The world was ending.
The sky above Seoul burned crimson, and the air reeked of ash and blood. Skyscrapers once proud and glittering now stood as blackened ruins. Flames licked through shattered glass as the ground trembled under the march of demons.
Han Darin stood amidst the wreckage of the fallen city, blood dripping down his cheek. His once-black armor was cracked and dull, his breath shallow. In his right hand, he held Eclipse Saber, its blade coated in demonic ichor.
All around him lay the bodies of his comrades — seven warriors who had fought beside him since the beginning.
"Seo Mira… Kang Jihwan… Aoi…""You're all gone, huh?"
His voice was barely more than a whisper against the storm of fire.
In front of him, a Demon General towered with broken wings and glowing crimson eyes. The monster's laughter echoed like thunder.
"The last warrior of mankind," it mocked. "Did you really think time itself would save you, Han Darin?"
Darin smiled faintly, his eyes trembling — deep within them, faint gears of light turned backward.
"Time, huh…?" he muttered."If I could really turn it back… I'd choose not to repeat this war."
The Demon roared, lunging forward. But before its claws struck, Darin drove his sword into the ground.
Crack!
Blue light erupted from beneath his feet. A small crystal fragment floated up, glowing brighter and brighter — the Chrono Core Fragment, a relic he had found deep inside a forgotten dungeon.
He had never learned what it truly was. Until now.
A mechanical voice echoed in the silence.
"Temporal Sequence: Activated.Subject — Han Darin.Destination — Before the First Invasion."
The world froze.
The Demon halted mid-air, flames stopped flickering, and even the ash hung still. Only Darin remained aware as the crystal pulsed with divine light.
"I don't know if this is a gift... or a curse.""But if time's giving me one more chance…""I'll save them all."
The blue light swallowed him whole.
The city rewound — collapsed towers stood tall again, fire turned into sunlight, and the cries of the dying were replaced by the laughter of the living.
Han Darin opened his eyes.
Sunlight streamed through the curtains of a small apartment in Mapo-gu, Seoul. The warmth felt unreal against his skin.
He sat up slowly, gasping for breath. His hands trembled.No armor. No wounds. No sword. Just his old grey shirt and messy hair.
On his wrist, however, a faint mark shaped like an hourglass glowed with blue light.
"No way…" he whispered."This is my room… back in 2025?"
He stumbled to the window.
Outside, the streets were alive — people walking to work, cars honking, the distant sound of street vendors calling out.
Across the street, a massive LED billboard flashed the morning news:
"Seoul Morning News, November 9th, 2025 — Clear skies, 18 degrees."
Darin froze.That date — it was fifteen years before the end.
The day the world was still normal.The week before the first dungeon appeared in Busan.
He clenched his fists. The faint blue glow on his wrist pulsed in rhythm with his heartbeat.
"So the Chrono Core Fragment really rewound time.""I'm back… before everything began."
He looked at the calendar on the wall.The next red-marked date: November 15, 2025.
The day the first gate opened.The day humanity's nightmare started.
Han Darin closed his eyes and exhaled slowly.When he opened them again, there was only resolve.
"This time…""I won't let anyone die."