The Beacon Lights Up and the Gate Tears Open
Ever since Seoul fell, there was only one way to get there: on foot. Vehicles, subways, planes—every mode of transport carried the risk of monster attacks during regular operation, so it was no surprise that all transportation in Seoul had ground to a halt. Hunters heading out to hunt in Seoul either walked blindly or relied on trucks sturdy enough to navigate the few remaining intact roads. That way, if they got ambushed on the road, the ability users riding in the back could respond immediately.
"Still, this is a bit much."
Deok-bae averted his eyes from the battered Dotonban truck in front of him with a sour look. Phoenix, meanwhile, was chatting animatedly with the broker.
"This was military issue, right? Heh."
It was slathered in thick green paint, but glimpses of the original white underneath peeked through the chips and peels. The broker, wearing sunglasses, waved his hands and laughed.
"Come on, no way! No Korean citizen would steal and sell military supplies, right?"
The broker brought a finger to his lips and whispered.
"It was abandoned on the roadside. Ownerless junk now."
"Selling lost property for 5,000? How's your conscience doing?"
"Haha! No conscience, no business! And you're the one who agreed to buy it for 5,000, boss. Looks rough, sure, but the performance is solid. Check this out."
The broker tapped the headlight. The loosely attached glass cover clattered to the floor.
"......Discount?"
"Nah. It's just temporary anyway."
Phoenix tapped the black market screen, transferring the agreed amount. The broker's smartwatch beeped immediately, confirming the deposit.
"Whoa, boss! Cool name, cooler deals!"
"Right? But..."
Phoenix patted the broker's shoulder with a grin.
"What about our little deal?"
"Huh? Deal? What deal?"
Phoenix nodded at the broker's shameless grin and dropped her hand. With that, the two passed each other like total strangers.
"We just letting him go like that?"
Deok-bae pointed at the broker vanishing quickly into the distance. Phoenix climbed atop the military mid-sized truck, inspecting it this way and that.
"No issue. If he scammed us, we track him by his black market nickname and beat him down. Sniff sniff. Shoulda cleaned the bloodstains before selling, though."
Phoenix wrinkled her nose at the hardened stain under the seat and snapped her fingers. A small blue flame bloomed, enveloping the entire Dotonban and incinerating the foreign matter.
"Picked it up after a monster attack, huh."
"Not riding around in a crash wreck."
"It's fine. The bloodstains left mean the previous owner didn't die. Hop in."
Phoenix slid into the driver's seat and patted the passenger side. Deok-bae scratched his neck awkwardly before sitting down.
"Got a license?"
"Skills? Plenty. Drove more trucks than I can count."
Phoenix started the engine smoothly and buckled up.
"What, you some kind of military high school girl or something?"
"?? No, nothing like that."
Phoenix opened the navigation app on her smartphone.
"Just had chances to drive now and then. Back in the day. Did delivery gigs with this. Hundreds of packages from England to Germany, all me."
"......In a Dotonban?"
Phoenix opened her mouth to explain, then snickered and brushed it off.
"You wouldn't get it even if I explained. Let's just go. Oh, right."
Mana flowed from her hands gripping the wheel tightly. The paint covering the truck body burned away, etching turquoise flame patterns into it.
"Even if monsters swarm the truck midway, no problem. Relax till we hit Gwangmyeong City."
"...? Yeouido, right? Why not straight there?"
Phoenix fiddled with the stick shift and frowned.
"No need to detour far, but Guro's a hassle. At this hour..."
Deok-bae couldn't ignore Phoenix's mutter.
"The lighthouse rises in Guro."
Sunset was falling outside the parking garage.
The man woke from sleep and immediately reached for water.
"Ugh...."
His hangover made his whole body heavy. Through the frayed blinds, darkness was already settling beyond the window.
"Nngh."
He covered his eyes with his palm. His naturally darkened vision shifted with his mana response, summoning new imagery.
"Hm. Oh ho."
A bird's-eye view from high in the sky. Like aerial footage, it captured the entire Guro area around him at a glance.
"No monsters."
The vision sharpened without sunlight, missing not even a single ant in Guro's alleys.
"Heh, heh."
With this ability, the man had become the boss of Guro's remnants. Limited to Guro and only fully usable at night, but it guaranteed safety from potential monster attacks after dark—a huge blessing and sanctuary for the vagrants.
Lighthouse Keeper. The roughly 200 survivors in Guro revered him as their savior, grateful to still be alive.
Anyone who tried to use me is dead.
Of course, some had tried to exploit his power. But he'd cunningly fed them to monsters with it, turning this small Guro into his personal domain.
"Hm?"
The man tilted his head at the sudden bustle across all of Guro. Vagrants who hadn't submitted to him were packing up and fleeing west.
Bang bang bang!
Urgent knocks came from beyond the door. The man dropped his hand, canceling the ability, and snapped irritably.
"What?!"
"Chairman!!"
The young man calling him Chairman panted as he continued.
"Gwanak Mountain! Big trouble?!"
<10 Minutes Earlier, Near Gwanak Mountain, S University.>
"No matter how I think about it, this ain't right."
Cheon Ga-eul slammed down her tumbler after sipping the coffee inside, irritation flaring. The annoyance she'd felt since leaving Shin Seoul hadn't let up, even now on the cusp of filming.
"Ga-eul, what's wrong now?"
Her manager looked troubled but forced a trembling smile. Even the most patient person would snap after half a day of this. In that sense, Cheon Ga-eul's manager was a saint.
Without a stylist or assistant manager, he'd come alone to the set and had to weather her hysterics solo.
"Oppa. You think this is normal?"
But Cheon Ga-eul had plenty of gripes too. No matter how much the director prized realism, you couldn't risk lives for a shoot.
"First date scene at S University? Fine. Two people meeting on Korea's top campus. First kiss under the school gate? Nice visual. Sure."
She twisted the script like wringing a rag. The dog-eared pages, marked with pen scratches, had question marks scribbled around "."
"But that doesn't mean coming to actual Seoul. This ain't a place for people anymore. Monsters could pop out anytime. Death trap. Just CGI it. Coulda done it in Busan."
Worst case, a monster could burst through the asphalt from underground right now. Like filming a war movie in the middle of a real war.
"What's ratings number one matter? Realism? If someone's mauled by monsters, you airing that raw too? Actress Cheon Ga-eul! 28! Killed by monster during Seoul shoot!!"
"That's why Seung-hyung came fully prepared. Relax."
"That's what bugs me more!!"
Cheon Ga-eul smacked the seat.
"A-rank hero should hero it up, not act and pull this crap! Oppa, imagine if it went to Shin Kyung-jun like the original audition. Announcing him for Seoul shoot? Director'd be off the planet by now. You know even Japan's world-class hero's a Kyung-jun fan? Association flipped from 'don't go' only 'cause Seung-hyung said okay! Heroes should consider us civilians too!"
"What can we do? Hero Association's top sponsor. Seung-hyung's visuals beat Kyung-jun's. Acts way better too. And most importantly..."
The manager swallowed and chose his words.
"Seung-hyung seems into you."
"Don't shit from your mouth, oppa."
Cheon Ga-eul snapped harshly, pulling chocolate from her pouch.
"Heroes outshine celebs. Guy earns building money per B-rank kill—why like someone like me? Oppa watched too much Cinderella."
"What about you ain't great? Cheon Ga-eul, nation's crush!"
"Twenty-eight and what? Whatever. Know your place to survive long anywhere. Powerless civilians like me stick to acting. Got it?"
Cheon Ga-eul sighed deeply, pulled out her hand mirror. Checked her weary face for makeup slips, then turned on her smartphone with a bright smile.
"Hi everyone, AraLive viewers. Know where I am?"
"Right? Seoul. Specifically S University! Korea's top school! Oh, comparing to Shin Seoul University? Sorry, Shin Seoul folks! Don't hate me~~."
She tossed out prepared lines casually, then opened the van door and stepped out. The parked lot and S University's desolate scene filled the screen.
"Barren, huh? I walked here as an undergrad eight years ago.... Yeah, bragging. Never below B? No absences. A+ less? Too harsh, really."
Amid the laughter flooding the chat, one irritating message flashed by.
A provocation she'd normally laugh off grated extra hard now. Other viewers piled on condemning the poster, and Cheon Ga-eul kept smiling, waving it off.
"With Seung-hyung? Oh my. Seems decent—kidding. We're not dating. Don't tease. I'm still—"
"Ga-eul-si!"
The man in question ran up waving from afar. Cheon Ga-eul cursed inwardly, aiming the phone at him.
"Perfect timing. Seung-hyung, word to the fans?"
Lee Seung-hyung, holding coffee, flashed brief disappointment. Disappointment? As Cheon Ga-eul blinked puzzled, he beamed at the phone.
"Hi, everyone waiting for The Last Love! Lee Seung-hyung here, playing 'Jung-min'!"
He handed her the coffee.
"Yeah, Seoul's dangerous? It is. But it's fine! Just one scene, then back to Shin Seoul. No NG room, right, Ga-eul-ssi?"
"Y-yeah."
NG was off the table here too. Pro or not, she got his intent to nail the kiss in one take. Sipping her straw as bubbly Seung-hyung grinned like it was his live—
Slurp.
"......?"
Caramel macchiato. No cafes around, so prepped ahead—but not just Americano, her absolute favorite? Cheon Ga-eul eyed him suspiciously; he grinned shamelessly.
"Oh no, everyone? Ga-eul-ssi doesn't trust me. Ga-eul-ah, can't trust oppa?! ...Yeah, fair point. Then trust A-rank hero Fire Fist! Heroes give their all for citizens' safety today too!"
Striking a goofy pose, he winked at her off-camera. Cheon Ga-eul snorted, yanking the phone back.
"Yes, yes. Thanks for world peace efforts, Fire Fist-nim."
"Ga-eul-ssi."
Lee Seung-hyung grabbed her wrist seriously. The camera caught his face fully.
"No matter what, I'll protect you."
His grin froze the chat. Heat crawling up her neck left Cheon Ga-eul speechless, fumbling.
Pfft.
Lee Seung-hyung raised his hands theatrically.
"Ewww! Cringe! My hands and feet! But I pull off roles like 'man protecting his woman,' right? Begging for parts like that back in Shin Seoul."
"......Hmph."
Cheon Ga-eul hid her burning face, angling the screen at him. Her face live now? Instant lifelong meme: 'OrdinaryGirlGetsConfessedToByLeeSeungHyung.avi'.
"A-anyway, Seung-hyung. Thanks for the cameo. Director's eyeing us. Thinks we're rehearsing extra 'cause of you. Hehe. Ending AraLive now—"
Weee-ooo-weee-ooo————
Siren piercing eardrums. The set turned chaos instantly. The director, grabbing his megaphone, bellowed into it.
"Calm down! Everyday in Seoul! Check alert location!"
Terror blanketed the set as the alarm wailed. The shooting director, first to check, paled and yelled.
"'Dimension Gate' alert?!"
Silence crashed down. Not just D~C-rank stragglers, but swarms including B-rank+ disasters. Panic engulfed the set at the rift spewing monsters from thin air.
"Location?!"
Lee Seung-hyung's mana-laced shout cut the chaos briefly. But it shattered at the director's follow-up.
"......Gwanak Mountain!"
Atop the mountain, a massive Dimension Gate ripped open.