Kim Byeol-ha wandered through the ruined streets like a lost tourist, hoodie pulled up over his head, hands jammed into his pockets.Buildings leaned like tired old men. Trash and broken glass crunched under his worn sneakers. Somewhere in the distance, a monster howled — the kind of sound that usually meant "run" or "die" or "regret your life choices."
Byeol-ha kept strolling, biting into a crispy red apple he'd conjured out of thin air.
"This place is a dump," he muttered, chewing noisily."Was a dump before I left, too, if I'm honest," he added thoughtfully. "Now it's just an apocalypse-themed dump. Very aesthetic."
Up ahead, he spotted a man — scruffy, thin, wrapped in a patched-up coat — trying to pry open a broken vending machine.
Target acquired.
Byeol-ha walked up to the man, waving casually.
"Hey. You," he called out.
The man froze like a squirrel in a horror movie.His wide, bloodshot eyes darted around, probably checking for hidden zombies, thugs, or government agents — whatever scary things people worried about nowadays.
"...What?" the man croaked, suspicious and ready to bolt.
Byeol-ha pointed vaguely down the road with his half-eaten apple.
"Which way to the Kim family house?" he asked. "Or like... this area's general address?"
The man stared at him like he'd grown two heads.
"You...you wanna go to the slums?" he asked, voice dropping to a nervous whisper, like even saying the word might summon evil spirits.
Byeol-ha shrugged.
"Slums, crumbs, whatever," he said, wiping apple juice off his chin with his sleeve. "Directions, please."
The man licked his chapped lips, glancing around again.Finally, he muttered something and pointed shakily down a cracked road.
"Keep going that way... past the collapsed highway... then left at the broken fountain. It's... it's all slums there."
Byeol-ha nodded, ready to move on — but then paused and turned back.
"Hey," he called again. "Wanna guide me there?"
The man and Byeol-ha stared at each other.
Byeol-ha took another lazy bite of his apple.The man looked like he was mentally calculating his odds of survival if he messed with this strange, sickly pretty boy.
"...You got any food?" the man finally asked, blunt and desperate.
Byeol-ha grinned, amused.
Without ceremony, he flicked his hand. Two fat, gleaming apples materialized midair and dropped right into the man's arms.
The man gasped like he'd been gifted a gold bar.He clutched the apples to his chest like stolen treasure and immediately stuffed them under his coat, throwing paranoid glances over his shoulder as if bounty hunters would swoop down and snatch them.
"Guide me, then," Byeol-ha said, already bored.
The man nodded so fast he nearly dislocated something and started marching briskly, motioning for Byeol-ha to follow.
Byeol-ha sauntered along behind him, pulling out yet another apple and chomping loudly.Spiritual apples from the divine orchard tasted better than anything on this crumbling rock anyway.
As they trudged along, Byeol-ha decided to satisfy some curiosity.
"What's today's date?" he asked through a mouthful of fruit.
The man, without turning around, replied quickly:"June 17, 2035."
Byeol-ha nearly choked on his bite.
Only 10 years?!
He wiped his mouth, golden eyes narrowing thoughtfully.
"So... ten years, huh..." he muttered under his breath.
Back in the other world, he'd fought wars, learned forbidden arts, accidentally destroyed a couple of minor kingdoms (oops), gotten crowned by two gods, been hunted by half the divine plane, and survived a thousand years of madness.
Here?Only ten pathetic years had trickled by.
"I swear, time dilation scams are the worst," Byeol-ha grumbled. "Can't even get a refund."
Still munching, he pressed further.
"So, ah... what happened here anyway? Earth wasn't this much of a dumpster fire before."
The man stiffened slightly, casting him a sideways look.But the promise of more apples must've won out, because he answered.
"First Calamity," the man said grimly. "Ten years ago. Space cracked open. Monsters came flooding out. Whole cities swallowed up overnight. Governments collapsed in weeks. Society... ended."
Byeol-ha nodded thoughtfully.
"Typical Tuesday," he mused.
The man kept talking, voice low and heavy.
"Some people were swallowed by the cracks. Vanished. We thought they were dead. But... in the last two years, a few started coming back."
Byeol-ha perked up slightly.
"Oh?"
"Yeah," the man said. "Nine of them. Only nine. We call them 'Returnees.' They're different now. Strong. Some lead cities. Some... kill monsters for food. Some are crazy."
Byeol-ha hummed, spinning his apple by the stem.
He didn't bother telling the man he was technically a Returnee too — though not really.Those poor souls probably fell back into Earth by accident, dragged through space cracks like bugs in a vacuum cleaner.
He had kicked open the laws of physics and made his own way back, thank you very much.
A proud, rebellious little grin curled his lips.
He wasn't trapped by fate like the others.He was the son of gods, the maker of his own damn path.
Still... he supposed it would be better to keep a low profile for now.No need to alarm the locals.Besides, lazy days were easier when nobody was chasing you with a pitchfork screaming about divine bloodlines.
"You one of 'em?" the man asked suddenly, throwing a suspicious glance at Byeol-ha.
Byeol-ha shrugged, tossing the apple core over his shoulder.
"I look like I have muscles big enough to punch a dragon?" he said, flashing a lazy grin. "Nah. Just a guy looking for home."
The man seemed satisfied enough and picked up the pace.
Byeol-ha followed, hands stuffed into his hoodie pockets, thoughts drifting.
Nine Returnees, huh...Earth's air poisoned.No spiritual energy left.Four weird moons in the sky like the world's worst light show.Monsters running around like headless chickens.
And somewhere out there... his family.
Were they alive? Dead? Turned into zombies?He needed answers.
First, though... he needed to get to the slums without getting lost again.
He was, after all, very busy.Saving the world could wait a few more minutes.
Maybe even an hour.
Definitely after he found some ramen.