Break Into My World │ Binary Code: EP │ ONEUS FF │Connect With US│

Chapter 1: ERR0R Detected

Hwanwoong stood confidently at the front of the classroom, holding a laser pointer in his hand. "OK!" he announced cheerfully. "Here's our presentation on the Joseon Dynasty!"

Keonhee whispered to him, grinning, "This will be so easy."

And it really would be—after all, they were from that dynasty, weren't they?

Keonhee plugged his phone into the extension cord, projecting their presentation onto the board. He cleared his throat, adopting a professional tone. "So, the first kings of the Joseon Dynasty were:

King Taejo (Yi Seong-gye)

King Jeongjong (Yi Bang-gwa)

King Taejong (Yi Bang-won)

"And," Keonhee continued with a sly smile, "the Great Monarchs, who we've been doing some extra research on recently."

The pointer moved to a section of the slide labelled The Great Monarchs.

Hwanwoong took over, his voice steady and confident. "The Monarchs include Xion, Hwanung—who I was named after—Keonhee, Leedo, Seoho, and Youngjo. Fun fact: my namesake, Hwanung, was named after the Hwanung in The Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms, the founder of the Gojoseon Dynasty. That dynasty came several dynasties before the Joseon era."

Keonhee chimed in, smirking, "And I was named after Keonhee, but I think you all could've guessed that."

The class chuckled softly, but the light atmosphere didn't last.

Suddenly, the screen flickered. The presentation began to glitch, the slides disappearing and reappearing in fragments. Keonhee frowned, looking back at his phone, which had frozen.

"What's going on?" Hwanwoong muttered.

The screen went dark for a moment, and then a string of binary code appeared:
"01001000 01000101 01001100 01001001 01001111 01010011. The time is now."

Gasps and murmurs filled the classroom.

"What is that?" a student exclaimed, staring at the screen in confusion.

Keonhee and Hwanwoong exchanged panicked glances.

"Guys," RAVN called out from the back of the room, his voice sharp. "We have to go. Sunny, Jae—you too!"

"Uh... thank you for listening to our presentation!" Keonhee stammered, hastily unplugging his phone.

"Woong, let's go!"

The group scrambled out of the classroom, leaving behind confused students and a very annoyed professor.

Back in Sunny's dorm, the Monarchs, Sunny, and Jae huddled around her laptop.

Xion tapped away furiously at the keyboard, muttering under his breath. "OK, I've been working on my computing skills, and I think I can use a search engine to decipher this. I've also been learning how to read binary and convert it into denary."

"Woah," Leedo said, leaning over his shoulder. 

"What's denary? Deniry? Deenari? What?" Seoho asked, clearly lost.

Xion didn't respond, too focused on his task. Finally, he sat back, eyes wide as the translation appeared on the screen.

"Helios," RAVN read aloud. His voice dropped. "The time is now."

The room fell silent.

"What does that mean?" Jae whispered.

Before anyone could answer, Jae's portal opener, sitting innocuously on the desk, began to hum again. This time, the noise was louder, more insistent, and a faint glow emanated from its surface.

"Not this thing again," Sunny muttered, reaching for it, but RAVN stopped her with a firm hand on her wrist.

"Don't touch it," he warned. "We still don't know what it's capable of."

The glow intensified, and the hum turned into a steady vibration. The words from the binary message seemed to echo in their minds: Helios. The time is now.

Jae took a shaky step back. "Guys, I think... I think it's reacting to the message. But what does Helios mean?"

"It's a name of that God," Xion said softly, his expression unreadable. "The evil one?"

The device's vibrations abruptly stopped, plunging the room into an eerie silence. The group stared at it, a mix of curiosity and fear etched onto their faces.

Sunny exhaled shakily, breaking the silence. "Whatever this is... it's not over yet."