Suwon – 4:13 PM
The air was thick.
Ha-Joon walked home from the shop, a plastic bag in hand with rice cakes and barley tea. The streets were calm. Families chatted. Kids played near the small fountain at the community center. The sky was soft gray—typical of a spring afternoon.
Then—
A rumble.
Deep. Sudden.
Ha-Joon stopped mid-step.
His crimson eyes narrowed.
He felt it.
A vibration through the very space around him. A quiet tear, invisible to the human eye—but to him, it was loud as thunder.
> "A gate. No… a rupture," he murmured.
"Too close."
---
Ten Blocks Away – Suwon's District 9 Parking Complex
A swirling blue tear exploded open in midair.
Glass cracked from nearby buildings.
The ground pulsed with dark energy.
Gate Type: Wild Rift
Class: Unknown
Stability: Critical
**Time to Monster Release: 02:00 minutes._
People screamed and fled.
Car alarms howled.
The gate crackled and widened.
From inside, black claws clawed forward. Shadows rippled.
The police were first on the scene—but they were powerless.
The Hunter Association's local branch was still 12 minutes away.
Too late.
Far too late.
---
Back Near the Shop
Ha-Rin stepped out, frowning at the sudden sound.
Ha-Joon handed her the bag.
> "Go inside. Lock the door."
"What's going on?"
"It's nothing. Just stay close to mom."
> "Joon…"
He smiled.
Soft. Reassuring.
> "It'll be fine."
Then he walked. Calm. Silent. Purposeful.
---
At the Gate – 4:15 PM
Three monsters had already stepped through.
Wolf-shaped. Bone-plated. Fast.
People were trapped in the parking lot.
A delivery man was trying to carry a crying child away.
A woman had fallen. Blood on her leg.
The monsters snarled. The child screamed.
And—
Time stopped.
For everyone but one person.
---
Ha-Joon stood behind the beast.
He didn't run.
Didn't shout.
He simply raised his hand—
—and tapped the back of the monster's skull with one finger.
> crack
It fell, silent. Instantly.
---
The other two turned, eyes glowing red.
One lunged.
Its jaws wide, breath reeking of mana and blood.
Ha-Joon didn't flinch.
He stepped to the side just slightly—so fast it didn't register as movement.
Then—
he breathed out.
The wind from that breath alone knocked the monster into a car, which exploded into flames.
The last creature stopped.
It trembled. Snarled low.
Ha-Joon stared.
Crimson eyes flashed once.
That was enough.
The monster whimpered and turned, running back into the gate.
Then—
> CRACK
The entire portal imploded, like it had been afraid to remain open.
Silence.
Then—
Chaos.
People screamed again, this time out of confusion.
The monsters were gone.
The gate? Vanished.
And no one knew how.
---
A Few Moments Later – Hunter Association Team Arrives
They were ready—swords drawn, spells prepared, detection drones spinning.
But the street was quiet.
Three dead monsters.
No rift.
No boss fight.
Just witnesses too shocked to speak.
A child pointed.
> "There… there was a boy."
> "What boy?" the squad leader asked.
> "A high school student. I think… I think he saved us?"
But the boy was nowhere to be found.
---
Elsewhere – Rooftop Overlooking the Scene
Ha-Joon sat quietly, sipping barley tea.
He watched the cleanup begin.
He'd acted only enough to protect.
No one saw him clearly.
No energy leaked.
No trace remained.
> "I said I'd protect them quietly," he whispered.
"I meant it."
---
At the Shop That Night
Ha-Rin looked at him suspiciously as she folded napkins.
> "You weren't hurt earlier, right?"
He shook his head.
> "Not even close."
> "...It's strange. Everyone said a random student helped stop a gate. Some people are even saying he made the monsters disappear without touching them."
> "Sounds like a cool story," he smiled.
She stared at him.
Paused.
> "You really haven't awakened?"
He just chuckled.
> "Nope."
And technically—he hadn't.
He wasn't a hunter.
He wasn't a monster.
He was… something else entirely.
---
Meanwhile – In a Dark Room in Seoul HQ
Baek Seo-Yeon replayed the video feed from a traffic camera three blocks from the gate.
She zoomed in frame by frame.
There.
One shadow.
One boy.
For half a second, his crimson eyes reflected the light.
Then… gone.
> "You were there, weren't you?" she whispered.
"You saved them… and erased your own trace."
She closed the laptop and locked it in a case.
> "No one will know. Not yet."
---
That Night – Jung Family Home
Ha-Joon sat beside the window in his room, watching the city lights.
> "Even without the system… I'm still meant to do something here."
He looked down at his palm.
No symbols. No magic.
Just skin.
Just human.
And yet…
If needed—
He could erase gods.
But for now?
He'd rather buy his mother a better rice cooker.
---