Lee Raon's chest rose and fell rapidly, the air thick with the scent of ash, blood, and ozone. The body of the Earthborn Grunter steamed beside him, twitching for a final time before falling still. His fingers trembled, stained with a dark, almost oily blood. He had killed. Not by accident. Not in desperation. But with clarity.
And with purpose.
The system responded instantly.
[Level Up: 2 → 3]
[Evolution Points Gained: +3]
[Skill Tree Access Unlocked]
[New Path Revealed: Abyssal Dragon Core – Tier I]
[Path Bonus: +5% Resistance, +3% Physical Amplification, Passive Regeneration]
The surge hit him like a second heartbeat. Every nerve in his body pulsed with awareness. The ache in his ribs from where he'd slammed into the wall faded in seconds. The blood on his lip stopped flowing. He stood straighter, stronger, though the weight of what had just happened still pressed against his mind.
He had killed a monster—and something within him had loved it.
He turned slowly to Seo Hana, who stood frozen, her mouth slightly open. She had witnessed the entire battle. The monster. The glow. The blood.
"I..." Raon started, his voice hoarse. "I didn't know I could do that."
Hana blinked, then walked over without a word. She examined his arm, now coated in faint, sapphire-colored scales that shimmered under the morning sun. As she touched them, they vanished.
"You're not just a student anymore," she said quietly. "You're a dragon."
Raon wanted to deny it. Say he was still himself. Still a boy who once avoided eye contact in the hallways. But he couldn't. The thing inside him, this system, it wasn't just altering his body—it was rewriting who he was.
[New Trait Unlocked: Predator Instinct – Level 1]
[When facing a hostile entity, reaction time and processing speed increase by 15%. Warning: prolonged use may dull emotional empathy.]
He flinched.
"What the hell is this system turning me into?"
Hana looked at him seriously. "Something that might not survive if it stays here."
Sirens howled in the distance—government sirens, fast, high-pitched, digital. Not police. Something higher.
Raon turned to the sound and saw three black drones cutting through the sky like hawks. Behind them, two sleek armored vehicles tore across the asphalt, dust trailing behind their tires like clouds of smoke.
"They're here for you," Hana whispered. "We have to go. Now."
Raon hesitated. He looked once more at the Grunter's body. In the past, he would have run. He would have begged, cried, hidden.
Now?
He felt the surge return, not from fear—but from the system.
[Threat Level Detected: Lethal]
[Recommended Action: Evade and Hide. Shop Expanded.]
A flicker of blue light opened a new panel in his vision.
☰ Evolution Shop – Tier I
— Blink Step (Active, 3 EP): Instantly dash up to 5 meters
— Ironhide Skin (Passive, 4 EP): Increases defense by 20%
— Beast Tracking (Passive, 2 EP): Detect monster signatures within 100 meters
— Lesser Flame Breath (Active, 5 EP): Emit short-range flame burst
Raon had 4 Evolution Points.
"I need to escape," he muttered. "But I'm not running empty-handed."
He chose quickly.
[Blink Step purchased. Ironhide Skin purchased. Remaining EP: 0]
The change was immediate. His legs felt like springs, his skin like hardened leather. Hana didn't have time to ask questions before Raon grabbed her wrist.
"Hold tight."
The sound of the first shot rang out as a drone opened fire.
Raon vanished.
They reappeared behind a loading dock across the courtyard, Raon collapsing briefly as his muscles spasmed from the sudden displacement.
"That... was insane," Hana gasped.
Raon grinned through gritted teeth. "Not as insane as staying in one place."
The drones circled back, scanning. A mechanical voice blared from a speaker.
"This is Agent Command Gamma. Lee Raon, you are designated a Class-Zero rogue evolver. Surrender immediately or face extermination."
Hana's breath caught. "They're serious. They're going to kill you."
"No," Raon muttered, standing again, "they're going to try."
[Stealth Mode recommended. Evolution Point threshold: 10 – Next Tier Unlock at Level 5]
They moved. Darting between buildings, through alleys, past dumpsters and fallen fencing, toward the outer edge of the campus where the perimeter faded into thick forest.
Raon's instincts flared.
[Entity Detected: High-tier Evolutionary Soldier – Human Variant, Level 12]
[Probability of defeat: 0.03%]
[Run.]
They skidded to a halt.
Ahead, standing casually beside a broken vending machine, was a man wearing a black combat suit lined with red sigils. His arms were crossed. His eyes, glowing faint silver, watched them with amusement.
"You really made quite a mess, Dragon Boy."
Raon's mind screamed danger. His body refused to move.
The man cracked his neck. "My name's Do Hyunsoo. Class name: Judgment Fang. Level Twelve. I volunteered for your retrieval. Or, if needed... execution."
Hana stepped forward. "He didn't choose this. He didn't even use a serum—"
"Irrelevant," Hyunsoo replied. "The law is simple. Unauthorized evolvers are unstable. Dangerous. Especially ones that manifest external systems."
He turned to Raon. "And yours is the first one to go rogue since the Seoul Cataclysm."
Raon's fists clenched. He tried to activate Blink Step again—but nothing came.
[Cooldown: 11 seconds]
Too slow.
Hyunsoo raised his hand. A pulse of red energy shot forward. Raon shielded Hana instinctively—expecting pain.
Instead, a blue glow emerged from his chest, forming a faint sigil in the air.
[Emergency Defense Activated: Dragon Vein Barrier – Tier I]
[Damage Reduced: 65%]
The energy hit and dispersed like water striking stone.
Hyunsoo blinked. "Impressive."
Raon didn't wait. He grabbed Hana again and blinked—this time upward, onto a rooftop.
[Cooldown: 30 seconds]
He ran, legs burning, lungs on fire. Behind him, Hyunsoo leapt after them—no system, no glow. Just raw speed.
"I can't outrun him," Raon muttered.
"Then don't," Hana said. "Outthink him."
They reached the edge of the roof. A maintenance antenna tower stood just a few feet across the gap.
Raon turned.
"Hyunsoo," he called, forcing his voice to sound confident. "You think you can control everything. That everyone has to fit into your little system."
Hyunsoo walked slowly forward, eyes narrowed.
"I'm not part of your game," Raon said. "I'm not your experiment."
Hyunsoo's expression shifted slightly. Amusement faded.
Raon smiled.
"You're just scared. Scared of something you didn't make."
He turned and leapt.
Not toward the tower—but straight down.
Hyunsoo ran to the edge, eyes wide.
But there, clinging to the side of the wall like a spider, was Raon—his fingers embedded into the cement with faint blue claws.
[Instinct Skill Activated: Wall Cling – Subtrait of Draconic Grip]
Below him, a sewer grate waited.
He dropped. Rolled. Landed hard.
And vanished into the dark.
The silence underground was absolute. The only sound was dripping water and Raon's own breathing.
Hana leaned against the wall beside him. "I think you pissed him off."
Raon laughed bitterly. "Good. Let him be angry."
He opened the system again. A new tab was glowing.
[Skill Tree – Active]
[Paths Available: Abyssal Flame, Winged Terror, Sovereign Mind]
He clicked open Abyssal Flame.
[Next Unlock: Ember Core – Passive Enhancement to Flame Abilities. EP Required: 8]
He didn't have enough.
But he would.
He had tasted evolution now. Felt it crawl under his skin, whisper to his soul.
He wasn't Lee Raon, the weakling anymore.
He was something else.
Something coming.
And the world was about to burn.