The island of Red Field, a small island far off the coast of South Korea, surrounded by beautiful clean waters and covered in fields of red poppies was mostly ignored by the bustling world, treated as nothing more than a quiet corner of the world. The people of Red Field could not ask for more, their quaint town, with houses spread apart enough to give them freedom to enjoy the clean air that few places now had the honor of experiencing, wasn’t something they wished to be changed. They were happy living as simple farmers, never asking for more than what nature and their hard work would give them.

Imagine their shock and disappointment when in March of 4997 an Exolysk appeared. They knew what this meant. Exolysks had randomly been appearing for the last 450 years around the globe, the gigantic sky scraper like slabs of black unknown material imposing on everything around them. The islanders had held their breath, hoping that the slab would not begin to pulse with that beautiful pink glow but once again luck was not on their side. Exolysks usually were seen as a blessing to the area that they appeared in as they made the soil fertile and the ground rich in minerals and metal however the islanders had a different point of view of them. Exolysks usually meant only one thing and that was mining companies. The black slabs were a hotspot for mining and construction companies, they were full of metals and precious jewels and the unknown material they were made of was one of, if not the, sturdiest building material on the globe. Better yet, or worse yet for the islanders, the Exolysks repaired itself. As long as it continued to pulsate with that pink hue the Red Field inhabitants had come to hate that meant the companies wouldn’t leave. And they didn’t.

50 years later and those companies continue their attempts to get the legal rights to mine there. The islanders continue to put up a good fight; however they seem to be fighting a losing battle.

“Are you sure sir? We’re offering you three times the worth of this sad excuse of a home.” A young man with slicked back hair and a stiff suit said with a scowl only to receive a door slam to his face.

“Corporate scum!” An old man with wrinkling skin and gray hair said followed by a cough as he made his way towards the living room of his large, traditional, one story house. When he entered he found his wife of many years smiling an endearing wrinkled smile as she poured rice on a small round bowl and handed it to a beautiful young woman with long black hair and porcelain pale skin.

“Geez grandpa! Did you really have to slam the door on his face?” The girl said with a small laugh which made the old man smile as he sat down at the small table taking his chopsticks in his hand.

“Those corporate losers need to learn it’s rude to disturb people when they’re having dinner!” He said with a small smirk on his features. He always felt proud whenever he put a smile on his granddaughters face. After what happened to her parents he had become especially protective of the beautiful young woman.

“Joohyun dear school started up again right? How was your day?” The old woman asked her smile seemingly never leaving her face.

“It was great grandma! They started handing out career application forms though, way to start the new year huh?” The girl, Joohyun, said with a small chuckle after finishing the rice she had put in .

“Well what did you fill out dear?” Her grandmother asked as she pushed some of her own kimchi to her granddaughter. Joohyun chuckled, no matter how much society advances the need of grandparents to spoil their grandkids will never change.

“Obviously I picked out the medical field.” Joohyun said with a grin at the proud look on her grandfather’s face. “The teacher said with my grades I’ll probably get a lot of scholarships from the mainland.” Her proud smile faltered when she saw the scowl on her grandfather’s face.

“No! You are not going to the mainland.” His voice left no room for debate but that didn’t mean Joohyun wouldn’t persist.

“I know you hate all those big cities but the mainland could open up so many opportunities for me.” Joohyun said setting down her chopsticks slowly.

“You aren’t going. That’s final.” He said, his tone raising making Joohyun furrow her brows.

“Since when do you decide what I do with my own life?!” She said pushing her food aside matching her grandfather’s bullheaded glare.

“He’s just worried about you honey.” Her grandmother said calmly, trying to defuse the situation.

“Yeah but that doesn’t mean he can dictate my life!” Joohyun said standing up from the table with balled up fists. “I’m eighteen grandma! If I want to go to the mainland for my studies I’m going to the mainland for my studies!” She said stubbornly.

“Not while under this roof you’re not. Now sit down and eat, you’re worrying your grandmother.” The old man replied with a frown.

“Sorry I lost my appetite.” She said with an angry huff and stomped her way outside, slipping on her flip flops and slamming the door behind her. She ran to her bicycle, tears stinging her eyes, and started pedaling quickly before stopping her feet and letting the wheels glide down the gravel road towards the beach. She turned to look at the giant stone slab that glowed in the night. To think that thing had managed to ruin the color pink for her.

Joohyun sighed when she felt something stream down her face. Was she crying? With one hand on her handlebar she moved the other up to her features and wiped her eye only to find it dry. She groaned when she felt drops on not only her face but her hair and then clothes. She quickened her pace and rode down to the beach, discarding her bike at the border where gravel met damp sand. She ran, her flip flops throwing sand up to her calves, towards her beach hideout. In hindsight maybe climbing up wet stone with flips flops on wasn’t the best of ideas. Joohyun let out a screech as she lost her footing and fell down; bracing herself with her knees and arms.

“!” She groaned out as she sat up, checking if she had broken anything in her fall but only noticing cuts and scratches on her arms and knees. They stung, and would sting even more when she was going to clean them after getting home, but it was nothing serious. Joohyun counted her lucky stars she didn’t find herself with broken limbs in a place like this. She looked around, the smell of sea salt and sand prominent in the dark cave which was only illuminated by the entrance which lead out to the beach with crystal clear water that characterized Red Field Island. Joohyun stood and started walking around curiously. “This place could be a cool hideout if I can just find another way out…Man it’s going to if I have to swim out with these scratches. Swimming in general would …” The thought made a groan come out of the young woman as she looked around, her eyes at the intricate designs of the ceiling rocks. The distraction caused her to almost fall down when she tripped on something in the sand. She sent a death glare at the piece of metal she saw and kicked it wincing in pain. “I guess I have nothing better to do until the rain stops.” Joohyun spoke to herself and shrugged, kneeling down and using her hands to dig at the sand, and soon enough she noticed that this piece of metal, whatever the dark grey metal was, went down deep into the sand. She dusted herself up as she stood before noticing the metal seemed to extend in front of her. The young woman followed it, her feet sweeping the sand away every now and again to make sure she was following the metal correctly. She assumed it was the mast of a ship or something of the sort she had found, considering the length of this thing.

After a while she found herself face to face with a hollowed out pyramid shape by the same material sticking up from the sand. It looked like it was riveted on the sides of the pyramid into another one giving the impression of scales engraved with symbols the black haired young woman couldn’t decipher. She raised her brow, her curiosity peaking at the new discovery. She continued walking ahead, taking cautious steps before coming to a stop. Lit up by a hole on the ceiling was…something…the eighteen year old woman couldn’t identify. It was covered in rocks and sand on most of its surface, probably from the caves ceiling crumbling down on it and with seaweed on a part of it that was submerged into water. Whatever this thing was it had probably been there a long time, Joohyun could see some rust underneath the seaweed and sand. Taking curious steps towards the object, despite her brain telling her not to, she reached out. When her hand made contact with cold metal she felt a hum and before she knew it the engravings on the pyramid shapes she saw behind her and the object in front of her were glowing a bright orange and almost on beat with Joohyun pulling her hand back it started moving. Panic and shock overwhelmed Joohyun’s system, her heart was beating out of her ribcage, her brain was begging her to run but he body refused to move. She stared with wide eyes as the sound of gears turning and a motor running filled the cave. The ground beneath her feet shook as if an earthquake had just hit causing the young woman to fall back on her bum. Joohyun looked up as something resembling a metallic dark grey arm that glowed orange, moved up and slammed down, as one would do if they were trying to get up, barely missing Joohyun, leaving the girl terrified between metallic fingers five times her height.

“!” Joohyun screamed out as she closed her ears with her hands as the sound of an engine going on overdrive and finally giving in sounded. Soon she found herself turning her back to the object as it fell back into the ground causing the sand to fly back around it. Joohyun heard a sound resembling what you would hear when opening something that’s been pressure locked as the machine settled back into its previous position making her slowly turn her head back in fear just in time to see a female figure droop down along with a green, luminescent substance.

“What the is happening?”