008. The Era of Great Awakening (1)
“Ladies and gentlemen, I’m reporting live from Hongdae, Seoul—the very first location in Korea where what we’re calling a ‘black hole’ or ‘gate’ appeared. Rescue teams still can’t enter. While the surrounding area is being restored, the center remains in ruins. Some experts believe this black hole could be a gateway to another place. If that’s true, those who vanished into it might have been transported elsewhere—and could still return safely.”
It was Christmas Eve. The streets had been packed with people when a deafening roar split the air, and the black hole suddenly materialized, swallowing people whole and plunging the area into chaos. Buildings crumbled. Roads were torn apart. Many were injured, but miraculously, fatalities were few. The real crisis was the people who had been pulled into the black hole. Weeks had passed, and rescue teams still couldn’t get inside.
This wasn’t just happening in Korea. Black holes were appearing all over the world.
Every country was scrambling to uncover the truth, but so far, no one had any answers. Some claimed it was an alien invasion; others blamed environmental destruction. The world was in turmoil. Doomsday cults were rising, and society was unraveling.
“Wait—what’s that? Did something just move inside the hole?”
“What? You don’t mean… a person? I don’t know what it is, but stay sharp!”
For the first time, something was visible inside the black hole, which had shown no signs of life until now. Tension spiked. No one knew what—or who—might emerge.
“What the… Is that… a person?”
“Oh my God! Everyone, look! Someone—or something—is coming out of the black hole! This proves the scientists right! It’s not just a hole—it’s a gateway to somewhere else! This is AAC News, bringing you the world’s first live footage of a survivor returning from the gate!”
A reporter, who had been filming the area by chance, heard the commotion and signaled the cameraman to zoom in. Many had covered the black hole, but no one had ever captured something emerging from it—until now.
“Hey, stop that! We don’t have clearance to broadcast this yet!”
“Oi! Turn off the camera! Don’t you know about embargoes?”
“We have full permission to film in this area!”
“Didn’t you get the notice? No filming allowed in special circumstances! What’s wrong with you people?”
For the reporter, this moment was too big to ignore, embargo or not. This was the first time anyone had filmed something emerging from the black hole—not just in Korea, but anywhere in the world. Even if they couldn’t broadcast live, they had to capture it. As the crew and officials argued, something began to crawl out.
At first, they thought it might be one of the missing people. But what emerged was something else entirely.
It looked like a turtle—or something similar—moving slowly, its flat body dragging along the ground. But instead of a shell, its back bristled with sharp, spiky quills, like a porcupine or a sea urchin.
The creature inched out of the hole and stopped in front of the crowd. It wasn’t exactly threatening—it was small—but its appearance was far from friendly. As people hesitated, unsure of what to do, the creature began to shake its quills. In an instant, its body swelled, the quills growing several times their original size, towering menacingly. Just as the order came to evacuate non-combat personnel, the quills detached with a sharp swoosh and flew toward the crowd.
“What the hell is this?! Aaaah—!”
The first to be impaled was the reporter, who had been arguing while greedily filming. Though he was some distance from the hole, a quill struck him squarely, piercing through his back and out his chest. He died instantly. Next was the official who had been arguing with the reporter. A massive quill skewered his right leg as he tried to flee. In the span of a few chaotic seconds, no one could process what was happening.
Gunfire and explosions followed. The creature—turtle? Sea urchin? No one knew what to call it—was bombarded with bullets and grenades. Since this was the middle of the city, heavy weaponry couldn’t be used. The area around the black hole was cordoned off, but just beyond it lay a bustling downtown.
As the dust settled, the creature lay motionless, its quills drooping. It twitched a few times, then finally collapsed, the quills clattering to the ground. Only then did the crowd exhale in relief.
“Damn… I thought it was a missing person, but what the hell was that…?”
“Quick, tend to the injured! Report to headquarters—!”
“Wait, wait—over there!”
As they moved to assist the wounded and secure the area, someone shouted, pointing at the black hole.
All eyes turned toward it. Then, screams erupted.
Countless quilled creatures were crawling out of the black hole, one after another. It was hell on earth.
***
///
“Huh? What’s going on? Is anyone here? This isn’t where we went in, is it?”
Jaehee looked around, bewildered. They had definitely entered through a subway station, but now all he saw were mountains.
After losing consciousness during the final tutorial, Jaehee woke up to find Jeongwoo’s face right in front of him. He yelped in surprise, but Jeongwoo looked so exhausted that he couldn’t bring himself to say anything. Once his racing heart settled, he felt a mix of relief and warmth at seeing Jeongwoo again.
Jeongwoo, looking like he hadn’t slept in days, told him the tutorial was over. Jaehee had been worried something might have gone wrong since he’d blacked out, but Jeongwoo assured him everything had ended properly. The memory was fuzzy, but at least it was over—that much was a relief.
And so, holding Jeongwoo’s hand, Jaehee had stepped out through the black hole.
“Hey, Mister Zero! Don’t you know anything about this situation?”
“Stop calling me that. The black hole is just a gate. Sometimes you come out where you went in, sometimes you don’t. It’s random.”
“What kind of bullshit is that? At least it should spit us out where we went in! How are we supposed to know where we are or how to get home?”
Jeongwoo shrugged at Jaehee’s complaint.
“What can we do? Let’s think positively. At least the exit is at the top of the mountain—we just have to go down.”
“Ugh… Even if we get down the mountain, how do we find our way home?”
“Look, there’s a road over there. If we follow it, we’ll figure something out. We can hitch a ride or find a signpost for directions.”
Jaehee sighed deeply at Jeongwoo’s nonchalant response.
Yeah, whatever. We went into some weird hole and experienced all kinds of strange things. We’ll manage somehow. When he thought about it, the fact that they’d made it out of that mysterious hole alive felt like a miracle.
“The sun sets early in the mountains, so let’s get down while there’s still light. It doesn’t look that high—we should be able to get down quickly.”
Following Jeongwoo’s lead, the two headed down the mountain. It wasn’t particularly tall, but the terrain was rough, untrodden by hikers. Jeongwoo took the lead, hacking at the undergrowth with a knife to clear a path. Jaehee followed absentmindedly, only belatedly realizing that Jeongwoo had pulled the knife out of thin air.
“Ah—! Hey! Wait, you can pull stuff out here too?!”
“Hm? The inventory? Oh, since the tutorial’s over, you should be able to use it now too. It’ll get cold after sunset, so let’s set up a tent before then.”
“Me too?”
“Yeah. It’s empty, so there’s nothing to pull out yet.”
Jeongwoo paused and turned to look at Jaehee. His expression was oddly intense.
“…Want to check your status window now?”
“Status… window?”
“Just think ‘status window’ in your head. There’s a classification… What does it say?”
Jaehee blinked, staring back at Jeongwoo.
He could tell this was important to Jeongwoo.
<<Status Window>> Shin Jaehee Classification: Royal Road (King / Minor Sovereign)
Skills:
- King’s Skills: Special conditions must be met for activation.
- King’s Radiant Majesty (Inactive)
- King’s Solemn Command (Inactive)
- King’s Veil (Inactive)
- King’s Blessing (Inactive)
- King’s Virtues (Passive)
- Oratory Lv.1: Can persuade the masses.
- Charisma Lv.1: Can persuade or subdue others.
- Leadership Lv.1: Can command subordinates.
Below that, a long explanation continued, but Jaehee’s mind was reeling.
“W-What the hell is this…?”
“What? What does it say? Shin Jaehee?”
“Huh? Me… I… What was it again… Royal Road? Is it talking about me?”
Jeongwoo’s face twisted in an instant. Jaehee gasped, staring at him as Jeongwoo closed the distance between them.
