The reinforced blast doors were three feet of solid, mana-infused steel.
They were designed to withstand a C-Rank boss enrage timer.
Jinsu placed his bare, bloodstained hand against the cold metal.
"Erase."
[Skill: Void Grip (Active) has been triggered.]
Violet static spider-webbed across the heavy steel surface.
There was no explosion, no breaking of metal, and no heat.
The center of the door simply vanished into thin air.
A perfect, circular hole appeared, leaving only the smell of ozone behind.
Jinsu stepped through the absolute silence.
On the other side of the tunnel, the "Heroes" were resting.
"We had to do it," Hu-seung muttered, wiping sweat from his face.
"He was just a Porter. A zero."
Elena leaned against the rusted wall, her staff trembling in her hands.
"But an S-Rank anomaly... the Guild Master will execute us if he finds out."
Hu-seung scoffed, his arrogance returning now that he felt safe.
"Only if he finds out. Who's going to tell him?"
He pointed back toward the tunnel.
"Even an A-Rank Vanguard would be ripped apart in there."
"The Null-Boy is already monster food."
A sudden, freezing wind swept down the corridor.
The torches along the cavern walls violently flickered out.
"Did you feel that?" Elena whispered.
Hu-seung tightened his grip on his golden claymore.
"The blast doors..."
They turned around, expecting to see the steel dented or broken.
Instead, they saw a perfectly smooth void where the metal used to be.
"Impossible," Hu-seung breathed.
"Did the Arbiter break through?" Elena panicked, raising her staff.
Footsteps echoed from the darkness.
Slow. Methodical.
Tap.
Tap.
"Get back!" Hu-seung yelled, his sword erupting in golden light.
"Left flank, Elena! Prepare a binding spell!"
A figure stepped out of the shadows.
It wasn't a three-meter-tall monster of obsidian glass.
It was a boy in torn, blood-soaked clothes.
"Jinsu...?" Elena gasped, dropping her defensive stance.
Hu-seung stared, his eyes wide with disbelief.
"You... how are you alive?"
Jinsu didn't answer.
He just looked at them.
'They look so small.'
Before the awakening, these B-Rank hunters felt like untouchable gods.
Now, looking at the faint, pathetic glow of their mana...
Jinsu felt absolutely nothing.
"I asked you a question, trash!" Hu-seung roared, stepping forward.
"Did the anomaly spare you? Did it retreat?"
Jinsu tilted his head.
"It was deleted."
Hu-seung froze.
"Deleted? What the hell are you talking about?"
"You sealed the door, Hu-seung."
Jinsu took a step forward.
"You left me to pay your toll."
"Know your place, Porter!" Hu-seung snarled, raising his claymore.
"You think surviving a fluke gives you the right to look me in the eye?!"
He swung the heavy, glowing blade straight down at Jinsu's shoulder.
It was a warning strike, meant to break a collarbone and force submission.
Elena screamed. "Don't kill him!"
Jinsu didn't dodge.
He didn't raise his arms to block.
He simply stood there.
The golden blade struck Jinsu's shoulder with devastating force.
Zzzzt.
The sound of loud, violent static filled the air.
Hu-seung's eyes bulged in absolute horror.
The top half of his B-Rank claymore was gone.
It hadn't shattered or bounced off.
The steel, the magic, the physical density—it had all been instantly erased upon contact with Jinsu's skin.
[Passive Defense: The Void hungers for excess.]
[Mana weapon consumed. Void Saturation +0.2%]
Hu-seung stumbled back, holding a useless, severed hilt.
"What... what are you?"
Jinsu reached out and grabbed Hu-seung by the throat.
"I'm the toll collector."