Chapter 1: A Graduate Student’s Escape

Sion Jang is a young man from South Korea, currently 29 years old.

Born in Incheon, South Korea, he grew up in a stable family environment.

What made him unique, however, was his lifelong interest in the natural world.

Insects crawling on the ground, faintly visible constellations, and leaves with various colors and patterns—nature was a playground full of endless discoveries for him.

This passion for nature deeply influenced Sion’s childhood.

“Mom, why is the sky blue? What’s the reason?”

Before he even entered elementary school, his favorite phrases were “Why?” and “What is that?”

He constantly sought new knowledge, endlessly questioning his parents with “Why?” and “What is that?”

Fortunately, Sion’s parents had the knowledge to answer his questions.

“Sion, that’s because air molecules scatter short-wavelength light.”

“What are air molecules?”

“Air molecules are the gases that make up the atmosphere you breathe! About 80% of it is nitrogen, and 20% is oxygen. Haha, do you have more questions?”

“Honey, that’s enough. You’re overwhelming him….”

The reason his parents could explain so well was that Sion’s father was a graduate of a science and engineering university.

In fact, he was a high school science teacher.

When it came to science, he was someone who could explain concepts both accurately and simply.

“Aha! So the sky is blue because of Rayleigh scattering!”

Thanks to this, Sion’s knowledge outpaced that of other children his age.

He also had a remarkable teacher and excellent educational resources to foster his curiosity.

Sion’s room was filled with science-themed comic books and magazines, many of which were chosen by his father.

However, the saying goes, “The nail that sticks out gets hammered down.”

Sion, who genuinely wanted to share his knowledge with others, soon found himself alienated by his peers.

“The sky is so blue! It’s so pretty… Sion, look at that.”

“Yeah, that’s because the air molecules scatter short-wavelength light in a phenomenon called Rayleigh scattering!”

“Rayleigh… what? What’s that?”

“It’s when electromagnetic waves are elastically scattered by particles much smaller than the wavelength of light! It happens when light passes through gases, transparent liquids, or solids. In the atmosphere, sunlight scatters, making the sky look blue—”

“Waaah! Teacher, Sion is saying weird things!”

To preschool children, Sion’s words sounded like alien language.

And aliens, as it turned out, couldn’t fit in with the humans around them.

By the time Sion understood this reality, too much time had already passed.

“Still reading science magazines? What a nerd.”

“Leave him alone. He’s the top student in the school, after all.”

In middle school, Sion ranked first in his entire school.

It was almost inevitable.

His father was already teaching him high school-level science, and since he couldn’t fit in with his peers, studying became his refuge.

To him, school life was defined by mechanical pencils, erasers, and books.

Even though his school years were lonely, his academic excellence allowed him to enter a university in Seoul.

Since he wasn’t skilled at speaking, it was only natural that he was admitted through the regular admissions process.

Still, he was happy. He had managed to enroll in the astronomy department he had always dreamed of.

“Elementary, middle, and high school are over. Maybe this will be a fresh start.”

With excitement in his heart, he left Incheon and moved to Seoul to live on his own.

Though he faced unfamiliar challenges and had to manage household chores alone,

he was filled with anticipation for the new environment and the university campus he had long admired.

But even with a change in surroundings, Sion Jang remained the same person.

“Alright, who’s up for drinks tonight? All first-years are invited!”

“Sounds great!”

“Sion, are you coming too?”

“Uh, no… I need to work on the assignment the professor gave us yesterday.”

“…? Isn’t that a midterm replacement assignment? The midterm is more than a month away.”

It was hard for someone who hadn’t fit in with his peers before to suddenly thrive in a new social environment.

Especially when drinking and partying didn’t suit Sion’s personality.

He preferred preparing for an assignment due in over a month—it aligned better with his temperament.

As a result, he ended up an outsider in university as well.

Who would like a strange loner who started working on a project more than a month in advance?

Thankfully, there was someone at the university who appreciated such diligence.

The only problem was that this person wasn’t a “student.”

“Hmm… Did you really write this all by yourself?”

“Yes, is there… something wrong?”

The midterm replacement assignment Sion had worked on for nearly a month caught the attention of his professor.

To the professor, it was a rough gem.

“No, Sion. If you’re free, would you like to grab a meal? My treat.”

“Uh… th-thank you.”

Naturally, Sion grew close to the professor.

And eventually, he became the professor’s graduate student.

The transition happened so smoothly that Sion only realized it after he had already become a graduate student.

“But it should be fine. The professor is a good person.”

Sion didn’t think it was a bad outcome.

After all, career options for an astronomy graduate were extremely limited.

Becoming a science teacher like his father or pursuing academia as a graduate student aiming for a professor or researcher role seemed like the best paths available.

Around the time Sion had such thoughts,

the professor began to reveal his true nature to the “fish” he had already caught.

“Sion, help me with this.”

“What? But I still haven’t finished the task you gave me before….”

“You can do both, can’t you? You’re a graduate student now; you need to know how to handle this kind of workload.”

“But, professor, I also need to write my paper….”

“Oh, right. Submit a draft by next month. I’ll review it for you. Also, prepare for the fieldwork we’ll be doing in Gangwon-do soon.”

Before catching a fish, you carefully prepare bait and jiggle the line.

But once the fish is caught, there’s no need for extra effort.

It’s far too late for the fish to escape.

This was why Sion found himself working late into the night, the lone keeper of a dark university campus.

“Damn it, damn it….”

The constant clattering of his keyboard filled the room.

Without lifting his eyes from the monitor, Sion grabbed the energy drink beside him and took a sip.

“Ugh, what a life.”

When nothing came out of the can, he shook it, realizing it was empty.

Glancing to the side, he saw over a dozen identical cans strewn across the floor.

Reluctantly, he opened the refrigerator to grab another.

As he stood by the fridge, he peered out the window.

Through the pouring rain, he could see students with brightly colored umbrellas.

“Did this guy drink too much? He won’t wake up.”

“Ugh… Ugh…”

“Hey, don’t puke here!”

“Unbelievable! Seriously~ Kya-ha!”

Laughter echoed faintly through the rain.

It was the season when even falling leaves could bring joy.

Come to think of it, was it March or April now?

“Ah, such a good time in life.”

Sion watched the students until they disappeared from view, then sighed and sat back down.

There was no time to waste. Even in the graduate research lab, the lights were only allowed to stay on until midnight.

If he didn’t finish his tasks by then, he’d have to continue working back at his apartment.

“Damn it….”

Cursing the professor and senior graduate students who dumped all their work on him,

he resumed his furious typing.

The lab was filled with the sound of keys clacking and rain hitting the windows.

And then—

Boom!

“Whoa, what the…!”

A sudden flash of light was followed by the sound of thunder.

The short time gap between the flash and the sound indicated that the lightning strike was quite close.

“The time difference between the sound and the light was about one second… so it struck about 300 meters away. Pretty close. No, stop thinking about useless stuff!”

Time was precious.

He still needed to complete the draft of his paper by tomorrow.

He also had to prepare a PowerPoint presentation the professor had dumped on him for a class.

On top of that, he needed to write a pre-survey plan for the upcoming fieldwork.

BOOM!

“…What now?”

Another flash of light and a deafening roar of thunder shook his ears.

His ears rang, and his eyes throbbed painfully.

Rubbing his eyes, Sion opened them again—and froze.

The lights were out.

The other university buildings visible outside the window were also dark.

Even his monitor, which had been cluttered with open windows, was now black.

“This has to be a joke.”

Tap. Tap.

He tapped the side of the monitor with his hand.

Standing up abruptly, he checked the power on the computer tower.

No response.

Not a single light flickered.

Looking around, he saw that the power strip connected to the refrigerator and TV was also dark.

A blackout.

It didn’t take long for him to realize what had happened.

He simply didn’t want to accept it.

“Why? Why now of all times? Why the hell right now?!”

Bang!

In his fury, he kicked the chair in front of him.

The chair, already the worst one in the lab, creaked loudly and toppled over.

The sudden movement and his poorly aimed kick made his ankle throb painfully.

He might have sprained it.

“Damn it, why me… why now… why…”

Sion forced his aching ankle to move.

His body felt weak, as if he might collapse at any moment, but he clenched his teeth and leaned against the desk.

He knew all too well that if he gave in and sat down now, he wouldn’t have the strength to get back up.

Thinking it over, he realized he probably hadn’t pressed the save button properly.

It was likely all gone.

Hours’ worth of work—gone.

A volume of work so large he couldn’t possibly complete it by the next day.

“Damn it….”

Without warning, a single tear slid down his cheek.

He leaned further against the desk, resting his forehead on the monitor.

“What do I even say to the professor….”

Perhaps he could just tell the truth, that there had been a blackout.

But, of course, that would never be a valid excuse.

The professor would likely say, “Didn’t I tell you to save your work regularly?” or “When did the blackout happen? Didn’t you have time afterward?”

Sion hated knowing exactly what the future held.

No, he hated everything about this situation.

His life had gone downhill since he became a graduate student.

The reason he had become a graduate student in the first place

was because he wanted to study.

He wanted to learn more about astronomy and conduct research.

But instead, he found himself cleaning up after his professor’s endless tasks.

Enduring the nagging and petty jealousy of senior graduate students.

Writing paperwork that had nothing to do with astronomy.

All he had wanted was to study astronomy—nothing more, nothing less. Why…?

“…Let’s do it again.”

Through his tear-filled eyes, Sion noticed a flicker of light.

The power strip connected to the refrigerator and TV had lit up again.

The monitor and computer tower’s power indicators blinked on.

The other buildings outside had returned to their cold, unfeeling glow, as if nothing had happened.

So, let’s do it again.

Even if it passed midnight, he’d go back to his apartment and finish there.

As he thought this and began to lift his head from the monitor—

BOOM!!!

Another flash of light and an immediate deafening roar of thunder.

This time, it was a direct hit.

And—

Sion’s head was still resting against the monitor.

“D-Damn it…”

Zap!

The sensation of electricity surged through his head. A sharp, crackling pain burned through his brain.

His body wouldn’t move.

Though he’d just had an energy drink moments ago, his eyelids felt unbearably heavy.

Even as he collapsed onto the floor, he couldn’t hear the thud of his own fall.

As his vision darkened, Sion became acutely aware of something.

It was a sensation he had never felt before but immediately recognized.

This was the feeling of death.

“Am I dying?”

No, how could resting his head against a monitor cause death?

For a voltage surge to bypass the lightning rod, travel through the wiring, reach the monitor, and burn his body from the inside out…

What kind of resistance value would that require? How could one control the variables to recreate these conditions…?

“God, I’m so ridiculous, even at the end.”

He forcibly stopped the chain of questions spiraling in his mind.

Resistance values and controlled variables didn’t matter anymore.

If he died, none of this—neither experiments nor papers—would mean a thing.

“Ah… I knew it….”

As his eyes fully closed,

Sion held onto his fading consciousness for one final thought.

A reflection, filled with regret, about his life.

“Never… become a graduate student….”

With those final words,

he sank into eternal rest.

Sion Jang, 29 years old, passed away as a graduate student.

And then.

“…Why am I alive?”

Sion opened his eyes.

But he was no longer in the body of Sion Jang, a 29-year-old graduate student in South Korea.

He had awoken in the body of a first-year student at the Byzantine Academy.