After nearly two hours of unrelenting speed, the landscape shifted. The hills flattened, the air grew still, and a strange pressure filled the space around them. Jinhwan's steps slowed as he caught sight of something rising on the horizon, so massive it looked like the world's edge.
"A wall...?" he muttered.
Not just a wall, a fortress of stone stretching endlessly in both directions. Ancient and cracked, yet unshaken by time. It towered high, too high to guess its full height, the top disappearing into a fog that hung like a veil.
Koko tapped his shoulder. "We're here."
Jinhwan slow down and stops himself. He knelt, and she slipped off gracefully, adjusting the bag on her arm.
Jinhwan stood up straight, wiping the sweat from his brow. Thanks to Koko's buff, his breath was still steady, but his body ached faintly from the relentless dash.
"Now I get it," he muttered, flexing his fingers. "No wonder Sihyun lost control when he used his speed."
His eyes drifted upward, locking onto the towering wall ahead. Built entirely from dark, weather-worn stone, it loomed like a slumbering giant, cold, unmoving, and ancient. The surface shimmered faintly under the low light, as if covered by something... unnatural. From base to peak, it had to be at least thirty meters high, maybe more.
"Alright, so how do we get inside the city?" Jinhwan asked, glancing at Koko.
"There's an entrance," she said, already beginning to walk along the wall's edge. "A huge gate, actually. We just have to find it. It's not something you'd overlook."
She ran her fingers along the stone as she moved, her expression tightening.
"But.. it was supposed to be right around here. I remember this spot. The gate wasn't small."
Jinhwan followed her, walking slowly, scanning every inch of the wall as they moved. Minutes passed. Nothing but stone and silence.
Then something odd caught his eye, something off about the texture near one section of the wall.
He stepped closer, curiosity sparking. Just inches away now, he raised his left arm and placed his palm on the stone. It didn't feel like a stone.
It was soft. Cold, slightly sticky. A strange resistance met his touch, like fabric pulled tight across a frame. He slid his hand across it, and a thin layer of black material peeled back, slick and silent.
"What the..?" he whispered, eyebrows furrowing.
Up close, it was clearer now. The dark sheen on the wall wasn't stone, it was a massive web, layered over the surface like a second skin. Fibrous strands intertwined in patterns too complex to be natural. But there it was, covering the wall entirely.
"Spider webs?" he murmured. "But how can a spider produce this much web? It's enough to blanket the whole wall."
He stood frozen, his hand still hovering near the silky strands.
If this entire wall was wrapped in webbing.. then the gate, the real gate, must be nearby, hidden beneath it.
Jinhwan moved his hands carefully, pulling at the webbing one layer at a time. The strands clung stubbornly to the wall, but with patience and steady effort, he began to peel them away. Step by step, he walked alongside the wall, clearing a thin line of stone in his wake.
Minutes passed. The world was quiet, save for the soft tearing of web and the occasional crunch of gravel underfoot.
Then, he felt it.
A shift beneath his fingers.
The texture changed, as if the wall simply wasn't there anymore. Jinhwan paused, narrowing his eyes. His fingers brushed across open space.
He started pulling at the webs faster now, carefully but with more intent. Strand by strand, the dense silk gave way, until finally, he cleared enough to reveal an opening. A jagged hole, just wide enough for them to squeeze through.
Without hesitation, Jinhwan stepped in, slipping past the curtain of webs. Each step crunched softly beneath his boots, and he instinctively brushed the clinging strands from his shoulders and sleeves.
Koko followed close behind, her eyes scanning their surroundings as she ducked through the hole.
Once on the other side, Jinhwan dusted the webs off his clothes, exhaling sharply.
Then he turned back and froze.
There was no gate.
Just an empty space, shrouded in shadow and silence. A hollow alcove nestled within the wall, and at its centre, a large stone frame embedded in the structure, a doorframe. Towering and wide, unmistakable.
But the door?
It's gone.
Covered entirely by layers of silk, tightly sealed and unmoving, as if it had been swallowed by the webs themselves.
"Looks like the door has been broken or something," Jinhwan whispered as he turned around.
The moment his eyes landed on the city beyond, the words left him.
Buildings had fallen into each other like stacked papers knocked askew, steel and stone collapsed in slow, silent chaos. Cracked glass littered the ground, glinting faintly in the red haze. The streets were blocked, choked by broken walkways, crushed signs, and twisted metal.
Whatever this place used to be, it was clean, sharp, and built with purpose. Even now, beneath the layers of ruin, you could see the bones of design. Angled architecture. Smooth rail tracks snapped midair. Door frames without doors. Wires still hanging, still swaying gently, like they never got the message that everything had ended.
Cold wind slid through the gaps.
It brushed against his neck, carried the scent of old ash and iron. Somewhere nearby, something metal tapped against concrete, a soft, rhythmic sound, almost like breathing.
There was no movement. Not a single bird. There's no noise of engines. No flickers of light just crimson sky as always.
But there were stains. On walls. On glass. On the edges of cars half-buried in rubble. Faint, dark, dried into the world like memories it couldn't wash off.
Jinhwan stepped forward slowly, his boots sinking slightly into loose dust. Behind him, Koko said nothing.
"Looks like there's no one left alive here.... As you said, that person really showed no mercy," Jinhwan muttered, his voice low as his steps echoed across the broken street.
He kept walking forward, boots crunching over debris. His blue eyes scanned everything, the collapsed buildings, the scattered rubble, the faint outlines of lives that once filled these spaces. Half-buried skeletons lay beneath the dust, some twisted, some untouched, left where they had fallen. Broken things, glass, tools, pieces of machines, lay like offerings in a city that could no longer answer.
He stopped.
Turning back, his gaze found Koko.
She hadn't moved.
She stood still, her shoulders heavy, eyes fixed on the ruined skyline ahead. Her face was blank, but not empty. Something behind her silver eyes had gone quiet. A single tear slipped down her left cheek, catching the dull red light as it fell.
Jinhwan watched her for a moment. Then, without a word, he turned around again. And he kept walking. Letting the silence settle around her. Letting her have that moment.
[Episode 37 End]