After the Sky Shattered

8

Dice was never a fan of web novels. He was not a reader, but his university friends had a phase where they binge-read fiction stories that were posted online. 

Though he never gave in to their recommendations, he would often listen to them talking about 'xxx author-nim updating five chapters today!' or 'xxx story being known for its sweet potato scenes!'

Thus, he had a strong impression of web novels.

His university friends would often talk about web novels about weak to strong MCs (main characters) renowned for their strong face slapping tendencies, but their personal favorite was OP (overpowered) characters who transmigrated into a trash body after the original owner died, and thus, starting their journey to greatness, dominating not only the world but the multiverse.

'In my case, it's the opposite.'

The trash character kicked out of his body returned, and the whereabouts of the 'MC' was unknown.

'Is the Professor really dead?'

If the transmigrator Professor Lee Suho died, then it did make sense that the soul of the original owner was able to get his body back.

'Who would kill such a great man? And how?'

Since his identity was too high profile, the Professor ought to be well-protected. 

He would be protected not only by the members of the Craft Guild but by the nation itself. 

After all, the Professor was basically a living national treasure. 

The Professor was far more valuable alive than dead.

Besides, didn't he have his own security team made up of high-ranking Awakened as personal bodyguards? 

'And from what I have read so far, he should not be some weakling that could be crushed at will. Even if they underestimate his combat ability. Though he might not be the strongest, he is strong enough to protect himself.'

Even if other countries target him due to his talent in Magic Engineering and his Blacksmith occupation, the Professor would only at most be abducted but not killed.

For a second, Dice wondered if the Professor's disappearance was related to the uncontrollable fear he felt towards his assistant, Kim Young-joon.

What if it was the body's muscle memory reacting to the person who killed it? 

'Did Assistant Kim kill the Professor?' 

Dice shivered as he considered this possibility.

'Then, that man's earlier nervousness also makes sense—it was due to his guilty conscience. He was not expecting me to wake up, and he was frightened that he would be punished after I discovered what he did.'

Dice shivered once more.

'No, no, maybe I am overthinking. I need to calm down. This is all guesswork on my part. It is still unconfirmed if the Professor is dead. Maybe he is alive, possessing another person's body, or he has returned to his own body.'

'Besides, I don't feel hostility from Assistant Kim.'

Dice might be confused by his situation, but he trusted his ability to read people. 

'I guess I need to observe him more.'

However, the strange thing was that he could not find information about Assistant Kim.

To be more precise, he could not find real information.

Kim Young-joon, a graduate of S University, the personal assistant of Craft Guild's Chairman Lee Suho. His background was almost as ordinary as Dice's. Only son of a government employee father and a baker mother. 

A B-Class rank non-combat Awakened, specialized with a mental-related ability.

Kim Young-joon was not particularly outstanding as an Awakened, but he was highly trusted in the Craft Guild since he is Chairman's mouthpiece.

These were all the information Dice found online, and they mostly came from articles written by reporters after interviewing Kim Young-joon himself.

'How suspicious.'

Thanks to the Professor's digital omniscience, Dice was able to dig deeper behind that surface level information. 

…

But it came out empty.

Nothing.

Kim Young-joon did not exist prior to the world After the Sky Shattered. 

From his academic background to his family members, everything was fake. 

It was as if he simply appeared by Lee Suho's side one day, like a mushroom growing out of the blue, and no one questioned his existence because Lee Suho personally vouched for him.

Who would dare question the Professor?

A forged identity.

As Dice was about to delve deeper into the information from three years ago, he felt a knock on his side. 

It was the driver. The car ride was so smooth, he didn't even realize they had stopped.

It seemed they had arrived at their destination.

The moment he stepped out into the open field, an unusual breeze hit Dice in the face. The smell of gunpowder and rust.

'I think they mentioned a factory earlier? Is it a weapons factory?'

When Dice raised his head, he realized why the world called it a shattered sky.

A blue mirror.

It was as if the vast blue sky was a single mirror, and the glass had cracked into countless fine lines. On some parts, shards looked like they had been broken off, and on other parts, it was as if the sky was falling apart. 

There seemed to be strange tendrils of mist spilling out of them.

It looked both fascinating yet creepy.

…as if…

…as if something dangerous was about to come out from those cracks.

**

'Is being ordinary a crime?'

No. Being ordinary would only mean that one was disposable, a pawn of someone higher in status, a background character who's life or death mattered little. It was not a crime, only an inconvenience.

In his world at least, you could still survive if you're ordinary, especially if you are the invisible kind of ordinary.

But it was an absolute crime to be weak. 

'If you are weak, you will be swallowed whole, and not even your bones will be spared.'

Just like his naive mother, just like his maternal grandparents, his childhood friends and everyone else discovered by the Lee Industries to be somewhat useful in manipulating him.

Everyone was used, and after the desired outcome was reached, they were all mercilessly thrown away.

And now, it was his turn to be sacrificed.

The twenty-one-year-old Lee Moo-jin stood beside the swarm of high-ranking military officials with a forced smile. 

Even when the world changed and people developed strange abilities, the truth that being weak is a crime remained.

In fact, it worsened.

The world After the Sky Shattered became a jungle where 'survival of the fittest' equaled 'survival of the strongest'.

Lee Moo-jin wasn't particularly handsome, in fact, his face was quite plain, but people were somewhat easily attracted to his looks. Together with his family background, he was able to acquire a certain level of influence among the circle of elites.

However, he was fairly average in everything else.

He wasn't particularly clever either, and he had no achievements to be boasted about. He had no authority, no money, and no real useful connections. 

If one were to consider him generously, he was a very ordinary man.

If one were to be a little more strict, he was a good-for-nothing.

The disposable youngest son of Lee Industries, Lee Moo-jin.

That was him a year ago.

But then, his talents bloomed after he realized he could use magic.

To those who knew his current identity, Lee Moo-jin was a spectacle to behold. 

General Lee Moo-jin, the Awakened with the highest class who is also a military officer of the country.

He was no longer a weak pawn, but one of the S-rank combat powers respected by the people, regardless of which country they belonged in.

Currently, Lee Moo-jin and his specialized personnel were standing on a desolate field within District 13 of Seoul. The capital had long been divided into twenty demarcated districts, each guarded either by the government's Awakened, the Hunter Association's men or the members of private guilds.

However, at this moment, the District 13 which falls under the jurisdiction of the government had outsiders causing trouble.

Top guilds, like Hwarang, Ice Lotus, and Shinhan Swords, were currently having a field day around Lee Moo-jin. If not for his presence, he was sure that these groups of unruly Awakened would have ignored the warnings of the soldiers and swarmed the isolated area because of the rumors that a Sky Shard fell in this field.

"Dammit, where is that beanpole? He's supposed to come here first thing in the morning? What's taking him so long?" the ill-tempered Lee Moo-jin snarled at his adjudant.

"Sir, the Craft Guild people are here. Their Guild Leader—"

"I know. You already told me earlier. I'm talking about Lee Suho, that Lee Suho! Where is that beanpole?"

For Lee Moo-jin who climbed all the way to the top after countless struggles and battles, he found the presence of Craft Guild's Lee Suho, this weakling, particularly annoying.

However, before his adjutant could respond, a loud explosion erupted behind them, causing flames and debris to fly in all directions, forcing those not prepared to fall backwards.

Lee Moo-jin's face contorted.

"Fck! It's here! Get the special squad ready!"