SUBTITLE: One hour earlier.
South of the Han River and Seoul, in a wooded valley:
The NIS Headquarters of "W". (National Intelligence Service)
The buildings differ from the real world: a construction zone, scaffolding.

On a hill road overlooking the valley:
Kang Chul stops his official car.

Kang Chul scans the NIS HQ below. His target!

He opens the high-tech briefcase on the passenger seat.
He takes out a mask and holds it in front of him, thoughtful.

-

Sorry, Chief Yoo.

The mask has the face of...

... the unconscious forty-year-old man, tied to a chair!

Do-Yoon opens the high-tech briefcase and takes out a fingerprint recorder.
He presses the man's thumb on it. A light beam scans it.

Kang Chul (28) is seated at YOO CHANG-JAE's desk, the same forty-year-old.

-

(smiling) Of course, you didn't know we were investigating this case. But the evidence you collected made our job easier.

On the desk, the glass bar reads:
"Yoo Chang-Jae - Chief of Internal Operations".

-

I'd like to thank you for the service. What can I do for you?

-

The assassin of my family. Can you help me find him?

-

That's outside our remit... But I can let you consult our file?

-

Thank you, Chief Yoo.

-

No problem. It's as if you were already part of the family. If one day you want to work for the NIS, give me a sign.

Cha Yu-Sun walks on the tarmac toward a private jet, escorted by the silver killer.

As if connected to Kang Chul, beyond dimensions, she remembers...

-

(kneeling, takes Mi-Ra's hand) Mi-Ra, will you marry me?

Mi-Ra cannot answer, too emotional. She is suffering, even.

Cha Yu-Sun walks in the private jet, devastated, haunted by the same memory...

-

Moon Mi-Ra, do you take Kang Chul as your husband, to love him for better or for worse, until death do you part.

-

Yes, I do.

-

You may kiss the bride.

Kang Chul embraces Mi-Ra... and they begin a passionate kiss.

Without realizing it, they disappear from the Imagination...

~

After holding us prisoner for an eternity, the Imagination let us out at that moment, for an essential reason.

General view of the real world's NIS HQ, without scaffolding.

Su-Ran reads a manhwa, relaxed in an armchair.
Read manhwas lie on the table, covers turned over.
Captain Ryu enters, annoyed by her nonchalance.

-

Agent Bae, is this the time to relax?

-

(continues reading, indifferent) Captain Ryu, it may not be obvious, but I am investigating.

-

I mostly get the impression you're slacking off badly!

-

And if you went about your own tasks, like transferring the zombies to the Olympic Stadium, instead of disrupting my work?

-

(exasperated) Mpff! That?! Work?!!

Captain Ryu lifts the book she is holding to see the cover: "W, volume 35"!

-

You wasted your time and taxpayers' money reading 35 volumes?!

-

For W, it's mainly volumes 34 and 35 that interest me.

-

(!) And why is that?

Su-Ran hands him the manhwa, open to this page:
¤ Oh Sung-Moo turned into a faceless zombie.

-

... ?! (doubt)

-

Instead of slacking, make yourself useful and read this. (points to the pile of "Queen of Darkness" manhwas)

-

(doesn't look at the manhwas, angry) That scientist, and now you... Everyone is losing their mind here!

-

"Queen of Darkness" is the work of Moon Mi-Ra, heir to the Moon group after the horrible assassination of her uncle. I was investigating it. An impossible murder, unless of course it was perpetrated by the main character of this manhwa?

Captain Ryu, intrigued, looks at the pile: "Queen of Darkness, Volume 8".
Cover: shadow arm bursting from the Queen of Darkness's abdomen.

-

(?) You're not suggesting that--

-

Oh! Maybe you don't like reading? A video then...

Su-Ran plays a video on her computer:
Ren-Bo doing loops between Seoul's buildings. (Episode 19)

-

(!!) What--

-

A hoax, of course! ... Except it's corroborated by testimonies elsewhere: shopping center, hotel, and an hour ago, students at the university.

Amused, Su-Ran grabs a "Butterfly Girl" manhwa.
She dangles it in front of Captain Ryu's eyes. (Ren-Bo on the cover)

-

(cold anger) Agent Bae, I give you ten seconds to admit this is one of your famous jokes, and if I feel magnanimous, maybe--

ZrAkkrrkkk! A white tear crosses the room!!!

-

... !!!!! (stunned)

-

... ?! (surprised, but not astonished)

The tear comes from the ceiling and stretches toward the glass entrance door.
It crosses the door, seeming to stay in front until the horizon.
They stare at the supernatural phenomenon with consternation...

Kang Chul is disguised as Yoo Chang-Jae, carrying a satchel.
He swipes his badge on a detector, and clicks 4th floor.

Kang Chul passes a security agent, who salutes him without suspicion.
He reaches Yoo Chang-Jae's office, locked by a fingerprint detector.
A transparent film glows on his thumb, printed with fake fingerprints.
He presses the detector. Zatch! The door unlocks. He enters.

Kang Chul walks behind the desk.
He steps back behind the chair, calculated position.

He takes a syringe from his satchel, filled with sedative.
He presses to expel the air, then...
FZZT! Colored interference, Kang Chul disappears from W.

KZZT! Colored interference, Kang Chul appears in the real world.
Right behind an NIS chief working on the computer!

Kang Chul gags him with one hand, and with the other--
Sitch! stabs the syringe into his neck and injects the sedative!
The man barely struggles and sinks into sleep...

Kang Chul lays the man down, then sits at the desk.
On the computer, he opens the personnel interface.
He types "Bae Su-Ran", accessing her file with photo:
Top-secret Mission: Find the origin of the faceless zombies.
Special Access: Office SB06, Laboratory S-001.

Kang Chul clicks "Office SB06". A map appears:
¤ The office position in an underground bunker.
¤ Cross-section view: deeper than the sewers and parking.

:

(Kang Chul) A top-secret bunker. 30 meters deep!

Kang Chul takes out his smartphone and turns it on.
It was on silent, "Volume 0%". He checks calls.
A message from Do-Yoon, "15 minutes earlier". He reads it.

~

White tears are coming out of the tablets. They are dispersing in the real world, we don't know where!

-

(Kang Chul) ... !! (painful, "shit, not the time!")

Kang Chul types a reply.

~

Continue to protect Ren-Bo at any cost. I must return to W, or we will have even more problems.

Click! He sends. "Message sent". He curses his bad luck.

KZZT! Colored interference, Kang Chul appears in W.
He looks at the turned-off computer, frustrated.

:

(Kang Chul) Dismantling this to hack will take time.

Just in case, he quickly searches the files on the shelf...
Here! He finds a folder "Construction Plans" and opens it.
He consults the basement, parking, sewer pages... No bunker!

:

(Kang Chul) Aish! This basement doesn't exist in W.

-

(worried) So...?

He leans over Su-Ran, who studies the white tear closely.
She wears her sunglasses, against the glare, testing perspective.
She holds a pen in front of the tear, but the pen stays behind the tear.

-

Do you see the pen in front or behind?

From his angle, the pen appears behind instead of in front, defying logic!

-

What a question?! Behind, of course!

-

You mean "behind" as in "behind me"? Or "behind" as if the pen was "in front of you"?

-

Oh My Gosh... Is this crazy conversation going to last long?

She brings the pen closer to herself... yet the tear stays in front!
The pen against her nose, the tear in the foreground forces her to go cross-eyed!!
(Note: we see her eyes inside her sunglasses.)

-

(uncomfortable, moves the pen away) AaHaAa... It's like a 3D glasses image, unreachable.

-

What do you mean?!

-

Try... (brings the pen closer to Captain Ryu)

He sees the pen coming, but the tear stays in front, immutable!
Up to his nose, forcing him to go terribly cross-eyed!! (Same: we see his eyes)

-

AAhhAAh!! (squeezes his eyes and shakes his head in discomfort)

-

Definitely a supernatural phenomenon.

-

(cynical) I imagine that before you were deflowered, you also believed rainbows were supernatural phenomena?

-

!! (offended, teeth clenched) Then I stopped believing in them before you! (points at the tear) How do you explain this? It's just impossible!

-

A failed experiment by the scientific unit. I'm going to have a word with those guys...

-

As you wish. Me, I'm tracking this white thing. (follows the tear to the glass door)

-

(?!) ... Yah! Wait for me... (catches up) At least one sensible move...

Kang Chul inspects, disguised as Yoo Chang-Jae.
"Level -5" on the walls. No one here. Silence.
A few dusty vehicles, parked for a long time.

He squints, remembering the plans...

Kang Chul orients himself, spots a turn, crosses it.
Here! A large rusty metal plate on a wall.
Closed by a huge padlock.

He takes out his pistol. POW! A shot breaks the padlock.
Wrrrik... He opens the creaking plate. Darkness beyond.

Kang Chul turns on a flashlight: concrete spiral staircase, lights off.
He illuminates the entrance: a switch. Doubting it works, he Clicks.
Zzth. Emergency night lights come on, not the main lights.

Kang Chul descends the dim staircase, removing his Yoo Chang-Jae mask.

Agent Bae and Captain Ryu walk in the rocky corridor.
They follow the white tear, on the phone.

-

(on smartphone) If it's not from your side, check at SB06. Shake your ass and tell me what it is! (hangs up)

-

(on smartphone) Mh... Mh... It's the same thing..... ..... I don't know. Check the other detention centers. (hangs up)

-

What is it?

-

The penitentiary. The cells reserved for zombies. The same persistent white flash appeared there.

-

... !!

The tear branches toward an armored door.

-

(smiles) Of course... Our own detention cells.

-

(weary) Hhhhaaa... ("so annoying")

Captain Ryu scans his badge and fingerprints, unlocks the door.

Shocked, Agent Bae and Captain Ryu remove their sunglasses.
Stunned, they stare at the cells with transparent armored glass.
The tear splits like lightning, crossing each cell.
Inside, the faceless zombies are surrounded by white holes tearing reality.

-

Still convinced it's a lab experiment? This phenomenon doesn't come from this world...

-

(!) Then where?

Agent Bae takes out her smartphone, opens a page of "Butterfly Queen in the Dark".

-

Maybe from there! (shows an image:)

¤ Modern battle, soldiers frightened by a white rift in the foreground.

-

... (looks, coldly serious)

-

In "W" volume 34, the characters enter and exit the manhwa! (loads "W" on the smartphone) Look. (shows an image:)

¤ Kang Chul crossing a dimensional portal.

-

... (looks, coldly serious)

-

(excited) The hero Kang Chul goes to the real world!!

-

(icy) Agent Bae, I am relieving you of your duties.

-

....... What?!

-

I don't know your personal problems, but you are no longer fit to serve. You will undergo a psychiatric examination in the medical department.

-

(disgusted) Are you that stubborn?! (points frantically at the zombies) And that?! THAT!! What do you make of it?!!

-

(calm) It's certainly unusual... But to the point of delirium?! You're clutching at anything, for lack of concrete evidence.

-

(torn, plaintive) It's absurd, I know... but I've been investigating for days without sleep, and everything fits perfectly. I can't find any other logical explanation!

-

(understanding) There, overwork. Your mind is no longer clear. You insisted instead of admitting failure, and fatigue led you to blind belief. As a result, you have no proof.

While they thought they were alone, a voice emerges behind them--

~

We'll fix that.

-

!!! (surprised, turns around)

-

!!! (surprised, turns around)

-

See you soon. (wink)

FZZT! Colored interference, Kang Chul disappears.

-

..... !!!

-

(!!) .... Kang Chul?

FZZT! Colored interference, Captain Ryu and Su-Ran disappear.

Kang Chul waits in a tunnel with crumbling concrete walls.
Emergency night lights cast shadows of disused pipes.

KZZT! Colored interference, Captain Ryu and Su-Ran materialize.

Captain Ryu panics seeing Kang Chul.
Zip! He draws his pistol in a flash and aims him.
He vaguely senses he is "elsewhere", without time to check.

Su-Ran, eyes wide, looks at Kang Chul and the decor...
Her expression: "incredible!"... then "wonderful", "I was right".

-

(points his gun, threatening) ON THE GROUND, HANDS BEHIND YOUR BACK!!!

-

(cool) Oh?! And how do you get back to your world if you kill me?

-

(one step forward, aggressive) ON THE GROUND, I SAID!!!!!

-

Captain Ryu, calm down, it's Kang Chul. KANG CHUL! (barely hides her admiration)

-

We'll see once all threats are neutralized!!!

-

(charming smile) Leave it, Agent Bae...

-

?! ("he knows my name?!")

-

Captain Ryu needs proof he can understand. (takes a step toward him)

-

!!! (reflexively steps back, stunned)

-

... !! (worried, "Kang Chul is playing with fire")

-

Hey, it should be easy to aim at an unarmed man at 3 meters. (raises his arms) You want to shoot me? Go ahead.

-

Don't come closer! Don't come closer or I'll have to shoot!!

-

(super cool) Aaaaah, you're making a whole thing out of it. I'm offering to let you shoot in all friendliness, and you hesitate. (one step forward)

-

(steps back, angry) I warned you!!! (firm stance, "I won't back down anymore")

-

(torn) Please Kang Chul, don't risk your life uselessly when we can settle this easily! Captain Ryu is the best commando in Korea!!! Infallible and determined! Do you really think he'll hesitate?!! SO BOTH OF YOU STOP BEFORE THIS GETS OUT OF HAND!!!!!

-

Touching... But I'm sure Captain Ryu doesn't see it that way. "Ah! She's more worried about this unknown dangerous guy than about me". In his place, I'd see two opponents instead of one, and wouldn't hesitate to shoot.

-

(coldly determined) If you are one of those mental cases looking for suicide by an officer's bullet, know that I will offer it to you without regrets!

-

(smiles) Thank you for helping me succeed in my suicide. My life has been difficult lately and I dreamed of it. (walks toward him resolutely!)

-

!!! (devastated)

-

!!!!! (ALERT, "he's charging at me!")

POW! He fires! Voshh, sudden blur, Kang Chul is off trajectory!
He continues approaching!! Captain Ryu, stunned, POW! POW! fires again.
Kang Chul becomes blurry, Voshhh, passes to the other side!! At superhuman speed!!!
Captain Ryu, panicked, POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! fires frantically!!!!!
Kang Chul, Vosh-vosh-Voshhh, dodges the shots and reaches contact.

-

!!! (realizes in a flash--)

SPIF-SPAF! Kang Chul snatches his pistol!!
In ultra-fast blur, he disassembles it COMPLETELY.
Clac-Bling-Blang! The parts scatter on the ground.

-

!!!

-

(antics) Oh of course, now it will work much less well.

-

... (relieved, "no one injured")

(dismayed, steps back, Zip! draws a commando dagger)

-

Aigoo...

-

Agent Bae, help me!!! (combat stance)

-

He could have used your weapon against you. You can clearly see he's ready to talk!

-

We'll talk when the situation is secure! Use your weapon and neutralize the threat. THAT'S AN ORDER!!!

-

Captain Ryu, it's useless... (weary) (takes out her pistol reluctantly, but doesn't know what to do with it)

-

Best commando in Korea... In theory, no one can defeat you. Would you accept Agent Bae's theories if that happened?

-

Mpfff... Agent Bae, wait before intervening.

Zoshh!! Sudden blur, the knife disappears from Captain Ryu's hand.

-

??!

-

(holds the knife) Ah, you could hurt yourself by accident. (throws the knife carelessly behind him)

Captain Ryu attacks ferociously! Kang Chul defends relaxedly.
Every attack meets emptiness and ends in an awkward posture.
Kang Chul counters. Ridiculous blows, all successful:
Kick in the ass, flick on the forehead, destabilizations, slaps, etc.

The fight is a clown act, a humiliation!
Kang Chul, mocking smile, quickly tires Captain Ryu.
Finally, Kang Chul immobilizes him with a joint lock.
Captain Ryu is too exhausted to break free.

-

If you took the time to look at the decor?

-

(observes, dreading it) I don't know how you did that but--

-

Teleportation into the world of W.

-

(!!) ... (looks at Su-Ran) Agent Bae, I gave you an order.

(boiling, looks at the pistol in her trembling hand)

-

Heol. Never seen a guy so stubborn.

-

AGENT BAE!!

POW! POW! POW! Su-Ran fires into the air, furious.

-

(shouts, hysterical) What man could beat you so easily? Dodge bullets at superhuman speed? Teleport us to another world? It's impossible but you saw it with your own eyes, so accept it, he can because (screams) HE IS KANG CHUL, the hero who comes from a MANHWAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!

-

!! (painful acceptance.....)

-

(calms down) And this zombie business is linked to that... as well as the rest.

-

..... (grimaces, silently curses)

Kang Chul senses he is convinced.
He releases him and offers his hand to shake.

-

Nice to meet you, Captain Ryu.

Captain Ryu hesitates, annoyed by the humiliation of being wrong.
He overcomes one last doubt and shakes his hand.

-

Kang Chul...?

Kang Chul takes out "W volume 28", his portrait on the cover.
He puts the manhwa next to his face.

-

It does look like it... (smiles, wink)

-

Pfoo! (chuckles, "so cool")

(compares the two faces rigorously)

-

(looks briefly at Su-Ran) You should be honored to command such a perceptive agent, bold enough to think outside the limits.

(flattered, more than admiring, already conquered)

-

You didn't come to polish my undisciplined agent. What do you want?

-

As secret agents, you memorize lots of data for your missions. So I'll explain on the way.

-

On the way? Where?

-

One last proof to show you. (walks away) To dispel any doubt.

Captain Ryu and Agent Bae, ??, look at each other bewildered, then walk after him...
PRELAP: a Jazz Fusion music...

Volume at full blast, a vintage hi-fi system roars Jazz Fusion...
... in a vast warehouse converted into a bohemian loft, in the Crossover.
Outdated furniture, scattered drawing tools, manhwas piled everywhere.
Walls covered with posters: retro SF mangas, giant robots, titanic monsters.

A CARTOONIST (50s) works with a pencil on a drawing table.
On the next table: sheets, rulers, brushes, ink bottles.
A traditional craftsman, rejecting digital tools!

He lifts his pencil and judges his drawing:
¤ A young man pampers a magnificent horse on a farm.

:

Too many panels on the hero's civilian identity. Readers will fall asleep.

He bites his pencil, thinking.

:

I must open the next chapter with something explosive. I'll explain why later.

He attaches a blank sheet to his drawing table.

Two colossal rifts merge in the city center, opening a gaping white chasm.

Inside, points appear, then lines are drawn and become:
A sketch of a fictional prehistoric monster, a gigantic triceratops!

-

... !!! (completely stunned)

The sketch in the white chasm swells, gets colored.
The triceratops slowly passes from 2D to 3D!
An imaginary monster, the size of a building...
... becomes REAL, and gradually emerges from the white hole!!

As soon as it emerges, the triceratops charges a building and--
BROOMMM! demolishes it with a horn strike!

-

(shakes his head "no") Impossible... Impossible!!!

A sketch of a giant SF robot materializes in the white hole...
... gets colored, incarnates in 3D, and emerges from the chasm, REAL!!!

Brandishing a huge axe, it charges the triceratops.

The triceratops spots it and ZRRT!, its eyes light up magenta.
ZRAAAAK!! Its eyes fire magenta lasers at the giant robot!

KA-ZLANG!! The giant robot deflects the shots with its super-axe!

BROOMM!! A deflected beam explodes a nearby building.
A second deflected beam flies toward the Cartoonist's warehouse.
BROOM!!! Pulverizes an adjacent warehouse.

-

AAAAHH!!! (terrified)

He runs to take refuge under his drawing table...
... on which we finally see his drawing:
¤ A gigantic triceratops with glowing magenta eyes.
¤ It confronts a giant robot wielding a super-axe.
Identical to those materialized in the white hole!

Sung-Moo's house is lost in an immensity of white.
Isolated from the world, outside reality.

This white chasm comes from the accumulated tears...
... around the hundreds of faceless zombies encircling the house!

~

Yeon-Joo, Yoon-Hee, draw!

-

Jae-Jung, the baby! The others, fight! (picks up a pickaxe)

It's panic! They run in all directions!
The tears springing from the tablets fracture reality! Insane chaos!
At the windows, the zombies with red diamond eyes assault the house.

Yeon-Joo and Yoon-Hee grab their tablets.
Soo-Bong picks up a shovel. Jae-Jung sprints toward the bedroom.
The garden gnomes arm themselves with hammers, saws, etc. (spider clearing tools)

-

(takes Chul-Moo in her arms) I... I'm... Aunt Jae-Jung.

-

(smiles) Aunt! Jae-Jung!

She sees tumult at the window and hurries away.

Wang Shin stabs his sword into the first zombie that enters.
In vain! As he withdraws the blade, he sees the zombie is intact!

-

(shouts) They are really invulnerable!!

Do-Yoon, Soo-Bong, preoccupied by this terrible confirmation!
Bom! Wang Shin kicks the zombie back.
Crash-Kling-Crash! The other windows explode! Destroyed by zombies!

Ren-Bo, !!, inspired by the giant spider debris:
She dives, grabs a leg, and rushes toward the facade.

-

WANG SHIN!!!

-

??

Vosh! She throws him the long spider leg!

Wang Shin catches the leg, holding it horizontally with both hands...

-

RAAAHH!!!!! (superhuman effort)

... He expels all the zombies at once!
They fall into the garden, but others are already flocking!!

From outside, Ren-Bo pokes her head through the ceiling skylight.

-

There are hundreds of them outside!! All around the house!!

FLASHES, successively: each person's devastated face.
Do-Yoon realizes: their fate is sealed, they are doomed!

-

Ren-Bo, evacuate us!

-

But... I can only take one person at a time?!!

-

Start with Chul-Moo!!! You'll come back for someone else after!

FLAP! Ren-Bo descends from the ceiling.

:

(tragic) He is the only one Ren-Bo will have time to save. (looks at Yoon-Hee and Yeon-Joo) And when no one draws anymore... (looks at Ren-Bo) ... she will die too, annihilated.

Do-Yoon pushes zombies at the window with his pickaxe.
He takes advantage of a short respite and takes out his smartphone.
He calls "Kang Chul", but an automatic voice answers:
"Your correspondent is unavailable, please leave a message".
New zombies come! Just time for a desperate message:

-

KANG CHUL!! HELP!!!!

Kang Chul drives. In the back, Agent Bae and Captain Ryu. (sunglasses)
The car climbs a hill, moving away from the NIS HQ.

-

You know the essentials about the Narrator and the manhwas. Preventing us from drawing would also be fatal to the real world.

Agent Bae reads on her smartphone with Captain Ryu, "Butterfly Queen in the Dark":
¤ Kang Chul confronts hundreds of shadow killers. Superhuman feat!

-

I thought it was an exaggeration in a comic book...

-

You really defeated hundreds of killers?! How is such a feat possible?!!

-

Aaah... You saw it during our duel. And you are worth ten of them.

-

..... (admiring, "Kang Chul is phenomenal")

-

At first, I just wanted to dissuade you from hindering me, but your help would be crucial. After all, it concerns national security, your responsibility.

-

I believe you, but it's so absurd. Fictions become real...

-

What do you think of the Big-Bang theory?

-

(?) Well, it's validated? The origin of the universe.

-

As if by chance, such an ordered universe? Why? Besides, it doesn't solve the prior existential principle.

-

I don't know, you're confusing me.

-

A living manhwa seems impossible because it's arbitrary, instead of scientific. Yet it also has cause and effect, that of narrative laws.

-

(intellectually suffers) You are such an embarrassing man...

-

(smiles) Habit. It's no more absurd, as an existential origin.

Far from Sung-Moo's house...
FLAP-FLIP-FLAP! Ren-Bo flies in the sky, clutching Chul-Moo.

-

(enchanted by the flight) Aga-Waaaah!

Ren-Bo descends toward a peaceful pavilion garden.

Ren-Bo lands gently and places Chul-Moo on the lawn.

-

I'm sorry, Baby. You'll stay alone for a few minutes.

-

Flap... Butterfly!

-

I'll come back with your mom!

FLIP-FLAP! She flies off, leaving Chul-Moo in the grass.

-

(sad to be alone) ... Mom... Aunt?!

Jae-Jung is terrified by the general distress.
She notices a large gas cylinder under a workbench!
Her crazy screenwriter mind finds an opportunity.

-

Mpff... (tries to lift, too heavy) Gnomes!! Help me.

-

(rushes) What do you want to do?

-

Throw that far behind the house!!

Slack! She opens the cylinder. Pshhh... Gas escapes.

Wang Shin and Soo-Bong, injured, retreat into the kitchen.

-

(cries in pain) I can't hold them anymore.

-

(dismayed) Agh... Me neither.

-

Help me here!!! (pushes zombies with a shelf)

Soo-Bong pushes the shelf with his healthy shoulder.
Trembling, Jae-Jung stuffs paper towels into a glass.
Yoon-Hee and Yeon-Joo continue drawing, stressed to death!
Jae-Jung searches the kitchen workbench... finds a lighter!!

Wang Shin kicks back a zombie climbing the window.
"Oh-Hisse!" The gnomes rock the gas cylinder, building momentum.
Woshhh... They send it to the center of the back garden, among the zombies.

The zombies pour in from the entrance and living room windows!!

Snitch! Jae-Jung lights the lighter in the glass.
The paper towels ignite! She rushes to the window!!

-

TAKE COVER!!!

Woshh... She throws the flaming glass into the back garden.
Yoon-Hee and Yeon-Joo drop to the floor while drawing, sheltered by the workbench!
The others flatten on the ground, protecting their faces.

pshhh... gas leaks from the cylinder, troubling the air.
The flaming glass falls nearby--
BROOM-BADABOOMMM!!! Giant explosion!!!
The fireball devours the entire garden.
BLAST!!! The shockwave expels the zombies into the air!

Agent Bae and Captain Ryu contemplate the valley, fascinated:
The NIS HQ is different, under construction with scaffolding.

-

This is definitely not our HQ.

-

The NIS of W. Observe now...

FZZT! Kang Chul, Capitaine Ryu and Su-Ran disappear.

KZZT! Kang Chul, Captain Ryu and Su-Ran materialize.
They recognize their HQ, and it's evening, not night!

-

We're home! We're back.

-

(smiles) Still a doubt?

-

Wow, Captain, High Five One! (raises her hand)

Captain Ryu, embarrassed, hesitates to high-five her.
Kang Chul checks his messages on his smartphone.
Clap! Captain Ryu high-fives Su-Ran. They laugh.
Message: Do-Yoon, "3 minutes earlier".
Kang Chul clicks and listens.

~

KANG CHUL!! HELP!!!!

-

!!!!

-

(!!!) Do you have the tablets?!!

Su-Ran and Captain Ryu, worried, seeing Kang Chul alarmed.

~

I give them ONE MINUTE before bringing them back to the real world!!! (hangs up)

-

(alert!) Yeon-Joo, Soo-Bong, run far with the tablets. QUIIIIICK!!!!!

His panic is contagious, Yoon-Hee quickly gives the tablet to Soo-Bong.

-

You have ONE MINUTE, then Kang Chul will summon you to draw!!

Yeon-Joo and Soo-Bong SPRINT with the tablets!

Jae-Jung cries in despair, pathetically on her knees.
The horde of zombies encircles her, armed with iron bars, construction mallets, etc.

She has lost it, apprehending the inexorable death about to fall.

-

I... I won't beg while rubbing my hands... That would be too cliché.

The zombies raise their weapons at the same time, with dreadful slowness.

-

(ultimate sob) I won't know the end of this story.

Strange last words for a condemned woman, then--
The zombies bring down their weapons, strike and strike again!

Ren-Bo scans the ruins of the shack from afar. No one! (shack destroyed by a tornado, Ep42)
FLIP-FLAP! She approaches, flies above... Absolutely no one!!

-

(?!) The summon didn't work?!... Or it wasn't her? (horrified) ... Or that means that... ?!

Once away, she turns and sees:
Such a concentration of zombies that the size of the white hole has exploded!
It rises like a building, tearing reality.

-

....... ?!

Slowly, we leave this place and fly over the Sung-Moo neighborhood...
A few blocks further, we approach a pavilion...
We enter through the window into a child's bedroom...

On the wall, posters of the famous manhwa "XYZ", the insect-man superhero...

¤ XYZ in a spaceship, with his insect-man companions:
Beetle, Hornet, Ant Queen, the annoying Mosquito, and the comical Woodlouse.
Title: "XYZ. Defender of the universe, facing the invasion of insect-robots".

¤ XYZ and his companions confront a gigantic robotic termite, 100 times their size!
Title: "XYZ versus TERMITANOR, the devourer of planetary cores".

Seated at his desk, a CHILD (8) draws his own XYZ story. A fan-fiction!

-

We'll say XYZ and his friends are busy at the other end of the universe.

He draws inspiration from an open manhwa:
¤ The giant termite-robot Termitanor plunges its head into the earth.

-

Meanwhile, Termitanor devours the Earth's core. Nothing and no one will stop it!

His drawing of Termitanor plunging into the earth is clumsy, but he puts his whole heart into it.

-

Is this the end of the world? Suspense......

Kang Chul checks his timer: 27... 26... 25...

-

The Narrator watched for the right moment to attack: When I was in W, ignorant and unable to summon my companions.

-

Yet you succeeded?

-

You succeeded, didn't you?

-

Yes... (sudden idea) No! (thinks) (to himself) Ren-Bo could also save them... something's wrong.

-

Ren-Bo?

-

I must join them urgently!

-

(looks around, no car) Oh? The car is in W.

-

Hey, we're not walking. (takes out his smartphone)

Yeon-Joo and Soo-Bong sprint breathlessly down a street.
Yeon-Joo leads, Soo-Bong holds his tablet under his healty arm.

-

Aff-Aff... We should... Aff-Aff... arrive 500 meters further.

Yoon-Hee, Do-Yoon, Wang Shin, sad...
Do-Yoon has a bloodied bandage on his hip.
Wang Shin has his arm in a sling, broken collarbone.

-

(cries) She's dead, screenwriter Song Jae-Jung is dead... Kang Chul couldn't summon her, or he didn't know she was with us.

-

(emotional, tear in eye) Her crazy explosive cylinder idea gave us the extra minute that saved us. She died a hero!

-

(touched, hugs Yoon-Hee to comfort her) I'm sure she was happy to sacrifice herself for others. It's the most wonderful death for a storyteller.

-

(speaks on Kang Chul's smartphone) What exactly is happening?

-

Who... ?? (doesn't know him)

(signals Kang Chul to put on speaker)

-

(annoyed) An ally. You can speak. (puts on speaker) What's the situation?

-

(agitated) Pure madness! The house attacked by hundreds of zombies! We almost all died! An immense rift tearing reality in the real world! Ren-Bo swallowed in a white hole! Unable to teleport us! She could only evacuate Chul-Moo!

-

!!!! (removes his sunglasses in shock)

-

!!!! (removes her sunglasses in shock)

-

(thinks) That's why the Narrator attacked at that moment. Where is Ren-Bo? Where did she take Chul-Moo? I summoned him to W!

-

I don't know! She's not--

-

AahAah!! (looks into the distance, frightened) Noona! Noona, they're coming...

-

(looks down the street) OMO!

-

(worried) What?!!

-

("shit!") I'll change your position via W!

-

We won't be able to draw. Will it be okay for Ren-Bo? Is it--

Ren-Bo falls from the sky behind them. FLAP! super-stylish landing.

-

(startles) zBwAhAh!!

-

Zooplaaa... Here I am!

-

(!!) She can teleport now?

-

(ironic) Hello. Yes I'm fine, thank you, and you Ajusshi?

Ren-Bo is no longer translucent.
A new white hole is attached behind her, small for now.

~

Ren-Bo! Take them where--

SHAF! Luminous flash. Ren-Bo disappears with Yeon-Joo and Soo-Bong!

-

(?!) You teleported where he was?

~

Well... Yes?

(concentrates)

-

... (relieved, emotional)

-

(on phone) Received. (hangs up) (points to the slope) This way.

The trio runs off the road, toward the slope where helicopter #1 lands.
Whop-Whop-Whop... An NIS helicopter#2 flies toward Seoul.

-

(running, on phone) A helicopter will pick you up. I must take care of those left in W.

~

Ok, Hyung. Several of us are injured.

-

The NIS has doctors. See you soon. (hangs up)

-

(sad about his broken arm) What can I do for you, Oppa?

-

Ah! Later. We'll see once we're safe...

Smack! Ren-Bo kisses his forehead.

-

(on phone) Wait. (to the pilot) Land, QUICK!

-

Why?

-

DO IT!!!

-

(looks at Kang Chul on the monitoring screen) Oook-kay. (maneuvers the stick)

The helicopter descends 10 meters and lands on the slope.
On the pilot's monitoring screen:
FZZT! Colored interference, Kang Chul disappears.

-

!!! (turns around, ?!) Where is he? (dumbfounded)

-

(jaded) He'll be back...

-

(on smartphone) ... !!! (horrified)

(uncomfortable, maneuvers to take off)

-

Oooh, I get it!! You couldn't teleport in flight, because you'd come back in mid-air. (proud of his discovery)

-

... (moody)

-

Hum... (embarrassed, "not the right time")

VLOP-VLOP-VLOP... The helicopter takes off...

-

(tormented) Ah... The poor thing... To end like that...

-

(empathy, touches his shoulder) Kang Chul...?

-

(bitter) The screenwriter of my drama was massacred by the Narrator. (anger) That bastard, I'm not just going to put him back to sleep. (rage!) Definitely, I absolutely must annihilate him!!!

-

What?! With the faceless zombie crisis? Isn't that dangerous?!

-

She has nothing to fear: Even death would wait before taking Song Jae-Jung, the time to know the end of her latest story.

Such a carefree statement, for such an irresponsible decision.
Yeon-Joo realizes it, cracks and cries hard!

-

I killed her... It's all my fault... (bursts!) Boo hoo hoo... I can't take it anymore... I want to die... !!! Bwoah-ah-aaaah...

The heartbreaking emotion quickly affects Ren-Bo.
She takes Yeon-Joo in her arms, mauve wings...
Then bursts into tears too, terribly.

-

Unnie... Boo hoo hoo... It's not your fault... It's that horrible monster, not you... Boo hoo, I love you Unnie, never say you want to die, Boo hoo hoo...

-

(clings to his mom, lost) Mom... Mom... (bursts into tears) Boo hoo hoo... Mummyyyyyy....

-

I made THE WORST decision! I don't deserve to live!! (rage, despair) Bwoah-ah-aah... I SHOULD HAVE KILLED MYSELF INSTEAD!!!

-

(mad with grief) MOOOOOM!!!

-

Boo hoo hoo... Unnie... No, no, not thaaaaat, Bwahahaaaa...

-

(screams in grief) RaaAAahhh... Agh... Bwahahaaaa... (shakes her head hysterically) RAAH, ARAAHHH!!! (hits her head, crazy) Kill me, KILL MEEEEEE!!!...

~

(frightened) AAAAH!!! NOONAAAAAAA!

-

(surprised, startles) WaAhAH!!

(surprised, calms down and looks at Soo-Bong)

-

(eyes turned to the sky) Noona!!! What is THAT??!!!

-

??! (looks at the sky) OMO!!!!!!!

The black lines now form the beginning of a drawing.
A drawing the size of a skyscraper!
Yeon-Joo, ... !!!!, calls "Kang Chul".

They see in the white rift:
Progressively, the drawing becomes an insect with a huge head.
Ren-Bo, sharp eye, guesses first...

-

It's Termitanor, the cosmic super-villain from XYZ.

-

(!!) The one that eats planetary cores?!!

The sketch finishes, it is indeed Termitanor, the gigantic insect-robot.

-

(shocked) It's really him...

-

(points finger) Ant!

-

(trembles with apprehension) Noona... Noona... This thing isn't going to materialize?!!

-

Wooahhh!! (appalled seeing that...)

... The sketch acquires colors and more details.

-

(to smartphone) It's going into color! With realistic details!!!

Kang Chul, betrayed by his deductive genius, guesses the rest...
Like a tidal wave, the horror of the situation overwhelms him!!!
Mouth agape, panting, the face of someone anticipating the end of the world.

Su-Ran, !!!, removes her sunglasses seeing Kang Chul's expression.
For her, it's impossible, it's Kang Chul, the fearless hero.
What fact could frighten him to this point?!

-

(worried) Kang Chul, what's wrong?!

-

.... (stares at her, eyes filled with tragedy)

-

.... !! (mad with worry)

Captain Ryu is worried too, but mostly annoyed at not knowing.
He takes advantage of Kang Chul's daze and activates the speaker on his smartphone:

~

(trembles with apprehension) What... What...

-

What happens when it arrives on a planet?!

-

(mimes her story, fully into it, grimaces and ridiculous gestures) Oooow... He doesn't waste time, he digs straight to the planetary core, eats it, and BOOM, the planet explodes, there's nothing but debris in space, he does a big "BURP", then a little nap before going to another planet. ZERO SUSPENSE!

-

There... THERE... THEEEERE!!! (horrified seeing that...)

... The colored sketch progressively acquires 3D.

-

(terrified) NO! NO!!! It's going into 3 dimensions!!!

-

(frightened) Gwah... Three.

~

(from smartphone) It's becoming REAAAAAAL!!!!!

-

(removes his sunglasses) ... !!!! (mouth agape, pale)

-

.... !!! (preoccupied, thinks)

-

TURN OFF THE TABLETS!!!

-

(overwhelmed, suspected it) The phenomenon is now autonomous. It already was when the tablets stayed one minute in W.

-

(frightened) You know another way to stop this, right?

-

... (thinks, his usual "no solution" expression)

-

(not too believing) Of course... It's Kang Chul... He definitely knows another way! (frightened) Or... Or... Or... He'll find it soon...?

-

Turn on the tablets. Until the end, we must draw for Ren-Bo.

-

The... THE END?!!

~

(on board radio) No, it's certain! It's coming out of the white hole!!!

-

(trembles with fear) The first thing this monster will do... ... is dive to the center of the earth... So... it's the end?!

-

(devastated) We... We can... fight it. The army... I must call the army!

-

(derisive grin) Ah- The army... against a cosmic monster that survives planetary explosions... (tragic, accepts) Anyway, it's too late.

(!!!) They see in the white rift:
Termitanor's maw comes out more... as well as some legs.

From this moment on, it's:
Panic! Hysteria! Terror! Despair! Screams!

-

AAAAHHH!!! AAAHH!!! Otoke Otoke, What to do, AAAAHH!!!

-

Boo hoo hoo... MOM, MOM!

-

....................... (screams, but throat so knotted no sound comes out)

-

(ice-blue wings, high-pitched scream) Hîîîîîîîîîîîîîîîîîîîîîîîîîî!!! IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD!!! Hîîîîîîîîîîîîîîîîîîîîîîîîîî!!!

PLUFF! Luminous puff, Fairy Spark appears.

-

Hîîîîîîîîîîîîîîîîîîîîîîîîîî!!! Hîîîîîîîîîîîîîîîîîîîîîîîîîî!!! Hîîîîîîîîîîîîîîîîîîîîîîîîîî!!!

She flies anarchically, trails of stars in her wake.
Her panic only adds more chaos to the ambient madness.

Soo-Bong takes Ren-Bo in his arms, letting her scream as much as she wants...
Crying in terror, Yeon-Joo takes Chul-Moo in her arms and comforts him...

---

FLASH, end image: Yeon-Joo crying in terror + Termitanor + Chul-Moo crying.