24 years ago...

"Leah, push! Push harder!" 

"Arghhh!!!!!" she screamed in pain. It had been five hours since the first contraction. She was ready to give birth, but she seemed to be struggling. 

"The water has risen more!" said a man, running upstairs to where everyone had gathered around Leah, who was caught in a life-and-death situation. 

"Please save my wife, Corrine!" cried a man, holding Leah's arm tightly. 

"Just don’t panic, okay? I need a moment to concentrate!" Corrine yelled back at him. 

It was the worst day of their lives. The area was experiencing the worst flood in history. The hospital was just around the corner, but they couldn’t get there as they were stuck on the second floor of the Lokeheart residence. All of a sudden, Leah went into labor, and rushing her to the hospital became impossible. Their last resort was a home birth. 

Corrine and Leah were both experienced nurses, so Corrine knew how to handle emergencies like this. But every birth had its complications, and Leah’s situation was no exception. The baby wasn’t full-term; she still had another month to go. In those conditions, without proper equipment, the situation was dangerous. 

Rain poured heavily. The storm raged on, with lightning flashing through the night, making the scene even more terrifying. 

"Almost there, Leah!" Corrine encouraged her sister. Leah gathered all her strength and pushed—she had lost count of how many times. 

"Come on, honey! You can do it!" her husband cheered her on. 

"Yeah, come on, my baby girl! You’re strong, you’re a fighter!" her father added, his voice full of emotion. 

"Argh!!! AHHHHH!!!" Leah screamed, feeling like she was being torn in two. Her voice echoed through the room, blending with the roar of thunder. 

"The baby is out!" Corrine exclaimed, holding the tiny baby boy in her arms. Everyone clapped and cheered at the arrival of the third generation of the Lokeheart family. Jimmy, Leah’s father, couldn’t hold back his tears of joy. 

But Leah’s joy faded quickly. "Wait… why isn’t he…?" She noticed something was wrong. The baby wasn’t moving or crying. 

Corrine examined the baby, her expression turning grim. He was still, unresponsive. 

"Give me some room!" she shouted. Placing the baby on a bundle of towels, she cleared his airway, wiped him with a warm towel, and did everything she could to save him. But he didn’t move, didn’t open his eyes. 

"I’m sorry… Leah..." 

"No! NO! NOOOO!" Leah cried out, her sobs echoing through the room. Her husband tried to comfort her, his own tears falling. Jimmy slowly took the lifeless baby into his arms. Tears streamed down his face as he looked at the serene little figure wrapped in the fluffy white towel. 

"Dad… give him to me..." Leah pleaded, her voice breaking. Reluctantly, Jimmy handed her the baby. She cradled him, kissing him over and over, tears streaming down her face. She removed her dog tag necklace and placed it on the baby’s chest. Pulling him close, she sobbed uncontrollably. 

"Leah, we need to—" 

"Don’t touch my baby!" she yelled, clutching him tightly. 

"Let her grieve," Corrine whispered. One by one, the others quietly left the room, leaving Leah alone with her sorrow. 

A small boy approached her slowly. It was Sun, her four-year-old nephew. He wiped Leah’s tears and looked at the still baby. His innocent smile filled her with an unexpected flicker of hope. 

The boy gently touched the baby’s tiny hand, his expression soft and curious. Suddenly, he felt the faintest grip. He blinked in surprise, unsure if he was imagining it. A vivid vision flashed in his mind—children running and playing in a field of lush green grass, their laughter echoing joyfully. 

Then, the baby let out a loud cry. 

Everyone in the house rushed back into the room, drawn by the sound. The baby’s small fingers wrapped tightly around Sun’s index finger. 

"He’s alive! He’s crying!" Corrine exclaimed, rushing to examine the baby. 

"Sun, what did you do, honey?" she asked her son. 

"Cygnus wants to play with me in the field," Sun replied with a pout, then smiled brightly. 

"Cygnus?" 

"Yeah, his name is Cygnus!" Sun declared confidently. 

Corrine looked at Leah, hesitant. 

"It’s okay," Leah said, her voice filled with new hope. " Sun gave me a miracle. If it’s Cygnus… then Cygnus it is." She slowly sat up, cradling the tiny, crying baby in her arms. She placed the dog tag necklace around his neck. 

"You’re my strong little man, just like your Grandpa Jim," she whispered. The baby looked at her as if he understood. 

"Thank you, Sun. Thank you so much," Leah said, smiling at the boy through her tears. 

---

Present day.

The analysis device beeps three times. Yoon quickly retrieves the report and skims it. 

"What is this?" he mutters, handing the report to Byul. 

Byul examines it carefully. "This is the route inside Maze City... to the secret room! The actual route!" she exclaims. Everyone, except Joon, gathers around the laptop. 

"Maze City? We’ve been investigating that city too!" Sun says. 

"How do you know about it?" Justin asks. 

"It started as a bedtime story from Grandpa Jim," Sun explains. "But after finding some documents in his office, we realized it might not be just a story. When this city was attacked, we remembered the story and began searching based on those documents. We know the location, but the enemy surrounds the main passage out of here." 

Cygnus picks up another page from the analysis. "What’s this?" 

"It’s written in Vomi," Byul says, squinting at the text. "It’s a letter… for us." 

"How can you tell?" Cygnus asks. 

"It says, ‘To the future Guardians,’" she reads aloud. 

The room falls silent as everyone looks at her, anticipating filling the air.