Seoul was the capital of the Cosmic Nation and the world's tenth-largest city. It was the country's political, economic, technological, educational, and cultural center.
Though Seoul occupied only six percent of the Cosmic Nation's territory, it accounted for twenty-one percent of its GDP. Anything that happened there had an enormous impact on the whole country. Even a sneeze could send shock waves through the nation.
So when an army of Byakhee, Deep Ones, Ghouls, and other monsters poured through the "gate" and began slaughtering people, the Cosmic Nation responded at once. It sent troops into Seoul and sounded every alarm it could. Network operators used every available channel to urge residents to leave the city immediately. Those who could not escape were told to find the nearest shelter and wait for the army.
They hardly needed telling. Unless Seoul's residents were blind and deaf, they had seen what was happening. They fled their homes and offices in panic.
Car horns blared wildly in the streets. Thick smoke rose from abandoned cars and wrecks left by rear-end collisions. The chaos was just like the scene in Eastern Heijō-kyō when Yomi appeared, proving once again that the only lesson humanity had learned from history was that humanity learned nothing from history.
A Byakhee soaring overhead spotted its target: a man.
It instantly angled downward and dived. Wind roared around it as it lashed out with its razor-sharp claws.
The man was about to die when a bullet slammed into the Byakhee, knocking it off course.
"Are you all right?" A woman in combat gear rushed over and helped the man up. Once she saw he was unharmed, she said, "This is an emergency. Get to the Seoul subway station now. Hurry, or it'll be too late."
Her voice was pleasant, gentle with