Footsteps echoed down the marble halls of the academy as Ryu Min-jae, student council president, stepped forward with his piercing eyes set ahead. His tone was low but even with a repressed anger.
"Where's Jacob?"
The hallway fell silent. No one was brave enough to move—until someone, firm and commanding, broke the silence.
A girl stepped out from among the other members of the student council.
She was stunning. Her dark hair fell behind her in a cascade of silk, and at her hip lay a scabbarded katana, its shining edge hinting at silent battles. She seemed to be a woman from another era—gracious, elegant, lethal.
Her name was Kang Hye-jin, daughter of one of the most revered martial clans in South Korea. She was a draw from the very beginning, and not so much because she was beautiful. She was resilient. She was the only one reputed to have had the guts to take on Ryu Min-jae and come out alive.
She looked at Min-jae with a mixture of ferocity and clemency.
"Min-jae. why are you getting so upset?" she asked, her voice low and firm. "He's probably where he always is. Don't you recall—he's your older brother. At least be polite."
The moment the words left her lips, tension crackled in the air like electricity.
Min-jae stopped.
He spun around in an instant, moved towards her, and gripped her chin tightly. His was not a gentle hold—fingers pinching into her face in an effort to squeeze out the obstinacy.
His gaze flared with fury.
"Who gave you the right to speak like that?" he said. "Even if you're from a top martial family… you're nothing compared to me. Watch your mouth."
The students around them froze. No one moved, paralyzed by fear. Even the air was heavy with tension.
Then, just as abruptly, he let her go—his hand dropping like the burden of his own fury repelled him. He stood up and strode away, the rest of the council behind him, heads bowed, silence heavy among them.
Hye-jin didn't budge. Her jaw was locked. She stroked her chin tenderly where he had pinched her.
"That boy…" she whispered to herself. "One day, his pride will get him killed."
****
(Meanwhile… In Seoul)
Across the city, far away from the academy's cold halls and loud expectations, a quiet park sat in the middle of downtown Seoul.
Birds chirped in the trees. A gentle breeze flowed across the leaves.
And on a wooden bench alongside the pond, Jacob sat alone.
His eyes glazed over to look at the sky, watching birds fly through the clouds. But he wasn't really seeing them.
He was elsewhere.
In memory.
In pain.
And before he realized it, he had drifted into the past.
****
20 years ago, on His 5th birthday.
He remembered the warmth of the day vividly.
The smell of his mother's cooking in the mornings, the sound of his father's laughter booming through the tiny apartment, and the oversized birthday hat that didn't fit his small head. They were going to the amusement park—him, his mom, and his dad.
He was pumped. His little hands gripped a balloon hard as his parents smiled in the front seats.
And then—
Boom.
A strange beat tore through the air.
Then screams.
A dungeon break.
In the middle of the city.
Monsters poured out of thin air like water pouring from a burst dam before they left. Panic. Horns blaring. Cars crashing.
Their car spun out of control—colliding with the divider and rolling out of control.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Glass shattered. Metal shrieked.
Then silence.
When Jacob woke, his head hurt. He moved his head, dazed. He saw his dad bleeding, stuck against the steering wheel, not moving at all.
And his mother…
She'd been thrown out of the car. Her body lay a few feet away. Unmoving. Blood on her blouse.
He remembered screaming.
Then came the monster.
An A-rank mindeater—a horned, feral beast with hot coals for eyes and a grin that twisted with malice. It loomed over his mother, looking down at her with grim amusement.
It spun around to face them in the back seat of the vehicle, looking at Jacob's father.
And then…
THWACK
Tore her head clean off.
Like it didn't mean a thing.
Jacob's father screamed—a cry so filled with agony that it didn't even sound like something human. Something inside of him snapped.
And in that moment—he opened his eyes.
Not as a normal hunter.
But as an SS-rank.
Becoming the fifth SS-rank awakened in all of South Korea at that time.
With burning red eyes from anger and grief, Jacob's father leapt from the wreckage. His aura exploded outward, the earth to dust beneath him.
He destroyed everything in his path.
All the creatures.
All the monsters.
He didn't stop. Even when hunters arrived, they remained frozen, gawking in horror and awe. They had never seen a human like him before.
But the damage was already set.
His wife was gone.
And the kind, gentle man Jacob used to call father… was gone with her.
****
Back in the present, Jacob blinked. He hadn't realized his hands were shaking.
It's my fault, he thought with bitterness. If only I had not begged to visit the park. If only.
His thoughts were interrupted by a soft voice.
"Um… are you alright, sir?"
He had glanced up, taken aback.
In front of him stood a small girl.
She looked no older than ten or eleven. Small, with delicate features, big questioning eyes, and a gentle smile that wasn't quite on par with the chaos of the world outside their bubble.
She tilted her head to the side, brushing her hair back behind her ear.
"You seemed kind of… unhappy," she said softly. "So I thought I'd ask."
Jacob stared at her, stunned.
"Where did she come from? How did she come so close to me without me noticing?"
He turned to speak something—
But the words wouldn't come.
Who is she?
And why did she feel like the beginning of something big?
To be continued...