Midnight inside a narrow Seoul convenience store. Kang Yubin faces the camera behind the counter, tired dark brown eyes half-open, messy black hair with white streak visible, green vest and cracked red name tag clear. He holds an expired tr

Panel 1: The night sky above dense Seoul streets tears open in a jagged blue-white wound, traffic frozen below, fictional signs DamiMart and MoonCup visible only. Panel 2: Inside the store, Yubin grips the counter, face turned toward the wi

Panel 1: Outside, a bus is crushed sideways by a huge shadow beyond the glass, sparks and rain flying. Panel 2: Unnamed customers shove through an aisle of instant noodles and bottled water toward the rear. Panel 3: The old cash register sc

A translucent blue rectangular system message floats above the register, bathing Yubin's shocked face and the cigarette display behind him in cold light. Outside the windows, silhouettes run past in chaos.

Panel 1: An unnamed injured man outside presses both palms to the convenience-store glass, mouth open in terror, while a Gatehound shape looms behind him. Panel 2: Inside, Yubin reaches across the counter toward the door controls, his face

Panel 1: The automatic glass door slides open a narrow gap with the cheerful store chime, though nobody touches it; Yubin leans forward. Panel 2: A Gatehound's hooked claw crashes against a transparent blue barrier at the threshold, unable

A towering stack of blue system windows descends from ceiling to floor in the middle of the convenience store. Yubin stands tiny beneath them among fallen snacks, emergency red light mixing with fluorescent white.

Panel 1: An unnamed terrified woman grabs a water bottle from the fridge, her hand shaking. Panel 2: The bottle drags her arm violently downward as if made of stone; Yubin lunges with the barcode scanner. Panel 3: The scanner beam crosses t

Panel 1: The register drawer slides open by itself; instead of bills and coins, it contains glowing receipt slips marked 00:30, 12:00, 2 days. Panel 2: Yubin's face reflected in the blue glow, mouth slightly open, white hair streak sharp ag

Panel 1: The metal security shutters over the front windows start sliding down automatically while people inside scream and the monster shapes outside blur in rain. Panel 2: Extreme close-up of Yubin's wide eye with a red system warning ref

Yubin dives across the counter and slams both hands onto a large plain red shutter button mounted beside the door controls. His body is stretched awkwardly, name tag swinging, price-label roll flying from his wrist, while the descending shu