A solitary flame spiraled around a man’s body, revolving in slow motion.
This man was the Flame King, master of Ignium, and the mightiest among the Usurpers. The flame around his body was the essence of fire, Ignium. It was born in the hottest depths of the Deep Realm and was said to burn everything it touched.
The Flame King frowned as he watched the slow trickle of sand in the hourglass. Beside the hourglass lay two spirit stones, now drained of color, lying hollow. They indicated the deaths of the Titan, Malanuh, and the Deep Realm Assassin, Aduntath.
“I shall go myself,” the Flame King declared.
The knights of fire, who served under the Flame King, knelt to show respect for his departure. As they did so, they offered a silent farewell to Earth, which was soon to meet its end.
Sunlight streamed through the window, casting warmth onto the bed.
Yoon-Hee woke up even before her alarm went off, stretching briefly. She looked out the window to see the cloudless sky as if the heavy downfall of the past two days was a lie. She glanced over at Yong-Yong, who was sprawled on top of Do-Jun, fast asleep, and couldn’t help but smile.
Carefully not to wake anyone, she opened the door and headed to the living room.
Her day always began with a morning routine: getting up before the family, showering, changing into her uniform, and preparing breakfast.
She opened the refrigerator to look for ingredients. Unlike dinner, breakfast was usually a simple meal with few variations. She would often make toast or cook sausages to go with a few side dishes and soup.
“Hmm... That’s strange,” she muttered as she looked in the fridge.
The previous day, she had bought five packs of sausages on her way home from school, but no matter how much she searched, she could only find three.
Just then, Do-Jun and Yong-Yong emerged from the room. While Yong-Yong yawned widely, stretching his mouth, Do-Jun appeared as fresh as ever.
Yoon-Hee realized she had never once seen Do-Jun looking tired.
“What's wrong?” Do-Jun asked, seeing Yoon-Hee rummage through the refrigerator.
“Well... I bought five packs of sausages yesterday, but I only see three here. It’s so odd... Yong-Yong, did you happen to see the sausages that were here?”
Yong-Yong flinched slightly before replying, “U-uh, no?”
Yong-Yong glanced nervously at Do-Jun, who, seemingly uninterested, took a towel and headed to the bathroom. With a sigh of relief, he relaxed.
“Did I only buy three...?” Yoon-Hee muttered to herself.
After finishing dinner and washing the dishes that evening, Yoon-Hee dried her hands with a towel and hung her apron on the refrigerator handle. Noticing that Yong-Yong hadn’t gone outside today like he usually did, she tilted her head curiously.
It was his routine to go to the neighborhood store with Byeol around this time to buy snacks, but he stayed home yesterday and today.
“What’s he up to?” Yoon-Hee muttered, glancing at Yong-Yong.
He was lying on the floor, scribbling something.
Curious, she quietly approached him and saw that he was keeping a record of his allowance spending. Unsurprisingly, most of his allowance had been spent on food.
Yong-Yong wrote in clumsy, crooked letters with a pencil in his paw.
“Keeping track of your spending, huh?” Yoon-Hee asked and smiled, finding it adorable.
However, the log showed a balance of zero.
Just a few days ago, he had several tens of thousands of won, but it seemed he had splurged on food over the past few days.
The chicken was too much, ugh, Yong-Yong realized.
He slapped the floor with his paw, recalling the back-to-back fried chicken feasts he had enjoyed with Karsiel and Byeol. He had no regret as the two enjoyed his treat, but the empty wallet was a harsh blow.
Looks like I can’t go to the store today either.
He thought about just throwing stuff onto his tab at the store, but since it would eventually pile up and become too much for him to pay off, he decided to hold off. He even considered asking for an advance on his allowance, but that would be no different from a tab, so he gave up.
In the stillness of the early dawn, Yong-Yong opened his eyes. He was curled up at the foot of Do-Jun’s bed.
The sound of his stomach growling echoed out.
Yong-Yong ate much more than anyone else in unit 301 of Changshin Villa. He typically curbed his hunger by snacking at the store after dinner. But with having no money to do so for the past two days, his stomach was persistently going off like an alarm clock.
“Man, here we go again,” he said helplessly.
Once his stomach started growling, it wouldn’t stop until he ate, and sleeping through the hunger was impossible.
She’ll catch me for sure this time, Yong-Yong thought, recalling the incident from the morning when Yoon-Hee had noticed the two missing packs of sausages like a hawk.
Luckily, he had managed to slip by her suspicion this time, but if this happened again, she would definitely start to catch on.
Urged by the persistent growling of his stomach, Yong-Yong eventually made his way to the refrigerator, careful not to wake anyone. Slowly, he opened the fridge door, and the light from inside illuminated him.
He spotted a plate of fried zucchini slices wrapped in plastic wrap and a sticky note that read, “Heat in the microwave for one minute before eating.”
It was probably something Yoon-Hee had prepared for lunch.
“That’s for Byeol and Karsiel, so I can’t eat that...”
He rummaged around some more. Then, he found a hidden pudding in a corner of the fridge. It was Yoon-Hee’s favorite snack.
“I’ll leave that too since it’s Yoon-Hee’s...”
Finally, after a long search, he settled on eating just one pack of sausages for the very last time.
A loud cracking noise echoed through the air as a Fissure opened like a pane of glass. A man emerged from the darkness, his presence alone brightening the surroundings. This light came from Ignium, the essence of fire that encircled him.
Where is the Earthling who killed Malanuh and Aduntath?
As Ignium blazed brilliantly, the ground where the Flame King stood caved in as if struck by a small meteorite.
The air grew heavy, and flames colored the surroundings. The temperature soared as if everything would melt in an instant. Plants in the park burst into flames, while an abandoned forklift and excavator exploded with a bang.
The wildly vibrating Ignium shot up, punching a hole in the clouds and clearing the sky above. A moment later, the blazing essence transformed into a sword and returned to the Flame King’s hand.
With a boom, the ground quaked.
Suddenly, the whole house shook as if hit by an earthquake.
Yong-Yong jumped in surprise. He had been secretly munching on the sausages of shame. It wasn’t the tremor that startled him, though—he was worried that Do-Jun or Yoon-Hee might wake up because of it.
He glanced toward the bedroom. Luckily, there was no sign of movement.
Relieved that he hadn’t been caught, Yong-Yong sighed and then frowned, looking in the direction where an intense energy was emanating about two kilometers away.
It didn’t feel human, likely a monster. Its power was far beyond what ordinary humans could handle. Still, Yong-Yong didn’t care as long as it didn’t directly involve him, so he decided to let it be.
“Just gotta finish this, go back to bed, and pretend to sleep,” he mumbled, eyeing the half-eaten pack of sausages.
There was another deafening noise, and the house rattled again.
In the bedroom, Yoon-Hee turned in her sleep, letting out a faint groan. Thankfully, she didn’t wake up and soon settled back.
Yong-Yong wiped the cold sweat off his face with a paw and grumbled, “I’m gonna kill you.”
With that, he flew toward the source of the noise.
“What...!” The Flame King froze in his tracks when he detected a presence approaching from afar.
A chill ran down his spine.
Had he ever felt anything before?
The sheer scale of the power he felt was something he had never felt from either Solomon’s demons or the Transcendents.
He didn’t know what this being’s purpose was in coming here, but his thousands of years of experience told him one thing clearly: if he stayed there, he would die.
There would be no other outcome.
The Fissure he had opened to come to Earth—a portal to the Deep Realm—was reopening. But before he could make his escape, a blinding streak of light struck the Fissure.
The Fissure vanished.
Swallowing dryly, the Flame King slowly turned his head, trying to see the figure of death that had approached so closely.
It was a small, flying creature, a red figure with tiny fluttering wings and two horns on its head. Then, its appearance started to shift.
“Y-you’re... no way...!” The Flame King gasped. He recognized him.
The figure’s red hair fluttered in the wind, revealing sharp, piercing eyes. The man brushed his bangs back and glared at the Flame King, who noticed the number “1” marked on the back of his hand[1].
He was a ruler who had reigned over the Deep Realm for ages but forgotten over millennia—the one who had struck fear into Solomon’s demons and countless other kings.
“H-how are you here...?” the Flame King asked.
Izaas looked down at the Flame King with a cold stare. He reached out toward Ignium, and a black flame surged within the fire essence, melting it away completely.
“You know me?” Izaas muttered, sounding annoyed.
The Flame King nodded vigorously, his lips trembling.
“Flame King Hyperion greets the Overlord,” he said, his voice shaking. Then, he dropped to his knees in reverence.
But Izaas’ expression remained unchanged. He wondered if this “Overlord” title referred to him, but that wasn’t important.
“You committed an unforgivable sin,” he said to the kneeling Flame King.
“W-what might that be?”
“You nearly got me killed.”
Who could possibly threaten the life of the Overlord?
But the Flame King never got an answer to that question because the radiant light that emanated from the Overlord’s hand pierced through his body.
⌜And now for news on accidents and incidents. Early this morning, around 4 AM, at a construction site in Seocho-gu, Seoul, four excavators, eleven forklifts, and several construction materials were either scorched or melted. The site itself was no exception, with some areas caved in as deep as 10 meters...⌟
Do-Jun opened the bedroom door and walked out. Yoon-Hee had been watching TV while preparing breakfast.
“Good morning!” She bowed to him slightly in greeting.
Do-Jun’s gaze shifted to the TV screen, where a reporter was walking around the site, describing the extensive damage.
As Yoon-Hee watched the devastated scene, she commented, “What happened in the middle of the night...?”
Do-Jun noticed a stray sausage on the floor near the fridge, along with a half-empty sausage pack. Blue energy gathered around his fingers, lifting them into the air and sending them straight into the trash bin.
It was a telekinetic technique, controlling objects through internal energy.
He opened a drawer and took out Yong-Yong’s wallet, which contained nothing but dust. With a smirk, he slipped in a yellow bill[2].
1. Yes, this isn’t wrong. This number is now on his hand instead of his forehead. We are guessing it might just look weird for a person to walk with a number etched on his/her forehead, so maybe...the number moves? ☜
2. 50,000 won bills are yellow. ☜