DING!
DING!
BUZZ!
Every phone across Korea chimed at once.
"What the—? There's a new app on my phone!"
"Huh? I didn't install anything!"
"Another strange thing already? We haven't even processed the gates appearing and the Chosen freezing with those blue screens yet!"
"Wait—open yours! Mine has something called Leaderboard on it!"
"Leaderboard? For what?"
"I don't know! It's empty… just headings like Ranks, Status, Code names, and something about Progress like it's waiting to be filled."
Confusion spread through the crowded streets, the chaos loud and grating.
Towering blue Paths shimmered across the country in several districts like colossal doors, their icy glow drawing stunned gazes.
Scattered everywhere, in schools, offices, stations, parks and more—Chosen stood frozen in place with translucent panels floating before their eyes.
To everyone else, the panels were empty. Just blank blue screens hanging in the air.
But to the Chosen, an announcement was streaming across them.
"Maybe it's really starting..." someone muttered.
"The prophecy?"
"Yeah. The ones the Celestials warned us about."
A hush fell over the small group.
Three years ago, mysterious beings calling themselves Celestials had descended upon the world, declaring that humanity's end was approaching.
They said only those marked as Chosen would enter the Paths that would one day open and there, they shall fight to prevent it.
At first, no one took them seriously, just in awe at the strange otherworldly beings.
Until a few loud skeptics were killed where they stood, and every attack humanity tried passed straight through the Celestials like air.
Humanity couldn't touch them. Not one weapon could even scratch their skin.
Since then, the world had changed.
Marks began appearing on certain individuals.
Whether old or young, male or female, age and gender had no bearing.
To prepare, governments built facilities to train them.
Guilds formed to recruit them and polish them.
And now, after three years of waiting—
The Paths had finally appeared.
_ _ _ _ _
TCCHHH!
[Unauthorized User Detected]
Unauthorized? Yuin echoed.
I guess? Since I'm not supposed to be getting this.
But that was besides Yuin's priority at the moment.
Lifting his hand, he splayed them, peering into the corner of his ring finger's knuckle, the part facing his middle finger that something new seemed to have appeared on.
"What is this?" He breathed.
It was a pale crest, resembling a delicate sigil. Shaped perfectly like a magic circle, it spanned the size of a pearl; tiny.
Blink!
Am I really not dreaming?
Its pale, milky hue that made it meld seamlessly into his skin made Yuin peer harder.
THUMP!
His heart lurched…
A million thoughts raced through his head.
The mark is different and much lighter than what it's supposed to be… but it's there,
He thought, as although faint, it couldn't be disputed that when a mark mysteriously appeared on a person, it meant that person was a Chosen.
But—
DU-DUM!
His heart hammered against his chest painfully. His fingers trembled and his eyes shook wide as he stared.
Two digits; 1 and 7, in the same pale, milky color, lay on either side of the mark.
They didn't belong.
He shut his eyes, squeezing tight like one attempting to shut out reality.
"But—" He drew a heavy breath."A mark is a mark."
Even if I'd never seen one look so…. unsettling.
Does this mean I'm now qua—
TCCHHH!
Another glitch from the screen jerked him from his head.
The sound grated sharply for a moment, blurring the earlier message and showing a new one.
Zone: ??? Codename: ???
Name: ??? Age: ???
Rank: ??? Level: ???
Class: ??? Race: ???
STATS: ???
What are these? Yuin stared wide in confusion. But in a blink, another glitch.
Only that when it cleared this time, the information was still intact, but there was an addition.
A word.
Encased in a rectangular shape. Inked in red and bold in all caps, sat diagonally across the screen; over the message, like a stamp on a document.
ERROR!
Just wha—
TCCCHHHH!!
Another glitch before his mind could process a thought.
The screen blurred out the whole message and out came a new one, placed vertically on the center of the screen.
But this time, they weren't words, but numbers.
And not just numbers, but a timer, counting down from five.
Distraught, Yuin snapped his gaze to the Chosen to see if there'd been any changes.
His eyes first darted to Bo Haekyun, then Shim Sion. And finally, Ma Naki.
No change. They're still jus—
!?!?!
His thought was cut short when his surroundings abruptly turned dark. Like light had been erased, he was enveloped in complete darkness.
His organs moved quicker than his mind, reacting swiftly.
A blink.
In just a blink, light returned. Even more sharper than it was, causing Yuin to squint.
What is—
He slowly opened his eyes, adjusting to the bright ambience.
Yuin raked his surroundings, taking in the new sight.
Where is this? He scanned the all white expanse, comprehension refusing to settle in.
He was no longer in the facility, but in a white, endless expanse with no spec of a shadow. And before him stood tens of people.
A crowd, just as distraught and confused as him.
"W-Where is this?! How did I get here?"
"What's happening? I just— I-I— A blue screen suddenly appeared in front of me from nowhere, showing error messages and then a timer. Next thing I know, I'm here! What is happening?!!!"
"It was the same with me. I suddenly got the same blue panel the Chosen were getting, showing error messages and now I'm here."
Yuin watched from the back how worried and confused the crowd was. They paced about restlessly, too chaotic to keep a calm mind and process their situation.
Judging from how confused they were just like him, Yuin could tell they weren't Chosen.
At least, not initially.
The Chosen had long been told that a Path would open for them to venture into and carry out missions. They'd been preparing for it, so they couldn't be this distraught over this.
Assuming a thinking posture with his hand to his chin, Yuin pondered.
Does that mean that I and everyone here suddenly became Chosen?
There were no other explanations he could come up with. The people here had said the same thing, about how the screen appeared, the error messages and the timer; just like with him.
So, if not them transforming into Chosen, then what?
For more certainty, Yuin drew near some of them and quietly raked them in search of their marks.
And just as he thought, they had marks similar to his in a way. Although not the same shape as his, they were the same pale color. But unlike his, the ones he checked didn't have any digits beside them.
Sigh! There's always something different when it comes to me, he thought, feeling like the odd piece.
Turning sharply, he slid his thumb and index finger under his chin, shoulder bobbing up and down as he chuckled lowly.
But if I've finally become the Chosen I've been wishing to become, what more could I ask for? Muahahaha! He muffled a villainous laugh.
The screen was probably glitching a lot earlier because it was registering new Chosen at the last minute.
Haa… I never thought a day like this would come for m—
ZING!
An electrifying energy zapped down his spine.
Yuin seized instantly, his muscles locking in place as the malicious energy trapped his breath in his lungs.
"To be met with the sight of you lots…. is a curse!" A voice cut through the crowd, icy and spine grazing.
But above all, familiar.
The voice brooded the same kind of eeriness from three years ago, instilling fear and dread.
A celestial!
Yuin turned sharply to meet the gaze of a tall man.
He was draped in the same ancient robe as the first time they appeared. A himation that reached the length of his ankles, draped over one shoulder and gathered at the center by a cinch.
And just like that day, he floated on a black, circular board.
His hair was a pale blond, and his eyes were a vivid amber that gleamed with a sharp edge.
As he stared down at them from above, his cold gaze silenced and stilled them in place, turning the once chaotic and noisy crowd eerily silent like a graveyard.
"At least you have manners for mere bugs that you are," he spat.
His demeanor was calm, appearing nonchalant but his mouth definitely wasn't.
From where he stood, Yuin's face twisted in confusion.
Bugs?
And he wasn't the only one that seemed to be having that thought, the crowd was.
As if reading their minds, the celestial's voice cut through again.
"What's with your faces? Don't tell me you all thought you had become Chosen, did you?"
Did we not?
The celestial's face contorted so tightly, veins began pulsing across it. And as though an ocean disturbed by a mighty sea creature, his energy flared wild.
"You unruly weeds in a garden of flowers, you think you deserve to be counted among them?!" He swept his hand to the side in a fit of anger and a part of the white expanse gave way to reveal a transparent wall of glass.
Through it, Yuin and the crowd saw another realm on the other side. Unlike the one they were in, it was a wide expanse of greenery. And crowding it were thousands of people.
They were all clad in the same clothes; a simple tunic and trouser, bound at the waist with a sash, matching plain black boots.
These people had faces they'd never seen, so they couldn't quite grasp what the celestial intended.
"Behold! Those are the Chosen in a customized avatar! They are inside the Paths where they'll fulfill their purpose! Whereas you—" he glared coldly at them with contempt.
"You are but a mere error in the system. Bugs that will be eliminated."
Eliminated? Yuin's mind reeled.
Does that mean I— I haven't been marked to be a Chosen, but for…. death?!