Part 1: Ateez Story Lore A-World POV Chronological Order Timeline
- Meg Polier
- Oct 1, 2025
- 41 min read
Updated: Apr 27
Disclaimer: A breakdown of the current Ateez story lore from a researcher and science fiction writer's perspective, this is not canon, I am just in need of piecing the timeline together for my own autistic sanity. I have a hard time with symbolism, and so I researched those pieces heavily.
Z-World
Creation of Halateez
Seems to show the formation of Halateez in Z-World's Strictland.
A-World
A-World Ateez Enters the Mobius Strip.
sets up the backstory of A-World Ateez.
A. Intro
Out of the procession of busy people, along a deserted side road and after passing a maze of cement walls, I can see the entrance to the factory with the 'No-Entry' warning sign. I cut through the wild grass growing at the entrance to the factory. A path appears with several footprints made through the grass, and as usual a familiar beat can be heard in the distance. The deserted warehouse, rusty iron gates ringing with the beat.
Opening the iron gate, welcomed by our own space. I see my friends dancing to the familiar beat. When the guys came into my sight one by one, a broad smile lightened up my face. These are faces I never got tired of seeing every day.
This is our own space. Laughing, crying, arguing, dancing, and singing. A space where our dreams came together, our hideout, our own world, separating us from the adult world.
Right now, it is a moment void of compromises and tameness, it is the moment before we opened that door.
01 - HONGJOONG
I am sure that we live under the same sky and under the same world. But, I feel like I'm a bit different from those people on TV dancing under those bright lights. Once I become a bright star that can be seen from everywhere, like those people on TV, will my family notice me? Even if it were by coincidence, I wish I could meet them at least once. If my family could get back together like before...I miss the warmth of our living room.
My family scattered around and here I am with my new family I made while living alone...I've met my fellow members by doing music together in our little hideout. Just thinking about them warms my heart! I really hope we can achieve our dreams together! My family, the music I love, and our dreams...We must keep them.
02 - SEONGHWA
Everything around me froze for a moment. The only thing I could hear was the sound of music coming from her earphones. She was moving as if nothing mattered anymore. Common sense, rules, and this tough world didn't have power over her moves. Right this moment, my world broke along this snowy road. Something changed in me, but I stayed still and couldn't say anything.
She dropped a bracelet that had "Be Free" engraved on it. Ever since that day, I went to the same place at the same time.
But, she never came back. I didn't know her name or her address. Just like the "Be Free" bracelet she wore, she freed herself away. Since the, music never sounded the same again. I can no longer distinguish the structure, code, or the genre of the song. Only the lingering feeling of that day remains.
03 - YUNHO
Hey brother, you look like you are in such a good mood today! The weather is so good as well. Even though I was running to see you, I didn't even feel the heat. On days like this, we would have gone to the Han River for some street performance, right? Ah, I am getting nostalgic! Oh, brother! It has been a while since I took out that broken guitar. I wanted to get rid of it because it always reminded me of a broken side of you. But since it's a guitar you cherished so much, I just left it out of sight because it seemed like you abandoned your dream.
You know brother. I have a friend like you in my team! His name is Hong Joong. He is the kind of person I would go to when things get tough. He is a person I admire on both artistic and humane level. Thinking about it now, you both kind of look alike? I think you guys would get along together if you've ever meet each other. You know, now I am laughing, thanks to Hong Joong and the guys from the team. I avoid thinking about these painful memories and instead I am focusing on the dreams you couldn't achieve. I will make them happen; the boys and I will make it happen.
When that time comes, you must wake up from the long hibernation. I want to show you all of it! I'll be back tomorrow. Good night!
04 - YEOSANG
I was never too good with mechanics. It all started when I dismantled the speaker. Every time I felt stuffy, I would disassemble various appliances or instruments and then reassemble them back together. My parents had everything planned for me; doing the same routine at the exact same time. The only time I could go out of this cycle was when I disassembled and reassembled things. Thanks to this weird habit I met the guys. That day in that shabby warehouse, a bunch of guys I'd normally run away from, asked me if I knew how to work a drone. This whole encounter was a bit strange! I actually was lost and wandering around. The sound of music was what brought me to that place. From that day on, I went there every day.
The best feeling was dancing to the music. Dancing was such a mind-blowing activity. Even when I saw my parents' worried faces flashing before my eyes, I just couldn't stop.
For the first time ever I felt alive. Hearts pounding like it is about to burst out and this tingling feeling coming up from my fingertips started to take over me. Was there a moment when I wanted something this bad? One by one, more children started to say my name. The path that I only walked with one other person became a path to many. Slowly, the word 'I' became 'ours'. However, now I must leave the 'ours'. If I back out everything will be back to normal, the scattered members and the stolen hideout. I'm sorry, guys.
05 - SAN
I was always laughing, but I always felt lonely. I just couldn't open up or maybe I've never had the time to open up. Every time I got closer to someone, I had to move. It's happening again today, but this time it's a little different. Now I have friends to talk to about my feelings. As soon as I saw them, I knew right off the bat, they're like me. Oh, Seong Hwa was a little different. He never tried to do anything the traditional way, he was always 'HIS' way.
My dad said we would have to move again. It was something I was used to hearing, but this time it hit differently. Can I just leave like that now that I have a place of my own...What should I say to Woo Young? Thanks to him, thanks to my friends, I was able to perfect my dance moves.
Bobo, what should I do? What? You want me to do it 'MY' way?
06 - MINGI
Music was my haven, my escape, my one and only relief. When I felt like dying, I would listen to music. I wasn't afraid of death! People around me looked at me as if I were an alien from another planet, laughing at an immature high school student wanting to die. I guess it is uncommon for someone my age to feel that way.
Only a few friends' names you remember throughout elementary, middle, and high school. Most of them were in elementary school. No one talked to me, but that is mainly because I didn't answer even when they try talking to me. But Woo Young was different. Not that I remember, he was with me all throughout elementary, middle, and high school. Woo Young would always come next to me during every break. Whether I answer or not, he would go on with his stories about our classmates, his favorite songs, some respected American dancers, and that music team he works with outside of school. He always tops it with that signature laugh of his, which naturally made me laugh. Out of shyness, I started calling him "Woo-Ong". Ah that unique laugh of his. He was the first friend I've ever opened up to.
At some point, I started eating and spending most of my time with Woo Young, it was around that time too when I followed him to the hideout for the first time; the place where I could dream. They were friends who took me as I am. We cried, laughed, and made music together. They accepted me as who I am, regardless of where I live or who my parents were. I felt exuberant for the first time in my life. But now I'm getting scared. Can I really have a dream? Will it not be taken away from me?
07 - WOOYOUNG
My mind has completely gone blank. Who am I? Where am I? I want to run away.
Will I fail again? When I was practicing the dancing alone, I was pretty confident! My practice video on social media had reached over 100,000 views. Many people contacted me and even big entertainment agencies offered me to audition for them. But once I felt their look towards me, I just couldn't move. I closed my eyes trying to escape, and then Seong Hwa's voice popped in my head,
"Woo Young, before you start performing on stage, remember these three things!" "Everything will be okay!" "Believe in yourself!" "You can do it!"
"He will be too nervous to remember THREE things! What kind of psychology book did you read?"
"Yun Ho, are you making fun of Seong Hwa again? But hey Woo Young, believing in you is the key." Hong Joong is always good at putting everything into perspective. A smile crept in my face. I felt their presence even though they were nowhere to be seen. I felt the energy back on my feet.
I had a habit of constantly chatting to overcome stage fright and I practiced laughing to hide my shyness. It was a defense mechanism of mine to focus. I didn't care even when others made fun of it. But that only lasts for a minute, once I became aware of their scrutinizing eyes, my body just froze.
For the first time I met Hong Joong, Seong Hwa, and Yun Ho were at the street performance. I could see that they had something I didn't have; expressiveness beyond dance techniques and showmanship that captivated the audience. When I danced with them, I wasn't self-conscious and was able to deliver my best performances. My legs are tense, the first step, the step that I was never able to do, the chain that was tying my body, was magically released.
08 - JONGHO
Winning Nationals, being the player of the year, and the youngest national basketball player...I had no other plans in my life than this one. One the first day of the injury, I was only thinking of quickly rehabilitating and getting back on the court. But, I now can't play basketball anymore. "Then what do I do now? I can't do anything but basketball!" "Let me play basketball, I'll do anything!" I begged the doctor, but it didn't work.
I felt like I was drowning. No matter how hard I tried, I was still stuck in the exact same spot. As the time went by, I just tried to keep myself from drowning, just barely holding up. Is it okay to live like this? I know I can't! But the moment I gave up playing basketball, everything inside me was lifeless, as good as being dead.
That lifeless look, before Yun Ho grabbing my hand, looked so much like me. My hand is throbbing from the pain. Min Gi clearly saw the fist coming his way but didn't try to avoid it. His lifeless eyes are still hunting me.
When Min Gi said he would quit, that our dream was a luxury, and that the time we spent together meant nothing to him, I couldn't stand but to punch him. Funny enough, it was a heart-breaking moment for me but also the time I started to dream again.
At that time, I didn't know how to reach out to a lost Min Gi. Where are we, where should we go?
Shows the origin story of A-World Ateez in a shared dream that HongJoong has with the team.
Z. OUTRO
Even though I lost my dream and family again, there was nothing I could do. Everyone left and here I am, alone again.
On a summer day, when the hot and humid weather continued without a single drop of rain, we decided to go our separate ways. All that because our dreams of being together have become like shackles that hold us down. The scorching sun melted away even our dream of youth and made it disappear at the end of our feet. Problems were piling up like laundry that had been put off. Even if, not often, the promises we made were pushed back day by day and we forgot about each other. It was around that time when I began seeing him in my dream.
The man in the black fedora, whose eyes you could only see through his mask, somehow familiar, but tired eyes.
"You lost your dream not because of the tough reality, but because you guys decided to. Get rid of the idea that the world you see is everything. There are many dimensions and many realities in this world. The world I am in, the world you are in, are all real. I want to tell you everything, but I don't have much time right now."
"What is this?"
"The Cromer. The key to connecting the world."
He had a shining hourglass in his hand. This little hourglass was the key to connecting the world? I carefully picked up the Cromer. At that moment, the man went back a few steps and spat out his last words.
"Follow your heart, the map is there." When I looked back up from the Cromer, the man was already gone.
I then opened my eyes. It was all a dream. I fell asleep alone in the hideout where no one was looking for me.
While I tried to hide my lonely heart and turn around, I saw something shiny on the desk right in front of the couch where I was lying. It's the Cromer I saw in my dream.
Wasn't it a dream? While looking at the Cromer, I inadvertently turned it around. The sand in the hourglass began to flow back from the bottom to top.
The iron door then opened and I could hear the footsteps coming closer one by one. The guys then gathered around me with the same puzzled face.
Z-World
A-World Ateez has been transported to Strictland by the Cromer.
A. INTRO
The Cromer in my hand flashed, but I was still in the hideout. Members who are looking at me were the same too.
It was like an unbelievable dream to hear about the various dimensions from the man wearing a black fedora and to see the Cromer in my hand.
Right then, an unknown voice came from outside. As the sound neared, giants dressed in white suddenly appeared, breaking the hideout door.
They were wearing masks that covered their entire face and did not feel like people. They were looking at the Cromer.
01 - HONGJOONG
It did not matter where this place was or whether this place was really located in a different dimension. What matters now is that those dangerous white-clad giants are out for the Cromer in our hands and that we cannot go back home if we lose the Cromer. I had to protect the Cromer and the members at the same time, but that was more like a gamble.
Right that moment, a broken piece of glass under my foot caught my eye. I received the Cromer from Yun Ho and started to provoke the giants. "I'll give you the Cromer," I shouted and threw what I had in my hand through the window. The members who were watching from behind were shocked.
As the sparkling piece flew away in an arc, the white-clad giants ran towards it in haste. At the same time, I yelled, "Run away!"
Song: The Leaders works here
02 - SAN
The place around the hideout was very similar to where we used to stay. If I had not faced the strange creatures, I would not have believed all the sayings about the different dimensions and the Cromer.
Fortunately, we escaped the hideout safely, and thanks to being familiar with the surroundings, we were able to find our way halfway down in the dark.
Visible spaces were similar to the reality we knew but were also slightly different. Under the cliff where Woo Young saved our Bobo in the past, there used to be a valley and a gigantic rock on top but here, no sounds of water flowing could be heard nor could the gigantic rock be seen. Same, yet strangely different.
By the time I was immersed in such thoughts, I could hear the members laughing. The members, who had been taking a break for a while, were playing with each other, relieved that the Cromer was safe. What Hong Joong had thrown out the window was a piece of glass similar to the Cromer, not the real Cromer.
Song: Celebrate works here.
03 - WOOYOUNG
The child who saved me was a girl who matched well with the moonlight.
The girl willingly invited us to her house. Tired of being chased and running away, we fell asleep immediately and, in the meantime, the girl healed my injured ankle.
The white-clad giants, who had been fooled by the glass fragments, attacked us again while we were resting in the middle of the forest. As the giants dragged me away by my ankle, all the members rushed to save me and so we ended up losing the Cromer. After they took the Cromer away and turned their eyes away, stones rolled over from the cave in the forest. When we ran towards it, a girl in the cave gestured between the rocks.
The girl had a brother. The boy said she could not speak because the white-clad giants took away the girl's voice. They introduced themselves as the Grimes siblings.
04 - SEONGHWA
'One day they suddenly disappeared.' The Grimes siblings looked at us with sad eyes.
According to the Grimes siblings, the central government here established a stable future policy for the entire human race by running AI simulations. They put the blame on human emotions for causing crimes and terrorism that threaten humanity and so the key to their policy was to control the variables called human emotions.
A bill to lower human emotions below the thresholds by using advanced technology and a bill to ban the arts, which greatly affects human emotions, had been passed.
Consequently, the central government had achieved high growth under a strong control policy, and people enjoyed material affluence. However, laughter disappeared from their faces and only efficiency and logic became the priority in this society.
As those days continued, men wearing black fedora began to appear one day. They sung and performed here and there and that was said to have the power to attract people. Being stimulated by these men, people who escaped the control began to appear. People from various fields formed a resistance against the central government and called themselves the 'Black Pirates.'
The central government put the men in Black Fedora on the wanted list, but they repeatedly failed to arrest them due to them being able to teleport using the Cromer. However, at least, by putting in the new Android Guardians - probably the white-clad giants who came to catch us - the government succeeded in capturing the men in the Black Fedora.
The Black Pirates and the resistance, all that does not matter. What is important is that we need the Cromer to return home, and that we lost our Cromer to the Android Guardians.
05 - YEOSANG
To my beloved father,
Father, I'm walking towards the 'Strictland' where I may not be able to come back.
Now that I'm walking on a bumpy road after always having walked on a beautiful and straight road, my feet keep on throbbing. My feet are sore, but I still feel good. That is because I'm with my friends and I'm walking towards a place that I've decided on my own.
Everyone says this is a new world but somehow, I'm familiar with the scenery here. The city I faced after coming down from the woods, I could only see people who were running without taking a single look at the sky, as if they were being chased, people who took the escalators like products being placed on machines, people who removed unnecessary smiles and only talked about their needs, and people who are only looking at small machines, having forgotten how to see each other face to face.
I thought that maybe this place is not a new world, but that I'm just taking a microscopic look at the world I was living in.
Father, I know you were shocked to see me singing and dancing with these friends. But I really wanted to escape the world I've lived in, the world I've been trapped in. I love my parents so much, but I have never been happy in your world.
Song: Take Me Home works here.
When we were kicked out of the garage that we have been using as our hideout and had to be separated, what was more painfu
l to me was that my father was the one who drove us out. I became the person who took happiness away from the friends who have willingly invited me to their world. I regretted that if they haven't met me from the beginning, this situation wouldn't have happened. I resented you, father.
Father, thus I will not return to the world you have created. It's not that I don't love you but that I don't want to blame you anymore.
Your son, Yeo Sang.
Seems to show A-World Ateez on their way to the Strictland dump to try and find Left Eye, who is the only one who knows where the bunker is located for them to get the cromer back. They try to make sense of the strangeness of Z-world. Sopro is found in the dump.
06 - MINGI
To find the Cromer, we must go to the Android Guardian's bunker, but the only person who knows the bunker is Left Eye, the manager of the Strictland dump. So, we had no choice but to come to this place.
As if they were continuously burning trash, the yellow smoke, which is said to cause hallucinations, was constantly soaring. Perhaps because of that, the man named Left Eye was mumbling to himself in the air. Whew...how do we locate the Android bunker from that person?
Thanks to nosy Woo Young, we decided to find out the location of the Android bunker as well as regain the voice of the Grimes girl. That dude is always so unnecessarily nosy like that.
By what we have heard from Hong Joong and the Grimes siblings, that Left Eye man seems to have his own story too. Whatever, there's no one without a story.
Anyway, we split into teams. Members who will go into a pile of trash that looks like a cave to find the voice and members who will convince Left Eye to find out the location of the Android bunker. I was in the latter.
07 - JONGHO
Boing boing. I heard a basketball bounce. I thought I misheard.
To find the girl's abandoned voice, I slowly entered the cave with a thin string tied around my body and a gas mask on my face. (I don't even know how someone can abandon a voice and find it back, but they say it's possible because of the new energy extraction thing.)
I have never seen the shape of a voice before. When I asked the Grimes boy if it has a shape or color, he said that it looks like a bead with a blue condensed energy inside. The bead the boy had told us was shining deep inside the yellow smoke.
Then, I heard the basketball bounce again. When I stopped walking, a basketball rolled in front of my feet. 'Victory is mine. J.H.' It was my ball. When I looked up, I was standing in a stadium.
"What are you doing? Pass it!"
My teammate shouted at me. Is it déjà vu...? I blanked out. The whistle rang in the stadium. I think I had a strange dream for a bit. I was looking for something, but I couldn't remember what it was. The game started again. I ran into the court.
08 - YUNHO
Left Eye, who ran a small but unique brand shop after studying fashion design, was often disqualified from interviews at the fashion house due to his unfriendly appearance. However, he had great skills and was a warm person with a passion. Until he lost his daughter.
His daughter was hit by a speeding car while she was reaching out her hand to save a flower that had bloomed on the road. People thought moving forward quickly was more important than looking around. Even after seeing the child on the street after getting hit by the car, people were busy passing by, pretending not to have seen anything. During that time, the child died slowly. Left Eye is said to have become furious and fallen into despair when he had belatedly learned of this truth and has become a completely different person ever since.
After losing his daughter, he met the illusion of his daughter while being intoxicated by the smoke that creates delusions at Strictland's dump. And while he was wandering around in the dump, he was selected by the Android Guardian to become the manager of the dump.
It reminded me of my brother the whole time I heard his story. I empathized with Left Eye's feelings a little bit. Left Eye reminded me of when I had lost my brother. Despite my original intentions to find out about the Android bunker, I personally wanted to help him out as well.
To do so, we had to lure him to a place where the smoke was not severe. We had to make him realize that the daughter he was looking at was not real but an illusion.
Z. OUTRO
The safety strap tied to Jong Ho's body stopped and no longer moved Worried, Yeo Sang went into the trash cave wearing the last remaining gas mask to find out the situation.
The game that caused Jong Ho's ankle injury was going on in front of his eyes. Jong Ho dismissed all the things that had happened as mere illusion and déjà vu and ran more fiercely to erase the disgrace of that past.
Left Eye started to attack the members. Running away from Left Eye who was chasing them, they secretly lured him into a smoke-free space. When his daughter's illusion disappeared, he became even more furious. Everyone was unsure what to do, but then Yun Ho shouted amid the silence. "Your daughter is dead!"
Everyone looked at Yun Ho in surprise. "You're denying it because you don't want to believe it, but aren't you already aware of the truth?" Yun Ho accused him once again.
"I'll kill you!" Left Eye let out a shriek and swung a big bat at Yun Ho.
"Jong Ho!" When Yeo Sang had arrived, Jong Ho was intoxicated with illusion and was running furiously toward the cliff.
A. INTRO
The fourth industrial revolution stimulated the advances of science and technology. It also brought an expansion of human lifespan to 200 years. As the human lifespan increased, so did compulsory education. 40 years of education was required to learn basic knowledge and simple principles for living in this world.
The central government desired to construct their own utopian society by using an AI system, thereby making it possible to remove and take control of every unpredictable variable. It succeeded in predicting all the possible outcomes allowing the government to completely take over but of course there was one problem they could not solve - human emotions.
By applying deep learning technology, the AI that identified the new variable as a bug, cultivated a new market platform for estimating individual energy, which was known as something unpredictable, and trading it. As the government prohibited all kinds of art and exercised control over the new energy trading platform, sensitivity, emotion, and free will gradually faded away, and humanity fell to components for maintaining the world.
01 - JONGHO
A referee announced the restart of the game. My teammate intercepted the ball and passed it to me. With my great dribbling skill, I went across the court. I attempted a lay-up from my rival's blocking. The ball hung on the rim then fell in. 'Yes. I've turned the game around.' With excitement, I landed on my feet from my successful shoot when all of a sudden, the floor lay in front of my eyes. 'Have I sprained my ankle?' My head dimmed out. Just before I crashed to the floor someone grabbed my arm.
"Jong Ho!"
A familiar voice. One I have definitely heard before. Who could it be? As my eyes started to regain focus, the figure of the person holding my arm started to form. A doctor. The doctor seemed to think deeply before telling me about my ankle. It was somewhere along the lines that I had no problem living a normal life, but basketball would not be an option anymore. What all my colleagues could do was leaving me with pitiful eyes, I freed myself from the doctor's strong hold of my arm and yelled at my colleagues as they were distancing. 'Please take me with you! Please, don't leave me here!' I screamed at the top of my lungs desperately. Then again, I hear it,
"Jong Ho! Jong Ho Choi!"
I could see faintly Yeo Sang's face behind the doctor's shoulders. He reached out his arm to hold me which stopped me frantically moving. He raised my body up and put the gas mask from his face to mine. After inhaling in and out a few times, I began to see my surroundings more clearly. We were sitting at the end of a cliff. Speechless, I looked up at Yeo Sang with complete confusion. He held my hand and told me the Grimes girl found her voice back. Then with a warm smile,
"Let's get out of here."
02 - YUNHO
The bat that Left Eye hit dodged me by an inch and smashed into an abandoned window. The broken pieces scattered into the air. I looked at him without a blink.
He would only swing the bat even more recklessly. Everything that hit the bat shattered to nothing. I slowly walked towards him. I hear the members' voices trying to stop me. But a strange form of pity inside of me, an unexplainable emotion on top of that led me fearlessly to stand in front of him. Left Eye was still holding tight to his bat, but his pupils were shaking. It looked as if the hallucination was fading.
"It's not your fault."
With the drop of his bat, Left Eye fell to the floor like a lifeless toy.
"You had no thoughts of harming anyone in the first place."
He looked up with sorrowful eyes and began to let go of his tears - together with the emotions he had locked up. He would have lived many days with the burden of guilt after his daughter died. What if, just what if I didn't send her there that day. What if I was there with her, what it, what if...
Looking at him felt like seeing me stripped of everything in front of a mirror.
Ateez finds Sopro in the Strictland Dump. This is a dream they share with Sopro affecting their emotions and showing them the possibilities of what could happen if they use it. Mingi is awake with Left Eye and the Grimes siblings at this time. Alternatively: As the Japanese albums seem to be following Halazia crew, this could be part of the Sopro creation.
03 - MINGHI
"Those boys will be able to save the Black Pirates."
Sailing towards the Android Guardian's bunker, I came out to the deck as the members fell asleep. I hear Grimes boy's voice full of conviction from a distance. Not wanting to join in their conversation, I quietly hid. They were watching a video of Left Eye's daughter dancing and were missing the times when they could sing and dance as much as they wanted. They comforted themselves by saying they would soon save the Black Pirates, and all will return to normal.
"Look at the sea." shouted Grimes girl with her returned voice. The sea absorbing a bright orange color from the sunset swayed beneath. It was beautiful.
"I was missing this in my life." said Left Eye adding that he was blind by the past wandering relentlessly. They watch the sea for a while in complete silence. As if all the concerns and worries of this world had disappeared, the Grimes siblings started humming a song. Gradually getting louder, Left Eye playfully danced. Although a bit of a laugh, it was wonderful. I didn't realize I left out a small laugh.
The calm wind tickled my hair. The sea shone as if embracing a pearl. As time passed, Left Eye and the Grimes siblings were singing and dancing together. Someone said, 'Dancing defines at least the smallest will to live. So, people dance in the brim of hopelessness.'
That's right, I could have lived without realizing this. I could not see the present because it was disturbed by past misfortunes.
The hopeless sun has hidden behind the horizon and the stars of hope have made their appearance in the sky. The sway of the orange-lit sea faded as the waves embraces the shining stars.
Ateez seems to still be under the influence of the yellow smoke from the bunker and under the influence of the crescent moon have a shared dream while traveling on the Black Pirates ship. At this point, Sopro is in hand.
Ateez wakes up on the bunker island.
04 - WOOYOUNG
The late afternoon of the following day, we finally arrived on the island. From the elongated shadows of the afternoon sun, I could see pensions and sunbeds. When I stepped onto the sand, I could feel heat rising. The island was considered a tourist paradise in the past. However, nobody had visited this island for their holidays anymore since taking a rest and trip became meaningless and worthless in this world.
To escape quickly, Left Eye and the Grimes siblings stayed in the ship. We walked down the island to look for the place, called the Android Guardian bunker. And we easily found the place, which was blowing off golden yellow steam on this isolated island. When we got there, it was a gallery in the middle of the island. Gallery...They banned all kinds of art - funny of them to settle and build their bunker there. We passed along the empty lobby and went towards the exhibition. The golden yellow steam continually spurted from where an arrow indicated an exhibition route.
Some drunk Android Guardians were laid on the floor. And at the end of its view, I could see the men in Black Fedora were in a glass prison.
Ateez break into the bunker, find the fedora men and realize they are alternate versions of themselves. Yeosang gets captured while saving Ateez from capture by sending them back to A-World
05 - HONGJOONG
There was a man at the end of the smoky road. To be more specific, they were there, the men in Black Fedora that we met in our dreams. One person was leaning on the wall, hardly on their feet and my instinct said that I must save them.
I threw myself to the glass wall. It did not move. I bumped into it again. The man finally heard the noise and saw me.
"Finally, you are here." he said, and he barely took off his mask. As I saw his face, I was in shock. He was me. The man had exactly the same face as mine.
"Listen, we called you here." In the midst of these strange incidents, I could only shake my head.
"We are captured here, and somebody has to do our work. You may have noticed it. This world needs a change."
"Why does it have to be us? Why do we share the same face?" I kept questioning him and tried to break the glass wall between us. But not even a small crack.
"I don't have enough time to tell you the whole story. We are going to be seen by the guardians when the smoke fades. Do what I do." The man put his hand on the glass wall and told us to copy him. So we put our hands like he did.
"We all face walls. Sometimes, we think that our lives would be happier without walls but that is not true. If we earn things easily, we could lose them easily." The man and I faced each other, and I felt some indescribable energy swirling near us, regardless of this unbelievable reality - the men with the same faces as us, endless questions about this world and everything. Soon after, we were wearing their black suits without even noticing.
06 - SAN
When I was dazed by this black suit thing, I heard the voice of the man who has the same face as Hong Joong from the other side of the wall. "You have to run before the smoke fades." he shouted.
The Android Guardian was burning new energy in the center of the hall. It was people's memories. I picked some of the memories that were not yet burnt from the floor.
A memory of confessing love to my lover.
A memory of walking my dog on the beach.
A memory of a first trip with my friends.
They were all valuable and unforgettable memories. These memories were the source to live and hope. Android Guardians were burning the hope of people and they were drunk from the smoke. I felt a surge of anger coming over me. All of a sudden, Seong Hwa shouted,
"I can't see Yeo Sang!"
07 - SEONGHWA
After Yeo Sang disappeared, we were all in a panic and ran instantly to the lobby. Fortunately, Yeo Sang also ran to us from the opposite exhibition at the same time. With relief, we moved toward the exhibition. While looking back, Yeo Sang threw a shining object. The object was the Cromer.
It was just a short moment of celebration that we are soon going back home when the crowd of Android Guardians came up to us behind Yeo Sang. The biggest guardian grabbed Yeo Sang's neck. He threatened us saying that if we do not hand over the Cromer, he would break Yeo Sang's neck. There was no way. When Hong Joong, holding the Cromer attempted to approach Yeo Sang, the Android Guardians ordered not to come near and just to throw over the Cromer from a distance.
"Don't hand it over! Once we give it to them, they will take us too!" Yeo Sang shouted. It was the worst situation for us. If we did not hand it over, Yeo Sang would be in danger. If we just hand it over, everyone would be caught. We cannot let Yeo Sang sacrifice for 7 members. What can I do?
Hong Joong seemed to have the same thought looking at Yeo Sang and us by turns. Hong Joong began to speak about his decision. He said that he would throw the Cromer over to them if they would let Yeo Sang go between us and them.
08 - YEOSANG
This Android Guardian could get us whenever he wanted us in this gallery. I don't doubt that. Is there any way to save myself and get the Cromer? No. These guys are everywhere. It was my fault. I should have been more careful. My friends would not have been all scattered if I had not met them at first. Then we could have not been left in this weird and dangerous place.
While regretting my careless behavior, I arrived in the middle of the guardians and my members. The Android Guardians shouted to Hong Joong to pass the Cromer. I saw the Cromer in the hands of Hong Joong.
What do we know about that sandglass? I asked myself and an answer popped in my head. It may be a gamble but there was no other way.
Hong Joong threw the Cromer to the guardian. The Cromer darted through the air, and I quickly snatched and turned it. The Android Guardians seems confused, and they immediately started to chase after me. So I smashed the Cromer. The glass broke down and the sand splashed everywhere. I was being dragged away and Hong Joong tried to grab my hand. The light flashed.
Opinion: Could be showing ATEEZ travelling through the Cromer, but it is glitching due to Yeosang having smashed the Cromer. This glitch in reality made a pocket dimenion (E? Halazia World), which is a door between worlds (Hongjoong referenced Halazia as a door to HalaTEEZ during Spin Off From the Witness Promos)
The prologue shows that Halazia world was created when Yeosang destroyed the Cromer and sent ATEEZ into the past of A World. Halazia is a door to HalaTEEZ according to Hongjoong interview during Spin Off: From the Witness promo, meaning this is a glitch between dimensions.
Sopro was created and placed in Z-World past for future A World Ateez to find.
Opinion: A glitch in the universe could be a temporary pocket universe that formed (E World?). Pocket universes are unstable, temporary universes that are complex, often popping like soap bubbles. Halazia crew must have escaped the Cromer door world, as they are confirmed to be seen in In Your Fantasy (via Yeosang having his birthmark specifically in that MV, and there is the smashed Cromer at the end of Crazy Form, which implies the Halazia glitch world connection)
Opinion: I believe that Halazia Ateez have escaped to A-World to stop the creation of the Sciensalvar religion reaching power, and Seongwha sent Sopro to the past of Z-World and spread the word to its inhabitants.
Opinion: Four Halazia Priests - We can see the four of them dancing together at the start of the MV in the centre of the group - San, Seongwha, Yuno, and Wooyoung.
Halazia (E?) World
Creation of Halazia group (Would have happened in rapid succession when Yeosang smashed the Cromer with the events of From the Witness)
Seems to show the point in time where the Halazia crew are waking up to the world around them and realizing they are not okay with the way the world works, as well as finding each other and realizing the power of the dances and music they make together.
Opinion: Rocky (Boxers Ver.) MV seems to show the start of the Halazia crew's rebellion against Sciensalvar.
Seems to show the capture of the Halazia crew and subsequent brainwashing, and their attempts to break free. They did not break free at the end that we saw.
Opinion: The Japanese MVs seem to be following Halazia crew. This could be any of the 3 groups training and breaking their limits, but if we are following Halazia in these MVs then this possibly depicts Halazia crew fighting and finally winning their freedom.
Opinion: Ice On My Teeth MV seems to show the Halazia crew in a dream state on a crescent moon night after finding their world's cromer. They seem to be attacking their previous captor in Not Okay. Though Yeosang's birthmark does not seem to be visible, I still believe this is Halazia crew, especially with the burning of the building at the end of the video, as in the A-World videos featuring Halazia crew, they are often seen burning things.
A-World
Z. OUTRO
"One, two, three, four, five, six...seven." San's quivering voice echoed in the heavy air of dawn. When we woke up, we were in the warehouse where our journey began, and everything was remaining the same.
San could not believe that there were only seven of them. He wiped his tears and tried to get himself together. Everyone was silent, they were only staring into each other's eyes.
"Jong Ho, Woo Young, Min Gi, Seong Hwa, Hong Joong, and I..." San repeatedly shook his head. He mumbled to count again and again with a crying voice then he moaned. A shadow of despair fell on their faces.
"What would happed to Yeo Sang? Like the Black Pirate, what if he's been..." Woo Young couldn't finish his sentence. A heavy silence filled the space, and no one could answer his question.
Hong Joong stood up from the couch. He opened and showed his hands full of blood with fragments of glass and dirty sand to the members. He dusted his hands off. Broken pieces fell down and down.
"We shouldn't have been there then nothing would have happened..."
Knock Knock, there was a knocking sound from an old door. Hard-faced Hong Joong opened the door. Nobody was there. Something bumped into the door and fell onto the floor.
"This is Yeo Sang's drone."
"Who drove this here?"
Hong Joong swept dirt from the drone and placed it on the top of a drawer. He stared at the lights coming from the slightly opened door.
We all surely felt it. Yeo Sang is alive.
Opinion: Not Too Late
Works here, especially with Yeosang's line "Oh please, Tell me the Answer, The reason I'm left alone here and can't escape."
A. INTRO
"Saving humanity from the doom that's about to strike"
A Trio caught stealing a Mayan relic was revealed as 'Sciensalvar' a new religious organization.
The security arrested the trio red-handed. The trio were attempting to steal a Mayan relic from 'The Mayan Civilization' exhibition at the National Museum of Korea. Seoul Yongsan Police Station is investigating suspects A(31), B(28), and C(21) for the crime attempt of special larceny. The trio are suspected of stealing the exhibited relic from 'The Time, Destiny, and Prophecy of the Mayan Civilization' at 10:05 AM, on the 10th.
The reporter behind the case interviewed suspect A's crime motive. Suspect A stated that "I had to steal the relic to save humanity before they face the world's end." It was later found that the trio are believers of the religion, "Sciensalvar'. It is suspected that the trio committed the crime under the influence of Henry Jo, the religious leader.
Sciensalvar is a new religion and was established in 1999 by a scientist named Henry Jo. This religion believes that humans are the collection of energy, and human concerns from an uncertain future can be resolved by science. Henry Jo frequently mentioned the Mayan relic, shaped in an hourglass, in official statements. Henry Jo also mentioned that the energy condensed inside of it will be the key to saving humanity.
The Mayan relic Henry Jo mentioned is an hourglass artifact that imitates the moon's movement. There are many speculations for the exact purpose of the artifact among experts. However, one clear established theory is that the relic, crafted through an uncommon metallurgy technique, was used for ceremonial purposes.
Ateez deals with the loss of Yeosang, Yeosang deals with being trapped in Z-World.
Opinion: It seems to be a shared dream evidenced by Wooyoung flying at the end.
01 - SAN
A week has passed since we came back here without Yeo Sang. We stayed at this place, where Android Guardians do not exist, before we left to the other dimension. That street and people, all still looked the same as always. But the only thing that changed is the time zone. Simply put, we have returned to the past.
This was the moment before we gathered at our agit, not too long before Yun Ho's older brother's car accident. We assumed that the time zone was twisted when the Cromer broke, and Yun Ho was thrilled. Probably because his brother was brought back to life from the tragic accident. I can understand Yun Ho, but deep down in my heart, I felt bitter against him. Whether we are in the past or the present, one thing was clear. We may be alive, but Yeo Sang isn't here with us. Since the Cromer was broken, there's no way for us to be back there.
We were hopelessly wasting time, then Seong Hwa rushed and shouted, "This is the Cromer, right?" He showed an article featuring the attempted robbery of the Mayan relic exhibited at the National Museum of Korea, 'The Hourglass that Captures the Lunar Movement'. It was the Cromer!
02 - SEONGHWA
"If we think back, the broken Cromer, I got in my dream, was from the man with the black fedora. It means, that Cromer was existing in their dimension. It would be possible that there is another Cromer in this dimension. Let's find the Cromer to find Yeo Sang and put it back to the original place!" Hong Joong yelled. However, other members were against Hong Joong's idea, saying it is too dangerous and illegal.
"Whether it is legal or illegal, what about Yeo Sang? You are telling me that you want us to leave him there?"
If it were me in the past, who was stuck up and scared to break the rules, I would have reacted the same as the other members when Hong Joong suggested his idea. Maybe this made me even madder. But now, I'm not the person who I used to be. Saving Yeo Sang was my top priority.
Opinion: Still Here (Korean Version)
Works here, lyrics talk about being connected even through long distance and that they will see each other once again.
"We decided not to be stuck in the past. When we left to another dimension, we all made up our mind. Didn't we?" We do know we are not in the present. So, we must go back to make everything right.
After giving some thought, one by one, the members started to agree with stealing the Cromer. As everyone was coming together, Yun Ho quietly said, "I want to stay here. I can't leave my brother."
03 - JONGHO
As much as I believed in Yun Ho, his statement came as a shock. I walked around our agit to pull myself together. Min Gi quietly came out and walked with me. He probably felt the same.
"I respect Yun Ho's decision."
Opinion: The Letter
Works here, as the lyrics really point to the members supporting one another no matter what comes along.
I looked at Min Gi perplexed. He carefully went on. "When I thought that I may lose my grandmother, everything felt meaningless, even my dreams and our members. I believe it will be even worse for Yun Ho. He already lost his brother once. He'd never want to let him go."
At that moment, I remembered when I punched Min Gi. When Min Gi told us he wanted to quit, saying that our dreams are meaningless, I felt betrayed and swung my fist. Obviously, my heart was instantly flooded with regret...
"It's too late to say this now, but I didn't want to give up at all."
He said that the only reason he'd made up his mind to give up was his grandmother, his only family member who had collapsed on that day. The fact that he is having a great time with our members while his grandmother is suffering haunted him. I was able to finally understand Min Gi's perspective after he shared his story. I knew that I could never fully understand what Yun Ho has gone through, but I assumed that he had a hard time as well. He should be conflicted between finding his brother and saving Yeo Sang. I am sure he is suffering from it.
After having a long discussion, we chose to respect Yun Ho's choice. No one can be forced to decide.
Ateez have a shared dream with Yeosang after realizing they have a chance to save him by getting A-World's cromer.
04 - YUNHO
Everyone should be in front of the museum by now. Why am I so nervous? I'm sure everything is going as we planned.
My brother scolded me for checking my phone every minute. Full of embarrassment, I put down my phone. I started to massage his left leg, telling him everything was fine.
"You are so weird! You've changed so much! Well, I like it a lot better than when you were wandering around on your motorcycle...But I still can't get used to this sudden change in the last two weeks."
Opinion: Better (Korean Version)
Works here, as Yunho's changes are noticed by his brother.
I understand what he said. Well, I came back from the future.
"I think God gave you perfect hands at the cost of giving you legs that need a bit of help." I said.
I imitated my brother playing guitar as he gave me a curious look. He laughed out loud and asked me to massage his left leg harder. Since birth, he had a dysfunctional right leg, so my brother's left leg would always be swollen as it is doing all of the leg work.
"Well, if my legs are good, I would never imagine myself sitting here to play the instrument. Maybe some deficiencies are a blessing in disguise, giving insight. Right?"
He finished talking and turned on the TV in the corner of the room, and headline news came out. It was about Henry Jo, the leader of Sciensalvar, breaking into the National Museum of Korea to steal Mayan relics with hundreds of Sciensalvar's believers. Some boys who were trying to stop them from stealing the relic, and now they are held as hostages. I jumped up. The hostages were my members. I took out my motorcycle key from the cabinet and yelled at my brother,
"Stay inside. You should stay inside no matter what!"
05 - WOOYOUNG
I thought Sceinsalvar was a religious group. But why...
Why is Henry Jo pointing his knife at my throat? How did his happen?
4 PM, we met up in front of the museum and planned to enter the museum in two groups of three. As closing time approached, the security guards were loosening up. One group was responsible for catching the guards' attention while the other group steals the Cromer. We planned to go get Yeo Sang as soon as we stole the Cromer. However, even before entering the museum, our plan fell apart. Among the crowd of people in red coming out of the exhibition all, a man in a black techwear outfit was holding the Cromer. He had a long white beard, a black mole on this right cheek, and large goggles. It was Henry Jo, the leader of Sciensalvar.
We had to get the Cromer back from him. If we miss this opportunity, there may be no way back. Right then, some high school girls with red blankets on their shoulders passed by me. Without giving any thought, I took their blanket and put it over my head, and then joined the group of Sciensalvar believers. Leaving the faces of the embarrassed high school girls behind, the members also joined the group covered with blankets.
We gradually approached Henry Jo. As we reached close enough to snatch the Cromer...Bang! The police shot a blank fire shot and blocked Henry Jo and the Sciensalvar believers. At that moment, I reached towards the Cromer...But Henry Jo pointed a blade at my throat even more quickly. He whispered in my ear, holding back his laughter. "I just needed a hostage, so thank you for coming!"
06 - HONGJOONG
'Think Hong Joong. Think!'
My head blacked out.
My head stopped because of this fear I've never felt before. Bang! The police shot another blank fire shot. As the final warning, the police yelled that if the hostages were not released, they would fire shots immediately. As the believers started to murmur, Henry Jo yelled not to be swayed.
At that moment, a group of bikers ran toward the museum with a loud exhaust sound. Six bikers began to circle the crowed of Sciensalvar. The believers started to get nervous about the riders' unknown intention. Henry Jo shouted, but the motorcycles were too loud to hear anything. Then, a familiar sticker caught my eyes. 'ATEEZ YH'. It was Yun Ho! The other riders must be Yun Ho's friends.
I intuitively knew Yun Ho's plan. As Henry Jo lost control over his believers, he turned towards the crowd.
"Woo Young!!!"
I wasn't sure if Woo Young heard me, or he intuitively knew it was Yun Ho, but Woo Young snatched the Cromer and started to run. As soon as we ran out of the group of believers, Yun Ho and the riders seated us on their motorcycles and ramped up.
We could see Henry Jo running away along while the police were trying to control the believers.
07 - MINGI
"Ah, I knew you'd come back!" I shouted with excitement behind Yun Ho.
As I was shouting with joy, I heard Hong Joong saying, "There's a car behind you!!" The six motorcycles suddenly turned their directions, and everyone fell to the ground. The car, coming to crush us, was overpowered by its own momentum and flipped to the pedestrian walk, hitting the pedestrians. Yun Ho's eyes trembled as he saw the pedestrians lying on the ground.
"Brother!" Yun Ho screamed as he ran to the pedestrian. It was Yun Ho's brother on the ground. He seemed like he was heading towards the museum, after seeing Yun Ho's motorcycle on the news. Yun Ho's brother slowly opened his eyes and asked. "Is it 5:07 right now?" I checked my phone, and it was 5:07 PM. "Your diary said that I got hit by a car at 5:07 PM." Yun Ho looked at his brother, startled. His brother went on saying, "Sorry. I read your journal on the desk. I knew something was going on, but you never told me what you were going through." He painfully continued breathing. "It didn't make any sense, so I thought it was a lie. I guess it wasn't."
Opinion: Be With You
Works here. The lyrics work really well with Yunho losing his brother again and the members being there to support him.
"We need to go to the hospital right now." Yun Ho wiped his tears and tried to pull his brother, but his brother grabbed his arm. Yun Ho held on this his brother's hand as if he'd never let his brother go. "There's something I need to tell you...It wasn't your fault that I got injured back then, and even now, it isn't your fault. So leave me in the past and move on with your own life." Yun Ho was weeping. His brother slowly patted Yun Ho's head. "I love you, my brother. You know what I always say, right? You're doing your best just by going through the day. I was happy enough for the last two weeks. I appreciate it." Then, Yun Ho's brother passed out. Yun Ho put his head down on his brother's chest and wailed.
Henry Jo stumbled out of the driver's seat of the overturned car. Blood was running down slowly on Henry Jo's face because of his head injury. Henry Jo stared at the Cromer in Woo Young's hand. He then began to run towards Woo Young with a knife. Yun Ho quickly threw his fist at Henry Jo and yelled. "Turn the Cromer!" Henry Jo snatched the knife that he dropped when he fell down. "Hurry!" Right at the moment when Henry Jo raging towards us, Woo Young turned the Cromer.
A-World Ateez prepares for their rescue of Yeosang and break him free. (Note: The World Ep. Fin: Will Diaries A. INTRO mentions that Halateez is still captured.)
08 - YEOSANG
How long have I been in this glass room? It felt like an eternity being in this tube without any light. I found the whole lines of Resistances, who revolted against the government, standing in front of my glass room with their biological energy stolen. Android Guardians covered them with black fabric. Maybe they did not want to see the undead Resistances. The worst part was that the Grimes siblings were among the covered Resistances.
The Grimes siblings and Left Eye ran to the art museum after seeing the light that the Cromer emitted when it shattered. Left Eye was able to escape the bunker, but he lost his right arm. The Grimes siblings got caught and lost their biological energy.
I don't know how much time has passed. The pain was so great that I desired to lose my emotions instead. I wished that guardians would kill me.
When my train of thoughts went that far, I heard a trumpet sound somewhere. The guardians, surveilling me, busted out. I heard beating and moaning outside. I started beating at the glass tube without even knowing. "Somebody please get me out of here! Please!"
The light that I hadn't seen for ages slid in when the door opened. Men in black fedoras were fighting with Android Guardians behind the opened door. "Hey, Yeo Sang." I heard a warm voice calling my name. A guy came near my glass room and pulled down his black mask. Tears of relief burst out of my eyes. It was Seong Hwa.
Z. OUTRO
-The underground hideout of the Resistance organization 'Black Pirate.'-
A signal came from an old small machine. A one-armed man rushed in and sat down in front of the old machine. The one-armed man held up a pen to write down the codes. It was Left Eye. After suffering from another loss, he looked rather fragile.
"... ._ . ._ . ._ .
._ . . _.."
Left eye interpreted the Morse Code he wrote down. The light of hope spread on his face gradually. Left Eye turned to the people and shouted, "They're back! They came back!"
The cheers of 'Black Pirate' echoed in the underground hideout.
The messy handwriting of Left Eye on the paper reads:
"SAY MY NAME. ATEEZ."
ATEEZ have returned as Halateez to lead the Black Pirates. (Note: The World Ep. Fin: Will Diaries A. INTRO mentions that Halateez is still captured.)
A-World
Halazia have used a Cromer (or were transported to present day A World from their glitch world when A World ATEEZ was sent to the past when Yeosang smashed the Cromer) to come to A-World to destroy the Sciensalvar religion before it can take power.
Opinion: This takes place between A-World ATEEZ leaving to save Yeosang and their return to A-World that was forced on them by Z after In Your Fantasy.
Halazia Hongjoong and Seongwha destroy Sciensalvar. Halazia Ateez are all slightly unhinged from their imprisonment on their world.
Halazia Wooyoung, San, and Yeosang's reaction to A-World and their emotional freedom and figuring out themselves with this new freedom.
Halazia Mingi and Yunho regaining their feeling of youth on A-World after their imprisonment in Halazia World.
On A-World, Halazia Jungho deals with the trauma and his losses from his world.
Z-World
Unknown adventure that has not been verified by diary lore. As Answer has the White Guardian in it still following them, it has to take place after the Fever Series (as Hongjoong mentioned in an interview that Fever is a prequal to Treasure) and before the end of The World series. However Answer shows Halateez with ATEEZ and we know from The World Ep. Fin: Will Diaries A. INTRO that Halateez is still captured.
**This series could be part of the newest comeback diaries as it seems we are coming back to their origins and Halateez - 11-01-2026
Opinion: A-World Ateez see their potential as Black Pirates after realizing what they can do after rescuing Yeosang.
Opinion: A-World Ateez tries to find their purpose in the Black Pirates rebellion. (Or they could be on a quest to find Halateez.)
Opinion: A-World Ateez return to Strictland, after learning more truths about the Z-World, and decide to take an active part in the rebellion. (Or they could have finally found where Halateez were moved to and rescued them.)
Opinion: A-World ATEEZ align themselves with Halateez Black Pirates in their final fight, sometime after Halateez are rescued but before A-World ATEEZ leaves Z-World in Golden Hour.
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