4:05 PM – A Changed World
As Kyung-min drove through the familiar streets of Seoul, his gaze flickered to the towering structures in the distance—towers that hadn't been there a year ago.
Massive, ominous spires stretched into the sky, each pulsating faintly with mana. Some were shorter, standing at ten floors, while others loomed even taller—twenty, thirty, even a hundred floors high.
Beyond them, something else caught his attention.
Near the highways, at key locations within the city, dark, swirling rifts hovered in the air—Gates.
And more bizarrely, people dressed in sleek combat gear, armor, and robes vanished into them.
It wasn't teleportation.
It was something else.
"...What the hell am I looking at?" Kyung-min muttered.
His sister, who had been silent for the past few minutes, turned to him sharply.
"...What?"
Kyung-min kept his eyes on the road, but his grip on the wheel tightened.
"I've been seeing these towers. These rifts. People disappearing into them like it's normal. And now you're telling me this is the world now?"
She blinked.
"...Oppa, are you joking?"
His voice remained steady.
"No."
Silence.
Then—
"Wait, wait, wait—" She lifted a hand, visibly flustered. "You're telling me... you don't know about Towers? Or Gates?!"
"I wouldn't be asking if I did."
"But you were found inside a dungeon. You're an Awakened. How the hell do you not—"
She stopped mid-sentence, realization dawning in her eyes.
Her voice softened.
"...Where the hell were you?"
Kyung-min didn't answer.
Instead, he asked another question.
"Tell me everything."
His sister hesitated.
Then—she exhaled deeply and leaned back in her seat.
"Fine. Listen carefully."
The World After the Resets
"Everything changed after the Resets."
Kyung-min's jaw tightened at the word.
"The first time it happened… nobody understood what was going on. One day, people just—died."
A bitter smile tugged at her lips.
"And then they woke up again."
"...Woke up?"
She nodded.
"The world experienced three resets. Every time it happened, people who died would just… reappear."
Kyung-min's fingers curled against the steering wheel.
"And no one questioned it?"
"Oh, people questioned it," she scoffed. "They lost their minds. But here's the thing—only some people remembered."
"…What?"
"The First Reset—only about 10% of people remembered what happened."
"Why?"
She took a deep breath.
"Later, people figured it out—anyone who reached Level 10 before dying would get a notification."
Kyung-min's breath hitched.
"...A notification?"
She nodded grimly.
"'You have surpassed Level 10. Your memories will be retained upon the next reset.'"
Silence filled the car.
Kyung-min stared straight ahead, expression unreadable.
His sister continued.
"The Second Reset? More people remembered. The first group of survivors started warning others, teaching them how to level up. The people started realizing that we weren't just respawning—we were being trained for something."
She hesitated.
"And then the Third Reset happened."
Kyung-min's grip on the wheel tightened.
This was the one.
The reset that had happened while he was in Floor 0.
The one that left him trapped.
"...And?"
Her voice lowered.
"This time, everyone remembered. Every single person—Awakened or not—got a message."
The System's Final Message
'The Trials are complete. The preparations are over. Humanity's survival begins now.'
'Dungeons will now persist.'
'Gates will now appear.'
'The Apocalypse has begun.'
"The entire world got that message," his sister whispered.
"And a week later—"
"—it happened." Kyung-min finished.
She nodded.
"Dungeons formed. Gates opened. Monsters poured out. At first, people thought it was just some mass delusion. A worldwide glitch."
"But then cities started falling."
The Birth of Awakeners, Guilds & The Hunter Association
"Most people Awakened during this time. Some while sleeping, some while eating, some while taking a sh*t."
Kyung-min's brow twitched.
His sister continued.
"At first, no one wanted to enter these dungeons or gates. The first awakeners were terrified. And honestly? They had every right to be."
She turned to look at him.
"Because the moment a gate stayed uncleared for too long—monsters poured out."
Kyung-min's expression darkened.
"…How long?"
"It depended. Some were weeks. Some only a few days."
She let out a shaky breath.
"Cities were wiped out. Families torn apart. The world was in chaos."
"And then—the strong started stepping forward."
She smiled bitterly.
"People who survived the resets? They had an advantage. They had experience. And they started grouping together—Guilds formed."
"And after the Guilds?"
"The Hunter Association."
A Personal Connection – His Missing Friends
Kyung-min stayed silent, absorbing everything.
Then—
His sister hesitated.
"...You should know," she murmured.
Kyung-min glanced at her.
She was biting her lip, conflicted.
Finally, she sighed.
"Your friends—Seok and Min-jun."
Something inside Kyung-min froze.
"They Awakened early. One of the first. They went into a gate before anyone else even dared to try."
Kyung-min felt his heartbeat slow.
His sister swallowed.
"They're A-rank Awakeners now. They have their own guild—Black Tide. Seok is the guild leader. Min-jun handles the strategy."
His knuckles turned white against the wheel.
Seok.
Min-jun.
His best friends.
His brothers.
The people he would have died for.
And they had survived without him.
His sister noticed the shift in his expression.
"...Oppa?"
Kyung-min inhaled sharply.
Then—
He forced it down.
The emotions.
The thoughts.
Everything.
He shoved it deep inside.
His sister frowned but didn't push further.
Instead, she shifted the topic.
"What do you want to do now?"
Kyung-min closed his eyes for a moment.
Then—he exhaled.
"Train."
His sister blinked.
He opened his eyes, gaze sharp.
"I'm not strong enough."
He tapped a finger against the wheel.
"I need more."
A brief silence.
Then—his sister smirked.
"...Then let's get to work, Oppa."
4:15 PM – Arrival at the Han Family Estate
The convoy of black luxury cars had arrived long before him. They lined the circular driveway of the Han Family Estate, their polished surfaces reflecting the golden hues of the late afternoon sun.
Kyung-min pulled up in his own car, his sister gripping the steering wheel with tense fingers. She had insisted on driving, though he doubted she even knew why.
As they came to a slow stop, she cast a glance at him.
"You good?"
He didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he looked out the window.
The estate was the same as he remembered—immaculate stone pathways, a sprawling mansion nestled within meticulously curated gardens, and the faint scent of fresh earth and trimmed hedges in the air.
It should've felt comforting.
It didn't.
Something inside him felt… disconnected.
Like he was standing in a place that no longer belonged to him.
The warmth of home was there—he could see it, smell it, touch it.
But he couldn't feel it.
His fingers curled slightly against his leg.
Then, the doors to the mansion opened.
A familiar figure stood at the entrance.
Ji-hoon.
His family's butler.
The old man stood straight, his neatly combed gray hair and pristine black suit giving him the air of quiet authority. Despite the years, his gaze remained sharp, observant.
But right now, there was something else in his expression.
Relief.
"Young Master Kyung-min."
His voice was steady, but the weight behind it was undeniable.
"Welcome home."
Kyung-min stepped out of the car, his movements slow, deliberate.
For a moment, he simply stood there, staring at the butler he had known since childhood.
Then—
"…It's been a while, Ji-hoon."
The butler gave a rare smile, bowing deeply.
"Indeed, it has."