Rift (2)
In the novel World Guardian that I wrote, the world deserving a full chapter wasn't just Earth. There was one more.
A place that could be summed up in one word as a 'fantasy world.' Countless lives thrived there too, but they were defeated by the demons invading their world, most reduced to slaves. Suppressed by force, they weren't beings with free will—they became monster legions whose very souls were subjugated, unable to return to their original forms.
But the demons weren't satisfied with that. They set their sights on the next target: Earth, the dimension easiest to reach from the world they'd conquered.
It took over a thousand years to create the pathway connecting dimensions. In that time, the people of Earth gained a mysterious power called mana. Research flourished, educational institutions were established, and those with exceptional talent built great legacies.
And about fifty years ago, around the time the protagonist Lee Si-hyeok and Jeong Se-bin were born, the first pathway allowing travel between dimensions finally opened.
The unprecedented threat called a Rift—that was its beginning.
In the timeline of World Guardian, Rifts carried a strong flavor of demonic invasion. They varied wildly in scale, but the silver lining was that since they were purpose-driven phenomena, preparation was possible.
Things have changed by the present day, though.
Twenty-five years ago, thanks to the dedication of heroes led by Lee Si-hyeok and Jeong Se-bin, along with countless others, they defeated the supreme leader of all demons. With its annihilation, the demons lost the means to maintain Rifts permanently. The dimensional connections grew fainter, eventually severing, and the mana that came to Earth would one day fade away too.
Even in the demon-conquered world, embers of hope were kindling. A tiny few whose souls escaped subjugation began to stir.
World Guardian concluded right there—at the point where hardships and trials might still lie ahead, yet a hopeful future felt believable.
And... now, blind optimism is off the table.
Rift occurrences, which had sharply declined, started surging again after the Great Rift ten years ago—the one stopped by the sacrifice of Lee Si-hyeok and Jeong Se-bin.
Rifts could no longer be dismissed as phenomena demons willed into existence. They became disasters striking at unpredictable moments, in unpredictable places.
Thanks to the efforts poured into it over the past decade, I know why. Why the Rifts have flared up again.
They fear the Rifts vanishing, turning them back into ordinary humans without superhuman powers.
They dread mana disappearing, crumbling their empires and fortunes like sandcastles.
Those terrified fools tried to tweak things and botched it spectacularly. Like Yeom Ui-jun, the bastard I killed not long ago.
So one of my life's top priorities remains punishing those still living high on the hog, pretending ignorance. Naturally, I despise Rifts down to my bones.
Including that sight outside the window right now—the sky splitting open.
"Dojin, no time to gawk. We gotta move!"
Professor Seo Sang-wook shook my shoulder, urging me on.
Judging by the rift's size tearing the sky, it was at least B-rank. The first thing for civilians caught in a Rift is to run like hell to escape.
Once the sky fully opens and the range locks in, you can't get out.
After that, entry from outside is possible. But exiting from inside? Not until all spawned monsters are slain and the Rift clears.
"Professor, you evacuate."
"Huh? What about you?"
"I've got somewhere else to be."
He's a brilliant mana scholar, but Professor Seo Sang-wook graduated from the Second Academy and has zero combat experience—no real firepower there. But not me.
Sure, I'm a dropout, but I graduated from the First Academy as a magic swordsmanship Awakener. Even if I were as powerless as the rumors say, I couldn't just flee like this.
Because right now, inside the school...
Lee Sea is here.
I gave Professor Seo Sang-wook my final instruction.
"I'll be fine. Don't look back—just get out of the school and keep running. You probably won't make it in a minute."
"Damn... you're really—"
"Sorry, mind if I borrow this?"
I grabbed an experimental sword from the lab corner and headed for the door.
The hallway was pandemonium, like a scene from hell.
"What the hell is that?"
"Should we run too?"
"Crazy talk. The guilds'll handle it. Hurry up!"
Students streamed down the stairs; the quick thinkers jumped out windows, aiming beyond the Rift's range.
"Lee Sea! Lee Sea!"
I sprinted down the hall, yelling my lungs out for her. Where did she say campus service was today? I regretted not paying attention as I checked my phone.
No messages from Lee Sea. Already in the Rift's influence—no signal even if I called.
And after how long searching? Maybe two minutes, but it felt like my chest was burning black with anxiety.
Kuuaaaang!
I'd just reached the first floor, about to check the sports field, when a roar from above jerked my head up.
The sky slashed like by a blade. Hundreds of meters long, the crack widening from the center.
Soon, a massive, black-tinted eye-like circle formed.
And that circle in the sky poured ominous mana down onto Jeil High School grounds.
Whiiing, whiiiing...
A cylindrical space linking sky and earth severed inside from outside.
The Rift phenomenon was complete.
"Professor!"
"Ah, this is insane..."
Students who'd failed to escape clustered around me—some familiar second-years, all panicked.
No point scolding them now for not leaving sooner.
I just said what mattered.
"Stay sharp. Gather your mana."
And right after my warning to them.
Shooo, shoooo...
Space around us and the students blurred. Pitch-black light welled up...
Grulk, kruk.
Groooar!
Monsters under demonic rule crossed from the connected dimension.
Five in total.
Inexperienced students tensed and hesitated; I stepped in front, blocking the approaching pack.
"Professor, wait!"
"We can—"
"Stay put for now."
I crisply told the students, raising my sword.
The monster pack was closing within ten meters.
They paused as if catching breath, then charged as one. I swung.
Slash.
No big sound. Just a light rustle, like slicing paper.
Next instant, headless monsters staggered and collapsed.
Azure mana had formed along my blade, flickering like flames.
"Uh... Professor?"
One student muttered in a daze.
Lee Dojin, magic engineering research professor. Top-tier lecturer, but sadly poor mana control.
Technically brilliant enough to handle Jin Yu-ri's complex spells, but can't sustain combat long enough for guild work.
That was Jeil High students' take on me, as far as I knew.
Maybe that changes today.
I shook blood from my blade and asked the students,
"Lee Sea—any of you know where our Lee Sea is?"
Rewind a bit, before six p.m.
In Jeil High's rearmost yard, the back garden, Lee Sea picked up trash, shooting an irritated glare.
Toward Jin Yu-ri, handling the left sector.
After staring a few seconds, Jin Yu-ri noticed and glared back.
"What're you looking at?"
"Do it properly so we finish faster."
"I am doing it properly. Worry about your side."
"..."
To Lee Sea, it didn't look proper, but with punishment already hanging over them, she couldn't afford another fight and dropped it.
Not just Jin Yu-ri's issue, anyway. She was the only one diligently tonging trash everywhere. Yoo Hae-bin strolled like it was a walk in the park.
"Ah, who the hell folded a paper airplane and tossed it here? Not like we're in elementary school."
"..."
Instead of grumbling, just pick it up and bag it. She ignores leaves to sweep, holds that huge broom like a guitar.
Chewing over the pitfalls of group labor again after the past ten days, Lee Sea anxiously checked her phone clock.
'Already six...'.
Hurry and they could wrap by six-thirty. At this rate, it'd drag past seven.
The last thing Lee Sea wanted.
'...Don't wanna keep him waiting.'
Her brother was probably waiting now for her service duty to end. He'd said he was busy with papers, text anytime after—but she knew that was half a lie.
She tried to hold back, but impatience won; she snapped coldly at Jin Yu-ri.
"Keep slacking and you'll redo it next week alone. I need to finish quick and go."
"What?"
Jin Yu-ri dropped her tongs with a clunk.
Stepping up to Lee Sea, she said,
"Don't act like you're doing it all. Stick to your share—we're even."
"Ugh, you two fighting again? Not my fault this time. Staying out. Fight and it's suspension, not service duty."
Even Yoo Hae-bin's fake mediation, with that thrilled look, grated.
Lee Sea barely calmed herself, ignoring Jin Yu-ri to focus on work. Fighting would just delay things.
And...
Yoo Hae-bin was first to look skyward.
"Huh? Wh-what?"
Some new excuse to kill time? Irritation rising, Lee Sea still glanced up where Yoo Hae-bin pointed.
Probably nothing. She'd chew her out after confirming.
But right then.
"Ah..."
Lee Sea groaned unwittingly.
She'd witnessed the reddish sky cracking open.
Jin Yu-ri soon muttered,
"That's... a Rift, right?"
The Rift's range expanded from Jeil High's center.
Realizing that, Lee Sea flung her tongs and bolted before anyone could stop her.
"Hey, Lee Sea!"
"Where you going?!"
Yoo Hae-bin and even Jin Yu-ri shouted urgently, but it fell on deaf ears.
Lee Sea's mind held only one thought: rush to the lab where Lee Dojin waited.