Arsenal
Choi Ji-hoon's two favourite things in the world were flowers and stars - besides heroes, he always said. That made it quite hard for him to decide which of his two favourite heroes to support today. Ever since Gilgamesh and Starlight's rivalry on Stonehearthe Live had started, Ji-hoon's Saturdays were filled with nothing but stress. Now, when the time for that perfect mix of adrenaline-fueled fear and wild excitement had come again, he was completely glued to the television, watching Stonehearthe's two sophomore classes climb a gargantuan spire.
"Ji-hoon, get up!" In his moment of intense focus, he hadn't heard the alarms. He couldn't resist his father's grasp as he was pulled away from the television by his collar. Weakly, he extended his arm to the television as if to try and anchor himself to it. His panic was merely delayed rather than nonexistent, though - as he fell back to the material world and listened to the blaring alarms, he'd immediately begun hyperventilating. His eyes darted around as he saw the inhabitants of his small, backwater village run in terror, fleeing to the nearby mountain.
Jeong Min-seo raised her index finger up in the air, and a purplish tarot card twirled around it. Sure, she couldn't use the card as a portal, or move it fast enough to slice stuff to shreds, but -- look! -- the card split itself into eight equal parts, which then continued to dance around her fingertip. Min-seo dreamt of one day participating in an event like Stonehearthe Live herself, but for now, she'd simply have to live vicariously through Royal Flush.
As the alarm snapped her out of her daydreaming, she turned off the television and darted downstairs. Her little brother was scooped up in the left arm, little sister in the right, and out she ran into the field. Chuncheon was near the centre of the Disputed Korean Territories, and it was inevitable that the conflict would one day find itself here. Panicked, she followed the crowd, which ran to the rugged mountains bordering the city.
Park Ha-eun wasn't sure what she liked. In summer, when the sun stood right at the perfect angle so that the sunlight would be visible right at the top of the gray square room, she felt happiest. The cafeteria would sometimes have these things called muffins, which tasted nice. She wished there were muffins today. Was that what it meant to like something? When people talked to her, she was only ever referred to as Arsenal. She'd rather people not - was that what it meant to dislike something?
Such things shot through her mind, as she tried her best to filter out the loud booms and shaking of the stealth jet. Why was it called a stealth jet, anyway, if it was so easy to spot? She already heard the alarms sounding below, after all. And what was she doing here anyway? She knew what her purpose was, in some sense, but even that was only vaguely. Her existing here would allow the 'top dogs' to 'secure' an 'asset'. Nobody would bother to explain to her what any of those things meant.
Below, she saw a mountain full of jagged rocks. She felt mostly numb as she was picked up like a ragdoll. The door of the stealth jet slid open, but she barely felt the intense cutting winds. That stabbing sensation as the needle entered her shoulder did hurt, though. That was the last thing Ha-eun remembered feeling. She was pushed over, and plummeted down to the mountains. Right below her was a South Korean military black site. Its evacuation had finished two hours ago.
A large black bird dropped a shooting star down onto the Obongsan Mountains. That shooting star would turn into a bundle of metal of all sorts, shapes and sizes - large swords, steel beams, metal rods, hammers, all of these rained down from the sky. Choi Ji-hoon's father put a hand over his son's eyes and held him tight - Jeong Min-seo pulled her two siblings close and prayed.