The weight of metal and debris pressed down on her chest, cold and unyielding.
"Ahugh." Iseul stirred awake at the sound of creaking.
'What happened?' she rubbed her head.
She opened her eyes to see herself surrounded, buried under junk.
How long have I been down here?
Iseul lifted herself up. She tried moving but noticed her foot was stuck.
Yanking it free from under the scrap, she crawled forward into a less narrow space.
"Ah—cough."
Dust choked her throat and nose, leaving her hacking into the rubble as her vision swam with fragments of shadow and light.
I need to get out of here, she thought silently.
"Thankfully ratshakes aren't poisonous… but they are contaminated with radiation," Iseul said in relief, glancing at her bleeding wound.
Little did she know, the last bit of suppressants had already left her system—sparking a reaction in her gift.
Her gift began to slowly absorb the surrounding radiation, growing, nourishing itself, its presence swelling stronger.
All of this happened without her noticing.
Dammit… no more radiation suppressants left.
She'd given them all to her brothers. She was going to buy more after leaving the scrapyard.
Tsk. Just my well-given luck.
Every muscle in her body screamed, but she forced herself to remain still, listening to the groaning of shifting metal above.
Come on, we gotta dig our way out. There's no way we'll be able to find help for mahts.
She pressed forward, clearing a path.
Her radiation suit had long since been broken after she was buried. It could no longer give her radiation alerts.
Iseul refused to die like this.
⚡ Thunder ⚡
The surrounding scrap shook with the thunder.
Iseul froze and looked up.
A loose piece of metal fell fast, catching her off guard as she noticed too late.
Her suit mask snagged in her late dodge.
Her face slammed into the floor, forehead bowing and instantly breaking the skin.
"Bang!"
"Hiss."
The mask shattered, impaled into the red dirt, pinning Iseul in place—only inches from her face.
"Gasp!"
She jerked back in shock but was yanked to a stop, her face nearly impaled through.
The mask was barely clinging to her face and suit.
She ripped it off. Useless now.
Without her knowledge, all the radiation in the area was gathering around her, forming dense, heavy clouds sparking with flashes of thunder.
Her body buzzed, light and drugged, dazed by the sensation.
Her gift sped up, its absorption rate surging, converting radiation into a different type of energy that built her body from within.
"What's this feeling?" She felt drunk. But before she could explore more, her attention shifted.
A sharp pain radiated from her arm where the ratshake had bitten; each throb snapped her out of the haze, reminding her of the danger.
"You can't pass out, Iseul! We're okay—just a little stuck and a little injured, yeah!" she said aloud, forcing comfort into her own voice.
Through the haze of dust and pain, her mind searched for leverage—for any way to bend even this to her advantage.
"This shouldn't be a big deal. We've been in worse predicaments," she muttered, looking for an opening.
It calmed her a little.
Her pulse raced—not from fear, but from the familiar thrill of survival.
The same spark that had kept her digging through scrap for hours.
Her radiation suit had been breached—she knew she didn't have long.
She bided her time, digging as quickly as she could.
An hour passed with her waiting for death. But when nothing happened, confusion set in.
"Huh?!" Iseul blinked, lost.
What's wrong with my body?
Why wasn't I dead yet?!
Didn't radiation kill everyone? Where was the dizziness, the vomiting, the death?
Oddly enough, instead she felt energized—overflowing with life.
Her body felt stronger. More alive.
She thought for a long time, but nothing came to mind.
Forget it. I'll think about it when I'm out of here, not buried under scrap.
Iseul let it go and began digging.
Fingers scraped against metal, junk, and trash for hours as she crawled through and under piles large and small.
Her suit was in shreds, her skin smeared with grime and dust.
She carved a molehole tunnel, careful not to collapse it.
Eventually, her fingers brushed cold alloy—something solid, not too big or small—the head of the mech she'd uncovered earlier.
"Yes! Haha—thank you, whoever's watching!" she cheered, throwing a small victory pump into the air—short-lived.
Inside her, Iseul's gift swelled larger. A box of unique energy formed, shifting shapes, urging more radiation toward it to absorb.
A tiny shift sent a jolt of panic through her chest as she pressed against the wall of junk.
Huh?!
The hum of residual radiation grew louder, like a motor powering up, moving toward her.
Why was there so much radiation here? It wasn't like this before!
She had nowhere to run.
Iseul could only watch as the radiation closed in.
Why is it being drawn to me? Is my body sucking it in?!
Impossible!
"No! Get away! Don't come near me!" she cried, her shouts lost to the void.
She didn't want to blow up… or drown in radiation!
Helpless and confused, she could only watch as her body absorbed the radiation at an unbelievable speed.
For a while, it went on. When no reaction came, realization struck.
She felt unique energy building in her body, surging into her head, swelling until—
Bang! Crack!
"Gasp—" Iseul staggered. She had broken through. In her gift. In her mind.
"How could this be?! My gift can absorb radiation—and upgrade?!"
But how? She couldn't even get it to absorb Comosta energy before!
Holy shit! Holy shit, this is crazy!
Could it be possible? A new mutation type—anything was possible, right?
Her body wasn't full of radiation. It was something else. Something new.
Her gift must have converted it into this different energy.
Otherwise, she'd just be a corpse filled with poison.
Iseul analyzed the situation as best she could, though she didn't truly understand her own gift. She had only dream-walked once, in Yong-woo's dream, and that was by accident.
The other times, her dreams had manifested physical things—and always left her drained, bleeding from her nose.
Didn't this mean she couldn't be harmed by radiation poisoning?
She steadied herself, taking a look inside, sensing her gift—and froze at what she saw.
In her panic, her body—her gift—had transformed.
Its presence was stronger than ever before.
Her body no longer carried radiation. It was filled with something else.
A different kind of energy.
Iseul reached inward, feeling her gift tug at the edges of her mind.
She pushed her mental energy toward it, and slowly, a door began to take shape within the halls of her mental palace.
What is this door? Where does it lead?
Curiosity overrode caution. Iseul reached for the handle and pulled.
The moment it swung open, dizziness overtook her.
When she blinked, she was no longer in her palace, nor was her physical body inside the scrapyard buried under the junk.
Clouds—shifting, swirling, painted in every color imaginable—stretched endlessly in all directions.
The place was rich with the unique energy she had sensed.
What is this rigorous energy?!
Her body felt so good and light, brimming with energy. She felt like she was being baptized, impurities pushed out of her skin, bones, and meridians. Her mental palace expanded, soaking in this unique energy that surrounded her in this wonderful-looking place.
She floated weightless in a boundless sky, the whole expanse glowing with a brilliance that came from nowhere.
There was no sun, only light itself.
"Whoa… what is this place?" she murmured, staring wide-eyed.
The thought crossed her mind—it feels like there should be a sun here.
A forming star ignited overhead, blazing into existence as if the sky itself had obeyed her stray musing.
Heat and golden light poured across the clouds.
"Gasp!"
Iseul flinched, throwing up her arms. She was burnt a bit by the intensity of its burning heat.
Where did this sun come from?!
"Ah, it's too hot!"
The heat of the sun instantly lowered.
"Eh?! What the—?! Did I… did I do that?" she asked herself out loud, then pinched herself to see if she was dreaming or dead.
"Hiss, oww. Nope, I'm still alive!" Iseul rubbed her pinched area.
Her mind reeled. This wasn't a hallucination—her thoughts were shaping reality.
No way… that's impossible…
I need to lay dow—
A bed appeared under her before she could finish her thought.
She jumped away. Her heart raced.
What?! My thoughts just appeared?!
Her breath quickened as the enormity of it struck. She had just created something out of nothing.
Iseul took some time to process all of the overwhelming information.
Whoa… just what is this power of mine!?
She sat on the bed and looked up at the sun, which dimmed with Iseul's thoughts so it wouldn't hurt her eyes when looking at it.
The realization sent a chill down her spine.
Here, her casual thoughts weren't just thoughts. They were real creations.
"I… I made that?" she whispered.
Her excitement grew.
She willed a tree into existence, and one appeared beneath her feet, sprouting from the clouds like it belonged there.
A lake followed with just a thought, rippling under the imagined sunlight.
Her jaw dropped. This is insane. Everything I think… becomes real here?
Everything came effortlessly, without pain or drain—the act of creation itself bending to her will.
Didn't this mean she might be able to manifest things in real life now too?
Maybe those times she had almost manifested something… she'd finally be able to create fully, without it disappearing, since her gift was far stronger than before.
Then she noticed it: suspended in the middle of this impossible sky was a single floating room.
"What's in there?"
Its door creaked open at Iseul's thoughts, and before she could process, an unseen pull took her straight inside.