Let me ask you this: Have you ever seen the sky splinter like a spiderweb? Have you ever felt powerless and small before the impending doom falling on your head, leaving you no space to run?
I had to experience it just moments ago.
It all began with a loud crack in the middle of the day in Seoul. It sounded like glass shattering, but louder, like a drum placed right next to your ear, struck with the power of a bodybuilder.
Screams I could not hear filled the streets. Chaos was breathed with every shout as people pushed their fellow kin toward shelters.
Yet I stood there, watching the myth crash into our world. Far into the ocean, the giant golden tree descended, impossibly tall, impossibly thick. Even from where I stood, I could see it clearly. It was likely thousands of kilometers away, and yet it pierced the broken sky. The leaves burned with gold and etched themselves into my mind. I would never forget this moment, the instant our world ended...
Without warning, the ground began to shake. It felt as if I had become an ant standing before a passing giant. A golden pulse burst forth from the tree's direction, and the sky painted itself like a final sunset. The once loud and bustling streets shattered as windows burst all around.
Then it hit me, right in the chest. The pain knocked the last breath from my lungs. My eyes, filled with gold, turned dark, plunging me into the unknown.
"!#!$!%!@"
In this darkness, a muffled voice reached out, so sudden, by whom? Something, someone? No, it's not a man's language; it reached for me, as if a savior extending its hand to pull me from the fire. I felt a powerful attraction toward that call; sadly, I wasn't able to reach it. Not physically.
Imagine that you are an observer, far, far in the sky, yet it's all dark, you can't quite see who reaches for you, but they grab you, pull you, and even then, you don't understand: are you moving forward, or are you stuck in place?
"!$!%!@%"
Again, the same sound. What do you want from me? Were you the one who killed me? Am I dead? It feels hollow inside me. Perhaps it's the end after all... No? It's warm, it's growing hot inside my chest. It scared me; something was not right. Has it ever been right?
"Kim Ji-hoon! Brother!" A familiar, manly voice entered my very depths, like the call of a bell drawing me back to reality.
"Sunny?" I called out uncertainly. My eyes felt heavy, but a pull on my hand lifted me to my feet. The ringing in my ears was making me dizzy, but I forced my eyes to meet the world.
He stood before me, my best friend ever since kindergarten. His name was Simon, an immigrant from somewhere in Europe: brown hair, green eyes. He stood out even in the days of the end.
"Bro, I thought you were a goner." Worry was etched on his face. I'm glad I have him as a brother, even if not by blood.
"No joke... What the hell happened?" I looked around; everything felt more stained for some reason, darker. The buildings, the people, the streets...
Simon's finger pointed up, and my eyes followed the direction, making my body sway from shock.
The sky had vanished, well, perhaps not. But in its place, giant golden branches and burning leaves filled and masked the world like a living cage, blocking any way of escape. But for us, ordinary people, where would we even get a rocket to run?
"What is that?"
"I told you all, the god has descended to bring us doom for our sins!"
"Keep calm, everyone, don't panic!"
"We're all going to die, aren't we?"
My ears could not ignore the crowd around me, those who remained standing, watching the sky shatter. Honestly, I did not know what to think; it still felt unreal.
The panic grew louder and louder... Shut up... I wanted to scream, but the headache did not allow me to muster even a word.
Until it happened, and made the world go still.
Simon and I were the first ones to look in the direction of the large tree. There, several figures seemed to cross the sky. And then, a loud explosion silenced even the loudest of the crowd. Yet, surprisingly, nothing exploded; it was the sound the figure made with its mouth.
"Silence, inferior species!" They spoke from the sky, loud and clear, as if my ears were next to their mouths. It didn't sound like hatred; it was a command so calm and eerie that I felt as if I had to worship them. But something in me refused.
They looked human, but the resemblance stopped the moment you met their eyes.
Light lived in their sockets, as if someone had switched on a bulb behind the pupils. The stare was calm, almost gentle, yet my whole body reacted like I had been stripped bare in winter wind. I could not hide a thought; I felt seen through, measured, filed away.
Their skin carried a flawless sheen, smooth and glossy in a way no living person could imitate, not even with makeup, not even under perfect lighting. Their hair fell long and silk-clean, and it did not matter whether they were men or women; each of them looked like a finished masterpiece, the kind of beauty that did not invite desire so much as obedience.
Then I noticed the wings.
Feathers unfurled behind them, not soft like a bird's, not in the slightest; it was radiant, burning in different colors as if each one held its own element.
The one in the middle burned the brightest. He was the one who spoke. Gold poured off his wings like sunlight caught in metal, the same gold as the branches and leaves above the clouds, the same gold that had turned day and night into something meaningless.
They wore cream-colored tunics, simple and clean, cut like ceremonial robes. Nothing ornate, nothing wasted, yet it made them look holy anyway.
Blessed.
He moved his hand, and everyone, including me, responded like puppets, lifting our hands to mimic him.
Hopelessness washed over me, but also resistance. Yet no matter how I tried, my attempts failed. The tip of my finger burned hot. Like a ripple in the water, the air responded to my touch.
Golden light spilled from the point of contact, like a virtual screen. I felt connected to it. It spoke to me, not in words, but in letters:
[Congratulations! You have been chosen as a champion of your world!]
[You have been granted a system]
[Your Role: Joker]
"Evolve. Or be erased. Humans..."
My mind had not even recovered from the shock before the voice echoed across the world. The ground shook, making me lose my balance. Despite everything, my sheer will held me up.
Golden trees spilled from the ground, crashing through buildings and streets. There were thousands, maybe more of them, some small like a house, others as tall as apartment buildings, and some as tall as whole skyscrapers. But one stood out the most, the main tree, watching us from afar, like a general overlooking its troops. And we, we were its enemies...
"Listen up, humans... Your time has come." The same figure spoke loudly. "Today, you must decide..."