Three Days Later – Suwon, Downtown District
The sun was high, casting long shadows over the crosswalks.
Ha-Joon had just finished a support class briefing at the local hunter branch. He stepped out of the building, phone in hand, quietly checking a delivery app—he was planning to pick up a new rice cooker for his mom.
Then he stopped.
Not because of anything he saw.
But because he felt it.
A shift.
Subtle, almost invisible—like the twitch of a predator's tail in tall grass.
And then—
BOOM!
A deafening crack echoed down the avenue. Glass shattered. Pedestrians screamed. A building wall buckled inward as if something invisible had punched it from the inside.
A gate?
No. Too precise. Too artificial.
---
The Crowd Panics
Dozens of civilians scattered, running for cover.
Ha-Joon stood still in the chaos, staring at the source of the explosion: a narrow alley between two tall buildings, now pouring with dense, violet smoke.
Two masked individuals stepped out of the smoke—fully suited in black armor, faces hidden, moving with clear, rehearsed coordination.
Not monsters.
Not awakened civilians.
Operators.
And they weren't looking for just anyone.
They were coming for him.
---
Ha-Joon Reacts—But Carefully
He turned and began walking away—calm, unhurried, as if nothing had happened.
But his mind raced.
> "They've stopped waiting. They're forcing it now."
One of the masked men raised a hand. The air shimmered—a suppression field.
A force meant to lock movement, paralyze spiritual nerves, or trigger panic in awakened targets.
The crowd nearby collapsed to the ground, groaning, clutching their heads.
Ha-Joon paused as the field reached him.
And felt… nothing.
His body didn't freeze.
His mind didn't tremble.
He simply turned around slowly to face them.
---
The Confrontation
> "Subject confirmed," one of them said. "Initiate forced extraction."
The second man moved forward, raising a small orb-like weapon—likely a mana-inhibitor bomb.
Ha-Joon blinked.
And they were both gone.
One second they stood before him.
The next—they were embedded in opposite walls of the alley, unconscious, gear smoking, bones cracked.
No one had seen him move.
Not even surveillance.
He stepped into the smoke.
Picked up the inhibitor bomb.
Crushed it effortlessly in one hand.
---
A Nearby Rooftop – Watching
A woman with silver hair and a longcoat stood across the street, peering through a telescope lens.
She saw nothing.
Just two agents suddenly removed from existence.
> "So the rumors were true," she whispered.
"He's faster than light."
She tapped her comm.
> "Team 7 is down. Visual sweep lost him. He's suppressing his signature perfectly."
A voice replied:
> "Abort. Pull back all non-combat teams. He's not our prey."
She paused.
> "Then whose is he?"
---
Later That Day – Inside a Forgotten Warehouse
Ha-Joon dragged the two unconscious agents into the shadows of a long-abandoned warehouse. Their bodies were broken but alive—he'd ensured they wouldn't die.
He wasn't a murderer.
But he wasn't kind either.
He crouched down beside one.
> "Tell your masters this," he whispered.
> "I don't care who you are. I don't care what you think I am."
> "But if you endanger this city again… even once…"
He leaned closer. His crimson eyes flickered in the gloom like molten glass.
> "You won't get a second warning."
---
Meanwhile – Seoul, Hidden Conference Room
A roundtable of high-ranking figures watched security footage on repeat.
There was a blur. Two agents. Then static. Then silence.
> "His movements weren't captured."
> "Not even by deep-frame slow scan?"
> "Nothing. He's untrackable."
A silence settled.
Then a voice spoke—a woman at the far end of the table.
> "Then it's true. The rumors. A red-eyed anomaly who returned from the first phantom gate."
> "If we can't control him," another added, "we may have to eliminate him."
The woman shook her head.
> "If you try… the world might not survive his anger."
---
Back in Suwon – Evening
Ha-Joon returned home like nothing happened.
The sun was just setting. His mother was laughing at a cooking show. His father was humming while folding clean laundry. Ha-Rin sat by the window, reading quietly.
Peace.
This was why he endured it all.
He handed his sister a small box—inside, a new tablet.
> "You said yours was freezing," he said.
Ha-Rin blinked.
> "How did you know?"
> "I guessed."
She smiled softly.
> "You're really weird these days."
> "But helpful?"
> "...Maybe."
---
That Night – On the Rooftop Again
The stars above were faint tonight.
A cloudless sky, but somehow distant.
Ha-Joon leaned on the rail and whispered to the wind:
> "They're growing desperate."
> "They want to provoke me."
> "But I didn't survive sixty trillion years… to lose my peace now."
He closed his eyes.
And in that stillness…
He made a quiet promise.
> "I will protect this life."
> "Even if I have to shake the heavens again."
---