久久大陆

Drawing both of his daggers from the sheaths hidden away beneath his coat, he walked silently, carefully looking side-to-side.

Using his new equipment alongside his higher proficiency with assassin skills, his steps were completely devoid of sound, and his senses were sharpened, holding onto the tiniest, most minute semblances of another existence in the vicinity.

There were many places that one could hide–too many, in fact. Dozens of shops, even more corners and vendors. This fact made him wary, honing his assassin-etched senses as he let nothing escape his cautious patrol.

Another noise caused him to sharply turn, moving in haste as he used a far-reaching [Blink Step] to instantaneously bring himself standing atop a counter to a small fast food vendor, already holding his daggers in preparation of attacking.

"Ah–! It's just me, Jeong-Hui!"

The yell caused him to halt, stopping to see a familiar man hiding behind his own arms, shying away from the daggers pointed at him.

[Player Recognized…]

[Ho-Jun. Level: 19 | Class: White Mage]

"Ho-Jun?" He muttered in surprise, lowering his held weapons.

It was a rather large man–both in height and width, possessing a round, bulbous shape and a height that nearly doubled the curly-haired young man's own, though his personality didn't match his imposing stature.

"...Ah…you sure frightened me," Ho-Jun breathed out, clutching his chest.

"Frightened you? You scared the hell outta me!" He replied, placing his hands on his sides after hopping down from the counter, looking at the man, "What're you doing here, anyway? It's curfew."

Ho-Jun straightened himself out, clearly sweating from the close encounter as he adjusted the hazel tie of his all-white suit that was indeed an unorthodox [Equip], seeming to somehow magically fit his round-shaped body.

"...Well, the truth is…"

Without stating it directly, the man, a few years his elder, with braided, deep-purple locks and burgundy eyes, presented a small package to him.

"A Honey Twist?" He looked at the wrapper that the large man held in his palm.

Ho-Jun nodded, "There weren't any at the hotel, so…"

"So you broke curfew and came to Starfield?...Seriously, man, this couldn't wait until morning?" He sighed out, folding his arms over his chest.

"I am deeply sorry. Please do not tell Dae-Seong," Ho-Jun lowered his head.

After looking at the man for a moment, he let out a sigh, "Did you find any more than just the one?"

His question made the pale-skinned man raise his head with a surprised look before a small smile formed across his lips, "Oh, yes! Do you like honey twists?"

"Never met anybody who didn't," he laughed.

There was an entire box filled with the sweet snacks that Ho-Jun discovered in the cabinet tucked behind the counter.

"Woah…Nice find," he said, seeing the sheer amount of number.

"I just knew I'd find some here," Ho-Jun smiled in celebration, already biting into one, "but this is a miracle!"

Grabbing a couple from the box, he stuffed some into the pockets of his coat while snacking on one, beginning to walk away as he waved to the man.

"Make sure to get back to the hotel soon, alright?" He called out, "Dae-Seong will give you an earful if he finds out you were hunting snacks at night."

"I will! Don't worry, Mr. Jeong-Hui!" Ho-Jun nodded a few times.

After settling that, he smiled, being able to experience the delicate snack from his childhood again as he left the bounds of the mall, having completed his patrol.

Leaving the mall left him walking the night-veiled streets, which were still occupied by many abandoned cars, though most had been moved out of the way from the efforts of Gangcheori.

He kept his hands in his pockets, looking up as the faintest twinkles of stars could be seen past the shrouding clouds that occupied the sky seemingly forevermore.

I didn't really have the chance to look at the stars after Armageddon began. It's not something I really thought about, but…seeing it again, I did realize I missed it, he thought.

"Hey, fire-head!"

–He didn't expect to hear anybody else past curfew. There were a few members who had nightly patrols, but more often than not they kept to themselves.

There was only one person who called him by such a name, though, as he turned to the side, looking to see an unmistakable head of wild, deep-blue hair accompanied by a gleaming smile.

"Oh," he mumbled before replying, "Yeong-Un?"

"The one and only!"

"And me," the young man beside him, who he didn't notice at first due to the way the nightly shadows fell, said, holding a peace sign up.

[Player Recognized…]

[Sol. Level: 21 | Class: Luminate Lancer]

"Sol? What're you two doing out here? Didn't know you had a night patrol tonight," he said, moving across the street to greet his two friends.

Sol wore a red cloth as a headband, keeping his light-brown fringes held up to make for an intentionally messy hairstyle, though he wore a headstrong smile backed by his dazzling, amber eyes. He was the shortest of the three, and the youngest, at age sixteen.

"Well, nobody really turned up to our get-together," Sol laughed a bit, rubbing the back of his head.

Yeong-Un playfully jabbed his elbow against the hazel-haired man's side, "...This guy tried to invite all chicks to our place–of course nobody showed up!"

"I see…" He laughed.

Compared to everybody else, Sol's outfit stood out, similarly to Jeong-Hui's, but for his own reasons.

By his own admission, the equipment he chose to wear was a "stylistic choice": a lengthy, umber coat with similarly colored leather armor over his black undergarments with leather gloves, finished with a sheathed lance he carried on his back.

He looked straight out of a medieval fantasy world, but it was a completely intentional look for him.

Sol chuckled, not denying the claim from the scar-faced young man, "Yeah, yeah! So, we decided to take up a job from Dae-Seong to earn some extra coins."

"Oh, right…There's a special event with the Angel Shops nearby soon, isn't there? I should grab some stuff, too…" He put his hand to his chin, muttering before looking up at the two, "Wait, what kind of job? You're not just on patrol?"

Yeong-Un waved his hand, "Nah, the ol' leader said there have been reports of somethin' lurking in the sewer system–so he wanted us to check it out. Well, it was an open job, but nobody wanted ta' go into the sewers."

"Not hard to see why," he smiled wryly.

"Want to come with?" Sol offered with a bright smile.

I don't know about that, he thought.

Though he opened his mouth, prepared to swiftly reject the offer, he closed his lips as for some reason, he imagined what he'd be doing if he denied his friend's offer: like every other day, he'd just return to his room, alone and with his thoughts and lamentations.

"You know what? Sure," he accepted with a smile.

"Wait, really?!" Yeong-Un raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah…I don't have anything better to do, honestly," he chuckled, "I already finished my patrol, so I'll check in with Chang-Ho then meet you both by the gates, alright?"

"Sounds like a plan!" Sol yelled out, though quickly stopping himself after realizing it was well past curfew.

Making his way back to the man in charge of documenting the Gancheori members' patrol of hours, he made sure to be in-and-out.

"Alright, you've got me, Chang-Ho?" He said, leaning over the man's cluttered desk.

The golden-haired, glasses-wearing man flicked his seeing-accessories up with a disgruntled look at the young man's impatience, "Of course I do."

"Alright, thanks!"

–He waved off, but stopped, taking something out from his coat and tossing it to the manager, who caught it with a surprised, perplexed expression.

"A honey twist…?"

"Long shifts make me snacky, so–I'm sure you get like that, too!" He smiled, making his way out of the small building.

Chang-Ho looked at the small treat for a moment after the young man left, smiling subtly as he accepted the gift.

–

He had to turn a few blocks in order to find the sewage entrance that the two others were waiting for him at; in the dead of night, it was a harder task than he thought.

"Took ya' long enough," Yeong-Un greeted him.

"...Sorry that I'm not too familiar with sewers, unlike you," he snapped back with a smile, standing beside the two at the entrance to the unsavory, underground domain.

Yeong-Un smiled wide with his abnormal, sharp teeth, "Ha-ha! Ya' got me there!"

This guy is too affable, he thought to himself.

"Does anybody have a mask or something…?" Sol asked wryly, standing just before the tunnel entrance.

The other two had already stepped into its bounds, but the hazel-haired one still stood there with visible hesitance as sweat dripped down his cheek.

"Huh? The hell are ya' talking about?" Yeong-Un looked back.

"Yeah, are you coming or what?" He asked Sol.

"Seriously, you guys don't smell that…? It's terrible! Rancid! It smells like something died, then died again!" Sol asked frantically.

It wasn't an uncommon occurrence with Sol, in fact, the two were used to this antics from their red-headband wearing friend.

"C'mon, man…it's a damn sewer–what do you expect?!" Yeong-Un barked.

"Eugh…fine, fine…Don't blame me if I hurl!" Sol whined, finally following the two through.

As the three entered the sewers with little worries clouding their minds, they had little clue of what would soon befall not only them, but the compound itself.

A threat looming in the Heavens themselves; an impatient soul seeking to stir things up.

—

[???, A Domain Beyond The Horizon]

"...This is getting boring…"

The man, not human, with blemish-free, golden brown skin, in nature spoke, sitting atop a summit separated from the world, in a palace of mystical clouds that overlooked the world that seemed minuscule in comparison.

Behind his back, grand, pale-white wings stretched out, curved and hanging in an imposing, seraphic manner.

"Even if they were failures, they were my brothers. The so-called "Defects", even I must disagree with that name Father gave to them…Nonetheless, they were his children…"

He spoke solely to himself, wearing a snow-white uniform that was decorated with golden ornaments. Above his head of beige, unkempt hair, a circular ring of heavenly light sat.

"...What's the point of this game if they're not even challenged? Like a nest of insects, they're biding their time, hiding behind their frail walls as if a single breath wouldn't flip their world upside down…I'm sick of it…"

The man beyond the scope of humans rose to his feet, standing above the swirling clouds as he looked upwards to the glowing, divine horizon.

"Father! Grant me authority to descend to Earth!--Allow me to serve as a trial to those conceited humans–"Gangcheori"--I will remind them that this is not a challenge to take lightly."

"--"

The blinding horizon of endless radiance above him spiraled aggressively with a bubbling warm, supplementing a presence beyond it that conjured a smile across the golden-eyed man's lips.

"Radueriel…My Destroying Angel…Must you lie to get your way? I created you. I understand your true nature, and your intentions as clear as day, my child," the imposing voice beyond the seraphic horizon spoke to him.

He couldn't hide it; the voice knew him better than he knew himself as his smile wickened.

"...Forgive me, Father. It's as you say…I want to destroy! It's become insatiable; watching those worms crawl on the ground, holding onto their hopes, unknowing of what awaits their path–I want to crush it!" The man yelled out towards the endless horizon above.

"--"

A light began to sprinkle down on his form as golden bands manifested on the winged-man's biceps, wrists, and thighs.

He looked at the mystical bands in perplexion for a moment before returning his gaze upwards just as the voice of the creator spoke once more:

"My child, I shall grant your yearning for destruction, as I do believe your words hold meaning; it's as you say: that particular gathering of humans have become conceited. They don't feel the test of my wrath. You can be the representation of such, my child, Radueriel," the voice spoke, "However, I will limit your abilities while you visit Earth. With the power you wield, you would certainly produce cataclysms that would interfere with the game. Aim your wrath at those humans only, my child, Radueriel."

A wide, giddy smile stretched across the perpetually youthful man's lips as he nodded his head in joy, "Of course, Father! Once more…I will descend from Heaven as the Destroying Angel."