Chapter 1
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Translator: Wjin
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Awakening
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“Mom...”
Rubbing her sleepy eyes, Sejin opened the door—and was confronted by a ruined world.
Whoosh.
The scorching wind blasted her cheeks with heat.
‘A dream?’
She'd only just woken up, yet the seventh-floor apartment floor was crumbling and splitting with ominous groans.
No matter how hard she blinked in disbelief, her senses screamed that this was no dream.
“Mo-Mom? Se-Sea!”
No one answered the desperate cry of the ten-year-old girl.
Just as panic drove her toward Mom's room.
Crack!
Fissures raced across the floor like lightning bolts, and the building soon split vertically.
Her small body lurched from the massive quake. Sejin's face, clutching the doorframe, was soaked with tears in an instant.
“Mo-Mom! Wake up! Mom!”
The tightly shut door to Mom's room, visible across the hall, receded farther away.
Crackling. The floor fractured, hot air billowing up from the gaps.
A dream?
She'd fallen asleep buzzing with excitement over tomorrow's birthday gift.
Even young Sejin's eyes could see this was beyond abnormal.
Red-hot lava churned in the cracks, and sweat plastered her messy hair to her forehead.
“Mom! Sea!”
No reply came, no matter how hard she screamed until veins bulged in her neck.
“Th-this is a lie. Why, why...”
Her little sister's room across the way was tilting precariously.
All Sejin could do was cling to the doorframe with her tiny hands.
The building crumbled slowly, showering concrete dust like snow.
“No, no!”
Mom and Sea were down there! Tears streamed down in a torrent.
“Gasp.”
Inhaling the overwhelming heat, Sejin heard a strange sound from somewhere.
Her body jolted at the human-like scream.
Her shaky gaze dropped to the things climbing from the building's fissures.
Black shadows that vaguely resembled people.
But their bodies were like charred coals.
Beneath the flaky black skin, red light glowed like molten lava.
‘Wh-what are they...’
She gulped hard.
In the superheated air, they slowly raised their heads.
“Eek.”
Their hollow black sockets fixed on Sejin all at once.
Pinned by those slicing gazes, Sejin couldn't budge.
‘R-run. Run...’
But the monsters sank claws into the walls, steadily closing the distance.
Hee hee heek.
Their mocking grins revealed mouths crammed with needle-sharp teeth.
Sejin collapsed, scrambling backward with her feet, but they swarmed relentlessly.
“G-get away!”
Her childish voice quivered.
The black shapes encircled her in seconds.
They drooled thick saliva from their gaping maws.
Her throat locked; no sound escaped.
As if she'd been their target from the start, their hands lunged without mercy.
The moment razor claws slashed toward her—
“Gasp.”
Her eyes flew open.
Drenched in sweat like after a shower, Sejin gulped air desperately.
Clutching the blanket like a lifeline, her body shuddered violently.
“A d-dream?”
She muttered blankly—it had been too grotesque, too vivid for a dream.
Child, this isn't a dream.
“Wh-who's there!”
She shot upright at the voice echoing in her mind.
I've got to get to Mom.
Trembling with fear, she swung her legs off the bed.
I am Breaking Army Star of the Seven Stars Gods. You're the reincarnation of Cheonhui. Don't be afraid.
Lies, right?
Hearing stuff like this in her head was bizarre.
She froze at the unfamiliar voice resounding in her skull.
Young as she was, instinct told her this was wrong—terribly wrong.
She halted just short of bursting out the door, screaming for Mom.
Do you remember what you just saw?
The voice was soft, like soothing a child, but laced with undeniable authority.
Child born with Cheonhui's soul.
What the hell? I can't hear you, can't hear you.
Her sweat evaporated; her temperature plummeted. Shivering, she hugged herself tight.
If you reject your fate, the dream you saw will soon become reality.
Reality?
That dream coming true?
The dream you just saw is the near future. Hell will descend, and evil spirits will devour everything.
The bitter tone no longer frightened her. Some strange trust bloomed—he wouldn't hurt her.
“Wh-what does that have to do with me!”
Shaking, Sejin mustered her courage to snap back.
All of that will include your beloved family.
My family.
Mom, raising two daughters alone in Dad's absence.
Sea, the bratty two-year-younger sister who adored only her big sis.
The idea that they might die terrified ten-year-old Sejin more than anything.
Yes. Your beloved Mom, and your little sister Sea as well.
Terror roiled at her feet, clamping her ankles tight.
So if you don't want to lose your precious family...
Sejin banished the word reject from her mind.
Their lives hung in the balance.
Even a ten-year-old knew this was no simple matter to ignore.
Accept me.
The gentle, irresistible voice echoed in her ears.
“A Gate really opening around here? It's way too quiet.”
In the rowdy gukbap joint, Sejin had earphones in so she wouldn't look like a lunatic mumbling to herself.
Are you doubting my abilities?
Breaking Army Star bristled with a prickly tone.
“Not doubting. Just, the world's gotten better lately—the Hunter Promotion Agency kids predict Gate spots spot-on.”
Gate? It's a Ghost Gate!
“Ah, yeah.”
Sejin gave a half-hearted reply to the fussy correction.
Ghost Gate, Gate—same difference. Why flip out every time?
Shaking her head in defeat at Breaking Army Star's mule-headedness.
How long must I hold your hand? Ding.
One wrong word and she'd get pulverized.
Always had been. Breaking Army Star griped that this world was rotten from the roots.
The Ghost Gates he spoke of.
Portals linking hell and the living realm, letting evil spirits slip through.
Modern folks dubbed them Gates, the spirits Creatures.
“Yeah, anyway, Gho—Ghost Gate.”
Sejin caught her slip-up quick.
Born and raised calling them Gates. Why force Ghost Gate every time?
‘What a weirdo.’
Twelve years of nagging, and her habits stuck firm.
Stubborn...
What? Who, me?
Getting called stubborn by stubborn-as-nails Breaking Army Star flipped her eyes.
The nerve. God or not.
She sighed deeply after the tongue-lashing.
I'll put up with it.
“The Gate detectors are way better these days.”
Unlike the old reactive days, now they predicted spawn zones.
Twenty Gates a month? Nailed fifteen easy.
Science marching on. Gates ranking up nonstop—if humanity stalled, game over.
She'd have bit it before hosting a god to stop the end times.
“Spot-on like weather reports now.”
As if. Said no rain, then it poured—huge uproar.
“Yeah, fair.”
Too many forecast flops to argue. Sejin nodded, scanning the room.
Kim Makrye's Gukbap, fifty-year legend, buzzed with customers.
The sign out front: kindly grandma beaming in hanbok.
Counter: same lady? Spry as a youth, jingling with gold bling.
Legit eats.
“Eat first, think later.”
Succumbing to the mouthwatering steam, Sejin unpacked her lunchbox.
Today's Ghost Gate? C-rank in your kids' terms.
C-rank was doable solo—not overwhelming, but no cakewalk.
With just Breaking Army Star among the gods, her strength sat squarely in limbo.
Don't let your guard down. I'm the only Seven Stars God you've got so far.
He knew it, so he reined her in. Memories of that last C-rank thrashing still stung—Sejin pursed her lips.
He'd warned her pre-dive: no showing off. But arrogance bit her, spawning his legendary lecture.
“Got it, Old Man.”
Worried for nothing.
“Wonder if another god shows today? Ten-plus years, total radio silence.”
She pivoted topics sharpish—lest the nag-storm drain her before Gate time.