For a moment, silence drowned the entire Ranking Center.
The word glowing on the crystal—
[Undetermined]—
was something none of them had ever seen.
The crowd, frozen in shock, finally erupted in whispers.
"Undetermined…? What does that even mean?"
"Impossible! Every hunter has a rank!"
"Unless… unless he's something outside the system…"
The examiner stumbled back, his face pale as sweat dripped down his forehead.
"This… isn't normal," he muttered, his voice trembling.
But just as the tension seemed ready to fade, the crystal sphere pulsed again.
A low hum filled the hall. The cracks spreading through the artifact deepened, and suddenly—
BOOM!
A blast of black energy erupted, shaking the chamber. Hunters shielded their faces as the aura pressed against their lungs, suffocating them like a grave closing in.
The letters burned brighter than ever:
[Hunter: Jin Hwan]
[Class: Shadow]
[Rank: Undefined]
And beneath it, a final message flickered in eerie black script:
[The Shadow does not obey your measure.]
The hall descended into chaos.
Some hunters gasped in awe, others recoiled in fear.
"This can't be real…"
"That's not a rank… that's a curse."
"What kind of monster is he?"
Jin, however, didn't even flinch. His expression remained calm, eyes void of light.
He turned his back on the glowing sphere and walked toward the exit as if nothing had happened. The crowd instinctively parted, creating a silent path for him. No one dared block his way.
Outside, the cold wind brushed against his face. Jin lit a cigarette, inhaling deeply before letting the smoke fade into the air.
"Undefined," he muttered, a trace of bitterness curling his lips.
"I don't need their ranks. I only need one thing… vengeance."
As he walked into the city, faint black embers burned around his silhouette, vanishing with each step.
But while Jin vanished into the streets, the Ranking Center was left in uproar.
Hunters argued among themselves, some calling him a danger, others whispering that perhaps a new kind of power had emerged.
Behind closed doors, higher authorities were already alerted. Reports were sent, names were written down.
And among them, one word stood out more than any rank:
Jin Hwan.
The shadow no one could measure.
Far away, in a darkened room, a man with a tattoo of a blazing dragon on his arm laughed as he read the report.
"So he's still alive," he sneered.
"And he's coming for us…"
The fire in his eyes burned with cruelty.
"Then let him come. The Fire Dragons will turn his shadow into ashes."
End of Chapter 5