In the background, you could hear the fire burning, a sound that in other circumstances would have been relaxing. But it was only background noise: above it dominated screams of despair and the desperate cries of children. The capital of Shelter P290 was in total panic: mothers crying over their children, fathers staring with empty eyes at their homes reduced to ashes with their families still inside.
And yet, far from the center, where the countryside began, the real horror was taking place. In front of a small house made of wood and bricks — a rare luxury after the RESET and the end of the BLOOD DECADE — stood five figures. Three on one side, two on the other, motionless.
"BASTARD! LET GO OF MY FATHER!" shouted Seo-jun. He was about thirty years old, with an unkempt beard and wide eyes, his teeth clenched tightly; he was clenching his fists so hard that his knuckles had turned white.
"Calm down, Seo-jun. He will not let me go… my time has come," said Ji-hoon. Despite being held by the neck, the old man maintained a resigned tone. Holding him was a man completely covered, his face hidden by a mask and his body wrapped in a dark suit. He was holding an APX, a pistol far too technological for that era. Even though his face could not be seen, it was clear that he was smiling.
Hyun-woo, a fifteen-year-old boy, fell to his knees with swollen, tear-filled eyes. "Sorry, Grandpa… sorry I never believed you about that monster." Then, turning his head toward the girl standing not far away, he added, "Sorry to you too, Alya."
Alya remained still, terror painted across her face. "Why?"
"Why what?" Hyun-woo stammered.
"Why did I agree to go out with you?! I could have stayed at my house! But no, Dmitri pushed me to do it because he knew you liked me, right?"
Hearing those words, Hyun-woo felt something inside him break completely. Suddenly, every event of that morning began to form into a sequence that was devastating for him.
"Hyun-woo, hurry up! School is about to start!" shouted Seo-jun, trying to get his son moving.
"Yes, Dad, I'm ready!" he replied, quickly putting on his hoodie.
He ran down the stairs, greeted his father and grandfather, and left without eating anything. He never had breakfast; after all, after the RESET, food was scarce and it was better not to waste it. After walking one kilometer, he stopped in front of a house.
"Hyun-woo, here I am!" exclaimed a seventeen-year-old boy, greeting him cheerfully.
"Dmitri, finally! We're going to be late," Hyun-woo replied, addressing the one he considered his best friend.
"So, are you planning to ask Alya out today?" Dmitri asked with a knowing smile.
"Uh… no, it's not the right moment yet," Hyun-woo answered, blushing.
"Come on! I'm her best friend. I'm just a nice person who wants to bring his two best friends together!" Dmitri insisted in a pleading tone.
"I can't. What if she rejects me?"
"She says you're one of the most handsome in the class."
"But how would she know? She's in another class!"
"She comes to say hi to me. She must see you too, right? You focus on useless details."
"There are only ten of us, anyway."
"Exactly, you're the best out of nine people!"
"There are only five boys."
"..."
"One is you, one she has seen maybe twice because he's always outside, and the other two have scarred faces."
"Well, after the events of the so-called RESET…" while saying the word RESET, he made air quotes with his fingers.
"You still don't believe it?!"
"No! I will never believe it. It's impossible."
"But the Great Death Pits are proof of it!"
Between one conversation and another, the two arrived at school: a modest building with ten classrooms of about twenty people each, except theirs, which had only ten.
"Heeey! Dmitri! Hiiii!"
"Alya, how are you?" said Dmitri.
"Good, thank you so much, Dmitri… oh, hi, you're here too, Hyun-woo."
To Dmitri's right stood Hyun-woo, who had turned completely red and was trying to look away. When he briefly met Dmitri's eyes, he understood something terrible was about to happen.
"Alya, are you free today?" Dmitri asked, while Hyun-woo's expression melted into panic.
"Yes, why?" Alya's eyes lit up.
"I was thinking you could go out with Hyun-woo. You're my best friends and you barely know each other."
Alya's eyes dimmed after Dmitri said that.
Hyun-woo begged him with his eyes to stop, but Dmitri ignored him.
"Of courseeeee! See you after school, byeeeeeeee!"
As soon as Alya left, Hyun-woo threw a hateful glance at his friend, furious at the embarrassment he would face. But Dmitri waved him off lazily, walking toward the classroom.
"Psst! Hey, Dmitri, what time is it?" whispered Hyun-woo."Enough! You ask me every five minutes. Literally!""Dmitri, be quiet! Class is almost over," said the teacher, addressing Dmitri."Sorry, professor," Dmitri replied, pretending to be sorry.
Finally, the bell rang. Everyone was happy, except Hyun-woo, who was panicking."Damn, why does school last only seven hours?" he shouted."Well, after the RESET, teachers and students have to help fix 'THE OUTSIDE.' Enjoy the day with Alya.""But shouldn't she help with chores?""Nah, I asked her yesterday. She's free today."
At that moment, a not-so-happy shout came from the hallway: "Ehiiiii, Hyun-woo! Are you ready?""Uh… y-yes, I'm coming! Hi Dmitri," said Hyun-woo, resigned."Hi Dmitri, see you tomorrow!" Alya shouted, almost regretfully."Hi and have fun!" he replied with a smirk, then gave Alya a strange look. She blushed but managed to hide it from Hyun-woo.
They left the school: Alya walking quickly, as if embarrassed to be seen with him, Hyun-woo slower. At one point, she stopped and turned to him, with a huge smile that seemed fake. "So, where do we go?""Uh… how about lunch first?""Yes, sure! Where?""I was thinking of the restaurant… no, wait, they're probably all closed.""Same here," she said, more insistent, her smile slowly fading. "So?""Sorry, I hadn't prepared a place…""It's fine. How about your place?""M-my place?!" stammered Hyun-woo."Yes, I've been there many times, Dmitri's house.""Me too," he said, panicking."What?""Nothing. Let's go to my place."
They walked for hours, stopping occasionally to talk, but Alya seemed distant, as if she didn't really want to be there. When they arrived home, they were hungry. Hyun-woo's father, seeing him with a girl, immediately made a mischievous face, but his son stopped him with a hand gesture. Alya waved to Hyun-woo's father with her left hand, and Hyun-woo followed her example.
They also met the grandfather, who, as always, had dull eyes, since he had truly experienced the RESET. Alya also greeted the grandfather, and he always responded with a hand gesture. This was something the grandfather and father often did when meeting people who had never come before, not out of rudeness but because it was something all families had begun doing after the RESET, trust in others had vanished; they communicated only by gestures, in heavy silence. After lunch, the two went up to Hyun-woo's room on the second floor. They spent time studying. Hyun-woo watched her; she looked like an angel, but his expression clearly showed he would have preferred to be anywhere but there.
Until they heard noises from downstairs. Screams and sounds of things breaking.Hyun-woo dashed down the stairs with a speed that surprised Alya. When they reached the bottom, his heart stopped: a masked man was pointing a gun at his grandfather's temple, slowly dragging him toward the exit. His father watched the scene with a gaze full of hate and fear coexisting perfectly.With a sharp gesture of the gun's barrel, the stranger ordered everyone out.
And so the circle closed. They were back at the starting point.
"W-w-what…?" Hyun-woo whispered, his voice broken.
"Yes. I was forced. I wasted my only free day with you just because Dmitri promised he would give me a chance if I went out with you first."
The world seemed to stop.
"A-a chance…? You like Dmitri?"
"Yes! He's more handsome, stronger than you. He's better in everything!"
Those words pierced his chest more violently than a bullet.
"Alya, don't you think you're overdoing it treating my son like this?" Seo-jun intervened, furious.
"Shut up! I'm risking my life for this family, I don't care about anything!"
Hyun-woo felt something break inside him again. He couldn't breathe. Tears blurred his vision.
Behind them, the man dressed in black laughed.
He really laughed.
"And what are you laughing at?!" Seo-jun shouted.
The laughter stopped.
The gun rose.
A shot.Seo-jun was hit in the chest. The sound of his body collapsing to his knees made the ground tremble. Hyun-woo ran desperately toward his father, now dying, trying to press his hands on the wound, but the blood slid through his fingers.
"D-dad…" Hyun-woo said with tears in his eyes.
Grandfather Ji-hoon screamed in despair.
"Don't die… please, don't leave me alone…"
Seo-jun smiled weakly, blood on his lips.
"Sorry… my son… I will love you forever…"
His eyes closed finally in Hyun-woo's arms.
The laughter resumed, even louder.
Another shot.
Ji-hoon was already dead, a hole in his temple and his eyes turned to the sky, probably looking for his son and wife who were waiting for him.
Then total silence.
Hyun-woo was alone.
Father dead.Grandfather dead.The girl he loved despised him.His best friend had betrayed him.
Maybe he should have followed them.
Maybe it would have been easier.
"HYUN-WOO, GET UP!"
It was Dmitri, running toward them.
The man in black turned his head to his right where Dmitri was approaching.
Then a shot.
Dmitri screamed, hit in the left arm.
Alya screamed. Hyun-woo turned to her, grabbing her shoulders, eyes wide with terror.
"I have a plan," he said with fake calm, only to try to calm Alya. "I distract him and you run to help Dmitri."
"Are you crazy? You'll get killed!"
Hyun-woo smiled, a broken smile.
"Despite everything… I can't wish you dead. I continue and will continue to love you."
Alya looked at him as if she was seeing him for real for the first time.
"No… I won't let you die."
"He'll kill us anyway, better try to save two."
He began thinking whether it was really worth it, what value did what he was doing have, was it to try to save the last two important people for him or just selfishness to bring himself to death in a heroic sacrifice? And were those two still important to him after everything?He put a hand on his head, whispering that it was not the time for such thoughts.
"Forgive me."With his hands on her shoulders he pulled her close, thenHe gave her a sudden kiss, not even knowing if it was sincere or not, he did it just by instinct.
Then he ran toward the man in black.
The police arrived a few seconds later, drawn by the gunshots. They drew their guns.
But a black smoke appeared around the man, a few seconds before Hyun-woo could reach him.
When the smoke disappeared… he was gone.
A collective sigh.
"AREN'T YOU DISGUSTING? AREN'T YOU ASHAMED? EVERYTHING YOU DID TODAY DOESN'T MATTER, I ALREADY HAVE PLANS FOR YOU. AND YOU CAN DO NOTHING."
Hyun-woo's head began to ache unbearably after these words, everyone worried, but soon the pain stopped. He looked around to understand where it came from, and when he saw everyone calm, he realized he had heard those words.
Hyun-woo turned to Alya and Dmitri, eyes wide with terror. They wondered what was wrong with him. When he realized he was worrying everyone "unnecessarily," he calmed down and made a happy face, but it was clear he was terrified about something and that something was wrong. He even began to sweat, but wanted to hide everything, at least for today, at least for now that they had escaped death, at least now that his whole family had been exterminated.
He began walking toward Alya and Dmitri; they were still worried, but nothing serious.
"Hyun-woo… sorry for what I said before…" said Alya, approaching him.
"…"
"After what you did… I realized you're not so different from Dmitri and maybe I like you too."She said, blushing in embarrassment."…"
"You know, I a—"
"MY PLANS FOR YOU… HAVE JUST BEGUN!"
Hyun-woo's head exploded in front of Alya.
Blood stained her face. A piece of gray matter slid down her cheek.
She remained motionless, touched her face, took the piece of gray matter, held it in front of her eyes, and when she realized what had just happened, she began to scream, a scream of despair and sadness.
In the distance was the man in black, visibly terrified, he put his head in his hands and knelt, beginning to tremble.
"DO NOT WORRY, MY PLANS FOR YOU ARE NOT FINISHED YET. YOU STILL HAVE TO COMPLETE RESET 2.0 AND CREATE MORE PROBLEMS FOR AMON THE UNBEATABLE."
"Y-y-y-yes, sir!"