Chapter 24 : First Memory

We shouldn't have been able to come back like that.

One second we were standing in a blinding white arena, staring at a cartoon duck threatening us with extinction. The next—we were just back. Right where we started. Apartment. Same ceiling. Same city ruins. Same silence.

It didn't make sense.

"It was... instant," In‑Ji muttered, turning in a slow circle. "No transition. No system ping. Just blink and boom."

"Like unplugging a game cartridge," Ye‑Jun added. "Except we're still in the game."

Seo-yeon stood by the edge of the balcony, her hand brushing over her eyes as if clearing invisible dust. "It wasn't a teleportation. It was a projection. Our bodies never moved."

My mother didn't speak. She was already checking the UI again. Fingers gliding across holographic panels, scanning, memorizing.

"There's no time limit," she finally said.

I blinked. "What?"

"Mission 002—no timer. No countdown. It's just there. Active."

"Which means...?" I asked.

Mother frowned. "We're on borrowed time. The moment they get those memories, we lose."

In-ji nodded. "There's no reward for waiting. Only punishment."

We all gathered inside my room. No one touched the food or the cots. There wasn't time. We sat on the floor, cross-legged like kids planning a school project that might get us all killed.

"The sword," I started, "has to be in a museum. Probably national-level. It's too iconic."

"Which one though?" In-Ji asked. "There is only one museum in Buk-gu, Ulso and that is the Hyundai Museum ."

"I'll check the location of it," Mother said. Her Bloody Eyes shimmered faintly red as she peered into the city map she had in her room.

I looked at the basketball entry. "Memory 2... signed by Hyun Jae-Kwon."

"Wasn't he a KBL player?" Seo-yeon said. "Basketball's not super popular here."

"Maybe a national stadium?" Seo‑Yeon asked. "He was in the Hall of Fame, I think."

"Or in a random house of a fan". In-ji said and then asked "And the photo?"

Silence.

"There's no way to find something like that," I muttered. "It could be anyone. From anywhere. But weird enough I think I have seen the girl in the picture anywhere."

"Could be your relatives? Neighbors. Anyone you know?" Seo-yeon asked.

"No." I answered.

"Well, let's hope we find it before they get their hands on it." Ye-rin confidentiality spoke.

[Junior played with Volt while we were discussing. Volt was visibly annoyed as Junior was dangling from Volt's long neck]

By the time of dusk, we reached the Hyundai Museum. There were zero monsters roaming around in the city.

The Hyundai Museum looked less like a building and more like a machine in hibernation—steel walls, glass panels, and sharp, angular lines. Its minimalist design echoed power and precision, like every bolt and beam had a purpose. Inside, the air was cold and clean, with engines and models displayed like sacred relics beneath skylights shaped like turbine blades. But now it had shattered windows and someone had barricaded the doors.

"Watch it," In‑Ji warned, raising his gun.

Two voices called out from behind a makeshift shield of desks and scavenged wood.

"Don't shoot! We're human!"

"Who are you?" I shouted. I hid Junior in my hoodie and signaled Volt to not come out. The proud dragon hid itself at the rooftop of the nearby building.

Then Two men—mid twenties, the same age as me, came out from the building.One with messy red hair and a spear. The other with a glowing visor covering his eyes.

They looked like they hadn't slept in days.

"I'm Kim song-woo." The red head spoke. "And this is my friend Ryu Ji-wan."

I also lowered my guard after seeing both of them.

Then I introduced myself and others around me.

"You're... are you the ones who beat the iron Rabbit?" Ji-wan said.

We paused.

"…Yeah," I said, after a beat.

The two exchanged a look like they'd just found a duck who lays golden eggs.

"Thank God," song-woo muttered. "We've been camped here for three days. Trying to protect ourselves from the hell of outside world."

"Let's continue inside." Mother said.

We entered the battered building.

"How did you guys survive this long?" Ye-Rin asked.

"It's my Class, Tracker. I can locate the exact location of hostile monsters around me." Ji-wan continued "song-woo here deals with them if we come against any of them."

"That's how we were able to keep ourselves safe here. Now this place is going to become the main target of goblins." Song-woo cut in.

"Let's take a look at this sword." Mother said.

[ Currently. Somewhere in the city]

Third person pov.

The old house groaned in the wind.

Not from age—but from fear.

Its walls had already seen too much. Blood by the door. A shattered photo frame in the hallway. A child's crayon drawing with torn corners, fluttering from the fridge.

Inside, Mr. Baek Dae-Soo, a man in his mid-50s with broad shoulders and a cracked rib, leaned against the kitchen sink. His breathing was ragged. His knuckles were red from fighting. The sleeves of his hanbok shirt were rolled up, stained in blood that wasn't his.

He held a battered fireplace poker in one hand and a hunting knife in the other.

He knew they were coming back.

"Min-Ji," he whispered through the cabinet slats. His voice trembled, just once. "Stay inside. You hear me?"

The little girl didn't answer. But the shifting of a blanket told him she was still listening.

The walls creaked again.

This time, it wasn't the wind.

It was them.

A scratching.

Skittering claws on wood. Something tapping against the glass in rhythm. Not random.

Counting.

Like a child tapping out a song before ripping open a gift.

Then the whispering began.

High-pitched, overlapping voices—gibberish mixed with laughter. Like someone recorded a playground and ran it backwards. A high-pitched, broken laugh—like a toddler imitating a hyena

The front window shattered.

The kitchen light died.

A goblin darted in. Its limbs were too long, its face too human. Yellow eyes. A grin of needles. It hissed as it landed on the counter, sniffing the stale air.

Dae-Soo lunged.

The poker hit it in the jaw, cracking its skull against the cabinet. It yowled—and two more burst through the side wall like termites. One had a femur bone for a club. The other wore a child's backpack filled with human fingers.

Dae-Soo fought like hell.

The knife cut deep into one's thigh. He smashed another with a steel kettle. Kicked one down the basement stairs and heard it laugh all the way down.

But they didn't stop.

They never stopped.

They poured in through the window, the vents, the damn chimney—howling, chittering, giggling like cartoon villains pumped full of caffeine and malice.

One bit into his thigh.

He screamed.

They crawled on him like rats. Tearing flesh. Biting muscle. Laughing while he screamed.

Another jumped on his back and chewed into his shoulder blade, ripping flesh. His knee buckled.

The photo.

In the living room.

A framed photograph of a smiling girl, standing between her two parents. Her eyes matched Min-Ji's.

He saw one goblin crawl up the wall, upside down, spider-like. It reached the photo.

"NO!" Dae-Soo roared, blood spitting from his mouth. He hurled the knife.

Too slow.

The last thing he saw… was one goblin, taller than the rest, wearing a necklace made of teeth, pulling a photo frame from the mantle

The goblin snatched the frame. Hugged it. Kissed it.

And vanished in a blur of smoke.

The others followed.

One after the other, like rats in a drain.

When silence fell, Dae-Soo collapsed.

His eyes fluttered shut as he heard a faint creak.

From the cabinet.

"Grandpa…?" came a whisper.