The city never slept.
Even at midnight, the streets buzzed with glowing signs, flickering holograms, and the low hum of sky-trains weaving through glass towers. Somewhere far off, a siren echoed. Somewhere closer, a dungeon portal shimmered like oil on water, pulsing quietly beside a crumbling apartment block.
But Yoo Jinhyuk didn't stop to stare.
He ran.
His sneakers slapped against the wet pavement as he turned a sharp corner. Behind him, a mutated hound screeched and gave chase, its glowing red eyes locked onto him. It was fast—ranked as an Elite-class predator—but not even close to catching him.
Jinhyuk's body flickered.
One second, he was a step ahead. The next, he was gone.
[Dash activated. Speed increased.]
The system message was pointless. His speed didn't need a boost.
He already had the highest speed stat in the known world.
[Yoo Jinhyuk | Level 17]Class: NoneTitle: NoneStats:
Strength: 9
Endurance: 11
Intelligence: 13
Speed: 9999 (MAX)
Luck: 4
Skills:
Dash (Lv. 3)
Flick Step (Lv. 1)
Phantom Trace (Locked)
He stopped on a rooftop, barely breathing hard.
Behind him, the beast skidded into a wall, confused. It let out a frustrated snarl, circling, sniffing the air. But Jinhyuk was already gone—standing silently on the edge of a rooftop three buildings away, watching.
To others, it looked like teleportation. But it wasn't magic or space-jumping. It was just pure speed. His movements were so fast they bent the limits of human perception.
The hound gave up and slinked back into the portal it had come from.
Jinhyuk crouched low, opening his system window again. His finger hovered over the glowing "Skill Tree" tab.
Still nothing new.
Even with maxed speed, the system refused to assign him a class. No evolution paths appeared. No class quests triggered. No unique titles. As if the system itself didn't know what to do with someone who had broken its rules.
He gritted his teeth.
"Max speed, and still treated like trash," he muttered.
Most awakened hunters balanced their stats: power, magic, defense, or support. Speed was useful, sure, but not essential. Not unless you went all in. And no one went all in—except him.
When the system had first awakened him a year ago, it gave him a warning:
Are you sure you want to allocate all available stat points to Speed?This may prevent class evolution.This choice is irreversible.
Jinhyuk didn't hesitate. He clicked yes.
And that choice cost him everything.
Six Months Ago
Vanguard Dawn—the elite party he once belonged to—stood before the gates of a high-tier rift. The plan was simple. He'd scout ahead, call out enemy formations, and retreat.
Instead, a hidden boss spawned early. Chaos erupted. The tank was crushed. The healer was too slow. Jinhyuk moved in, dodging attacks, pulling aggro, trying to buy time.
But his teammates couldn't keep up.
After the raid, they held a vote.
"Jinhyuk is too fast.""We can't coordinate with him.""He's useless in team fights."
They kicked him out that night.
No explanation. No second chances.
Now he worked alone.
Jinhyuk walked back toward his safe house, hidden beneath an old rooftop generator. The air was cool, quiet—his favorite kind of night. The kind that made him feel invisible.
Inside, the space was small: spare clothes, old gear, and a single terminal that buzzed quietly when it connected to dungeon feeds.
Just as he sat down, a system alert chimed.
[New Rift Detected: Unregistered][Location: Seonji Mall][Threat Level: ???][First Clear Reward: High Tier Artifact + Bonus Skill Unlocked]
He blinked.
Unregistered dungeons were rare. Normally, guilds rushed to claim them the moment they appeared. This one was still open, untouched.
And a bonus skill?
He stared at the map. It was within running distance.
He stood.
The mall was a ghost.
Broken escalators, empty storefronts, shattered glass. His footsteps echoed in the dark. The portal was waiting for him at the food court's center, hovering just above the old fountain.
He stepped through without hesitation.
[Dungeon: Forgotten Wings - Type: Sentient Rift][Recommended Party: 4+][Warning: Dungeon will adapt to the intruder's dominant stat.]
The light around him vanished.
He stood now inside a cathedral of shadows. Dust swirled in dead air. Giant statues lined the walls—fallen angels, faces cracked and blinded.
Then the whisper came.
"You are the wind. Let's see if the wind can bleed."
[Adapting to Speed Stat... Complete.][Enemy Units: Time Reavers (x5)][Skill Unlocked: Phantom Trace (Lv. 1)]
Jinhyuk's breath caught.
Finally.
Phantom Trace—the skill locked behind an unreachable speed threshold—was his now. The system had been holding it back because no one had ever reached max.
The enemies spawned in front of him. Tall, hooded figures with blades made of liquid time, shimmering and twitching like broken video frames.
They were fast.
But not fast enough.
Jinhyuk vanished.
He reappeared midair, upside down, slashing across the nearest Reaver's chest before it even turned. A moment later, two more illusions of him zipped across the field.
[Phantom Trace: Creates two afterimages that mimic movement. Confuses enemies and splits aggro.]
The Reavers slashed wildly, hitting nothing. Jinhyuk danced between their attacks, his body almost flickering in and out of existence. He didn't need brute force. He didn't need magic.
He just needed speed.
Ten seconds later, they were all down.
[Mini-Boss Cleared.][Progress: 1/3][New Path Unlocked.]
The cathedral rumbled. A section of floor slid open, revealing a deep spiral staircase leading down into darkness.
Jinhyuk stood over the defeated enemies, chest rising and falling slowly.
"I guess I broke the system after all," he whispered.
For the first time, the system didn't argue. It only offered him a choice:
[Would you like to rename your stat path?][> Custom Title: Speed God][> Confirm Y/N]
He grinned.
"N."
He wasn't a god.
Not yet.
But he'd show them all—the guilds, the world, even the system—that raw speed wasn't a gimmick. It was evolution.
And he had just reached the starting line.