Prologue(part 1)

Prologue (Part 1)

The sky split open without warning.

Not with thunder.

Not with lightning.

But with silence.

A crack, as black as an endless abyss, stretched across the afternoon sky above Seoul. The air grew heavy. Birds dropped from the sky. Every awakened hunter in the city instinctively looked up, their bodies trembling before their minds understood why.

Then the system announced it.

『Emergency Notice』

SSS+ Dimensional Rift Detected.

Estimated Casualty Rate: 99.98%.

Classification: Unknown.

Within minutes, every major guild mobilized.

Helicopters roared overhead. Hunters poured into the streets. Military forces established evacuation zones. News broadcasts interrupted every channel.

People screamed.

People ran.

People prayed.

And in the middle of the chaos...

One man sighed.

"...I was going to buy bread."

Standing outside a tiny neighborhood bakery was a young man dressed in a loose black hoodie, faded jeans, and worn sneakers. A paper shopping bag rested in one hand while the other held an umbrella even though the sky was perfectly clear.

His name was Seo Yihan.

At least...

That was the name printed on his identification card.

An elderly woman grabbed his sleeve in panic.

"Young man! Hurry! The hunters said everyone has to evacuate!"

Yihan blinked once before offering a gentle smile.

"I'll be right behind you, ma'am."

"You promise?"

"I promise."

Only after watching the old woman disappear around the corner did the smile slowly fade.

His eyes rose toward the crack hanging in the heavens.

"...You've got terrible timing."

The wind changed.

It carried with it the unmistakable scent of mana.

Not ordinary mana.

Ancient mana.

The kind that hadn't existed on Earth for years.

The paper bag in Yihan's hand crumpled slightly.

"So..."

He spoke quietly, as though greeting an unwelcome guest.

"You finally found me."

Five years earlier.

The world had called him humanity's greatest hero.

The Black Reaper.

The first hunter to reach a power level the System itself couldn't measure.

The man who had cleared impossible gates alone.

The hunter who had killed monsters that entire armies couldn't even wound.

His face had once appeared on every television screen.

Children wanted to become him.

Guilds offered fortunes just to recruit him.

Governments tried to control him.

Religions declared him a messenger of God.

He hated every second of it.

The stronger he became...

The less human everyone believed he was.

People stopped asking whether he was tired.

Whether he was injured.

Whether he was lonely.

They only asked one thing.

"When will you save us again?"

Every disaster became his responsibility.

Every failure became his fault.

Every victory belonged to humanity.

Only the blood on his hands belonged to him.

The final battle lasted three days.

No cameras survived long enough to record it.

No satellite could see inside the collapsing dimensional storm.

Only one fact reached the world.

The Black Reaper entered.

The Calamity disappeared.

Neither of them came back.

The world mourned.

Statues were built.

Memorials filled city squares.

Schools taught children about the greatest hunter in history.

Meanwhile...

The supposed hero rented a tiny apartment under a fake identity, spent three weeks assembling cheap furniture, and discovered that folding laundry was strangely relaxing.

For the first time in years...

No one expected anything from him.

It was wonderful.

"...Sir?"

Yihan looked up.

The bakery owner leaned nervously over the counter.

"Your bread..."

"Oh."

He had completely forgotten why he came.

"Thank you."

Warm bread filled the paper bag.

The smell almost made him smile.

He had crossed collapsing dimensions.

Defeated creatures that erased cities.

Survived battles beyond imagination.

Yet somehow...

Freshly baked bread still felt like life's greatest reward.

"...This is nice."

He turned to leave.

Then every instinct in his body screamed.

Not danger.

Recognition.

Something...

Someone...

Had stepped through the crack above Seoul.

Someone who knew exactly who Seo Yihan really was.

Far above the city, hidden beyond the clouds, a pair of crimson eyes slowly opened.

A low voice echoed through the dimensional rift.

"So..."

"You're still alive."

"And you've been hiding from us all this time."

Yihan closed his eyes.

His peaceful life...

Lasted exactly five years.

And it had just come to an end.

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