Space itself had been rearranged instead of destroyed. Shapes slowly returned through the fading white light, and little by little the world became visible again.
The burning sensation in Zekai's eyes gradually weakened. He opened them carefully, blinking against the lingering brightness.
The moment his vision cleared, he froze.
In front of him stood a massive stone gate at the center of endless ruins.
For a moment, it didn't look like the entrance to Heaven.
It looked like the gate to Hell.
"Oh wo— no…"
"…That's not possible."
The structure resembled the entrance to an ancient palace, but whatever it once protected had already fallen long ago. The air around it felt unnaturally heavy, like something invisible was pushing them away without ever touching them.
Two enormous pillars shaped like broken crowns stood on either side of the gate. Their upper sections had been shattered violently, as if something massive had crashed through them from above.
Broken iron gates lay buried beneath rubble. Faded royal engravings covered the stone surface, nearly erased by time.
Dark scorch marks stained the ground nearby.
The gate wasn't simply damaged.
It looked like it had been forced open… from the inside.
At first, Zekai felt like he was looking at the ruins.
Then a cold sensation crawled down his spine. It felt like the ruins were looking back at him.
And for the first time in his life, Zekai wasn't allowed to remain a spectator anymore.
Something had already chosen him.
Beside him, Aron slowly reappeared through the fading distortion, but Zekai didn't notice him immediately.
Aron still had his eyes shut tightly. The sudden white light had blinded him for several seconds, and panic immediately took over.
"I can't see anything…! Everything's gone!"
His hands moved frantically in the air while he shouted in fear without opening his eyes.
Hearing Aron's terrified voice, Zekai immediately turned toward him.
Aron stood there trembling, eyes squeezed shut, genuinely believing he had gone blind.
"What is this idiot doing now…"
Zekai quickly walked over and grabbed both of Aron's shoulders firmly.
"Open your eyes properly, idiot."
"Ahhh—!"
Aron jerked violently at Zekai's voice before slowly forcing his eyes open little by little.
The moment he saw Zekai standing in front of him, relief flooded his face.
"Mr. Zekai… thank god… we're alive."
But that relief lasted only a second. Because then Aron finally saw the world around them.
His expression froze completely.
Just like Zekai earlier, Aron stared at the massive ruined gate in disbelief.
He took one careful step forward while his eyes moved across the broken landscape.
Ruined stone pillars stood scattered across the land. Ancient structures stretched across the distance, far older than anything that should exist beneath a modern city.
Aron instinctively stepped backward.
The wind passed through the broken gate and produced a low, haunting whistle.
The sound didn't echo.
It lingered. Like it didn't belong to the air itself.
Aron forced out a weak laugh, but it broke halfway.
"Mr. Zekai… just looking at this gate gives me chills."
His throat tightened slightly.
"This place…"
He swallowed dryly. "It doesn't feel right."
He stared at the darkness beyond the gate.
"…Why does it feel like something is watching us from inside?"
His body leaned backward unconsciously, like instinct itself was warning him not to go near it.
Both of them slowly lifted their heads upward again.
The sky was no longer blue.
dim crimson glow stretched endlessly across the heavens like smoke from a distant fire. The entire sky resembled permanent twilight.
"That's not the same sky…"
Their eyes narrowed automatically, like their minds were trying to reject what they were seeing.
Then Zekai slowly lowered his head again.
Something else felt wrong. Immediately, he turned around.
"Look behind us," he said quietly.
"That's even worse."
Aron slowly turned as well, already knowing he wouldn't like what he was about to see.
Behind them stood the remains of a fallen civilization.
Stone buildings had collapsed into jagged debris. Towers lay broken across ruined streets. Giant statues had shattered across the ground like discarded corpses.
Dark scorch marks stretched endlessly across the land, as if something had burned through the entire city and erased its existence.
And somehow it felt disturbingly familiar.
"Why did we end up in a cursed place like this…?"
That was the same question running through Zekai's mind.
'How did this even happen?'
Something about this world twisted his stomach uncomfortably.
Aron opened his mouth to speak, then stopped. Instead, his grip tightened against Zekai's coat.
'This place didn't feel like ruins. It felt like the graveyard of an entire world.'
"Whatever destroyed it… Zekai said quietly
"might still be here."
"…Then why are we still standing here?" Aron's voice lowered.
"We should leave," he said quietly. "Find somewhere else."
But even while saying it, his eyes kept moving desperately in every direction searching for an exit that didn't exist.
Every direction looked the same. There was no way back.
Zekai stared toward the massive gate again.
He could move closer to it. Or stay where he was.
Neither option felt safe.
That realization should have made him stop.
But it didn't.Because if something dangerous still existed here, then standing still wouldn't save them either.
Behind him, Aron remained close, clutching tightly onto the edge of Zekai's coat sleeve.
His body was shaking slightly now.
"We have to escape somehow…"
But Zekai had no idea how they were supposed to escape from a place like this.
Instinctively, he pulled out his phone from his pocket.
One missed call.
[ Marcus Grandpa ]
The timestamp read:
8:43 AM.
Then suddenly—
The numbers flickered.
8:43 AM.
9:30 PM.
The time shifted again before freezing.
Aron leaned closer immediately.
"That… changed just now, didn't it?"
Zekai's thumb stopped moving. The seconds on the clock didn't flow normally.
They jumped. Like time itself had stopped trying to remain consistent.
Even the atmosphere felt delayed, as if reality itself was struggling to function properly.
This wasn't a normal glitch.
"Why is the time changing like that…?"
Morning had turned into night in an instant.
Zekai's grip around the phone tightened unconsciously for a second before he slowly forced himself to relax.
Panicking won't solve anything. But for the first time in years—staying calm no longer felt easy.
"Damn it…"
"It keeps glitching…"
At that moment, Aron stretched his hand toward him.
"You forgot this at the counter."
The black-and-red tarot box rested in his hand.
Zekai silently took it back and slipped it into his coat pocket.
"Thanks… though because of this, you ended up trapped here with me."
For a moment, Aron didn't know what to say. Yet somehow, he ended up dragged into this nightmare too.
Even now, despite the fear in his eyes, his nature hadn't changed.
"No problem…"
"Whatever happens… we'll figure something out."
Even though Aron tried to reassure him, Zekai still felt a deep uneasiness growing inside him.
Nothing here made sense. Everything around them felt like an unsolved puzzle.
'What if time actually flows differently in this place?'
At first he thought the phone was broken.
Now he wasn't sure anymore.
"…Do you think this is still Earth?" Aron asked quietly.
The question sounded like something he already knew the answer to.
Zekai stared toward the ruins.
"Maybe."
"Or something pretending to be."
He didn't look at Aron while saying it.
And only after saying those words—
Did the truth finally begin settling into his mind.
'Maybe this really is another dimension.'
As ridiculous as it sounded, everything around them pointed toward it.
And if that was true…
Then everything he understood about reality, logic, and cause and effect no longer applied here.
Which meant they were completely unprepared for whatever this world had waiting for them.
Zekai's hand tightened slightly again.
…This wasn't supposed to happen.
Aron's fingers curled deeper into the fabric of his coat sleeve.
"…Mr. Zekai."
Zekai glanced at him.
Aron hesitated for a second. Then finally spoke.
"If something happens…"
"…don't leave me behind."
His voice wasn't loud.
But the way he held onto Zekai made it feel like he was clinging to the only thing keeping him grounded.
For a moment, Zekai didn't answer.
Because he didn't know if he could keep that promise.
Whatever had brought them into this world had done it for a reason.
And something terrible had already begun.
If this place had rules—they hadn't discovered them yet.
But one thing already felt certain. This world had started hunting.
✦ Chapter 3 — The Place Between Worlds ✦