"Highschooler during the day, superhero by night...only in webtoons, maybe." The very thought of it gave Kwon Sohyun a headache as she closely observed in the palm of her hand the small spherical object, a silver ring, she discovered. The 16 year old slightly put the object around her finger and then snatched it away completely. It was too dangerous to test, what she labeled it, a trivial catastrophe in her room, especially around that time at night. Her family just had dinner, so they were still awake settling into their bedrooms or maybe watching the news downstairs. Sohyun was in her own bedroom, essentially beginning to study when no one else in her class or the world was bothering to do it, but instead became captivated by the sudden change of events in her life.

You see, it happened earlier that day. Early morning. The sun had only been out for about a few minutes when Haeyoung decided to bring his sister along on his recon mission in a forest outside the city's safety zone. It was only a reconnaissance to get a status on the air and changes to the terrain, so he figured it would both be safe and a great way to bond with his little sister. Time seemed to be coming to an end anyway-- might as well utilize the last moments cherishing family while one still could.

"Do I have to?" Sohyun retaliated at first, but her brother wasn't going to take no for an answer. Had it been a few years prior, Sohyun at the age of twelve would have gladly went along with her brother, no questions asked.  She would have been begging had he not offered.  That was the type of girl she was then.  Now, not so much.

They made small talk on the way. Haeyoung was reminded how distant they had become due to the awkwardness of their conversation. Sohyun clarified dully that she was still doing well in school, achieving the best grades in her class, granted, everyone else had given up on academics and only attended school to be around friends. She often mentioned the boy she had a crush on to her parents at dinner while everyone kept in eerie silence. On that note: she definitely had no worries about the state of the world, almost oblivious to the situation, nonetheless she seemed like the typical 16 year old living her everyday life. Alien to Hae Young’s life both past and present. He questioned himself if Sohyun was the same little sister he knew. She seemed almost the same but then…she wasn’t.

"Here we are." There was no response needed when Hae Young caught his sister rolling her eyes. She dragged herself out the government vehicle while he went up to the 50 foot tall metal and timber gates and used his access card to get the doors to hell open.  Sohyun then proceed strolling through the forest with dead leaves blowing through. The sun was peaking by then, and they were in dawn. Haeyoung watched his little sister walk around...bored. He sighed and turned to start his duty. Sohyun watched him for a little while. All he did was look around; she thought it was a joke. She scoffed thinking she was wasting valuable time when she could have been eating something or watching TV. His obvious and failed attempt at trying to bond was worthless. Sometimes she noticed herself getting angry with her older sibling to the point of detest for a reason she wasn’t really sure of. It was an odd behavior she was sure everyone in her family noted, but she didn’t try to change it.  As Haeyoung disappeared more into the area, Sohyun began her own agenda. Kicking leaves. They were all dead and brittle. They became dust when she swiftly brushed her foot against them. One kick caused something solid to stick out in the dust. A silver ring. It was very small but it shined brightly to the point where it’d be difficult to miss in the position it was in. The condition told that it had to be fairly new; it was abnormally clean considering the weather and environment. However the case, Sohyun casually picked it up and slipped it on her forefinger.

Lord, our farther god in heaven, has forsaken us and abandoned his children. We are all fated to burn in hell. Both our physical bodies and our spiritual for all eternity; we are doomed starting with Earth. We cannot escape.

There was a moment, like the snap of a finger, that went by, and just like that, a row of trees standing in front of Sohyun that had been planted there since the New World had been growing were no more. All that remained were stumps almost torn out of the ground. One could not see what had happened because, for Sohyun, it happened when she blinked. She did, however, hear it. She heard the trees rip apart, like a gust of wind making its way by; the remnants of shredded bark blew away. And she dared not move.

“Sohyun…what happened here?” Her brother asked.
“I don’t…know…” Was all she said.

They both stood there for a while trying to make sense of the site they were witnessing. After all, Haeyoung was going to have to report this.

“Well let’s go then.” He grabbed his sister’s hand and guided her back to the car. She was too much in shock to focus. Haeyoung buckled her in, studied her preoccupied face for a moment and then sighed. He had no idea what had happened while he was off tending to his work, but when he heard the abnormal sounds that turned out to be the result of trees torn from their stumps, he knew his sister had seen something frightening. Driving off Sohyun kept her eyes locked on the trail of trees that were no more. As her and her brother departed, she heard a sound they were drifting away from. Someone was laughing.

“Magic rings, magic rings, magic rings, ragic mings.” She couldn’t get the words out fast enough even when she tripped over them while typing in the search bar. The results on the internet came up to be historical fables, toys, or something related to anime. Sohyun grunted and flopped herself on her bed, still holding on to the ring. The bedroom door opened and she quickly put it under the pillow.

“You alright?” Her brother asked taking one step into the room but would not precede any further to avoid invading her space. Sohyun nodded and rolled over where her body gestured she wasn’t offering any conversation. His presence itself bothered her.  Hae Young nodded to no one and left the room, not happily. Sohyun grunted again. “Why is this happening to me?”

Her own TV was on, but she was tired of hearing the same subject over and over again, about the world coming to another end. She turned off the television but then turned it back on.

and when exactly is the world coming to its second end? It's the year 4012 and weather like this has not been sited since 2004 in The Old Earth, duplicating similar symptoms before the first end. Rapid changes in the terrain spreading throughout the globe starting with the most pacific part of Asia suggest a month. For us here in Korea…a week. Knowing the same events are reoccurring but still with no logical explanation as to why, will the population be able to survive this? Will the world be able to get through another apocalypse? Less than .1% of the world’s population was able to live through the terror that happened to the Old Earth when it had died, and the birth of strange creatures, demons…monsters started when the New World began. How does anyone prepare for such a history repeating itself?

She turned it back off.

“You don’t.”