Location: Busan, South KoreaCoastal Research Archive – 2 Days Later
The waves crashed against the rocky shores of Haeundae, their rhythm echoing Dephnie's heartbeats. She stood at the foot of the old Coastal Research Archive, a half-abandoned government building used briefly in the 1990s for time-based energy experiments.
Her father's files had led her here—schematics in the margins, scribbled notes referencing a hidden chamber only accessible during specific lunar phases.
"King. Time. Two moons. Parallel threshold open: Jeolla Province."
"What did you know, Appa?" she whispered, staring at the door before pushing it open.
Dust and time greeted her. As she descended into the underground chamber, every step down the spiral staircase echoed like a countdown.
Then—she saw it.
An ancient gate, constructed of Korean obsidian and etched in both modern circuitry and Joseon-era calligraphy. Something between a machine and a shrine.
At its center: a vertical slit of pure light. Unmoving, but alive.
Her hands trembled as she reached toward it—
Location: Kingdom of Korea | Jeolla Royal Black Forest
Lee Gon had returned to the forest where the ripples first appeared.
Tonight, the crescent moon was exact.
This time, he didn't bring soldiers.
He stood beneath the sacred tree of the Ancient Dividers—a mythological place of crossing. The bark still glowed faintly from the last encounter.
Then, the ground vibrated. The light returned.
Not a circle, but a vertical slit—exactly the shape of the one he saw in his ancestor's journal. This was no mirror. No hallucination.
A window.
And she was there.
Both Sides of the Divide
For a breathless moment, they saw each other.
No illusions. No flickers. No distortion.
Dephnie stood on one side, wind pulling her dark brown hair into the current. Lee Gon on the other, his royal coat fluttering.
Time didn't stop—but it bowed.
He raised his hand. She raised hers.
No glass separated them now—only a force of nature so ancient it had forgotten its name.
Lee Gon: "You're real."
Dephnie: "So are you."
He smiled softly, like he had been waiting lifetimes for this. "I am Lee Gon. King of the Kingdom of Corea."
Dephnie's mind raced. Corea? That country didn't exist. Yet everything in her being told her it did.
"I'm Dephnie Han. From South Korea... Seoul."
"Then the theories were true," he said.
The connection began to flicker—unstable.
"I need more time!" she cried.
"So do I."
And then—
A voice interrupted.
Location: Korea | Royal Observatory – Same Time
Captain Joo Won stormed into the room, holding a scroll taken from the Queen Mother's secret chamber.
"Your Majesty! You must stop this! The prophecy—"
But he was too late. The portal collapsed, swallowing itself.
Lee Gon was gone.
Location: Seoul | Subway Station Line 2
Dephnie stumbled backward from the glowing slit—now gone. But something was wrong. The air smelled different. The sound of the city... warped.
She raced upstairs, heart thundering.
Billboards flashed differently.
The Korean flag had a dragon emblem instead of the usual yin-yang.
And the subway station map now read:
"서울—Kingdom Capital of Eastern Korea."
Her breath caught in her throat.
She wasn't in her Seoul anymore.
Location: Unknown Korean Territory | Rooftop Overlooking a Foggy Palace
A figure stepped into the moonlight, watching Dephnie from afar. He wore a cloak of shadows, and his eyes glinted with secrets.
He smirked.
"So, the girl crossed over after all…"
🌀 To be continued