Before Yeonwoo’s thoughts could do down in a darker spiral on the things he missed out on, a sudden jolt interrupted them. Yeonwoo rolled his eyes. A smooth truck, my ass.

Reno looked at Yeonwoo, slight panic written on his face. They were in a situation where no outcome was predictable. All they could do was silently pray that this moment was not their last.

This time, the heavy door opened automatically, a gust of cold air washed in, and goosebumps arose on Yeonwoo’s skin. It was still dark outside, but Yeonwoo could see a slight hint of the sun rising. In front of the door stood Minjoon, the nasty smirk still lingering on his face.

“Get off. We’ve reached.”

This fast, thought Yeonwoo. And as if reading the expression on his face, Minjoon said “I told you this truck was fast.”

Yeonwoo immediately dropped his expression and returned to his poker face. He refused to give that sadist the satisfaction of anything.

Reno and Yeonwoo climbed out the truck and winced at the sudden change in lighting. Sure, it was still nighttime with the sun slowly rising but compared to the darker interior of the truck, the change was enough for them to squint their eyes.

As they slowly got used to the light, they finally seemed to notice what was in front of them.

Yeonwoo’s jaw almost dropped. Of course, he had heard of it and he was also aware that they were heading towards it but seeing it in person shocked him beyond reason.

In front of him, stood the massive Imperial City. Barricaded by a huge gate, the letter of Banyeok were displayed proudly on top. The gates were attached to two red pillars, and it resembled the Japanese Tori gates except that instead of being left open, there was a huge door that was placed between the two pillars. The door which resembled a wall had two other doors on the left and the right side of it. On the left side of the door stood two other imperial guards clutching staffs in their hands. Yeonwoo assumed that meant the entrance.

He turned and looked at Reno who had a similar look on his face. He also turned to look at Yeonwoo and the both of them exchanged an indescribable glance.

Minjoon walked up behind them and said, “This is the main entrance of to the Imperial City of Banyeok. Ordinarily, swine like yourself would never even be able to catch of a glimpse of their utopia but since your lucky you find yourself here.”

Yeonwoo clearly didn’t bother with anything Minjoon said but he had to admit that he was incredibly lucky.

The Imperial Gates stood in front of him, almost looming over him. A wave of foreboding washed over him and he gulped. He had no idea what was to come. But what he did know was this was the moment his life changed.

For better or for worse, who knows?