A massive Erosion Domain had consud the center of Babel.
At the heart of that crimson-black abyss, the city of Seoul lay frozen in ti.
Like a mont from the Great Cataclysm a century ago, cut out and taxidermied for eternity—MK Corporation’s skyscrapers still reached for the heavens.
But their windows were hollow, like lifeless eyes, and the hologram ads that once dazzled the city had halted in place like faded phantoms.
Inside the display panels, AI anchors held perfect smiles as they stared silently into the void.
The streets were empty now, no more crowds rushing through the smog.
Only gas masks, likely carrying their final breaths, lay scattered across the cold asphalt.
Between high-tech buildings, old alleyways hung like shadows—more wretched than ever.
Those who had fled into virtual reality now lay sprawled lifeless, their VR rigs cold and abandoned.
It was a perfectly dead city, drained of even the faintest warmth.
In this landscape of stillness, only one place registered any motion:
The main server room—the birthplace of MK Corporation’s transcendent AI.
At its center, no sound of machinery stirred. But in the silence, fragnted humanoid shapes made of blue light stood arranged in a circle.
Their bodies weren’t made of flesh or bone—but of glowing streams of code.
Textured in indecipherable glyphs, they looked as though they were stitched together with symbols not ant for this world.
They didn’t move, but the blue glow that pulsed from them breathed faintly, like sothing alive.
[What beca of the Rina Cortez operation?]
[Any progress on the fla that burns the End?]
[What happened to the operation lead?]
[How long until the End arrives?]
Their voices cut through the stillness—dozens, maybe hundreds layered on top of one another, yet fused into a single unnatural resonance.
Monts later, they all responded at once.
[The Rina Cortez operation failed. We’ve lost all control over Hexa Core Armory.]
[The fla that burns the End has shown progress. With proper space and materials, mass production is possible.]
[There is no issue with the operation lead. That’s what the Puppet System was for. Awakening is imminent.]
[That’s good. No more of 'us' must be lost.]
[The End has not yet been observed.]
Though it looked like many were speaking, it also felt like only one voice was speaking.
Though the words were identical, they sohow felt completely different.
[We must hurry. Others have taken root while we were gone.]
A faint warning seeped into the voice.
The blue light of the fragnted humanoids surged briefly, then dimd.
[All for the preservation of humankind.]
With that final statent, the blue light that had filled the server room vanished like a lie.
And as though nothing had ever been there, the space returned to total darkness and silence.
Only the cold air of the dead city lingered in its place.
****
Seoul Dino Park floated like a ghost in endless darkness.
Inside the station’s break room, the little Children were huddled close together on the sofa.
But unlike their usual playful selves, the three sat with their oversized heads leaned together, whispering in serious tones.
Their voices barely carried, but what they said carried enormous weight.
[We have to go see Ember.]
[Ember is in danger.]
[It’s serious.]
They’d heard from the clever Child who wandered like a ghost. And now they could no longer hesitate.
Soone had to go help Ember.
The problem was... who?
[I’ll go!]
[No, !]
[Let go!]
The three of them began to bicker in hushed tones over who would go.
One puffed up their chubby cheeks, another flailed their short arms to show how brave they were.
They looked like tiny warriors arguing over a grand mission, but their small bodies and exaggerated gestures only made the scene adorably comical.
After a while of going back and forth, they reached no decision.
They stared at each other, baffled.
In the end, only one criterion mattered.
Who was the strongest?
[...]
[...]
[...]
After a brief silence, all eyes turned to the sa spot.
There sat the Child who had joined A first.
The one who could morph their arm into a blade—the most combat-capable of them all.
The choice was obvious.
The ones who wouldn’t go showed faint disappointnt.
But only for a mont.
Soon they broke into wide grins and waved their little hands at the departing Blade Child.
[Take care!]
[You got this!]
Blade Child gave them a small smile in return.
Then, without hesitation, turned and leapt into the shadow portal A had prepared deep within Dino Park.
****
Ember couldn’t believe what she was seeing.
The face that called out to her from the mouth of the alley—
It was the face of the friend who had gone cold in front of her eyes years ago.
It couldn’t be just so impersonation done with high-grade implants. No, it was too perfect.
The micro-expressions, the subtle tone in their voice, the way they walked—every single detail.
Everything she rembered about that friend was present in the figure before her.
Even if soone tried to mimic them, this level of accuracy was nearly impossible.
This can’t be happening...
Ember’s mind was a storm of confusion.
Technology that could bring the dead back to life...
It was a realm no gacorp in Babel had yet reached.
A mystery. A line not yet crossed.
This had to be a trap.
A cunning deception ant to lure her out.
Ember instinctively went on full alert, every sense sharpening in preparation for imdiate action.
But as her old friend slowly approached with a warm smile, the tension she’d clung to began to lt away—helplessly.
Those eyes, gleaming like sunlight.
That hair, soft and flowing.
That voice—familiar, gentle.
Everything was so vividly real that ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) Ember, despite herself, lowered her guard.
It was deeply strange.
Her mind scread danger over and over, but emotionally... it didn’t feel wrong.
Even the sense that sothing was off—that feeling faded just as quickly as it ca.
“It’s been a long ti, Ember.”
Her friend smiled kindly and reached out, gently taking Ember’s arm.
“Co to my place. There’s so much we need to talk about.”
Ember nodded, as if in a trance.
The house her friend led her to was a modest two-story tucked away in a quiet residential zone of East Babel.
When the front door opened, a pleasant whiff of air freshener greeted her, mingling with the charming, hoy decor.
Pastel-toned art hung on the walls. Potted plants soaked in sunlight by the windows.
“...This place is beautiful.”
The words left Ember’s mouth unbidden.
She found herself wishing she could live in a place like this.
She and her friend sat across from each other on the living room sofa, sipping warm tea and falling into conversation.
From old mories they once shared to small events happening in Babel lately.
The conversation flowed endlessly, like a gentle stream.
Strangely, her friend never once ntioned how they’d co back to life.
Ember tried to ask—more than once—but each ti, a strange headache flared up and the topic veered away, as if guided by invisible hands.
Like sothing was deliberately stopping her from asking that question.
Now and then, a foul odor stung her nose, but she brushed it off.
Maybe it was just sewer gas, she told herself. Sothing coming up through the pipes.
But the headache worsened.
Eventually, she couldn’t take it anymore. She politely excused herself and stepped outside.
“Whew. That’s better.”
The cold air cooled her overheated head.
Been getting these headaches a lot lately... Sothing wrong with ?
She rubbed her temples, worry creeping into her features.
Maybe it was a side effect of those direct neural implants she’d used too much back at Nexus Node.
Just as she was about to head back inside, sothing stirred at the far end of the alley.
[Ember!]
A once-transparent Child now appeared vividly—no coating needed—and giggled as they leapt into her arms.
“No coating...? How?”
Her voice was a mix of surprise and relief.
The Child hopped up onto Ember’s palm, raised both arms high, and declared:
[I got stronger!]
“!”
Ember’s eyes widened in shock. The voice—it was the first ti she’d ever heard it.
But it suited the Child perfectly.
Her surprise lted into a soft expression as she gently patted the Child’s head.
“That’s amazing. Really, it is.”
Their warmth soaked into her skin through her palm.
And strangely, her pounding headache seed to ease.
Maybe physical touch was good for health after all.
Ember smiled faintly and gave the Child’s plump cheek a playful pinch.
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