
He muttered a quick thanks and strolled off to his seat beside Dae Min — though they had their own separate desks.
Soon, the mathematics teacher entered the class.
Spotting Daniel already seated, he paused mid-step.
'Is that really the troublemaker? No... can't be. I must still be hungover from yesterday's outing,' he thought, shaking his head before starting the lesson.
Eight hours later.
During break, Daniel slipped out to the school gate to find the security guard in his solo office, an old grump named Mr. Gun.
The man was mostly useless in the morning and at night — always asleep — but had a weird burst of energy during a very specific nine-hour window.
This was one of those hours.
"Hey, Mr. Gun," Daniel called out in his most cheerful, over-the-top tone, a plastic smile plastered on his face.
The old man didn't look up from his newspaper.
He just grimaced and muttered, "What do you want, troublemaker?"
'Good,' Daniel thought.
He liked it when people expected the worst — it made lying easier.
Daniel put on a pitiful face and rubbed his stomach like a starving puppy.
Then, with a completely believable ready for anything he replied...
"Mr. Gun, I swear on my grandmother's dentures — I forgot my insulin at home."
The old man lowered the newspaper just enough to glare at him over the top of his glasses.
"Since when were you diabetic?"
"Since... um, the year of the chicken?" Daniel answered, nervously tapping his fingers against the security desk.
"That was 2017."
"Exactly! It's been a long time. I didn't want to say anything before because, you know, I hate attention. I'm just brave like that."
Mr. Gun scoffed.
"You? Hate attention? That's the worst lie I've heard since your 'I'm allergic to math' excuse last semester."
Daniel leaned closer.
"But this time it's real! Look, I've got the symptoms. Dry mouth, headache, vague existential crisis — classic diabetic emergency signs."
The old man squinted suspiciously.
"What about your emergency pack? Students with conditions like that are supposed to carry one."
Daniel tapped his pocket, then widened his eyes in mock horror.
"Oh no… oh no! That's what I forgot! It's right next to my computer. I swear on... on my crypto wallet!"
"Isn't your crypto wallet already dead?"
"Okay, bad example. I swear on Dae Min's crypto wallet!"
The old man sighed, closing his newspaper halfway.
"Even if I did believe you — which I don't — how do I know you won't run off and come back with blue hair, a nose piercing, and three more excuses?"
Daniel clutched his chest as if wounded.
"Mr. Gun! I thought we had something special! I bring you snacks during exam week!"
"Snacks you stole from the cafeteria…"
Daniel pouted. "Borrowed. I borrowed them, okay?"
Mr. Gun shook his head, but the old man couldn't hide the slight twitch at the corner of his mouth.
He was trying not to laugh.
Finally, he leaned in and muttered, "Alright, troublemaker. You've got ten minutes. Ten. If you're not back, I'll call the principal and say you tried to smuggle cigarettes into the school again."
Daniel saluted.
"Understood, general. Mission 'Mirolosoft' is a go."
As he slipped out the gate like a secret agent, Mr. Gun shouted behind him, "And if you really are diabetic, bring a doctor's note next time!"
Daniel grinned to himself as he sprinted off into freedom.
"Yeah, sure," he whispered. "Right after I buy those stocks…"
While he was running, the sky suddenly turned black—instantly, as if someone had flipped a cosmic switch. Daniel halted, his trainers skidding slightly against the pavement as he looked up, confused and wide-eyed.
"Rain? Again?" he muttered.
But this wasn't rain. Something was wrong. Deeply wrong.
Without warning, a thunderous boom erupted—so loud it shattered nearby car windows and sent alarms blaring.
The ground seemed to tremble beneath it.
Screams erupted.
People dropped to the floor, shielding their heads.
Even Daniel was thrown off his feet, his knees hitting the ground hard.
The world spun.
His ears rang with an agonising pitch, like a church bell had gone off directly inside his skull.
All sound vanished, muffled into a dull, endless hum.
His vision blurred, colours fading around the edges.
'Ah, shit…' he thought, groaning as he pushed himself upright.
Everything around him was chaos.
Panic.
Fear.
People were disoriented, clutching their ears or helping others to their feet.
The world itself seemed to have broken.
Daniel looked up again — and froze.
A crack had split the sky open.
A long, jagged fracture—red, raw, like a bleeding wound tearing across the heavens.
BOOM~
Another explosion, deeper than the first, tore through the air like the wrath of a god.
The fracture widened.
Like the earth cracking during a quake, only this time it was the sky itself breaking apart.
The red glow pulsed and flickered like veins on fire.
"The fuck is happening…?" Daniel whispered, numb and motionless.
Then came the darkness.
Thick and unnatural, it poured out of the sky-crack like black water from a broken dam.
It wasn't clouds.
It wasn't smoke.
It was something else entirely — alive, maybe.
Writhing. Breathing.
Within three minutes of leaving school, the world had begun to end...