Somewhere in Yangpyeong, Korea
10:32 a.m., one hour after the Lightfall.
"H-hyung! Hyung! Something's wrong with Ppoppo!"
Raon's heart skipped a beat when he heard his sister's panicked voice from outside. It wasn't the usual tone she used when she was scared of bugs or when Ppoppo stole her toy again—
it was different.
Terrified.
He then rushed out of the house barefoot, the cold concrete biting into his soles but the moment his eyes landed on the yard, his body went rigid.
Ppoppo, his gentle, tail-wagging golden retriever was no longer a dog.
He turned into a monster.
The creature standing before his sister was the size of a small car, its fur thick and bristled with muscles twitching beneath skin stretched too tight. Thick veins bulged like ropes along its legs and neck, and from its mouth dripped strings of saliva that hissed when they hit the ground. Its eyes were burning red, wild and hateful.
"P-Ppoppo?" Raon's voice trembled. "W-what happened to you…?"
Overhead, giant shadows sliced across the ground. Raon looked up to see enormous birds circling the sky, their shrieks sharp enough to make his ears ring making his head spun.
It feels like the world has gone mad.
He couldn't move.
Couldn't even breathe properly.
His body screamed at him to run but his feet stayed glued to the porch. His little sister was still out there, just a few feet away from the beast as she turned her tear-streaked face toward him, her lips trembling.
"Hyung… Ppoppo is—"
The sentence never finished.
With a sickening crunch, Ppoppo lunged and clamped his jaws around her neck.
Raon saw her body jerk, saw her small hands twitch and then her head hit the ground with a hollow thud.
For a second, everything stopped.
No air. No sound. No thought.
Then the scream tore out of him.
"NOOOOO!"
Tears blurred his vision as he stumbled forward, his chest heaving as his whole body shaking uncontrollably. The creature that used to be Ppoppo lifted its blood-soaked muzzle and looked at him. It wasn't wagging its tail anymore. It was staring like a hungry, unfeeling animal.
Then Raon stumbled back with horror and grief mixing into something dark and furious. His throat burned as he shouted, voice cracking, "H-how dare you…! We took care of you! We loved you! And you, YOU killed her!"
He was shaking so hard his knees nearly gave out but his glare burned through the tears. Then the monster took a step forward, growling low with saliva dripping from its fangs.
For the first time in his life, Raon looked at Ppoppo and didn't see his dog.
He saw the world ending.
A few moments later, Raon heard heavy footsteps pounding against the ground followed by a hoarse voice shouting his name.
"Raon! My son, run! Run!"
His father came staggering into view with his body soaked in blood. Red streaks ran down from a gash across his shoulder and his once-white shirt was now torn and darkened with dirt and crimson. In his trembling hand, he clutched a gun, the barrel glinting faintly under the pale daylight.
"Dad…?" Raon's voice cracked.
His mind couldn't keep up anymore.
He was scared, confused and mad.
His sister was gone.
His dog had turned into a monster.
And now his father who was bleeding and barely standing was telling him to run.
"Don't just stand there!" his father shouted, his voice desperate. "Go!"
Then came the gunshots.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Each shot rang through the yard, echoing off the nearby hills that the smell of gunpowder burned Raon's nostrils but when the ringing in his ears faded, his heart sank. The bullets had hit but they hadn't stopped it.
Ppoppo—no, the thing that used to be Ppoppo stumbled back for only a moment. Then it let out a guttural snarl with its saliva flying before charging forward again.
"Stay back!" his father yelled while firing again, his arms shaking from exhaustion but the beast moved faster. With a roar, it swung one massive paw and struck him across the chest.
The sound was wet.
Sickening.
Then, Raon's father flew back several feet and hit the ground with a heavy thud. His gun slipped from his fingers and blood splattered across the grass like spilled paint.
"DAD!"
Raon's scream tore through his throat.
His vision blurred as tears mixed with sweat and dirt on his face. He stumbled forward instinctively but froze when he saw his father's body. The wounds were too deep, too brutal and his chest barely moved.
Raon knew inside his mind his dad won't make it out alive and that scared him more than he imagined.
Then, Ppoppo turned toward him next with its once-golden fur now matted with blood, its eyes gleaming with hunger. Each step it took made the ground tremble beneath Raon's feet.
"N-no…" Raon choked out while backing away. His legs felt like jelly, his heart pounded so hard he could barely hear his own thoughts.
When the monster raised its bloody paw and was ready to strike, a piercing shriek cut through the air.
The sound was so sharp, so unnatural that Raon had to cover his ears. High above, one of those massive birds circled, its cry shaking the air itself.
Ppoppo growled, lowering its head as if intimidated. Then, with one last hateful glare at Raon, it turned and bolted toward the forest, disappearing among the trees.
When he made sure that the monster was out of his sight anymore, Raon fell to his knees while gasping as his body was trembling uncontrollably.
The world was spinning.
After that, Raon forced himself to look around.
His ears rang with a chorus of chaos of people screaming, monsters shrieking that the sound of things was breaking and burning somewhere in the distance. The once-quiet neighborhood of Yangpyeong had turned into a nightmare.
The air trembled with inhuman growls and cries. Some were far, others frighteningly close.
Every sound made his chest tighten but he couldn't leave.
He couldn't, not yet.
With trembling legs, Raon stepped toward his father's body. He already knew what he'd see but a small, fragile part of him still clung to hope.
"Dad…?" he whispered, his voice cracking. "Please… wake up…"
He then knelt beside him while shaking his shoulder gently, then harder.
But his father's head only rolled limply to the side and the light in his eyes was gone.
Raon's breath hitched.
His heart felt like it was being crushed from the inside as he bit his lip until he tasted blood as if pain could keep him from breaking apart completely.
His mother had died years ago. And when she was gone, he'd promised—he'd promised he'd protect what was left of their family no matter what.
But now…
His sister was gone.
And his father, his strong and kind father lay broken before him.
"I-I failed you…" he whispered with a voice trembling as tears streamed down his cheeks. "I failed everyone…"
His whole body shook as he crawled to where his sister's small body lay on the grass and that very sight made him gag but through his sobs, he reached out and gathered her carefully into his arms.
Step by step, dragging his heavy limbs, Raon carried her back to his father's side. His hands were slick with blood as he set her down gently beside him. Then, with shaking fingers, he lifted her head and placed it where it should have been, aligning it tenderly even as his vision blurred with tears.
Then, he knelt there between them, clutching their lifeless bodies to his chest. His shoulders trembled violently as the dam finally broke.
"Ahhhhhhhhhh!"
His scream tore through the silence while echoing against the ruined hills.
It was grief.
It was rage.
It was everything he had left.
He screamed until his voice broke until his lungs burned and the world spun around him. And when he finally ran out of air, he just sat there covered in blood, shaking in a hollow
while the monsters kept howling in the distance.
For a moment, there was only silence. Then, something flickered in the darkness behind his eyelids. A faint shimmer and a sound that didn't belong to the ruined world outside.
Ding.
Raon flinched then his eyes shot open but what he saw wasn't the bloodstained yard or the broken world he knew. Floating before him was a faint, glowing screen with its light soft yet commanding, hovering steadily in the air.
[System Activation Detected.]
User Identification: Han Raon
Age: 17
Verifying physical and mental condition...
Status: Alive (Critical Condition)
Mana Level: 2 / 100
Synchronization Successful.