The morning sun peeked through the curtains like a shy guest.
Yi Ji-Hyuk sat on the edge of the hospital bed, already dressed. The plain clothes they'd given him hung awkwardly on his frame — too tight around the shoulders, too loose at the waist. Still, it was better than walking around in bloodstained scraps from another world.
He studied his reflection in the mirror by the sink.
The man staring back didn't look like a hero. Didn't look like a killer, either.
Pale skin. Long black hair tied back loosely. Eyes dark as obsidian, calm and unreadable. His face hadn't aged in decades. Time in Berafe hadn't touched him — not in the way it should have. The scars on his body said otherwise, but his face was as young as the day he fell into that nightmare.
He turned away. There was no point dwelling on the past. Not when peace — no matter how fragile — was finally within reach.
A nurse peeked into the room. "Mr. Yi? You're cleared for discharge. The papers are at the front desk."
He nodded politely. "Thank you."
She smiled, then paused. Something about him made her nervous. He could tell — the way her hand tightened on the clipboard, the way she didn't quite meet his eyes.
Good.He wanted to be left alone.
Outside, the city was already alive.
Cars rushed past. Office workers shuffled along the sidewalks with coffee in hand. Students in uniforms laughed as they crossed the street. It was chaos, but the harmless kind — the kind he'd dreamed about when surrounded by monsters and blood.
He walked slowly, taking it all in. Each detail. Each scent. Each sound.
His senses were still sharp — too sharp. He could hear heartbeats. Smell fear. See the flicker of motion five blocks away. In Berafe, those skills kept him alive. Here, they were… inconvenient.
He pulled his aura in tighter, wrapped the spell around himself like a second skin. It was like holding his breath, but it worked. The world dulled a little.
Better.
A small convenience store sat on the corner. He stepped inside.
The bell above the door chimed, and the clerk barely looked up. "Welcome."
He nodded and scanned the aisles. Instant noodles, bottled water, snacks — things he barely remembered. He picked out a few items, paid with the prepaid card the hospital had provided, and walked out without a word.
Eating was another thing he'd have to adjust to. In Berafe, food was survival — raw meat, monster flesh, mana fruit. Nothing tasted good. It just kept you alive.
Here? A hot cup of ramen on a quiet bench in the park tasted like heaven.
He sat with his back against a tree, savoring the simple warmth. The city buzzed around him, but no one paid him any mind. A ghost in plain sight.
Until someone did.
A child.
A small girl, maybe six or seven, stood a few feet away, watching him. Her head was tilted, and her eyes were wide.
"Are you a superhero?" she asked.
Ji-Hyuk blinked.
She pointed at his hands. "You're glowing."
He looked down. A faint pulse of mana was seeping through his skin. The suppression spell had weakened while he relaxed.
He smiled — a real one — and closed his fist. The glow vanished instantly.
"No," he said softly. "Just tired."
The girl nodded like she understood everything. "You look like you fought a dragon."
He chuckled. "Something like that."
Her mother called her from across the park. The girl waved and ran off, as if nothing strange had happened.
Ji-Hyuk watched her go, then stood up. If children could see the cracks in his mask, then it wasn't strong enough. He needed to do better.
Because he felt it.
Even now — something was watching.
He walked into an alley between two old buildings. No cameras. No people.
He closed his eyes.
And waited.
A breeze drifted through. Cold. Wrong.
There.
The air shimmered. Just faintly. The kind of shimmer a low-grade stealth spell might leave.
He stepped forward, slow and deliberate, then reached out and grabbed the empty air.
His hand closed around a neck.
There was a startled gasp, and the shimmer peeled away like fog under sunlight. A man appeared — or something close to it. Tall, gray-skinned, with slitted yellow eyes and sharp teeth.
Not human.
"Who sent you?" Ji-Hyuk asked calmly.
The creature hissed and twisted, but Ji-Hyuk's grip didn't budge.
"You crossed the veil," Ji-Hyuk continued. "You don't belong here."
The creature's eyes widened. "Y-you… you're from Berafe…"
Ji-Hyuk's expression didn't change.
"You shouldn't have followed me."
With a flick of his wrist, there was a sharp snap. The creature collapsed, neck broken. Its body shimmered again — and dissolved into ash.
No trace. No evidence.
Just like Berafe.
He stepped back onto the street, brushing the ash off his sleeve.
So much for peace.
He knew now — Berafe had left its mark on him. And on the world.
If one came through… more would follow.
But that was fine.
He would hide his strength.
Until the day he couldn't.
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