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————
The moment the Plague Monarch materialized in his room, Muyeon stepped forward to greet her. "Thanks for co—"
But before he could finish his sentence, he felt the weight of her presence crash down on him like a collapsing mountain. The air itself seemed to tremble, the very space around her distorting under the sheer pressure of her existence.
He had expected her to be powerful—after all, she was a Monarch, a being capable of annihilating entire worlds—but standing before her now, feeling the raw, suffocating aura radiating from her, Muyeon realized just how small he was in comparison.
Still, he refused to show weakness.
Gritting his teeth, he forced himself to remain standing, his muscles straining as if resisting an invisible force pressing down on him. His Ki flared instinctively, circulating through his meridians in a desperate attempt to stabilize himself.
The Plague Monarch watched him with cold amusement, her glowing red eyes flickering with intrigue.
"So," she said, her voice smooth yet laced with danger, "you're the little admin, huh?"
Muyeon swallowed hard, his breath coming in shallow gasps. Every word she spoke carried an oppressive weight, making his bones ache.
"And you're the Plague Monarch, I presume," he managed, his voice steady despite the strain.
"Querehsha," a slow, predatory smile curled her lips. "My name is Querehsha."
Then, without warning, the pressure doubled.
Muyeon's knees nearly buckled. His vision blurred at the edges, his body screaming in protest. For a brief, terrifying moment, he thought she was going to kill him—that he had made a fatal mistake by bringing her here. His mind raced, calculating whether he could use his admin powers to eject her from this world before she decided to erase him from existence.
But then he noticed something, a keen look the Plague Monarchs eyes.
She wasn't killing him.
She was testing him.
The realization sharpened his focus. If this was a test, then he wouldn't fail it.
Gritting his teeth, Muyeon dug deep, forcing his Ki to surge through his body in a desperate attempt to reinforce himself. His muscles trembled, sweat beading on his forehead, but he refused to kneel.
The Plague Monarch's smirk widened.
"Interesting," she murmured, tilting her head. "Most of my subordinates would have collapsed by now."
Muyeon didn't respond—he couldn't. Every ounce of his concentration was spent on staying upright.
Then, the pressure increased again.
A strangled gasp escaped his lips as his bones creaked under the strain. His Ki was burning through him at an unsustainable rate, his body pushed to its absolute limit.
And yet…
He stood.
The Plague Monarch's eyes gleamed with something akin to approval. She had expected him to crumple by now. Even some of her strongest minions would have faltered under half of her power, yet this human—this boy—was still standing.
Not because of his strength.
But because of his will.
Finally, just as Muyeon felt his consciousness waver, the pressure vanished.
The sudden release nearly made him stagger, but he locked his knees, refusing to show any further weakness. His chest heaved, his entire body trembling from the exertion, but he remained on his feet.
The Plague Monarch regarded him for a long moment before speaking.
"Not bad," she said, her tone almost… impressed.
Muyeon exhaled shakily, forcing his breathing to steady. "I'll take that as a compliment."
Her lips curled. "It wasn't one."
A beat of silence passed between them before she finally turned away, examining his room with mild disinterest.
"Now," she said, her voice smooth and commanding, "tell me why I'm here."
Muyeon straightened, his mind already shifting to the mission ahead.
Tonight, everything would change.
And he would make sure it changed in his favor.
————
The night air was thick with tension as Muyeon and the Plague Monarch moved through the dense forest, their figures cutting through the darkness like shadows. The towering trees loomed overhead, their branches swaying in the wind, casting eerie patterns of moonlight on the forest floor.
Muyeon kept pace beside Querehsha, his breathing steady despite the speed at which they moved. He glanced at her, noting the way her crimson eyes glowed faintly in the dark, her expression unreadable.
'She's really beautiful when she isn't trying to kill me…'
A few more seconds of silence passed before she spoke, sensing his gaze.
"Why do you want those two dead?"
Muyeon's expression sobered. He had expected this question.
"I used my admin abilities to glimpse into my future," he said carefully. "The man we're hunting tonight is my half-brother, Cheon Yeo Woon. The other is another family member. Both of them will become my enemies if left alive."
Querehsha's lips curled slightly. "And you'd rather kill them preemptively than face them later. Pragmatic."
"Survival," Muyeon corrected. "In my world, hesitation gets you killed."
She let out a low, amused hum but didn't argue.
"There's something else," Muyeon continued. "The other relative of mine has an artifact in his possession—something I need. When you kill them, try not to damage their belongings. I'll have to search their bodies afterward."
Querehsha arched a brow. "You're awfully particular for someone asking me to do his dirty work."
Muyeon's jaw tightened. "It's not just about killing them. That guy can teleport. If he realizes he's outmatched, he'll vanish in an instant. You have to kill him before he has a chance to react."
Naturally, he was referring to time travel, not teleportation—but Querehsha didn't need to know that.
For the first time since they'd set out, Querehsha turned her head to look at him fully, her crimson eyes gleaming with interest.
"Teleportation?" she mused. "Now that's a rare ability."
"Which is why I need you to make sure he doesn't get the chance to use it," Muyeon said firmly.
Querehsha studied him for a long moment before finally nodding.
"Fine. Two ants crushed underfoot—hardly worth my time. But remember your promise, admin." Her voice dripped with warning. "I expect information on my future once this is done. I don't work for free."
Muyeon met her gaze without flinching. "As long as everything goes according to plan, you'll have your answers by tonight."
A slow, satisfied smirk curled her lips. "Good."
They continued forward, the forest growing denser as they neared their destination. Muyeon's senses were on high alert, his Ki sharpening his reflexes, preparing for the confrontation ahead.
Then—
A sudden flash of light erupted in the clearing just ahead of them, blinding and abrupt.
Both Muyeon and Querehsha skidded to a halt, their eyes narrowing against the brilliance.
"What was that?" Muyeon muttered, his hand instinctively moving to the hilt of his sword.
Querehsha's seemed intrigued, "Let's go find out."
Without another word, they surged forward, bursting into the clearing—
————
In the clearing…
Seconds earlier…
The blinding blue light faded as quickly as it had appeared, leaving behind the acrid scent of ozone and the crackling remnants of displaced energy.
Standing in the center of the scorched clearing was a man who didn't belong in this era.
Cheon Mu-Sung.
Dressed in a sleek white hooded jacket, black pants, and modern shoes, he looked utterly out of place amidst the ancient forest. A small black pack was secured at his hip, and his wrist bore a strange, glowing device—some kind of futuristic watch.
His sharp eyes darted around, assessing his surroundings with the urgency of a man who knew time was against him.
"This should be the right timeline," he muttered under his breath, tapping the screen of his watch. "But I need to move fast—before they detect the temporal disturbance."
He took a single step forward—
And froze.
A voice, cold and feminine, cut through the night like a blade.
"Is that one of them?"
A second voice, male and decisive, answered without hesitation.
"Yeah, we got lucky tonight. I expected it to be harder to track him down."
Mu-Sung's blood ran cold.
How?!
No one should have known he was coming. No one could have known.
And yet, before he could even turn to face the people who had spoken, his world ended.
There was no pain. No warning. No time to react.
One moment, he was standing.
The next—
His vision tilted violently.
The forest spun.
The ground rushed up to meet him.
And then—
*Thud.*
His head hit the dirt, rolling slightly before coming to a stop.
His lifeless eyes, wide with shock, stared blankly at the night sky—his last sight that of his own headless body crumpling to the ground.
Dead before he could even process death.
Querehsha flicked her wrist, shaking off the faint traces of blood that clung to her claws. Her expression was one of mild disinterest, as if she had just swatted a fly rather than decapitated a man in the blink of an eye.
Muyeon exhaled sharply, his pulse hammering in his veins.
That fast.
He had known the Plague Monarch was strong, but witnessing her power firsthand was something else entirely.
Cheon Mu-Sung—a man as strong or maybe even stronger than his mother, a warrior who had crossed time itself—had been erased in an instant.
No struggle. No resistance.
Just gone.
'Whatever, I don't have time to waste…'
Muyeon strode forward and knelt beside Cheon Mu-Sung's headless corpse, his hands moving with practiced efficiency.
First, he pried the futuristic watch from the dead man's wrist. The device hummed faintly in his palm, its screen flickering with strange symbols.
'This is how he time traveled, right?' Muyeon thought, recalling the manhwa from his past life. 'And if I remember right, someone's tracking this thing. Maybe time cops or something?'
Without hesitation, he willed the watch into the chat group's inventory.
[Item stored: Temporal Displacement Device(Time Watch)]
The watch vanished from his hand just as Querehsha leaned over his shoulder, her crimson eyes gleaming with curiosity.
"What was that?" she asked, her voice low.
Muyeon shrugged, keeping his expression neutral. "Not sure."
Querehsha's gaze lingered on his empty palm for a moment before she scoffed. "You're a terrible liar."
But she didn't press further.
Next, Muyeon rifled through Mu-Sung's pockets, finding a sleek, black rectangle—a smartphone. The screen lit up at his touch, displaying a Home Screen with a picture of an anime girl.
'A phone?' he mused, tossing it into the inventory as well. 'I wonder if it has any games?'
[Item Stored: iPhone 19]
Querehsha had already lost interest, her attention drifting to the surrounding forest.
Finally, Muyeon reached for the black pack secured to Mu-Sung's hip. His fingers brushed against cold metal, and his breath hitched.
'Please be here. Please—'
He pulled it out.
A sleek, silver syringe, filled with a clear liquid that shimmered faintly under the moonlight.
The 7th Generation Nano Machine.
Querehsha's brow arched as Muyeon moved—
—jamming the needle into his own neck and depressing the plunger before she could even blink.
The liquid burned as it flooded his veins.
{Serial number: 034-4532-5893. Activating the 7th generation Nano Machine of the Sky Corporation. Scanning the user's physical data. Now scanning...}
A strange light erupted from Muyeon's skin, glowing beneath his flesh like liquid fire. Thousands of microscopic pinpricks crawled through his body, stitching themselves into his cells, his nerves, his very mind.
Then—
{EMERGENCY! EMERGENCY! ANOMALY DETECTED!}
The voice in his head screamed, and Muyeon's world exploded into agony.
He collapsed, his muscles locking as the Nano Machines recoiled from the foreign presence in his mind—the Multiverse Chat Group System. The two forces clashed violently, sending shockwaves of pain through his skull.
Querehsha took a step back, her eyes widening slightly. "What the hell did you just do to yourself?"
Muyeon couldn't answer. His vision swam, his throat constricting as his body convulsed.
{UNIDENTIFIED SYSTEM INTERFERENCE! INITIATING COUNTERMEASURES!}
The pain worsened.
Just as black spots began to dance in his vision, a familiar holographic screen appeared—
[Alert: Foreign entity detected. Initiating system integration.]
The Chat Group flared to life, its holographic interface flickering violently as it grabbed hold of the Nano Machines with an invisible force. Muyeon gasped as the two systems collided—
—then merged.
The pain vanished.
Silence.
Then—
{Integration complete. Welcome, Master: Cheon Muyeon.}
[System Upgrade Available: Chat Group Level 2. Proceed?]
Muyeon lay on the ground, panting, his body drenched in sweat. A slow, delirious grin spread across his face.
'Not just the Nano Machine… but a system upgrade?'
He reached out with a trembling hand and tapped [YES].
[Upgrade initiated. Estimated completion time: 60 minutes.]
The holographic screen flickered, displaying a countdown.
[59:59… 59:58…]
Querehsha loomed over him, her arms crossed. "Are you done dying, or should I leave you here?"
Muyeon sat up, his limbs still shaky but his smile unwavering. "I'm okay, thanks for worrying."
"Who said I worried?" She scoffed, averting her gaze.
Tonight had gone perfectly.
The Nano Machine was his.
The Chat Group was evolving.
And Yeo Woon?
'He's next.'
A/N: 2171 words :)
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