Yurim climbed the narrow stairs, her breathing ragged. The rooftop was cracked and open to the sky.
And there she was.
Standing at the edge.
"Grandmother!" Yurim called, her voice shaking.
The woman didn't turn. Her shoulders trembled as tears slid down her face. She nodded faintly, whispering to empty air.
"Yes… I understand…"
A dark, crushing voice echoed inside her mind.
You failed. Now give yourself.
Her eyes widened in horror, but her lips moved without control. "Yes… I will…"
Yurim heard only the sobbing.
"Please—stop!" she cried, stepping forward. "Don't do this!"
The woman didn't react. Her expression went blank, distant—as if her body no longer belonged to her.
"Grandmother!"
Yurim ran.
Just as the woman stepped off the edge, Yurim lunged and caught her wrist.
The force nearly tore her arm apart.
"Please—!" Yurim gasped, her shoes scraping against the crumbling ledge. Her grip shook, strength draining fast.
The woman hung limply in the air.
Yurim's fingers slipped.
The edge cracked beneath her feet.
And then—she fell forward.
A sharp gust rushed past her face—
Something seized her hand.
"Yurim!"
Rian's grip was tight as he caught her, pain shooting through his arm as he held on.
For a moment, everything hung suspended in the open air.
Below them, the world hadn't stopped breaking.
Inside the laboratory, the monster moved again.
Smoke curled along shattered corridors as emergency lights flickered weakly, struggling to stay alive. The creature dragged itself through the ruins, its body scraping against broken walls.
Unlike the earlier chaos, this was no blind rampage.
It knew where it was going.
Its hollow eyes locked onto white coats—onto the ones who had stood above it, who had watched, injected, recorded. Every step it took was heavy with fury, every breath sounded like pain being torn open.
A scientist crawled across the floor, blood streaking behind him. His hand stretched toward the exit.
The monster reached him first.
The scream didn't last long.
Concrete cracked as the creature turned, smashing through another passage, leaving nothing intact behind it. Glass shattered. Metal bent. The lab that once buzzed with applause and pride now echoed with fear.
Outside, the night swallowed the sound of sirens and cries, carrying them into the dark sky.