Chapter 35: Apocalypse Scenario
New York City – Awakened Defense Command Center
Kang Tae-min, codename Dawnbreaker, stood at the center of the command hub.
As the public face and de facto leader of the Global Zenith Alliance—the most powerful hero organization on the planet, backed by world governments and massive conglomerates—he usually radiated absolute confidence.
“Report,” he commanded. His voice was sharp, though not as hostile as it sounded.
“Multiple spatial tears detected across every major city!” an analyst replied urgently, fingers flying across a holographic keyboard. “New York, Seoul, Tokyo, London, Beijing… it’s happening everywhere, sir. This isn’t like the earlier outbreaks. This is global.”
Tae-min’s face tightened as he stared at the sea of glowing red dots covering the holographic world map. Previous invasions had always been localized. But this time… the Higher Floors were descending all at once.
He clenched his fist tightly. If the Higher Floors were invading now, it meant the monsters above were starting to feel threatened. Humanity hadn’t even breached the 10th floor yet.
Is the Hollow Oath involved in this? he wondered grimly.
“Begin the Apocalypse Scenario,” Tae-min ordered.
The analyst’s face turned deathly pale. “But sir, that would mean—!”
“Yes,” Tae-min said, his voice heavy. “Nuclear. Either we get a miracle today, or we get slaughtered. Mobilize every S-rank and below. We need all the help we can get.”
His subordinate hesitated for a fraction of a second. “Sir…” But he didn’t argue. If even a 1st-class ranker like Kang Tae-min was saying this, then things were truly hopeless.
“Pray to God someone stops them,” Tae-min muttered under his breath.
Or were doomed.
***************
Pearland, Texas
Not far from Hyun-woo’s neighborhood, a very different kind of hero was already springing into action.
Captain Lila Voss—known locally as “Tempest Caller,” globally ranked 125—hovered ten feet above the street. Her silver-white hair whipped wildly in the gale-force winds she was generating.
She was the strongest hero in the Greater Houston region and the leader of the Southern Cross Guild, a mid-tier organization that focused on protecting the southern United States rather than chasing global dominance.
“Get all civilians underground or out of the city!” she shouted into her comms, her voice sharp and commanding over the howling wind. “I want full evacuation protocols—now!”
Her second-in-command, a nervous wind mage, replied shakily through the earpiece. “Captain, multiple portals are forming! One just tore open downtown Houston. Another is opening right here in Pearland!”
Lila’s sharp blue eyes narrowed dangerously. A sickening feeling settled in her gut. This wasn’t like the usual small, contained outbreaks.
Something much, much worse was coming.
*********
Just moments before the global alarms sounded, the system alert burned brightly in front of Hyun-woo’s eyes.
[ SYSTEM ALERT:
INVASION FROM HIGHER FLOOR IN PROCESS
1 Minute 20 Seconds Remaining ]
The air high above downtown Pearland tore violently apart.
A massive violet-black rift spiraled into existence, swallowing the clear Texas sky. Screams erupted everywhere as people abandoned their cars in the streets and ran in blind panic.
Hyun-woo stood frozen on the rooftop of the mall cinema, his hands still full of shopping bags.
Euryale stood beside him in her human disguise, though her emerald-green snake-hair was beginning to writhe aggressively. Her sharp, slit-pupil eyes narrowed at the sky, her expression tense.
“This is bad,” she muttered, crossing her arms. She looked far more annoyed than scared. “I can feel something coming. Something very, very powerful.”
Then came the noise, it was the sound of powerful rankers arriving. Local heroes who had sensed the massive mana anomaly teleported or flew in at top speed, gathering in the streets and on the rooftops around the forming rift.
Without missing a beat, Hyun-woo activated his system inventory and quickly stored all their shopping bags inside.
Beside him, Euryale let out a sigh of relief.
Hyun-woo noticed it and turned and looked at her in absolute disbelief.
Euryale noticed his stare. “What?” she snapped, her cheeks gaining a faint blue tint.
“You were really more worried about the gaming console getting broken than the apocalyptic sky rift, weren't you?”
“Now is not the time to talk about that,” she said, forcing the most serious, dignified expression she could muster.
Hyun-woo just shook his head, shrugged his shoulders, and looked back at the sky as the timer continued ticking down.
A towering A-rank hero in heavy golden armor landed on a nearby rooftop, his face pale behind his visor. “This pressure… it’s heavier than anything on the 5th floor…”
A famous heroine with three fox tails flickering nervously behind her gripped her sword so tightly her knuckles turned white. Sweat beaded on her forehead. “Sigh… I had a movie to shoot today…”
Even the strongest among the gathered heroes looked visibly unsettled. The oppressive, suffocating aura leaking from the rift made the air feel thick and heavy.
Captain Lila Voss descended nearby in a crackle of lightning. Her sharp eyes widened when she spotted Hyun-woo and Euryale standing casually near the edge of the roof.
“Evacuate immedi—” she started to yell, but stopped short when she saw them jump down from the building together, landing on the street below smoothly and silently, without even cracking the pavement.
Guess they aren't civilians, Lila thought, gripping her weapon tighter.
As the timer hit zero, a new, chilling message appeared in everyone's vision.
[ SYSTEM: Special Event ]
[ HIGHER FLOOR ENTITIES DESCENDING. ]
[ Anyone who survives will receive a special reward. ]
“Ready yourselves!” Lila commanded her team, her voice booming with magic.
The rift exploded outward.
“Attack!”
All the heroes unleashed their powers at once—a blinding storm of fire, lightning, and different types of energy and powers aimed directly at the portal, trying to destroy the monsters before they could fully enter this world.
Everyone attacked… except Hyun-woo and Euryale.
They simply stood on the sidewalk and watched with curious eyes. Even though this was Hyun-woo’s first time seeing a battle of this scale so close, he wasn’t scared.
Instead, his body felt strangely light. The Sex Beast class hummed beneath his skin, almost eager for what was coming.
When the smoke and magical explosions cleared… the true nightmare was revealed.
Thousands of horrific creatures poured out of the rift.
[Carrion Angels] — Winged horrors with featherless, leathery wings covered in screaming human faces that whispered constantly, filling the air with maddening static.
At the center of the horde floated several commanding figures: tall, grotesque creatures walking on backward-jointed limbs, with long metallic fingers and eyes like goats.
[The Harrowers.]
The largest Harrower let out a soul-scraping laugh that echoed across the Texas sky like grinding metal.
“Mortal world… how deliciously fragile.”
The gathered heroes braced themselves. Even the proudest ones wore grim expressions, their faces pale with terror.
Hyun-woo stepped forward slightly on pure instinct, positioning himself protectively in front of Euryale.
Euryale clicked her tongue in annoyance. She knew things were dire, but certainly not for her or Hyun-woo. These humans, however, were in serious trouble.
Hyun-woo looked around the street. Civilians were pissing themselves in terror, screaming and running in every direction. Even the B-rank and A-rank heroes were physically trembling, their usual confidence completely shattered by the overwhelming pressure leaking from the Harrowers.
Euryale, on the other hand, was just becoming increasingly irritated. How dare these tower shits attack right when I’m finally in the human world? This was supposed to be a vacation! > She glanced at Hyun-woo. Seeing the way he was standing, she could already guess what he was going to do. He was going to fight.
After all, he has people he cares about here. People like Elijah.
“Elijah…” Hyun-woo muttered, remembering the kind old man at the exact same moment.
“Hey, can I ask you a favor?” he said, turning back to Euryale without taking his eyes off the monsters.
She raised an eyebrow. “What?”
“Can you protect Elijah and the kids for me?”
Euryale stared at him for a second, then nodded firmly. “Okay.”
In the next instant, she moved so fast she simply vanished from sight, leaving a faint gust of wind in her wake.
Hyun-woo let out a long sigh of relief. Knowing they were safe, he cracked his knuckles and quickly dropped into a loose, relaxed stance, his body humming with terrifying power.
High above the street, Captain Lila formed a massive lightning barrier to shield the fleeing civilians, frantically shouting orders into her comms.
In the distance, a giant holographic projection of Kang Tae-min appeared over the city, barking emergency commands to Zenith Alliance forces converging on major rifts worldwide.
“Secure the breach points! Do not let anyone die!”
On the other side of the world, more rifts were tearing open across the globe—Seoul, Tokyo, London, Shanghai—each one vomiting forth endless hordes of Higher Floor invaders.
The real war had begun.