Han Si-woo stepped onto the pavement. His old scavenger's jumpsuit was charred, hanging off his frame like molted skin. But it was his face that stopped the Elite Hunters in their tracks. His eyes weren't glowing with the typical blue mana of an Awakened; they were deep, flickering wells of violet static that seemed to pull the light from the air around him.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
[Status: Level 1 Sovereign]
[Passive Skill Active: 'Aura of Depletion']
[Environmental Mana Absorbed: 4,200 units]
[Warning: The world feels your hunger. Hostility rising.]
"Halt!" Commander Kang stepped forward, his claymore radiating a sun-like heat. "Identify yourself. You're the scavenger... Han Si-woo? How are you alive? Where are the Gold-Class leads?"
Si-woo looked at the Commander. To his new eyes, Kang wasn't a man; he was a battery. A walking, breathing pile of 500,000 Mana units. The hunger in Si-woo's gut—the Entropy Engine—growled.
"They're gone," Si-woo said. His voice sounded like grinding metal. "The Vault... it didn't reset. It was deleted."
"Deleted? Don't be ridiculous. Stand down for mana-cuffing!"
Two B-Rank hunters lunged forward, their hands glowing with binding magic. In the past, Si-woo would have been crushed by their mere presence. Now, as they reached for him, the "Engine" in his chest kicked over.
[SKILL TRIGGERED: 'ZERO-SUM DOMAIN']
[Cost: 500 Mana from targets]
The binding spells didn't just fail; they imploded. The two hunters gasped, falling to their knees as the very magical energy in their blood was ripped out through their fingertips. It flowed into Si-woo like ribbons of black smoke.
[STRENGTH +2]
[AGILITY +2]
[INTELLECT +1]
"What did you do?!" Kang roared, swinging his massive claymore. The blade, infused with the 'Solar Flare' skill, should have cut Si-woo in half.
Si-woo didn't dodge. He caught the blade with his bare palm.
The heat of the sword vanished instantly. The gold glow turned to dull iron, then cracked. Si-woo wasn't using strength—he was subtracting the energy that held the sword together.
"I'm not here to fight you," Si-woo said, his grip tightening until the S-Rank weapon shattered into dust. "I'm here to settle the bill. Humanity has been using the Vaults' power for a decade. Today... the interest is due."
The Aftermath: The Association HQ
Two hours later, the video of the "Seoul Station Incident" was playing on a loop in the highest office of the World Hunter Association.
President Choi watched the grainy footage of a "Dry-Cell" scavenger breaking an S-Rank weapon with his palm.
"His Pulse rating is still 0.00%," the analyst whispered, trembling. "According to our sensors, he doesn't exist. He's a walking hole in reality."
"He isn't a Hunter," Choi realized, his face paling. "He's an Anti-Hunter. Send the 'Shadow Unit'. Find out where he lives. If we can't control a man who eats magic, we won't have a world left to protect."
Si-woo's New Reality
Back in his cramped, one-room apartment in the slums, Si-woo sat on the floor. He looked at his trembling hands. The "Engine" was quiet now, but the hunger was still there.
A new screen flickered into existence.
[QUEST LOG OPENED]
[Current Objective: Secure a 'Core Source']
[Target: The 'Clockwork Heart' hidden in the Seoul Association Vault.]
[Reward: Class Evolution — 'Void Monarch']
[Penalty for Failure: World Mana Decay acceleration +15%]
Si-woo looked at the photo of his sister on the bedside table. She was dying because the world's mana was "too thin" for her body to handle.
"If I have to starve the world to keep you breathing," Si-woo whispered, his eyes flashing violet, "then the world can go hungry."