Jog Lin was falling.
Cold wind tore past his body as the city disappeared beneath him.
Yet strangely—
he felt no fear.
Only exhaustion.
A faint smile touched his lips.
Small.
Broken.
"So this is how it ends…"
The sky above him blurred into pale gray.
Faces flashed through his mind.
Readers.
Classrooms.
Whispers.
Fake smiles.
And then—
loneliness.
That was the only thing that truly remained beside him in the end.
Jog Lin slowly closed his eyes.
"No matter how kind someone becomes…"
"the world always finds a way to leave them behind."
He hated that truth.
Because despite everything—
he had still wanted to believe people could understand each other.
That loneliness could disappear someday.
That humans could become one.
A childish dream.
A foolish dream.
And now—
it would die with him.
The ground rushed upward.
Then—
darkness.
At first, there was nothing.
No pain.
No sound.
No thoughts.
Just endless silence.
Then—
Beep.
A strange sound echoed through the void.
Beep.
Again.
Jog Lin frowned.
His body felt distant.
Heavy.
As though he no longer belonged inside it.
"Am I… alive?"
No answer came.
Only more sounds.
Whispers.
Soft at first.
Then growing louder.
Thousands of voices murmured around him from every direction.
Some cried quietly.
Some laughed like madmen.
Some whispered in languages older than memory itself.
The air grew colder.
Jog Lin tried to open his eyes—
but darkness pressed against him like wet cloth.
The whispers became clearer.
Closer.
Hungry.
And suddenly—
every voice spoke the same name.
"Han Seojin…"
Jog Lin froze.
The voices repeated it again.
Slower this time.
"Han… Seojin…"
The name felt wrong.
Like something buried deep beneath reality itself.
Something that should never have been remembered.
A sharp pain exploded inside his skull.
Fragments of unfamiliar memories flashed before his eyes—
A burning temple.
Black oceans beneath a crimson moon.
A man standing alone while the world bowed in terror.
Then—
FLASH.
Jog Lin opened his eyes violently.
He stopped breathing.
There was no sky above him.
No ground beneath him.
He floated inside an endless black void where even light seemed dead.
Colors twisted unnaturally around him.
Red.
Blue.
Silver.
Shapes appeared and vanished like broken dreams.
The entire space trembled.
Then thunder roared.
Not from above—
but from everywhere.
Jog Lin covered his ears.
The sound felt alive.
Like reality itself was screaming.
"Stop…"
Another flash split the darkness.
And suddenly—
the void changed.
He was standing inside a room.
No—
not a room.
A prison.
The walls pulsed slowly like living flesh.
Countless human faces were buried inside them.
Some crying.
Some whispering.
Some silently screaming.
Their hollow eyes turned toward Jog Lin all at once.
The room breathed.
Jog Lin stumbled backward in horror.
"What is this place…?"
The walls cracked.
Something moved inside them.
Then—
hands emerged.
One.
Then dozens.
Then thousands.
Pale black hands crawled from the walls like insects.
Some looked human.
Others did not.
Bent fingers scraped across the floor with wet cracking sounds.
Rotting flesh hung from moving bones.
One hand dragged itself forward using only its fingertips.
Another had far too many joints.
Jog Lin's breathing became uneven.
The hands kept coming.
Slowly.
Hungrily.
As though searching for him specifically.
"No…"
One hand touched his ankle.
Instantly—
pain exploded through his body.
Jog Lin screamed.
More hands grabbed him.
His arms.
His chest.
His throat.
Their fingers dug beneath his skin like they were searching for something hidden inside him.
Something buried within his soul.
Blood poured across the floor.
The room echoed with whispers.
"Han Seojin…"
"Han Seojin…"
"Han Seojin…"
Jog Lin's eyes widened in terror.
"STOP SAYING THAT NAME!!"
The hands suddenly tightened.
Bones cracked violently.
Agony swallowed his entire body.
"I AM NOT HAN SEOJIN!!"
The moment those words escaped his mouth—
everything froze.
Silence fell instantly.
Even the whispers disappeared.
Then—
a voice echoed through the darkness.
Deep.
Ancient.
Inhuman.
A voice that did not sound spoken—
but carved directly into existence itself.
[ KOS' ROETO JULES HAN JO WOSTA ]
The room trembled.
Fire erupted across the walls.
The black hands shrieked like dying animals as blue flames consumed them.
Ash filled the air.
Jog Lin collapsed onto the floor, barely conscious.
His body no longer looked human.
Exposed bone gleamed beneath torn flesh.
Yet somehow—
he was still alive.
The voice spoke again.
Slower this time.
Closer.
[ KOS' ROETO JULES HAN JO WOSTA ]
The floor beneath Jog Lin cracked apart.
Darkness opened below him like a giant mouth.
And he fell once more.
This time—
there was no wind.
No sound.
Only endless descent.
Jog Lin looked upward weakly.
Far above him—
a white figure floated silently in the darkness.
Human-shaped.
Featureless.
Brilliant.
It watched him without emotion.
Without mercy.
Jog Lin tried to speak—
but his ruined throat could no longer form words.
Then the figure's voice entered his mind directly.
Cold.
Calm.
Absolute.
"Jog Lin no longer exists."
The darkness swallowed him deeper.
"Han Seojin has returned."
And for the first time since his death—
Jog Lin felt true fear.