Night fell quickly over the ruined sector.
But Jiwoon didn't sleep.
He sat at the edge of the shelter's rooftop, legs dangling, eyes fixed on the stars.
Vera approached quietly.
"You've changed," she said.
Jiwoon didn't look at her.
"Have I?"
"It feels more like I've… remembered."
Kaelya joined them, tossing a small stone into the darkness.
"Still doesn't explain how you burned a hole through space and walked back like nothing happened."
Jiwoon's lips curved into a faint smile.
"It wasn't nothing. It was… a place before sin existed. Before this."
FLASHBACK – The Time Before the System
A golden city hung above clouds.
No war. No judgment. No death.
And at its center — stood Jiwoon.
Not as a child.
Not even as a man.
But something far older.
The Sovereign of Flame.
Present
"I wasn't always me," Jiwoon said.
"But now those pieces… they're waking up."
System Alert
Anomaly Detected: Ancient Echo Signature Confirmed
Class: Pre-Sin Entity
Location: Sector 0, Temporal Rift
A New Enemy Rises
Far from their city, in a sealed underground vault, a shimmer of gold cracked through an old coffin.
Eyes opened.
Not human.
Not machine.
Something from before rules, before records — before even punishment.
"He remembers," the figure whispered.
"Then I must remind him what he forgot to fear."
Meanwhile
Back at the shelter, Jiwoon stood up.
"I have to go."
Vera frowned. "Now? After everything?"
Kaelya stepped beside her. "Where?"
Jiwoon's eyes flared.
"To meet someone I buried before sin was born."