"I'll give you all a heads-up," Yong Nam-joon began, his voice firm and unwavering as he faced the crowd. "The dungeon is located within Pelham Bay Park, specifically on City Island. Walking there would be suicide, and the bridge has collapsed, so we'll be taking one of the zoo's buses to the park. From there, we'll continue on foot until we reach the coast, where we'll take a boat to the island. You'll be divided into groups of three, based on your roles. Each group will consist of two of you and one of my people, myself included. We leave as soon as the teams are formed."
Crack
Crack
Crack
The noise of boots crunching against the gravel caught everyone's attention. From within the crowd, a young man with black hair and skin as pale as snow stepped forward. His cold, emotionless eyes seemed to look through people rather than at them. His presence was chilling, and an air of indifference surrounded him.
"Pleasure to meet you. I'm Noah Gallagher. I'll be teaming up with you"
Noah said flatly, his voice void of warmth.
Yong Nam-joon raised an eyebrow, clearly amused.
"Perhaps I wasn't clear. You don't choose your groups. You'll be assigned a team by one of us."
Noah's gaze didn't falter. He wasn't the type to argue. Instead, he closed his eyes for a moment, and in an instant, the atmosphere changed.
A suffocating wave of mana exploded from Noah, spreading out in all directions like a black tide. The temperature seemed to plummet as an ominous, shadowy aura wrapped around him. Slowly, the clearing became deathly quiet, and the crowd could feel it—Fear.
It was an ancient, primal terror, crawling up their spines and squeezing their hearts. People couldn't even lift their heads to meet his gaze. A few dropped to their knees, shivering uncontrollably.
Even Yong Nam-joon's massive black wolf, a creature that had radiated power and dominance, lowered its ears and slunk to the ground, flattening its body submissively. In an instant, everyone understood who the true alpha was.
And then, as suddenly as it had come, the aura vanished. The pressure dissipated into the air, leaving the crowd gasping for breath, confused and shaken.
Yong Nam-joon threw his head back and laughed, a loud, booming sound that echoed through the trees.
"HAHAHA! Fascinating! Very well, you'll come with me. I've always had a thing for wild beasts!"
He said, grinning wickedly.
Noah's expression remained neutral, though a faint smile tugged at his lips.
"Thank you. I also enjoy animals... or something like that."
With a satisfied smirk, Yong Nam-joon scanned the crowd once more.
"We've got room for one more in our group. Let's see… You, with the bob-cut hair. I noticed you didn't flinch at his aura. Care to join us?"
The girl he pointed at stepped forward with a bright, mischievous smile. Her short, bob-cut hair framed her face, giving her a youthful appearance, but her toned physique hinted at her strength. She could easily have been sixteen, or just as easily twenty-four—her age was a mystery.
"Certainly! It's a pleasure to meet you both. I'm Emily Brown," she said cheerfully.
Yong Nam-joon nodded, his eyes gleaming with interest. "Good. I think it's important we all know our roles. I'm a Beast Tamer, four stars," he announced proudly, looking between Noah and Emily.
"I'm a Field Nurse, three stars," Emily replied, her voice soft but confident. Then, she turned to Noah, curious about his role.
Noah simply responded, "Dark Mage, three stars."
___________________________________________
Around 9 a.m., the groups boarded an old city bus, originally used for the Staten Island-Manhattan route before everything had changed. The bus rumbled to life, its engine growling like a relic of the past. As they made their way along FDR Drive, skirting the East River, the city passed by in a blur of broken buildings and shattered dreams. They crossed the Willis Avenue Bridge, venturing into the Bronx, and then over the Pelham Bay Bridge, leaving behind the remnants of Manhattan.
Outside the windows, nothing but desolation greeted them—an eerie stillness that had settled over New York City like a suffocating blanket. The once bustling streets were now empty, haunted by the echoes of a life that no longer existed. Buildings that had once towered proudly now stood like tombstones, their glass windows shattered, their walls crumbling.
Inside the bus, the survivors sat in silence, each lost in their own thoughts, the weight of the apocalypse heavy on their shoulders. But after a while, the quiet became too much to bear, and Emily, ever optimist, broke the silence.
"So... What did everyone do before all this?"
She asked, her voice light but tinged with curiosity.
A few people glanced at each other, hesitant to answer at first. But then, one of the older men, a burly guy with a rough beard, cleared his throat.
"I was a construction worker," he said gruffly.
"Built skyscrapers, you know? The real tall ones. Never thought I'd live to see 'em come down the way they did..."
A woman a few seats ahead turned slightly, her voice soft but clear. "I was a nurse. In a hospital near Queens. I miss... I miss the patients, you know? Helping people... It gave me purpose. Now..."
She trailed off, her words hanging in the air, heavy with the loss that they all felt but didn't dare to voice.
Another survivor, a younger guy with sandy blonde hair, chuckled softly. "I miss the little things. Like pizza. God, I miss pizza."
He laughed again, though it was more out of longing than humor.
The others smiled at his comment, some even chuckling along with him. Emily turned her head and grinned.
"Pizza, huh? Yeah, I could go for a good slice right about now."
"I used to eat it every Friday," the guy continued, a wistful look in his eyes.
"With friends. We'd hit up this little joint downtown. Best pizza in the city. Never thought I'd miss something so simple."
A few of the others nodded in agreement. Even in the midst of everything that had happened, it was the small, everyday things that they found themselves longing for the most. The taste of pizza, the sound of a crowded street, the warmth of a comfortable bed.
As the bus rolled down the desolate highway, the survivors inside began talking quietly among themselves. Emily, seated a few rows ahead of Noah, glanced back at him with curiosity. He hadn't spoken much since they'd boarded, and his silence seemed almost unnatural compared to the chatter filling the vehicle.
She smiled at the conversation around her but didn't join in. Instead, she kept stealing glances at Noah, noticing how he stared blankly out the window, his expression unreadable.
Finally, unable to suppress her curiosity any longer, Emily turned toward him.
"What about you, Noah?"
She asked, her voice gentle, though it carried through the noise.
"What do you miss from before all this?"
Noah didn't answer right away. The ruins of the city flickered past the window, a blur of gray and green that felt both distant and unremarkable. He didn't feel that same longing for the past as the others did. He had spent ten years in this wasteland—fighting, surviving, losing more people than he cared to remember. The world before the cataclysm felt like a distant dream, almost irrelevant.
"I don't miss anything," he finally said, his voice quiet but firm. "That world's gone."
Just like that, the conversation died down and the bus continued its journey through the desolate landscape.
___________________________________
The bus finally came to a halt, the tires screeching as they rolled over the cracked asphalt. The doors hissed open, and Yong Nam-joon stood, motioning for everyone to gather their belongings and exit the vehicle.
"We've arrived. Grab your things and get off," he ordered, his voice cutting through the silence.
Noah stepped off the bus, his boots crunching against the dirt as he looked around. A vast forest stretched out before them, the trees reaching skyward like skeletal fingers.
The air was still, unnervingly quiet, as if the world was holding its breath.
Yong Nam-joon scanned the area, his eyes sharp. "I know it looks calm," he began, "but don't let your guard down. This place is crawling with hobgoblins. Stay close, stay sharp."
Noah glanced over his shoulder at the distant skyline of the city. What had once been the bustling metropolis of New York was now a silent graveyard, its towering buildings reduced to nothing more than ruins. Despite the destruction having occurred only a few days ago, it felt as though the city had been asleep for centuries.
Turning back to the path ahead, Noah tightened his grip on the handle of his scythe.
"I'm ready," he muttered under his breath.
"Let's go."