Extra. # 1

Step, step.

It felt like I'd stepped onto a forest path straight out of a fantasy world. As I walked toward the octahedron, my vision rippled and the scenery around me shifted.

At the same time, a bizarre memory surfaced.

It was from the start of the semester, and as far as my memories went, it was a memory that made no sense. A human named Kim Geun-cheol was quietly attending class, not particularly involved with anyone.

He wasn't hanging out with friends, just keeping to himself in dead silence. It felt like something was wrong. A rush of other memories, all warped like that, flickered through my head.

The memories only grew darker.

A dark world, or a red one, or purple. Crushed buildings and apartment complexes. And I was standing there.

In the memory, women appeared... adult women. One with silver hair, one with gold. They looked even more mature than they do now. Probably what they'd look like after we graduate.

I was fighting a monster.

Dizziness hit me. Childhood memories flooded my mind in a chaotic jumble. Things I'd forgotten. Things that had mattered. Starting from trouble I'd caused in school, all the way to incidents from my military days...

—Thud.

"Huh?"

Before I knew it, my head was pressed against that ominous octahedron. I realized I must have walked all the way here, drunk on that strange sensation.

"You little shit... what'd you do to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠me?"

The octahedron was floating right at eye level. That's why I'd bumped my forehead into it. A force field surrounded it. This was normally a space no one could enter. What kind of trick had let me slip right through?

It was so close I could make out every strange symbol etched onto its surface.

What the hell were those things that just came to mind? Frustration and confusion clawed at my brain. I tried to focus on the memories, but it wasn't easy.

Abruptly, the face of that bastard Ham Woong-cheol came to mind. Brainwashing, personality swaps, suggestion. He'd mentioned that monsters from other worlds sometimes pulled that kind of shit.

—Ding.

[Main Quest generated]

A notification rang out, clear as day.

[You have been discovered]

[Run]

"What?"

My mind snapped to attention in an instant.

—Fwooooooosh!

Blinding light erupted, swallowing everything around me.

* * *

"No—FUUUUCK! What's going on!"

The second I stumbled out of the light, I snapped into a combat stance and scanned my surroundings!

That light had been way too intense. A flash so terrifying it practically bleached the inside of my skull. Had I been hit by some kind of attack?

That's what I thought, but.

"Huh?"

This wasn't Planet Zora.

"The place from earlier?"

It was the mountain where we'd all been about to hike together. Before we got swept up in that inexplicable gate incident and dragged off to Planet Zora.

It was night, so the area was dark, but it was unmistakable.

"We're back... Wait! Hey! Brian! Ken! Mister Mun Min!"

I whipped around, searching for my friends. Had I popped back here alone? The thought crossed my mind for a second.

"Uuuurgh..."

"Urgh."

Thankfully, they were all sprawled out on the ground a little ways ahead.

"Hey! Get a grip! Ken!"

"Uh, uhhh...? Scream Man?"

"Yeah! It's me!"

"What the... Where are we... Uhhh?! The plants are Earth plants! Don't tell me we made it back!"

"Yeah. Seems like we're back."

"I'm alive—I'M ALIIIIIIIVE!"

Ken pushed himself upright and started sobbing against the ground. He was clearly experiencing the sheer ecstasy and joy of being alive right now. I decided not to interrupt him.

"Brian. Ken. We're back, so get up."

"What...? WAT DA FOK! WATASHI! I have returned to Eaaarth!"

"E-Earth?!"

Only then did Brian and Mun Min jolt awake and scramble to their feet.

"KUSOOOOO! I'M ALIVE! I'M ALIVE! I LOVE YOOOU! EARTH!"

Brian just let loose, roaring with joy while snot and tears streamed down his face, and Mun Min collapsed to his knees, wiping his eyes and muttering that he'd finally survived.

And me?

"Oh."

I started to pull my phone from my pocket, but my hand brushed against something. I looked.

"...A Fragment."

It was an octahedron about the size of a billiard ball. Why had it shrunk? And when the hell had it gotten into my pocket?

Anyway, we'd made it back to Earth.

Time to get my head straight.

"Guys. Looks like we seriously made it back. Ken? You grab all your stuff?"

"Yeah, yeah! It's all in the bag!"

Ken untied his bundle, and the minerals inside glittered.

"More importantly, Scream Man! What the hell actually happened!"

"Huh?"

"One moment we were fighting Quoperelzora, and then suddenly a burst of light shot out! When I came to, we were here... what on earth happened!"

"What?"

Didn't we skip a couple steps there?

"You don't remember anything else? Like, did you see something different?"

"Well... I was too frantic to pay close attention. I think while you were fighting Quoperelzora, Scream Man, that phenomenon from earlier happened again... though I can't say how."

What about the unnatural octahedron?

"Anyway, Geun-cheol. That was reckless. Suddenly fighting Quoperelzora like that."

"Yeah. It's not like there was anything worthwhile, but you just started fighting. Scared the crap out of us."

Brian and Mun Min each got a word in too.

"..."

They don't remember?

The 'Fragment.'

Listening to them talk, not a single word came up about the ominous octahedron or the reason Quoperelzora went berserk.

It was like the Fragment's very existence had been wiped from their minds.

"Well, I mean. I was fighting, so that's how it went for me too. Dunno."

I brushed it off for now.

It wasn't the priority right this second.

'You have been discovered. Run.'

—A chill ran ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠down my spine.

For a moment, pure fear washed over me.

Despite stumbling into some unknown crisis, I realized I was completely in the dark. What the hell. That ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠command to run.

"Anyway, looks like we gathered some good spoils. This mineral... if we sell it, it'll be huge. Anyone know a buyer?"

"Ooh, I do not know!"

"Put it online and we'll get contacted fast. Man, I literally thought we were going to die and come back to life. Hey. Once we sell that, let's all go get something good to eat!"

"Sounds great, Mun Min!"

The three of them shouted with joy at having survived, but my head was so overloaded I couldn't bring myself to join in.

"Scream Man? Something on your mind?"

"Yeah. The stuff that happened back there."

"I suppose so. We've just been through something extraordinary. Since it was a special situation, we ought to sort it all out properly. Everyone. I think it's best to organize what happened and report it to the academy. This seems like an unprecedented event. We must share the information."

We all nodded at Ken's words.

Still, having survived, the natural urge is to go home. We talked a bit more, then decided I'd hold onto the minerals for now, and we went our separate ways.

Escaping from that otherworld was good and all.

But something even more serious seems to have come up.

"..."

I hailed a taxi, clutching my head as if it were about to split open.

* * *

"Why isn't he answering?"

Kim Geun-cheol wasn't picking up. It wasn't a huge deal on its own, but it nagged at Leona.

"When I call, pick up right away! Do you just not look at your phone or what! Hmph!"

She didn't know what he was up to, but today of all days, he was unreachable. Calls, texts—nothing went through. And as that frustrating silence dragged on, an unfortunate thing happened: she grew even more reluctant to keep trying.

Because it felt like repeatedly and persistently hammering his phone might make her seem a little odd.

"Could something have happened?"

That bothered her more than anything...!

How was she supposed to get by lately with all this anxiety?

According to intelligence coming out of Europe, a string of unusual incidents was occurring in South Korea.

She didn't know the details, but Kim Geun-cheol had a knack for getting swept up in that exact kind of trouble. The more she thought about it, the more needless worry crept in.

"Honestly... I can't just sit back and watch. Ah, right."

So instead of contacting Kim Geun-cheol directly, Leona called someone who might know his whereabouts.

"Hello? Lee Si-hoo? Have you eaten? Well, your belly's full and your back's warm, I'm sure. Anyway. Is Kim Geun-cheol there? What? You haven't been able to reach him since lunch?"

—Click.

Leona rose from her seat.

* * *

"Keep the change."

"Sir, you gave me exact change."

"Oh, so I did. Heh heh heh."

I didn't head straight to the dorms. I got out somewhere nearby.

Curfew had passed. And that meant the foreign dorm supervisor might catch me.

My plan was to scope things out and then sneak in through a window. With all my experience, did they really think some dorm curfew violation would get me caught?

"..."

First, I'd go back and think things through calmly. Even now, I was desperately trying to recall the memories that had flashed through my head and the details about the octahedron.

—Tchht.

"Gahk...!"

It felt like my skull was cracking open, but once I got back and wrote everything down on paper to organize it, it would probably get better.

That's what I was thinking as I headed toward the academy.

—A chill.

Abruptly, my senses screamed a warning.

"Oh, you motherf—"

"Geun-cheol."

"Uh, uhhh?"

Kitty?

I spun around and saw Kitty stepping out of a gate. Wait... Kitty was showing up now? Her face was expressionless. Not her usual giggly self when she looked at me.

"I came to get you."

"What? Why grab me?"

"Come with me, Geun-cheol."

"Who sent you...!"

"You know."

Run.

That word suddenly flashed through my mind.

—Fwoosh!

I kicked off the ground and bolted. I didn't know the details, but something about this screamed that getting caught here was a terrible idea.

But.

—Bzzzt.

The instant I tried to run, a gate formed right in front of me.

"Geun-cheol. Wanna play tag? I'd like to, but orders from Sis come first right now."

"No—!"

Kitty burst out of the gate and wrapped me in a hug, and just like that, I was sucked away with her to somewhere!

* * *

"Come onnnn...! ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I just got back from absolute hell, why can't I get a second of peace!"

A wave of nausea. I opened my eyes as it rolled over me. It was painfully obvious what had happened. I'd been dragged off again to that place—the place where Void Princess was.

"Yep, that's it."

Black background.

A floor covered in an endless expanse of dark red carpet. A set of stairs up ahead, and to the side, two computers... wait, what was that? She had two computers in here now?

That thought crossed my mind the moment I tried to push myself up.

—Slip.

A pair of pale white feet appeared before my eyes.

"Hand it over."