THE YELLOW DOOR — BIRTH INTO A WARZONE
The light vanished.
And suddenly—
they were not in a hallway.
They were in the middle of a battlefield.
Screams.
Explosions.
Devils.
Humans.
Blood raining like broken paint.
Monsters tore soldiers apart.
Soldiers fired arrows, spells, bullets—nothing stopped the swarm.
People from the Yellow Door stumbled forward, confused, terrified—
—right into the chaos.
A young man beside Aiden gasped, trembling.
"What's happening—?!"
He never finished the sentence.
A spray of warm liquid splattered across Aiden's cheek.
He blinked.
Looked down.
Then looked up.
The boy's severed head dangled from the claws of a demon—
a tall, thin creature with exposed ribs, hollow eyes, and a grin carved up to its ears.
Blood dripped onto Aiden's face.
The demon bit into the skull like an apple.
Crunch.
And then—
Its void-black eyes locked on Aiden.
It ran.
Not moved.
Ran.
A blur of claws and teeth.
Aiden dove sideways, rolling through mud and bone shards as claws ripped the air where his throat had been.
He scrambled on instinct—
eyes falling on a corpse, a fallen knight—
—and the sword in his hands.
Without thinking, he grabbed it.
The demon lunged again.
Aiden inhaled sharply.
Exhaled slowly.
Feet grounded.
Mind focused.
His stance shifted into something he had practiced for years.
Karate fundamentals fused with survival instinct.
The demon's claws flashed.
Aiden stepped inside its reach.
And with a clean, practiced motion—
CLANG—SHLICK!
He drove the sword upward in a rising arc, slicing directly across the demon's right eye.
Black blood burst out like rotten ink.
The demon shrieked, stumbling back.
Aiden didn't let up.
He pivoted—
hips rotating, shoulders aligned, perfect form despite chaos—
and delivered a powerful front kick to the demon's chest, sending it sliding across the dirt.
It snarled, charging blindly.
Aiden tightened his grip.
"Come on," he muttered.
The demon leapt.
Aiden met it mid-air.
Metal flashed.
Teeth snapped.
Bodies crashed.
Steel plunged down.
STAB—STAB—STAB—
Aiden pinned it to the ground with sheer force, eyes burning with adrenaline.
But the demon didn't die.
It grasped his throat with its claws and tried to crush his windpipe—
Aiden roared, twisting the blade, slicing through bone.
And finally—
the head rolled.
The demon collapsed.
Aiden stood over the corpse, chest rising and falling violently.
He looked around.
More demons.
Dozens.
Hundreds.
The battlefield was a slaughterhouse.
And the Yellow Door people were scattered everywhere—
crying, running, dying.
Aiden raised the blood-soaked sword.
His voice cracked through the chaos.
"YELLOW DOOR! IF YOU CAN FIGHT—FIGHT! IF YOU CAN'T—HIDE BEHIND ME!"
A shadow moved behind him.
A massive demon, twice the size of the last, lunged.
Aiden spun, blade ready—
—but someone else struck first.
A flash of lightning.
A surge of power.
A survivor awakened.
The battlefield changed again.
AIDEN — AWAKENING OF "SWAP"
The massive demon thundered toward him—
four arms, each holding a bone-like blade.
Its footsteps cracked the ground.
Aiden braced.
His muscles were screaming.
His breath ragged.
His sword trembling in his grip.
But he still raised it.
He refused to die.
The monster roared and swung its upper blades down toward his skull.
Aiden crossed his sword overhead—
But the impact was too strong.
CRACK!
He dropped to one knee.
His arm numbed.
The blade slipped.
"Damn—!"
A bone scythe slashed toward his ribs—
And at that instant—
something inside him snapped open.
Like a spark in the darkness.
Like a muscle he didn't know existed suddenly tightening.
A notification he didn't see but somehow felt:
> [Skill Awakened: SWAP]
Exchange your position with any target within sight (living or nonliving).
Time slowed.
Aiden blinked—
and suddenly visibility sharpened, the battlefield becoming crystal clear.
He didn't understand why.
But he felt the power.
The demon's blade was seconds from slicing him in half—
Aiden's eyes flicked to a fallen shield lying 5 meters away.
He didn't think.
He willed it.
And reality twisted.
FWIP—!
The world flickered—
And Aiden was no longer kneeling under the demon's blade.
He was standing where the shield had been.
The demon's scythe instead struck the ground—
BOOOOM!
Splintering stone, creating a deep crack.
Aiden gasped, staring at his hands.
"What…was that?"
The demon screeched and charged again.
Another blade flew toward Aiden's neck—
His eyes darted to a fallen archer's corpse beside the demon.
Aiden willed again—
SWAP.
He disappeared—
and the dead archer appeared in his place, taking the blow instead.
The demon froze in confusion.
Aiden appeared behind it.
Heart pounding.
Hands shaking.
Mind racing.
"This power…"
He lunged.
SLASH!
The blade carved through one of the demon's tendons.
The demon collapsed to one knee, howling.
It swung backward blindly—
Aiden swapped with a broken spear on the ground.
He vanished.
Appeared above the demon mid-air.
He tightened both hands on his sword—
aimed for the spine—
And dropped like a guillotine.
KRSHHH—!!!
His blade sank deep.
The demon convulsed.
Aiden landed, rolled off it, breathing hard.
The demon turned, furious—
Aiden whispered:
"Swap."
He and the demon changed places for a split second—
just enough for the demon to stumble forward, exposing its neck—
Aiden didn't hesitate.
He swung.
SHHHK!
The demon's head flew.
Silence.
Then chaos resumed.
Screams and roars, metal and blood.
But the Yellow Door survivors now saw Aiden—
standing atop the demon's corpse, sword dripping black blood, eyes glowing with newfound power.
Aiden inhaled sharply, feeling the strength coursing through him.
And he declared:
> "Anyone who wants to live—STAY CLOSE TO ME!"
For the first time since they arrived—
the battlefield tilted in humanity's favor.
---
AIDEN — RETREAT INTO THE GREAT WALL
The demon's head hit the ground with a dull thud.
Aiden barely had a second to breathe—
CLING!
A chime echoed in his skull.
> [Lesser Demon slain — +2 AP]
He ignored it.
He didn't have the luxury to care.
More demons surged from the smoke—
Fanged, crawling, leaping.
Aiden cut through them like a cornered storm.
Steel sang. Blood misted. His Swap ability flashed and twisted reality around him.
But then—
A thunderous voice tore across the battlefield:
> "RETREAT! RETREAT! FALL BACK TO THE GATES!"
Aiden looked up.
A man in black armor atop a massive dark warhorse galloped through the chaos, his blade drenched in demonic fluid. His presence alone made soldiers move.
And panic followed.
Human lines collapsed like sand meeting a wave.
Knights grabbed injured men by their collars, dragging them.
Mages held up weak barriers as demons slammed against them.
Anyone too slow—
Anyone who tripped—
Anyone whose scream was swallowed—
died.
Aiden grit his teeth.
He didn't want to run.
But he saw the tide—
Saw a towering horned demon emerging behind the horde—
And understood.
This wasn't a fight.
This was a flood.
He turned and ran.
Demons chased from behind.
Aiden swapped positions with the wounded and yanked them forward.
He swapped with broken shields to dodge claws.
He swapped with falling rubble to keep moving.
Each step was survival.
Each breath was a battle.
Finally—
The smoke cleared, revealing torchlight and frantic shouts.
Aiden skidded to a halt.
Before him rose a massive fortress town, far larger than anything he expected.
It stretched like a stone giant across the plains.
A colossal wall stood like a mountain, its gates wide open as refugees poured through.
Archers on the ramparts loosed arrows in clouds.
Ballista bolts fired overhead, slamming demons back.
Clerics and healers dragged injured men into the safety of the outer courtyard.
Aiden stared, chest heaving.
This wasn't just a town.
This was a stronghold.
A last refuge before total annihilation.
A knight saw him arrive—
covered in demon blood, sword cracked, eyes burning with something inhuman.
"YOU! MOVE!" the knight shouted.
"DON'T STOP—GET INSIDE THE WALLS!"
Aiden tightened his grip on the sword—
—and sprinted toward the open gates as the horde churned behind him.