[As the Hwang brothers, the swindling duo that had caused a nationwide sensation, were arrested today...]
Beep-
Jin-Woo stood up and turned off the TV in the violent crimes unit office where the news had been playing.
Se-Hwan, who was handling paperwork, asked.
"Huh? Sir, are you leaving?" "I have some errands to run today, so I'm heading out first." "Understood."
Jin-Woo answered with a smile to his partner, who saluted him jokingly, grabbed the coat he had draped over his chair, and left the office.
Watching his retreating back, Se-Hwan crossed his arms and smiled.
"That's strange. Sir, he always leaves work early on this day of the year, you know."
Wait. While staring at the calendar hanging on the wall, a certain conclusion suddenly flashed through Se-Hwan's mind.
"Oh, right, today is..."
* * *
Baek Yoon-Ho, with black soot smudged on his face, let out a sigh.
"Phew-"
He had just finished.
Preventing a massive wildfire that had threatened to spread to a nearby residential area.
It was an achievement accomplished with the mobilization of over 50 fire trucks, fire helicopters, and 800 firefighters.
Baek Yoon-Ho looked around.
His exhausted colleagues were collapsed or sitting down here and there.
However, not a single person had a gloomy expression.
When their eyes met, they would grin or give a thumbs up.
When that happened, Baek Yoon-Ho would also give a thumbs up.
They had contained the fire without anyone being killed or injured.
A miracle in a major fire scene like this.
Even though everyone was exhausted from wrestling with the flames all night, they encouraged each other with their expressions and celebrated their victory.
"Ah, it's cold."
Startled by the cold touch on his neck, he turned to see Commander Sung Il-Hwan standing there, holding a bottle of cold water.
"Thank you."
Baek Yoon-Ho bowed his head and took the water bottle.
Sung Il-Hwan sat down next to him and quenched his thirst with another bottle of water.
A battle-hardened veteran.
Or a legendary commander.
Whatever he was called, Commander Sung's extraordinary presence was once again felt at the scene today.
Baek Yoon-Ho always felt proud to be on the same team as Sung Il-Hwan.
Even the soot on his face felt like a medal.
*'Someday, I will too...'*
As Baek Yoon-Ho sneaked a glance at the face of the senior he so admired, he poured the remaining water over his own head.
"Phew."
He felt a bit better now.
It felt like the intense heat that had filled him was being washed away from the top of his head.
Then.
"Ah."
A scene from the past suddenly flashed through his mind.
That side profile he had seen back then!
"Commander!"
Sung Il-Hwan turned to look at Baek Yoon-Ho, whose eyes were wide open.
"Hmm?"
Baek Yoon-Ho continued.
"You remember, don't you? The big fire at Daeseung Building three years ago... Our team was trapped and almost all died." "I remember."
At that time, Sung Il-Hwan and his team, who were on the verge of losing consciousness, were able to survive thanks to the help of someone who appeared as if by magic.
The mysterious man who saved the isolated firefighters vanished without a trace, leading to rumors that the firefighters had all shared a collective hallucination.
"Just before I passed out, I briefly saw that man's side profile."
"Really?"
"Yes, but it looked exactly like..."
However, Baek Yoon-Ho couldn't continue his sentence.
Sung Il-Hwan had torn open the bag of bread he brought with the water and stuffed a piece into Baek Yoon-Ho's mouth.
"Mmph, mmph."
Baek Yoon-Ho chewed the bread and tilted his head.
"Commander?"
Sung Il-Hwan didn't offer any particular reply; instead, he bit into another piece of bread and smiled faintly.
It was as if he were trying to cool the heads of the firefighters weary from the heat.
A cool breeze blew from somewhere, lightly shaking their hair as it passed.
* * *
Inside a conference room on the top floor of a high-rise building.
"CEO?" "......" "CEO, are you alright?"
Yoo Jin-Ho barely suppressed the corners of his mouth that kept wanting to turn up towards the sky.
"Yes, I'm fine. So..."
Yoo Jin-Ho, who had been shuffling through the documents in front of him, lifted his head and saw the faces of his employees filling the conference room.
He smiled sheepishly and asked.
"Where were we in the discussion?"
"......"
For a moment, the expressions of the employees stiffened as they realized that CEO Yoo Jin-Ho hadn't been listening at all during the 30 minutes the meeting had been going on...
But soon, the meeting resumed in a calm atmosphere.
"I told you we need to decide on the title of the virtual reality game our company is launching."
"Ah, that's right."
Yoo Jin-Ho nodded, then couldn't hold back any longer and jumped to his feet, shouting at his employees.
"My wife is pregnant! She's already 6 weeks!"
His face was overflowing with uncontrollable joy.
Silence filled the conference room.
But only for a moment.
Soon, documents started flying, and simultaneously, the employees' cheers erupted.
"Congratulations, CEO!"
"Congratulations!"
"Our CEO is finally going to be a father!"
Yoo Jin-Ho high-fived his employees, who were celebrating as if it were their own joy, and circled the entire conference room.
His lovely wife, the soon-to-be-born child, his game development company that was continuously hitting it big.
How could the world be so beautiful?
*'Hah!'*
In the midst of the celebration, Yoo Jin-Ho received a powerful inspiration and climbed onto the desk, declaring confidently.
"Beautiful World!"
Of course.
All eyes focused on Yoo Jin-Ho.
"What?"
To the employees who were doubting their ears, Yoo Jin-Ho kindly proved that their hearing was not failing.
"I mean the title of our new game! 'Beautiful World' it is!"
Silence fell once more in the joyful conference room.
"......Are you serious?"
Yoo Jin-Ho answered without a moment's hesitation.
"Of course. 'Beautiful World' is the perfect fit for our game that will realize a virtual reality close to perfection... Ah, what's with you all? Wait, hold on! I'm falling!"
While struggling in a physical tussle with the employees who were desperately trying to pull him down from the desk, Yoo Jin-Ho suddenly glanced towards the window.
'Huh? Something just passed by?'
But soon, the feeling that he had seen something was completely erased as he was overwhelmed by the clamor of the employees surrounding him.
"CEO, please reconsider..."
"Our company's fate is riding on this game!"
"It can't really be 'Beautiful World', can it?"
"You're going too far!"
Even though.
Even though his naming sense was being rejected by his employees and he was suffering all kinds of humiliation, Yoo Jin-Ho was simply happy.
Haha.
So what if I'm bad at naming?
The world is this beautiful.
Yoo Jin-Ho looked towards the window bathed in sunlight and muttered to himself.
*'Then should I ask Jin-Woo hyung-nim for the baby's name?'*
* * *
[Ajin Soft CEO Yoo Jin-Ho, the miraculous success story of a young entrepreneur who rejected a conglomerate inheritance!]
Snip, snip.
The sound of scissors diligently cutting out a newspaper article echoed from inside a Yoo Construction restroom.
Chairman Yoo Myung-Han finished his scrapbooking and looked up.
"Are there no other articles?"
Secretary Kim, holding a stack of newspapers in one hand, shook his head.
"I see."
Secretary Kim took the scrapbook from the chairman, who had a displeased expression on his face as he closed it.
"He quits the position I meticulously set up for him, goes out, and starts a game company, of all things... Tsk, tsk."
Secretary Kim stared blankly at the corner of the desk.
There, a pile of newspapers with only Yoo Jin-Ho's articles cut out had accumulated.
Moreover, they were all newspapers that the chairman had cut out himself.
'......'
Secretary Kim gave a brief cough to suppress the laughter rising from deep inside him.
Then.
The chairman's head turned towards the window.
"......?"
Secretary Kim walked to the window, looked outside, and asked.
"What is it, Chairman?"
"No... it's nothing."
This was the top of a skyscraper.
There was no way something had passed by nearby.
No, even if something had, it would have been a small bird or something similar.
Chairman Yoo Myung-Han shook his head and handed the scrapbook to Secretary Kim.
Secretary Kim respectfully took it and placed it on the bookshelf in the chairman's office.
That was the fourth one already.
A precious, secret collection that only he and Secretary Kim knew about, slowly growing in size.
* * *
A peaceful walk home from school.
Su-Ho was engaged in an important match with a female classmate he had recently become close with to decide who would carry the bags.
"Rock, paper..."
The girl's serious expression added weight to the match.
Soon, the moment of decision arrived.
"Scissors!"
The girl had thrown rock, and Su-Ho, who was originally going to throw scissors, saw that and switched to paper.
It was the combined result of his extraordinary eyesight and athletic reflexes.
"Ha!"
The girl, delighted with her victory, proudly held out her school bag.
Su-Ho smiled faintly and slung her bag over his other shoulder.
"You're really bad at rock-paper-scissors."
"I know."
"What's the use of a guy who can't play rock-paper-scissors?"
"I'll learn from you, I guess."
With a bag on each shoulder, Su-Ho walked on with a smile.
The girl followed him.
The two walked side by side down a quiet alley, chatting about ordinary things.
Then, suddenly.
Su-Ho stopped walking and lifted his head towards the sky.
'......?'
The girl also looked up, but there was nothing in the sky.
Only clouds drifting by silently, as if watching the two of them.
"What? Is there something up there?"
After staring at the sky for a while, Su-Ho turned to the girl and smiled.
"No, nothing."
* * *
[Screaaak-!]
While Kaisel soared cleanly through the sky with a roar, Hae-In asked.
"Honey, is it really okay to do this?"
"It's fine."
Jin-Woo explained that he had erased Kaisel's presence with magic so no one would hear or see them.
"Hold on tight."
At Jin-Woo's instruction, tinged with a smile, Hae-In's arms, wrapped around her husband's waist, tightened even more.
Jin-Woo increased the speed.
[Screak!]
Kaisel's wingbeats became much faster as it shot upwards, breaking through the clouds.
An infinitely vast and blue world spread out below them.
*'A little more!'*
Ka-aaaaack!
Kaisel's wingbeats grew even more powerful.
Higher, and higher.
The two people, protected by magic, had now ascended to a place closer to outer space than the sky.
A magnificent sight of the great sun rising against the silhouette of the Earth.
A smile appeared on Hae-In's face as she leaned against her husband's shoulder and watched the spectacle in the silent sky.
Seeing his chance, Jin-Woo brought out the gift he had prepared.
Hae-In's eyes widened.
"Honey..."
A special necklace made with the help of the talented Dwarf craftsmen.
Jin-Woo quietly fastened the beautiful necklace, which gleamed in the sunlight, around his wife's neck.
Waaaaah-!
The cheers of the shadow soldiers, who were cheering from the shadows for their lord's perfect wedding anniversary event, erupted.
However, just before Jin-Woo and Hae-In's lips were about to touch.
Jin-Woo spoke to Hae-In.
"Honey, go back first. I'll follow right away."
Hae-In knew well what kind of situation this was when Jin-Woo said such things.
"You'll be right back, right?"
Jin-Woo nodded and gave an order to Kaisel.
Kaisel, which had turned back towards the ground, quickly moved away.
Jin-Woo watched his wife's retreating figure and then turned around.
Sure enough.
A blue fog was seeping out of the twisted and distorted space.
The blue fog, having forcibly breached the wall of space to reveal itself, slowly began to coalesce at a single point, taking on a massive form.
Jin-Woo remembered what he had heard from the Ruler's subordinates in the past.
*'A being of great power could attract terrible things from other worlds.'*
There was no need to ask who this blue fog monster had come for.
The blue fog began to let out a shriek, revealing its hostility.
"Phew-"
Jin-Woo closed his eyes and took a deep breath, as he always did.
Would Su-Ho ever be in this position someday?
Perhaps.
A father and son facing the same enemy together...
Jin-Woo opened his eyes with a smile.
Behind Jin-Woo, tens of millions of shadow soldiers, already prepared for battle, raised their weapons and let out a roar.
The thrilling sensation of impending combat surged up from the tips of his toes.
Kraaaaaaaaaaaaa-!
As the void of space opened completely and the blue fog took on the shape of a gigantic giant.
Jin-Woo spoke.
"Come."