Crisis in the Daylight

The knock knock knock—

My sister and I stopped everything at the same time, both freezing to stare at the door.

Knock knock knock— The sound came again.

...A knock? This neighborhood had never been known for great ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠security. Just earlier, the S-rank from next door had picked the lock and barged in to rip apart some fried chicken. Down in the basement where I'd gone to sell mana stones, the old man had slyly slid his hand under the desk. In my entire life, the kind of person who knocked politely and waited for an answer simply didn't exist.

That was exactly why it felt so ominous.

The time was 4:12 PM. The sun had only just begun to tilt from its zenith—the absolute worst possible moment.

I was in perfect daytime-corpse condition, unable to lift a single finger.

Of all times.

The Association’s tracking team was practically on our doorstep. But if the Association had found me, it also meant China might have found me too. Whoever was knocking, they weren’t here for a friendly chat.

Before I could even organize my thoughts, my sister—who had been slumped on the bed in terrible shape—staggered to her feet. After thirteen straight hours of a life-or-death standoff, she should have been the one collapsing, yet she planted herself firmly between me and the front door.

My heart twisted in a strange way.

“...Who is it?”

My sister asked toward the door, her voice low and clear. A thin thread of mana rode the words. Battered or not, an S-rank was still an S-rank.

A calm male voice answered from the other side.

“I am not here to harm you. I carry no weapons. You may verify it yourself.”

A polite voice with neither threat nor urgency. Somehow that made it even more suspicious.

My sister glanced back at me. I blinked once—I don’t know. Right now even moving my eyelids was pushing it.

She carefully slid the chain lock and opened the door.

In the hallway stood a man wearing a black coat. Both gloved hands were held open for us to see. He looked to be in his early thirties, his face almost entirely expressionless.

“We have been searching for a long time. It seems we reached you first after all.”

His gaze slowly swept across the room. Silver-streaked hair. An aura that refused to be hidden even in her mangled state. The unique, overwhelming pressure of an S-rank that leaked out like faint smoke. When his eyes landed on my sister, the man’s blank face finally cracked.

He slowly dropped ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to one knee.

“At last… I meet you…”

Huh?

“We all witnessed that light above the West Sea.”

His voice trembled ever so slightly.

“The one who commands the stars truly resides here.”

…Wait. My sister? The stars?

“….Pardon?”

My sister asked a beat late, sounding equally dumbfounded.

“There is no need to conceal it.”

The man bowed his head deeper.

“The one who dropped the sun to slay the sea dragon. It is the highest honor to meet you in person. We come from Manwol.”

Manwol. The name the old man in the basement had warned me about. The place no one supposedly ever returned from.

“Lord Lee Hwabaek witnessed it himself that day.”

Lee Hwabaek. My ears perked up from where I lay on the bed.

“He said a child connected to the stars had visited his shop. So frail. Skin and bones, pale as death, like she might collapse on the sidewalk at any moment. The old man could not simply send her away, so he even pressed a bottle of mana drink into her hands.”

That old man did what?

But the man, unable to hear my inner thoughts, looked up at my sister with a pleased expression and began comparing his own words to the person before him. Silver hair. Radiant beauty. An obviously powerful S-rank. And the skinny child who looked ready to collapse at any second.

“…Huh?”

The man’s smile slowly froze solid.

His gaze slid past my sister and finally stopped on me atop the bed. Limbs so thin they looked like they might snap. A face drained of all color. Blond hair plastered to my skin with cold ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sweat. A wheezing corpse that sounded like it might stop breathing any moment. And right beside my head, one empty bottle.

The exact mana drink bottle Lord Lee Hwabaek had given that child.

Finally, the eyes that seemed to hold entire constellations.

An earthquake rolled through the man’s pupils.

“…It can’t be.”

It was annoying, but since I’d already been found out, I scraped together the last scrap of strength I had. They didn’t seem like bad people, at least.

Like a drug addict, my trembling index finger rose above the blanket. A single point of light formed at the tip—a clear fragment of a star as if plucked from the night sky.

…It formed, then with a pathetic pop, fizzled out.

With my body completely drained in broad daylight, half a second of starlight was the best I could manage.

But it was enough.

The man slowly rose, then turned precisely toward the bed and collapsed to his knees once more.

“I have… committed a grave discourtesy.”

It’s fine. Everyone does that.

Ever since I gained this power, people always looked at me strangely. The gate dealer had underestimated me. My sister had seen me as a kidnapping victim. This worthless body I had always thought was simply comfortable and convenient suddenly felt bitterly unfair for the first time.

I didn’t even have the strength to speak, so I simply blinked once.

“Ah, my introduction is late. Within Manwol, I am called Hyunwol.”

Hyunwol. Dark Moon.

…It sounded a little chuuni, but since I couldn’t move my mouth, I decided to let it slide.

*****

“Lord Lee Hwabaek is one of ours.”

While my sister coughed beside me, desperately trying to hold back laughter, Hyunwol continued calmly.

“After confirming the mana stone, he contacted us immediately. ‘A child who handles stars has appeared,’ he said. From that day onward, we have been watching over you from a distance. It was also the old man’s request—‘Let the child do as she wishes.’”

I slowly retraced my memories. Those worn-out eyes that had pointed at the star inside the mana stone and given genuine advice rather than a threat.

Don’t go to Manwol… No one comes out of there alive.

Yet the hand that had pressed a thick wad of cash and a Bbakkas into mine had been warm with consideration. The old man had arranged everything so that if I feared Manwol and never went, that was fine—but if I ever fell into danger, I would be able to receive protection at any time.

“However.”

My sister cut in with sharp eyes.

“Isn’t Manwol that underground dark guild surrounded only by sinister rumors? Why should we trust you?”

“The rumor that once you’re caught by Manwol it’s over was something we deliberately spread. China has been committing crimes through impersonator guilds, so we created caution against them.”

His gaze briefly touched me.

“Manwol is an organization that has hidden special awakened individuals. We conceal and protect such people so they do not become expendable resources for superpowers.”

“…Then.”

My sister’s voice dropped lower.

“Why have you come to us now, specifically?”

For the first time, Hyunwol’s composure wavered slightly.

“Right now, two forces are entering this zone simultaneously.”

He raised one finger.

“One is the Korean Hunter Association, which wishes to treat you as a hero.”

He raised a second finger and added.

“And China has—”

“Decided they cannot possess you. Therefore they reached a simple conclusion: if they cannot have you, neither can Korea. An assassination team has already been deployed.”

I let out a sigh from where I lay buried in the bed.

Let’s think.

If the Association took me, I would be drafted as a hero and rolled around for the rest of my life. If China caught me, I would die on the spot. For someone whose life motto was “shut-in NEET,” both options were identical hells. Strictly speaking, China was worse, but still.

In any case, even though I held the strongest hand in the world, there wasn’t a single place I could go. Did this even make sense?

It was then.

Beep— Beep— Beep—

A sharp alarm rang from the terminal inside Hyunwol’s coat. He checked it, then continued in a flustered tone.

“…They’re fast. Far too fast. Multiple mana signatures around the building’s perimeter.”

His shoulders stiffened as he peered through the gap in the blinds.

“It’s an encirclement formation. I thought we had reached you first, but… they were slightly quicker.”

My sister instinctively moved to block me again. Blue blade winds rose at her fingertips, but the faint trembling proved her body had already reached its limit.

Hyunwol slipped his hand inside his coat as well. They would try to protect me somehow, but we were overwhelmingly outnumbered.

And I was a daytime corpse who couldn’t lift a single finger.

The strongest person in this room was also the most useless.

If only the sun would set. If the sun would just set, I could clean everything up.

I glared out the window. The hateful sun still hung stubbornly in the western sky.

Boom—

The front door was ripped off its hinges and slammed into the room. Beyond the shattered frame, black shadows filled the hallway. From their center, a man slowly walked forward.

He was on an entirely different level from the arrogant B-ranks I had seen in the gate alley. There ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was no sound of footsteps, no breath. A perfectly forged murderer.

As the man stepped over the broken threshold, he spoke for the first time.

“The star has always fallen at night. Or at dawn.”

His Korean was shockingly fluent.

“It has never once caused a phenomenon during the day. What do you suppose that means?”

The man’s icy gaze slid past my sister and locked directly onto me on the bed. His eyes already knew exactly who the target was and what condition she was in.

“During the day, you are nothing more than a powerless lump of meat.”

My blood ran cold. My sister’s face paled and hardened.

“Therefore.”

The man raised a black sword.

“I came with the sun at my back. Die.”

My sister moved first.

Even battered, an S-rank was still an S-rank. Blue blade winds tore the narrow studio apartment to shreds, slamming the two lead shadows into the wall. Hyunwol slipped into their blind spot. For a brief moment, we had breathing room.

…Can we stop him?

But that hope lasted only that long.

The man flicked his finger in annoyance. The blade winds that had been fiercely slicing through the air were torn apart like paper.

“Cough—!”

The next instant my sister flew backward, smashing through the desk. Hyunwol dropped to one knee, bleeding where his coat had been sliced open.

Three seconds. That was all the time two S-ranks had managed to buy.

The man walked leisurely toward the bed once more.

Unable to lift even a finger, I instinctively reached out my hand to survive. Toward the stars.

Of course it wouldn’t reach. Desperately, I pushed my awareness farther. Past Earth. Past the moon. Past Mars—

At that exact moment.

In the distant depths of space, something that was neither star nor meteor slowly lifted its head, as if it had rediscovered the lost coordinates.

And it looked straight at me.

The man’s black blade was already falling toward my neck. In front of me was a blade carrying death. From beyond the universe, that thing was coming.

“Huh…?”

The man’s movements, which had been certain of victory, froze grotesquely in midair. The gravity inside the room twisted. Thick shadows began to writhe madly.

I looked past the man’s back, out the window. The sun that had been hanging in the western sky was setting at an unnatural speed, burning crimson as though being devoured by some colossal presence.

Now it was my time.