CHAPTER 2: "The Note of Forbidden Truths"
[Scene opens: Cosmic Organization HQ – Dormitories, late evening]
The air was dim and warm, shadows cast across the ceiling from the moonlight trickling through the reinforced glass windows. The silence of the dorms was disturbed only by the soft crackling glow of an ancient, golden-glowing paper spread open on Jiwoo's lap. He sat cross-legged on the bed, immersed in the text that pulsed faintly with cosmic energy.
Kayden, meanwhile, paced the room like a lion in a cage, arms crossed, brow furrowed.
Kayden:
(annoyed)
"You've been staring at that paper for hours now. Either it's got a recipe for ramen, or you're planning to summon a cosmic demon."
Jiwoo:
(grinning without looking up)
"Neither. It's information... about them. The Pillars."
Kayden stopped pacing.
Kayden:
(stunned)
"Wait. The Pillars? As in, those godlike things that hold reality together?"
Jiwoo:
(nodding, reading aloud)
"'There are Four Pillars of the World. Each boundless. Each with dominion over infinite multiverses, realms, and domains. They are beyond time. Beyond thought.'"
Kayden's expression hardened. He sat down beside Jiwoo slowly, the tension in the room shifting. For once, both of them were quiet—not out of awkwardness, but out of respect for what they were about to uncover.
Kayden:
(quietly)
"So this is why the black hole didn't even flinch when we threw everything at it. Even my eyes... couldn't see through it. It was connected to them somehow, wasn't it?"
Jiwoo:
(flicks to the next section)
"It says here the first is named Kaizo—the Barrier of Reality. Omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent… and the literal force of all kinds of force. He prevents existence from collapsing."
Kayden:
(smirks)
"Sounds like someone who needs a vacation."
Jiwoo:
(grins)
"Maybe. But here's the thing. The note also says something that chills me. 'Each Pillar is both guardian and threat. The third will not protect. It will consume.'"
Kayden's smile faded.
Kayden:
(muttering)
"So the Third is the one we felt... back at the ship. That pressure... that terrifying weight. That was just a fragment of its shadow."
Jiwoo looked up from the note. His expression wasn't just fearful. It was thoughtful.
Jiwoo:
"Kayden... we weren't just lucky to survive that mission. We were meant to see this. I think it's a warning. And... I think we have a part to play."
Kayden:
"We barely made it back, and now you're talking like you're in a prophecy?"
Jiwoo:
(quietly)
"If I am... then maybe it's because someone has to be."
Kayden stared at him for a long time. Jiwoo was no longer the scared kid he met in the ruins of the Break Clan. There was something else forming in his eyes. Resolve. Wisdom.
And perhaps, something dangerous.
Kayden:
"Alright then. Tell me more."
Jiwoo:
(reading)
"The Second Pillar is silent. Forgotten. Even the note skips details. The Fourth is said to be the Echo of Everything—some kind of recorder of existence. But the Third... the note calls it 'The Hungry One.' It feeds on realms. On memories. On meaning. It doesn't just destroy... it erases."
The lights flickered.
Both of them looked up.
Kayden:
(growling low)
"Don't tell me it can hear us reading about it."
Jiwoo:
(whispers)
"...maybe. But there's more. Look here—'In the Age Before Naming, there existed a being who wielded both shadow and seal. A hybrid of two rival clans. A cosmic error. The only one the Third fears.'"
Kayden froze.
Kayden:
"That sounds like..."
Jiwoo:
(meeting his eyes)
"Lynx."
The name dropped like thunder in the quiet room.
Kayden leaned back against the wall.
Kayden:
(in awe)
"No wonder he walks like he owns the multiverse. He probably does."
Jiwoo:
"And we're in his squad now. Which means