Fallen Lightbringers' Return

Born 1953, Gan Wehims's mother always told him, the reason they won the Korean War was because of his existence, so there was no wonder she had been so proud of him. Whenever he heard that, he could only forcefully smile, for he loathed that joke. 

Even when his mother died only 26 years later, she sometimes would mutter these words through her delirious Alzheimer. 1953.. . 1953. It was a cursed number for him. Because for his mother, the only achievement worth mentioning was his birth. Even now, whenever he thought about it, his head would ache.

As such, he became known as the grumpy geezer children nowadays talk about.

"Youngster," he shouted in a loud voice, his spit flying out his mouth. He grabbed the young woman in front of her by the shoulder and squeezed tightly. "What are you standing here so dazed for? You are in the way of my coffee!"

The lady turned around. She had fiery-red hair, that almost appeared unnatural, with gold-hazel eyes. Her figure was long and thin, and there was an indescribable 'alienness' surrounding her. She looked at him with furrowed brows but did not say anything.

"What's with the attitude?" He clicked his tongue. "That's with you kids these days. This isn't just a cafe for you, alright? Guessing by your dyed hair, you must not be the one to obey adults, huh?"

"Geez, get a grip old guy," a young man, mid-twenties, said in a placating voice. He rubbed his head as if it could not be helped. "You are making a scene." His friend, around the same age, snickered in the back, a phone in his hand and recording everything that happened.

"Don't talk down to me, asshole!" His voice attracted more bystanders, who quickly distanced themselves from that person. At the same time, their eyes were glued to that old geezer though. Their curiosty could not help it.

A waitress was quick to intervene. With a strained voice, she asked them, "Please, dear guest, everyong will get their coffee soon, if you form an orderly queue. I apologize for the wait, but anger will not solve anything."

The young man spoke again. "Clearly, that woman is a foreigner. We aren't in the outskirts of Jeju Island, like you are used to." He shook his head and laughed. As he appraoched the red-haired woman, he spoke in english, "Sorry about that. I swear, not everyone in Seoul is like this. May I ask where you are from?"

The woman, not once, looked at any of the people. She simply had a disgruntled expression, as if being woken up from a good dream. She clicked her tongue. "Fools," she said in a low voice.

"Huh?"

Before anyone could react, a red line formed on the young mans neck, and his head fell to the ground, creating a dull 'thud' sound. Fresh blood, the color of crimson, spurted out his neck, on his recording friend, the old man Gan Wehim, and the poor waitress.

"Babbling monkeys, everyone of you," the woman said full of distain. She spat on the mans face, who had still been amicably smiling, unknown it would be his last expression. "You lot make me feel like puking."

A chilling scream echoed through the cafe. It was unsure who started it, but right after, several more screams followed.

The woman tied her fiery-red hair, and snapped her finger. The waitress looked away, but as she turned, her head too, lopped clean off. "Every last one of you should simply die." The person holding the phone ended up decapitated too, his blood, dyeing the grounds red. His phone never stopped recording. "It will simply make my job easier."

Soon, everyone started to run away, some not even knowing or seeing what happened. But seeing the despairing faces made them escape without any questions.

The old man, Gan Wehim, stood on the spot, his clothes completely red. His eyes remained in shock, as if unsure on what they saw. The woman approached him. She had a cold face. "Remember this in the afterlife." She lifted her hand in front of Gan Wehim's face, and closed it. "Do not ever touch me."

The old man crunched together, his bones creaking and his flesh churning, all collapsing into itself, until he turned into a ball with no resemblance to a human. 

In the near future, the tragedy in the cafe would be known as one of the first attacks by the shadows. And Gae Wehin, his life had ended, as it started. Only a number to remember him by, for it was the year 2025, and he was the third to die.

At the meanwhile, the massacre continued, as three more people died, their heads seperated from their body, creating a human fountain of blood. "Oh shit I forgot." The woman suddenly hit her head. "I should have explained the rules first, then killed some as a warning. I'm such an idiot. Eh, fuck it, I will just start it now."

A message appeared, just for her to see. She clicked a few things and at once, for everyone in this cafe, a message appeared.

[God has died. Now, humanity's survival will depend on you Players alone. Good luck, and have a nice game—or die trying.]

"That should do it," she said with a satisfied face.

.. . With the appearance of dungeons, and the rise of superpowers, came to existence beings that one would refer to as guides. To humans, they were akin to deities, for they seemingly held immesuarable powers, control the quest that pop up and issue out punishement and reward as they fit. Those trapped in a dungeon could only beg for a guides mercy, never to be defied.

The red-haired woman—she was the Guide of Myeongdong, her name Latania.

...

Kim Jyejin stood up. "What's with all the ruckus?"

However, Lee Dojin immediately pulled her down, looking at her and shaking his head.

"Where the hell is the door!" A man shouted, pushing his way through the people.

"You are hurting me!"

"Someone, call the police, the police!"

Jyejin looked around. She saw all the people pushing and shoving, and grew alert. The cafe, though small, was built on mulitple stories, thus, not everyone knew what the ruckus that came from above was about. They continued sipping and eating, some even amused by the scene.

"Sit still students," The PE teacher said. "There seems to be something going on."

"What the hell, how scary.. ." Park Wonho muttered. "It's not terrorism or something, right?"

"Don't say something like that," Jeyjin reprimanded him.

"Putting that aside," Lee Dojin began speaking, and everybody, for some reason knew they had to listen. "Are you guys just going to ignore the message that appeared before you?"

All three of them paused for a second. Kim Jyejin was the first to react. "Message? You mean.. . whatever that is?" She looked a little shocked, as if she had just realized what was going on.

A voice suddenly appeared, for everyone to hear. "Ahem. Can you all hear me," it was a woman, "Everybody, please come the the top floor. To the top floor." There was a short silence. "I do not want to waste my time, so whoever hasn't arrived in 30 minutes, you all shall die."

".. ." Nobody knew how to react.

One of the customers muttered silently. "A prank?" He shook his head, not minding the speaker. It was probably some baffoon trying to be funny anyway.

"Maybe this is terrorism after all," Park Wonho said. He appearead a bit scared. "Things are getting weird."

"I told you to stop it!"

Lee Dojin did not answer. He remembered, when the apocalypse had started, what was his reaction? Disbelief? Anguish? Mockery? Excitement? He did not quite remember, Maybe he felt nothing at all. However, now, he knew full well what to do. "Everybody, let's go."

Dong Jowoon grabbed Lee Dojin and reprimanded him. "What are you stupid? Even let's say that stupid audio is true, why would you simply go up, instead of leaving?"

Promptly, another message appeared in front of everybody.

[Welcome, Warrior of Earth. Your planet has been chosen by the Shadows.

The world you have known to be true will be no more. It is inevitable, and no power can halt its process. Change is always meant to be. Only know, it will be of a much grander scale. Yet, we grant you a chance to thrive, and to change with it. Complete the quests given by the Mirage, and you shall receive a great reward and save your planet, fail, and you rest with the fallen warriors in a broken Earth. 

Change is always meant to be. This time, no one will save you. But that does not have to be a bad thing. Prove your worth, or be crushed by it.]

This time, no one could ignore the glowing message. "What the hell is going on," Park Wonho shouted, incredibly confused.

Kim Jyejin gulped. She did not understand the meaning, but she felt goosebumps well up fron inside her.

"D-Don't worry, there has to be a reasonable explanation for all of this," The PE Teacher, Dong Jowoon started babbling. "Think about it, Holograms, except for maybe the militia, could not exist for real. It has to be somethinge else. M.. . Maybe it—"

"Hush," Lee Dojin said, placing his finger on the lips. He read through the message. He recognized it immediately, for every person that entered a dungeon for the first time would see it. It's like an introduction. "If so, the next one should follow right after."

And just like he predicted, another system message popped up.

[Congratulations, Warrior. You have entered the Dungeon, 'World of Dolls'. The Guide for your Quest will be The Possessed Latania.]

At once, screams appeared from the lower floors. There seemed to be a great ruckus. Glass shattering, tables flipping, papers flinging.. . until, in the end, it turned completely quiet. Everybody looked at the door with bated breaths. Out of the blue, a young woman walked up again. She was one of those who had frantically tried to escape. Her clothes were drenched in blood, one leg and arm missing. Her face was painted with mucus, tears and running make up. "Pl.. . se, some.. . one. Save me." She fell too the floor.

And suddenly, she stood up once more, a screeching sound escaping her lungs. Her face had turned into a porcelain doll.

"I am sure you are all confused," Latania spoke cheerfully, her voice reverberating through the cafe. "But count yourself lucky, mongrels. Except for a few other people, you get to try the game first. If you have any questions, meet me upstairs, and then we can start the official tutorial."