Prologue (Part 2)

Prologue (Part 2)

The crimson eyes disappeared as suddenly as they had appeared.

The rift remained.

The pressure did not.

The suffocating mana that had frozen the entire city slowly dissipated, allowing hunters across Seoul to breathe again.

People believed the danger had passed.

Seo Yihan knew better.

"...It wasn't trying to invade."

His quiet voice vanished beneath the distant screams of emergency sirens.

"It was looking for me."

For five years, he had carefully erased every trace of his existence.

Every official record connected to the Black Reaper had been destroyed.

His fingerprints no longer matched the ones stored by the Hunter Association.

His mana signature had been sealed beneath countless layers of ancient magic.

Even his face looked subtly different thanks to a relic that altered how people remembered his features.

No one had recognized him.

Not a single person.

Until today.

The emergency alert on every phone changed.

『Emergency Notice』

The Dimensional Rift has stabilized.

S-Rank Hunters are ordered to assemble immediately.

Civilians must remain inside shelters until further notice.

Yihan slipped his phone back into his pocket.

He had no intention of involving himself.

Not anymore.

Five years ago...

That version of him had died.

Or rather...

He had made sure the world believed he had.

His apartment was exactly eleven minutes from the bakery.

A small building tucked away in a quiet neighborhood where everyone knew everyone else's name.

Mrs. Kim from the third floor always left homemade kimchi outside his door.

Mr. Choi downstairs complained every Saturday that young people never exercised.

The twins from next door insisted on calling him "Bookstore Hyung" because he owned the little secondhand bookstore at the end of the street.

It wasn't glamorous.

It wasn't exciting.

It was everything he had ever wanted.

As he unlocked the apartment door, a fluffy white cat lazily stretched across the entrance.

"...Move."

The cat ignored him.

Yihan sighed.

"I bought fish yesterday."

One ear twitched.

"I'll cook it."

The cat immediately stood up.

"...Shameless."

He scratched behind its ears anyway.

The apartment was small but comfortable.

Books lined every wall.

Plants covered the balcony.

A kettle quietly whistled in the kitchen.

There wasn't a single weapon in sight.

At least...

Not one an ordinary person would recognize.

Leaning against the umbrella stand near the front door was a plain black umbrella.

Its handle was cracked.

The fabric had faded from years of use.

To everyone else...

It was just an umbrella.

To Yihan...

It was the only weapon that had survived the Final Calamity.

The blade hidden inside had once cut through dimensions themselves.

He hadn't drawn it in five years.

Hopefully...

He never would again.

That night, rain began to fall.

The television filled the apartment with anxious voices.

"...Authorities have confirmed this is unlike any gate previously recorded..."

"...Several S-Rank guilds have entered the investigation..."

"...The Hunter Association has requested international assistance..."

Yihan muted the television.

He wasn't interested.

He knew exactly what kind of gate it was.

It wasn't a gate.

It was a doorway.

And something had opened it from the other side.

Someone powerful enough to cross dimensions without the System's permission.

Only a handful of beings had ever possessed that ability.

Every single one of them...

Should have been dead.

Knock.

Knock.

Knock.

Yihan frowned.

It was almost midnight.

Opening the door, he found Mrs. Kim standing in the hallway with a worried expression.

"Oh dear, I hope I didn't wake you."

"You didn't."

"I made too much soup again."

She held out a warm container.

"You always forget to eat."

"...Thank you."

She smiled kindly.

"You young people work too hard."

If only she knew.

After another brief conversation, she returned upstairs.

Yihan looked down at the container in his hands.

Simple soybean stew.

Nothing special.

Yet...

Someone had cooked it thinking about whether he had eaten.

Five years ago...

He couldn't remember the last time anyone had worried about something so ordinary.

He smiled faintly.

"...I really don't want to lose this life."

Far away...

Deep beneath the Hunter Association headquarters...

An ancient artifact that had remained dormant for decades suddenly emitted a blinding light.

Researchers stumbled backward in shock.

"What happened?"

"I-I don't know!"

"The relic is... reacting!"

A series of unfamiliar symbols appeared across its surface.

No language expert present could understand them.

Only one sentence was translated automatically by the System.

『The King has awakened.』

Silence fell over the underground laboratory.

One researcher whispered with trembling lips,

"...Which king?"

No one answered.

Because no one wanted to imagine the possibility.

At exactly 2:13 a.m., Seo Yihan woke without opening his eyes.

Someone had entered his bookstore.

Not by opening the front door.

By appearing inside.

He sat up slowly.

His expression remained calm.

The warm, sleepy bookstore owner disappeared.

For the first time in five years...

The Black Reaper looked through his eyes.

Cold.

Unreadable.

Dangerously quiet.

He reached toward the umbrella beside his bed.

His fingers stopped just before touching it.

"...No."

If he drew the blade...

Everything would begin again.

Instead, he quietly left the apartment and walked through the rain toward the bookstore.

The streets were empty.

The city slept beneath the sound of distant thunder.

When he arrived, the lights inside were already on.

Someone was waiting.

Yihan unlocked the door.

The small bell above it chimed softly.

Standing among the bookshelves was a man in a perfectly tailored black suit.

Tall.

Broad-shouldered.

Dark hair neatly combed back.

Golden eyes that seemed to pierce through every lie.

He was calmly reading one of the books from the shelf as though he belonged there.

Without looking up, the stranger spoke.

"I've finally found you."

Yihan's expression didn't change.

"You broke into my bookstore."

The man closed the book and smiled—a small, almost amused smile.

"I did."

"Then you owe me compensation."

"..."

The stranger blinked.

Of all the reactions he had expected...

That wasn't one of them.

"...You're charging me?"

"You entered after closing hours."

Yihan pointed to a handwritten sign near the counter.

Unauthorized entry after closing: ₩100,000 fine.

For the first time in centuries...

The man laughed.

It echoed softly through the silent bookstore.

"So you've really changed, Seo Yihan."

"..."

"...Or should I call you..."

"The Black Reaper?"

Yihan's smile disappeared.

Outside...

Lightning illuminated the bookstore windows.

The peaceful life he had protected for five years...

Had officially come to an end.

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