He pressed it against Yoo's forehead.
Pain exploded through his skull.
Not physical, more than that, something was trying to read him—peel back layers of his consciousness and examine the core.
Yoo's body convulsed.
"WARNING: UNAUTHORIZED SCAN DETECTED. HOSTILE INTENT CONFIRMED. AKASHA ARCHIVE ACTIVATING DEFENSIVE PROTOCOLS."
Everything went white.
Akasha's Defense
The device should have worked.
Standard-issue soul scanner, designed to detect anomalies in reincarnation energy, identify special abilities, measure threat levels.
It worked on 99% of subjects.
Yoo was the 1%.
Because Akasha Archive wasn't just an innate skill. It was reformed consciousness given form, a part of Yoo, but also separate, ancient data compressed into soul structure.
And it did not appreciate being scanned.
The device shattered.
Energy feedback blasted the man backward. He crashed into the tent wall, dazed.
Yoo's infant body went rigid—every muscle locked as Akasha channeled defensive energy through underdeveloped nervous system.
"Threat assessment: Silver rank 22. Armed. Experienced. Host body insufficient for combat. Alternate strategy required."
What strategy? I can't even crawl!
"Extras World. Emergency protocol. Initiating forced transit."
Wait—
Reality tore.
The dimensional gap appeared—massive this time, unstable, crackling with energy.
Yoo's body was yanked through, just then Ji-hye ran back inside, screaming, the man on the floor groaned as he tried to stand;
And found an empty crib.
Inside Extras World – Emergency
Yoo tumbled through space and crashed into... nothing.
He floated, he was pulled in with his body, not just consciousness, the feeling of being in an amniotic-fluid sensation only that he could breathe here.
What just happened?
"Emergency transit executed. Hostile scan attempt detected. Defensive protocols engaged. Host body has been removed from threat environment."
You can do that? Just pull me here automatically?
"When threat level exceeds host defensive capabilities: yes. However, this burns significant energy. Not sustainable for repeated use."
Yoo's infant heart hammered. Thump-thump-thump.
How long can I stay?
"Unknown. Previous longest duration: 47 minutes during birth. Current scenario: indefinite stay possible but inadvisable. External consequences unknown."
They'll think I died. Or was kidnapped. Dad will—
Panic set in, what would his father think when he would return to find him gone, he would think Yoo had been killed, and would definitely blame himself.
I need to go back.
"Recommendation: wait. Allow threat to clear area. Return in 10–15 minutes when safe."
Ten minutes felt like eternity.
But Yoo forced himself to wait, floated in the warm void of his pocket dimension, counted seconds.
One. Two. Three.
Each second felt longer than the last
Four. Five. Six.
But his adult mind knew—patience kept you alive.
Seven. Eight. Nine.
Outside
Ji-hye stared at the empty crib.
"Where—where is he?"
The strange man already recovered to some extent, cause he now stood on shaky legs, staring at the spot where Yoo had been.
"He activated spatial ability. Defensive reflex, the...the scan triggered—"
"What scan? What did you do to him?!" Ji-hye's voice rose to a shriek.
More people gathered, drawn by commotion, just then the man realized his mistake, he was sent for covert surveillance, and here he was, causing a scene.
"I need to report this," he muttered, and fled.
Ji-hye turned back to the empty crib, carrying no trace of the baby except warmth where he'd been lying.
"Seung-yoon?" she whispered. "Please... please come back."
Return
Thirteen minutes after vanishing, Yoo felt the pull.
Not Akasha forcing him back, something else, a connection to external reality, tugging gently.
Someone's calling me.
"Affirmative. Host father has arrived on site. Emotional distress signature detected. Recommend: respond to summons."
How?
"Will yourself back. The connection is established. Simply... go home."
He focused, thoughts of Jae-sung and Ji-hye running through his head, and the life he'd been building here, however strange.
I want to go back.
Snap
He fell and appeared in his father's arms, just as Jae-sung was holding the empty crib, screaming at Ji-hye:
"—WHERE IS HE? WHERE'S MY SON?"
Then sudden weight, a baby in his arms where nothing had been seconds before.
Everyone froze.
Yoo made a small sound, he wasn't really feeling good
Jae-sung stared down at him. Face cycling through confusion, relief, terror.
"You... you just..."
Yeah. I know. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to—
Yoo started crying, he couldn't help it. The stress, the fear, the impossibility of his situation.
He cried like the infant he technically was.
Jae-sung held him tighter. "It's okay, you're okay, I've got you."
But over Yoo's head, Jae-sung met Ji-hye's eyes.
And they both knew—this child was something far beyond normal.
That Night
Dr. Choi arrived at Jae-sung's quarters two hours later.
"I heard what happened."
"From who?" Jae-sung's voice was cold.
"I have my sources, actually... the man who tried to scan your son, he was one of mine. I sent him."
Jae-sung stood. Yoo in one arm, the other hand dropping to the knife at his belt.
"You sent someone to scan my son?"
"To verify he's not a threat." Choi raised his hands. "Please. Let me explain. The baby's development; it's not natural, you know that, iI know that, self-delivery, spatial abilities, advanced growth rate—"
"He's just two months old."
"And he has powers most Gold-rank hunters never develop." Choi stepped closer. "I need to know what he is, I'm not here to hurt him, but to protect him, cause if he's this strong already—"
"Then he's my son, and if you send anyone near him again, I'll break their skull... yours included"
They stared at each other.
Finally, Choi nodded. "Understood, no more scans, but Jae-sung, you know... he can't hide what he is forever. Eventually, people will notice, the guilds, the government, people far worse than me."
"Then I'll deal with them when they come."
Choi left.
Jae-sung sat on his mattress, holding Yoo.
"You understand, don't you?" he said softly. "You understand everything we're saying."
Yes.
"I don't know what you are, Past life? Blessing? Curse? Don't care. You're my son, and I'll protect you."
Thank you.
Yoo couldn't say the words. But he pressed his small face against his father's chest.
Thump-thump.
Two heartbeats, father and son, In a broken world, they had each other, For now, that was enough.
Dr. Choi's hidden facility
Kilometers away, in a hidden facility, Dr. Choi reviewed the scan data.
The device shattered, but it did transmit 0.3 seconds of information before failing.
He studied the readings, and analyzed the patterns.
And felt cold dread settle in his stomach.
The baby's soul structure was impossible, fragmented, reformed, similar to how a glass that is scattered is pieced back together.
And the energy signature matched something he'd seen only once before.
In research documents from years ago, almost a millenia ago, before the apocalypse, or rifts.
A case study about dimensional exposure, about a soul touching the void between realities.
"That's impossible," he whispered.
But the data didn't lie, Yoo Seung-yoon wasn't just a prodigy infant, he was a reincarnated soul, a beingthat shouldn't exist.
Choi made a decision.
He deleted the scan data, every single copy, and every backup file, he also destroyed the scanning device specifications.
"If I don't know," he said to the empty room, "then no one else needs to know either."
He would watch the baby, and record his development, but he would avoid dissection and experimenting, because some knowledge was too dangerous.
And some children were meant to become legends.