It is dangerous to speak of the Outside, where the intellectual elite gather in hopes of saving a deteriorating Earth. Yunna is one such aspiring scholar, and on the night before her entrance exam to the Outside, she has a strange dream.

A voice tells her that she will pass and not to worry. But after she gets a perfect score, Councilmember Serena tells Yunna that a primordial force known as the Shining has chosen her. Another evil primordial force has chosen Mason, Yunna's childhood friend, in response.

But as Mason embraces this dark power, Yunna is forced to confront an unstoppable adversary, devoted to covering the whole Earth with his Decaying power.