Chapter 1 — The Day the World Broke
Eighty years ago, the world was still ordinary.
Peaceful, even.
People woke up to alarms they hated, drank coffee they didn't need, and rushed through crowded streets chasing jobs, school, money, or love. Children argued about cartoons. Office workers argued about promotions. Couples argued about whose turn it was to wash dishes.
Wars existed, sure. Crime too. But those were human problems.
Human problems had human solutions.
At least… that was what people believed.
Until the day the sky cracked.
It happened in Tokyo, in the middle of a quiet morning. The city square bustled with its usual chaos—tourists snapping photos, street vendors shouting prices, students rushing to class, businessmen glued to their phones.
Then reality… bent.
At first, it looked like a distortion in the air. Like heat waves rising off asphalt.
People barely noticed.
Then the distortion widened.
The sky above the square split open like glass under pressure.
A jagged tear formed in midair—black, swirling, unnatural. It pulsed like a wound in space itself.
A gate.
No one knew that word yet.
They only knew something impossible had appeared.
The police arrived within minutes.
Barricades went up. Civilians were pushed back. The media flooded the area. Helicopters circled overhead, cameras zooming in on the anomaly.
The thing in the sky hummed.
It was roughly fifteen meters wide, spinning slowly like a dark vortex.
Scientists were flown in immediately.
By nightfall, the entire area had transformed into a fortress of curiosity and fear.
Physicists.
Astronomers.
Military specialists.
Government officials from multiple nations.
Everyone wanted to know the same thing.
What the hell is that?
For eight days, the world watched.
The gate didn't expand.
It didn't move.
It just… existed.
Machines scanned it. Drones flew near it. Sensors recorded energy readings that made no sense.
Nothing entered.
Nothing exited.
It just hung there like a silent threat.
By the sixth day, some scientists began to relax.
Maybe it was a natural phenomenon.
A harmless anomaly.
Perhaps a rare cosmic distortion.
On the eighth day, the truth arrived.
Without warning, the gate broke open.
Not exploded.
Not expanded.
It shattered.
Like a cracked mirror finally giving way.
And from the darkness inside…
Something crawled out.
The first monster appeared.
Witnesses later described it differently.
Some said it looked like a wolf.
Others said a reptile.
Others insisted it resembled a demon straight from ancient mythology.
But everyone agreed on one thing.
It wasn't from Earth.
The creature leapt from the gate and landed in the city square.
Then it attacked.
Screams filled the air instantly.
Within seconds, more creatures poured out of the broken gate.
Dozens.
Then hundreds.
The military reacted immediately.
Gunfire thundered across the square.
Bullets ripped into the monsters.
But something horrifying happened.
The bullets… did almost nothing.
The creatures kept moving.
Claws tore through steel barricades like paper. Teeth shredded armored vehicles.
Within minutes, the square became a slaughterhouse.
Blood stained the pavement.
People ran.
People fell.
People died.
Helicopters fired rockets.
Tanks rolled in.
Nothing worked.
The world watched live broadcasts as Tokyo burned.
Humanity had never faced something like this before.
And it was losing.
Then, in the middle of the chaos…
Something impossible happened.
A man stepped forward.
He was young. Maybe twenty-five. Just another civilian trapped in the nightmare.
But when one of the monsters lunged at him—
He raised his hand.
A strange blue light erupted around his body.
The air itself seemed to tremble.
And when he struck the creature…
It died instantly.
The world froze.
Another monster attacked.
The man punched it.
It exploded.
More creatures rushed him.
The blue energy around him surged.
One after another, the monsters fell.
For the first time since the gate opened—
Humanity pushed back.
That man's name was Kim Hi-yu.
The first human in history to awaken Mana.
The first Hunter.
News spread across the planet like wildfire.
Kim Hi-yu fought for hours that day.
By the time the gate finally stabilized and the remaining monsters were eliminated, the once-bustling city square had become a graveyard.
Thousands were dead.
But humanity had survived.
And the world would never be the same again.
---
In the years that followed, more gates began appearing across the globe.
Some small.
Some enormous.
Each one containing a place later called a Dungeon.
Monsters emerged from these gates, and when too many gathered inside…
They broke out.
A phenomenon that became known as a Dungeon Break.
But humanity adapted.
More people awakened Mana.
More Hunters appeared.
Kim Hi-yu helped establish the Hunter Ranking System.
Guilds were formed.
Governments created international dungeon response teams.
Ranks were introduced to measure power.
E Rank.
D Rank.
C Rank.
B Rank.
A Rank.
S Rank.
And eventually…
A level beyond even that.
Mythic Rank.
The strongest Hunters on Earth.
Only five individuals currently held that title.
Each one powerful enough to change the fate of an entire country.
Kim Hi-yu himself had been the first S-Rank in history.
Though many had surpassed him since, his name remained legendary.
The man who proved humanity could fight back.
The man who changed the world.
---
Present Day
Lucas Dilihavia stared at the ceiling of his bedroom.
The paint above him had a small crack running across it. He had been meaning to fix it for months.
He never did.
The cheap apartment was quiet this morning.
Too quiet.
Lucas sighed and rolled over on his mattress.
His alarm had already gone off fifteen minutes ago.
He ignored it.
At twenty-four years old, Lucas Dilihavia had already accepted a brutal truth about himself.
He was weak.
Not normal-human weak.
He was technically stronger than civilians.
But in the Hunter world…
He was dirt.
E Rank.
The absolute bottom.
The kind of Hunter people hired to carry bags and pick up monster corpses.
Lucas rubbed his face and groaned.
"Another beautiful day of being useless…"
He swung his legs off the bed.
The apartment he lived in wasn't large. Just two bedrooms and a small living room.
He shared it with his sisters.
And honestly?
They deserved better.
Lucas walked to the bathroom and turned on the light.
The mirror greeted him with the same disappointing reflection.
Messy dark hair.
Sleepy eyes.
Lean build.
Nothing impressive.
Nothing heroic.
He stared at himself for a few seconds.
"…Pathetic."
Not that he cared much.
Heroes died young.
Lucas had no intention of dying for strangers.
He brushed his teeth slowly, his mind wandering.
Why did he keep doing this job?
It certainly wasn't for glory.
He didn't care about saving the world.
Didn't care about being admired.
Didn't care about fame.
The only people that mattered to him were his family.
His sisters.
And…
His little brother.
Lucas spit toothpaste into the sink and rinsed his mouth.
His younger brother had been in a coma for two years.
Hospital bills piled up endlessly.
Their eldest sister, Sarah, worked herself half to death as a doctor trying to cover expenses.
Lucas couldn't sit at home doing nothing.
Even if he was weak.
Even if the pay was terrible.
Every dungeon raid helped.
He finished getting dressed and stepped into the kitchen.
The smell of eggs greeted him.
Sarah stood at the stove, wearing her usual tired expression.
Despite the exhaustion in her eyes, she smiled when she saw him.
"Morning, Lucas."
"Morning."
Sarah Dilihavia was twenty-nine.
Calm, responsible, and the unofficial backbone of the entire family.
She placed a plate on the table.
"You're heading out today?"
"Yeah. Raid job."
"Rank?"
Lucas shrugged as he grabbed his bag.
"A Rank dungeon."
Sarah paused.
"…Lucas."
"It's fine," he said quickly. "I'm not fighting. Just carrying equipment."
From the table, another voice snorted.
"You say that every time."
Lucas turned.
His younger sister Anya sat there with a spoon in her mouth, glaring at him.
Anya Dilihavia.
Nineteen.
College student.
Professional annoyance.
Lucas smirked.
"What?"
"You always say you're just carrying stuff," Anya muttered. "Then you come home half-dead."
"That's part of the job."
"Your job sucks."
Lucas laughed.
"Yeah. It does."
Sarah walked over and gently grabbed his face.
Before he could react—
She kissed his cheek.
Lucas blinked.
"Good luck charm," she said softly.
She'd been doing that since he started hunting.
Lucas scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
"Thanks."
Anya rolled her eyes dramatically.
"So cringe."
Lucas leaned over the table and flicked her forehead.
"Respect your elders."
"Shut up."
He looked at her for a second… then smirked mischievously.
"You know, if you studied less and ate more, maybe your chest would grow."
Silence.
Then—
"LUCAS DILIHAVIA YOU PIECE OF—"
A plate flew across the room.
Lucas had already bolted for the door.
"LOVE YOU TOO!"
The plate shattered against the wall behind him as he escaped into the hallway.
Anya's furious screaming echoed from inside the apartment.
Lucas laughed as he ran down the stairs.
Yeah.
Sibling love.
Outside, the morning air hit his face.
Today's raid would take place on the outskirts of the city.
An A Rank Dungeon.
He wasn't going to fight.
He was just hired as a carrier.
But there was one interesting detail about this raid.
A certain S-Rank Hunter was leading the team.
The woman people called—
The Ice Saint.
Elvanor August.
Lucas shoved his hands in his pockets as he walked.
Did he find her attractive?
Sure.
Anyone with eyes would.
But that wasn't what interested him.
Elvanor August had a reputation.
Cold.
Untouchable.
But strangely…
Kind.
Lucas had heard stories about her secretly helping low-rank Hunters.
Paying hospital bills.
Leaving tips for the weakest workers on raid teams.
He didn't care about admiration.
But if he carried her luggage?
Maybe she'd give him a decent tip.
And honestly…
Right now?
He could really use one.
The end.