Monsters poured from the rift like bile from a ruptured wound, flooding the school grounds. The hallways, once filled with the mundane chatter of teenagers, now echoed with screams. Students and teachers scrambled in every direction, their faces masks of primal terror.
Han Ma-ru stood frozen.
His body trembled uncontrollably, his eyes locked onto the swirling mass of energy that had torn open the sky. The air crackled with an unnatural charge, sending shivers down his spine that had nothing to do with temperature. His heart hammered against his ribs so hard he thought they might crack.
This is real. This is actually happening. The monsters, they're real. They're here. They're—
A thunderous crash.
The classroom door exploded inward.
A creature—if it could be called that—forced its massive frame through the doorway. It stood on two legs like a man, but nothing else about it was human. Its skin was the color of dried blood, mottled with jagged black growths that looked like broken bones pushing through from inside. Multiple eyes—three, four, five?—glowed with sickly yellow light, scattered across its face and shoulders in no particular order. Its jaws unhinged slightly, dripping a viscous fluid that sizzled where it hit the floor.
It roared.
The sound wasn't just loud. It was physical. It pressed against Ma-ru's chest like a wall of water, stealing the air from his lungs. His legs buckled. His vision swam.
Move. Move. Move, please.
But his body wouldn't obey. His muscles had turned to water. All he could do was stare into those glowing eyes and wait for the end.
Then—
The air around him crackled.
A smell like ozone, sharp and clean, cut through the stench of the monster. A blur of motion—too fast to follow—shot past him from behind.
Baek Su-ho.
In an instant, the towering boy was there, standing between Ma-ru and the creature as if he'd teleported. His pink hair was wild, but his eyes were calm. Calm in a way that made no sense. Calm in a way that was almost wrong.
Su-ho's fist connected with the monster's face.
Lightning exploded from the impact.
The crack was deafening, a thunderclap compressed into a single point of contact. The creature's multiple eyes went wide—then blank—as it was hurled backward through the doorway, its massive body tearing through the frame and crashing into the hallway beyond.
It lay motionless.
Ma-ru stared.
Su-ho stood there, lightning dancing between his fingertips like playful snakes. He wasn't even breathing hard. His posture was relaxed, almost bored. But his eyes—
His eyes were different today.
There was something behind them that Ma-ru had never seen before. A weight. A knowledge. The look of someone who had seen this before. Done this before.
How many times? Ma-ru's mind raced, pieces clicking together with horrifying clarity. How many times has he done this?
"S-Su-ho… w-what was that?"
The words came out as a whisper. He wanted to ask more. He wanted to ask: Were you the one who closed those rifts? The ones that vanished last month? Were you there? Were you fighting alone?
But before he could force the words out, Su-ho's hand closed around his arm.
"No time to explain! Did you forget the teacher told us to evac to the gym?!"
The grip was firm but not painful. Grounding. Ma-ru's feet finally remembered how to move.
Ahead, at the classroom's shattered exit, Yoo Seol waited. Her face was pale—paler than Ma-ru had ever seen it—but her posture was steady. Her eyes met his for a fraction of a second, and in that look, he saw the same realization dawning.
"C'mon, Seolseol! We need to move! You too, Marumaru!"
Su-ho was already moving, pulling Ma-ru along, and Yoo Seol fell into step beside them without a word.
---
The hallway was chaos.
Students ran in every direction, some crying, some silent with shock. A girl sat against the wall, staring at nothing, her hands covered in dust and a small cut on her forehead. A boy was trying to drag his friend, who had frozen completely, muscles locked in terror.
And everywhere—everywhere—were monsters.
Ma-ru's mind struggled to process what he was seeing. Creatures of every shape and size, as if someone had emptied a nightmare and let it breed. Small ones, fast ones, skittering along the walls. Large ones, shambling and roaring. Things with too many legs. Things with no legs at all.
But Su-ho—
Su-ho moved through them like water.
A creature lunged. Su-ho was gone before it reached him, then there, behind it, his fist already buried in its spine. Lightning crackled. The creature collapsed.
Another came from the side. Su-ho didn't even look. His hand shot out, caught its face, and pushed. The thing flew backward into a third monster, both of them tumbling in a tangle of limbs.
Lightning coalesced in Su-ho's hand, a spear of pure crackling energy. He didn't throw it. Instead, he drew his fist back and punched the spear. The impact launched it like a railgun, the lightning projectile tearing through the air and pinning both creatures to the wall.
Students stopped running to stare.
Some had their phones out. Recording. Even now, recording.
"Why're y'all just standing there?! Run, man! RUN!"
Su-ho's voice cut through their stupor. The satoori was back—that country accent he sometimes exaggerated—but the urgency behind it was real. The students snapped out of their trance and fled.
Ma-ru ran with them.
---
The gymnasium loomed ahead, its double doors thrown wide. Students poured inside like water finding a drain. Teachers stood at the entrance, herding them in, counting heads, their Faces pale but determined.
Ma-ru stumbled through the doors. The gym was already crowded, hundreds of students huddled together, some crying, some praying, most just staring at nothing with the hollow eyes of shock.
He turned back.
Su-ho stood at the entrance, watching the fleeing students with an expression Ma-ru couldn't read. He wasn't even breathing hard. His uniform was dirty in blood. None of it was his.
Of course not, Ma-ru thought. He's the one doing the killing.
Su-ho exhaled. "Alright, y'all get inside. I'll protect you, so don't worry." His voice was light. Casual. As if he'd just offered to carry someone's groceries.
He turned to the homeroom teacher, Ahn Nam-ra, who stood near the doors, her face pale but her jaw set. "Ahn Seonsaengnim, I gotta head back out. Watch over them, 'kay?"
"What?! Baek Su-ho, it's too dangerous—"
But he was already moving, waving a hand as if to say Don't worry. The doors swung shut behind him.
The gym fell silent.
Then—
A boom of lightning.
A monstrous scream.
The students flinched as one.
"He's gonna be fine, right?" someone whispered.
"Did you see him punch that monster? He'll be fine… probably."
"Wait… he punched a monster with lightning?"
Their homeroom teacher turned sharply. "With lightning?"
The whispers spread. The truth was starting to leak out.
---
Ma-ru found a spot against the wall and slid down, his legs finally giving out. Yoo Seol sat beside him, close enough that their shoulders almost touched. She didn't look at him, but her presence was an anchor.
Then her hand found his shaking one.
Oh... she's scared too.
"S-seol-ah... I'm s-scared..."
She turned to him and signed with one hand. Slow.
Me too. But I trust Su-ho.
Outside, the sounds continued. Boom. Scream. Boom. Scream. A rhythm of violence.
Then—
A crash. Different from the others. Closer. Much closer.
The wall on the far side of the gym exploded inward.
A monster pushed through the gap, massive, bull-headed, built like a mountain of muscle and hate. It roared, and the sound shook dust from the rafters.
Students screamed. Some ran. Most froze.
Ma-ru's body moved before his mind could catch up.
He lunged forward, wrapping his arms around Yoo Seol and pulling her close, shielding her with his own body. His glasses nearly flew off. His heart slammed against his ribs. But he held on.
Yoo Seol stiffened for a split second, then her arms tightened around him, her fingers clutching the back of his uniform like he was the only solid thing left in the world.
They held each other as the monster's roar shook the gym.
Before it could take a single step, lightning crackled behind it, a blur of motion.
Su-ho.
He appeared at the creature's back, a spear of lightning already formed in his fist. He didn't throw it. He punched it.
The spear shot forward like a cannonball, embedding itself deep in the monster's spine. Lightning exploded from the impact. The creature collapsed, dead before it hit the ground.
Su-ho landed, his breathing heavier now. His hand pressed against his ribs, a wince he couldn't quite hide.
"Y'all alright?!"
Relief crashed through the gym like a wave. Students cheered, some sobbing. But Su-ho was already moving again, spinning to face another creature that had followed him through the breach.
He blurred. Reappeared behind it. Caught its head and slammed it into the ground. Once. Twice. Three times. Until it stopped moving.
"Incredible!"
"He's so fast!"
"Is he… superhuman?"
Ma-ru slowly loosened his grip, his face burning. Yoo Seol pulled back just enough to look at him, her cheeks flushed, her eyes wide. Then, slowly, she signed.
Thank you.
He couldn't find his voice. So he just nodded.
But as he watched Su-ho fight—as he saw the way he moved, the way he knew where the monsters would be before they attacked—a different word came to mind.
Experienced.
This wasn't new to Su-ho. He'd done this before.
How many times? Ma-ru wondered again. How many times has he fought alone?
---
Near the wall, a boy had his phone out. Recording. His hands were shaking, but the camera was steady.
He zoomed in on Su-ho—lightning dancing around his fist—and whispered:
"This is going to break the internet."
The girl next to him grabbed his arm. "Shut up! He's saving us!"
"I know. That's why I'm recording." He gestured vaguely toward the window, toward the chaos beyond. "See yourself, it's not only our school happen! Many people record monster attack from their place too!"
Ma-ru and Seol stiffened.
Many people. From their place. Their homes.
His mother.
E-eomma...
His chest tightened. He looked at Seol. Her face had gone pale again, her eyes fixed on the window. She was thinking the same thing.
Eomma... please be safe...
Seol's hands moved. Fast. Too fast for Ma-ru to follow.
She was signing to Su-ho.
Su-ho's lips twitched. He winked.
"Stay here, everyone. No one shall pass Gamin High School safe place. As long Baek Su-ho stand here."
His satoori was thick, but his voice was absolute.
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