The Northern Korean peninsula was in ruins. The northern territories of Korea were now beyond repair. At the moment, the major cities of South Korea have yet to be fully repaired. North Korea had been cast aside and thrown away.
"Wake up your sleeping peers. We will arrive in Sinuiju soon."
The drill instructor said. Han stood up and commanded his squad. Everyone woke the person sitting next to them.
"The sky… is purple."
The squad members looking toward Sinuiju said. The dimensional crack had painted the sky of the area into a violet hue. A bleak, dreary feeling arose.
"The colour of the sky will change depending on the colour the dimensional crack changes into. The light the dimensional crack leaks will shine all colours of the rainbow in an irregular pattern. At the moment, it seems the violet hues are the strongest."
The drill instructor explained. He ordered the pilot to fly a bit closer to the dimensional crack.
"So it really does shine the colours of the rainbow."
Han mumbled. He had only seen the dimensional crack from photos and video clips. It leaked vibrant colours of the rainbow. The light leaked into the deep canyon crevasses of the land.
This naturally occurring phenomenon of the territory could not be explained through science. The thing itself was incomprehensible. How had the dimensional gate connected to this place, why do the dragons attack, nobody knew even a sliver of the truth. Humanity fought simply for the sake of survival.
Thump, thump.
His heart thumped. The squad members each experienced strange sensations from the crack. Han felt a quiet agitation. It was as if he was submerged in water and he could only hear the sound of his heart beating. Han shut his eyes tight.
Kuuuuooo!
He seemed to hear something, but he guessed that these were only hallucinations. He could see a sort of figure inside the darkness. A dragon was tearing through the crack trying to get its jaw through it.
Once the dragon tore through the gate, the gate fully reformed to its original state. This was only a hallucination, but his legs shook with terror.
He felt an icy chill cover his whole body. Han strongly wished to pull himself out from this dread and opened his eyes. It seems Han was not the only one to have seen this hallucination. The other youths all opened their eyes one by one. Everyone was drenched in cold sweat.
"Did you guys see that as well?"
Everyone nodded. Kuro struggled to breathe like he was in incredible pain.
"Danger. Something big….."
Psychic energy flowed from Kuro's eyes. Han's eyes grew wide the moment he saw psychic energy flow from Kuro's eyes. The tips of Han's fingers shook violently in terror. He screamed at the drill instructor.
"We must immediately turn the airplane around! We have to return to the Ark….."
BOOOOM!
A transfer plane just ahead of them blew up. The fourth plane that carried Squad 10 was bulleting down the ground while burning.
PEEW!
A blue stream of light shot out from the ground. The stream of light beamed through the wings of Squad 13's plane.
The pilot shouted something. The drill instructor immediately understood the gravity of the situation and threw the parachutes toward the youths.
"This is not a drill. Squad leader Han, you understand?"
Han's eyes looked empty. He had just witnessed all of squad 10 fall to their death. Squad 10 had not enough time to even let out a scream.
Static, something that had broken in his mind suddenly connected once again. Han barely managed to take hold of himself.
He was capable of fast mental recovery during urgent situations. This was Han's greatest strength that the drill instructors had unanimously agreed upon.
"Understood, drill instructor sir."
Han said once his eyes became alert.
"This airplane will soon crash. We will jump out of the plane. I do not know what is awaiting us below. Join forces with a drill instructor you can find below, until then follow the manual to survive until backup forces arrive. The goal of today will be survival and returning to Ark. Move out."
The squad members equipped their parachutes as they were trained. The students who could not snap themselves from the hallucinations received aid from their fellow students.
"This is Airplane 7, we have received an attack from an unknown source. Requesting for help, I repeat…."
The pilots said something among the chaos. The drill instructor opened the back hatch of the airplane.
Huuuuuu!
Violent winds shook the inside of the plane. A smoky fog enwrapped the area.
"Descend."
The drill instructor pushed the squad members one by one. He had no time to coach each individual. It was unknown whether the plane would explode in the next second by another attack. The squad members jumped and pulled out their parachutes one by one.
"Han, if you're unable to find a drill instructor, you're in charge. Endure until rescue arrives."
"Understood."
Han shortly saluted and jumped out. The wind howled in his ears. The airplane flew further and further from him. The drill instructor also got ready to jump out. The moment the drill instructor jumped out, the plane was hit by another stream of light and exploded. He couldn't escape the explosion and his body flew out like a doll.
'Is he dead?'
Han bit his lower lip. There seemed to be no response from the drill instructor. When he neared the ground, he firmly grasped onto the parachute line. A number of thoughts passed his mind.
'I just barely got a hold of my senses. The other members are probably not capable of maintaining a normal state of mind at the moment. I must gather everyone as soon as I can. A dense forest had formed in this place because it has been out of the reach of humans for a long time. Nothing is favourable for us. If we were in an open area, we would find each other immediately… but it's difficult to find others in a wild forest.'
Han looked at his data bracelet. The screen shook with noise and wouldn't properly function. Everyone else would probably be in the same situation.
'We have been training for this situation all this time. There's no reason we can't survive.'
Han got caught by a tree branch while dropping down. He took out his knife and cut the string. He dropped from ten meters in the air and rolled. He softened the fall by spreading the impact with the roll, and then looked up.
"I only have one knife."
Nobody predicted this situation. Han tried to recall from the various situations he trained for, but he couldn't seem to remember any at all. It didn't matter if his analysis skills were strong, because he didn't have any pieces of the puzzle to work out the core problem at the moment.
Before Han had landed, he memorized the general landscape terrain. He roughly drew a map from his memory on the ground.
"More people would have had dropped into this direction."
Han didn't hesitate and moved out.
'Rather than waiting for other squads to come find me, I have a better chance finding them. There should be many students who can't move due to their state of panic or possible injury.
Han moved through the forest of overgrown weeds. People have not traversed through this place at all, and just walking forward was straining.
Sa sa sak.
There was movement from the forest. Han turned his head toward the sound. Somebody popped out from the opposite side of the forest.
"Han?"
Kijo popped out.
"How about the other squad members?"
"I didn't see them yet. I saw you in this direction before I landed, and decided to walk into this direction. I thought it would be best to join up with the squad leader."
Han was a bit surprised. Kijo had kept his eyes on Han until the last moment. Amongst the chaos, he was able to make such a decision, that was quite amazing.
'He is surprisingly smart. His logic is careful and meticulous. I guess he has a good sense. Or rather, he has great mental strength, to retain his composure. He's the longest veteran amongst all squad members for a reason.'
Han re-evaluated Kijo.
'I wasn't able to objectively judge his skills due to his arrogant personality. In secret, I undervalued Kijo's skills and neglected him quite a bit. Although a person's skill and character are two different things. Reflecting back, Kijo never lagged behind, and his ability to carry out the battle tactics were good. His character is his main hindrance.'
"What are you thinking about?"
Kijo said. Han snapped away from his thoughts and looked up.
"No, nothing. Let's first think of a way to join up with the rest of the squad."
Han and Kijo travelled up to higher grounds. Han climbed a tall tree and looked across the area. There was smoke in the far distance. The closest was the second military plane.