Night had settled over Seoul Hunter Academy like a shroud of silence.
The storm that had raged earlier had left the air thick with the scent of wet earth and ozone, and the faint hum of mana conduits vibrated through the walls like a heartbeat.
Lee Shin sat on his bed, still dressed in his uniform. The dormitory was quiet—his roommates long since asleep—but his mind refused to rest. The ring pulsed faintly beneath the thin fabric of his glove, as though alive.
He lifted his hand slowly.
A faint crimson glow seeped through the seams of the leather, rhythmic, steady—like breathing.
"What are you?" he whispered.
For a moment, nothing.
Then, faintly, a voice brushed against the edge of his mind.
Soft. Ancient. Echoing from somewhere far beyond time.
"The fragments awaken… seek the heirs…"
Shin's pulse spiked. He yanked the glove off and stared. The ring shimmered faintly—lines of runes he'd never noticed before now glowing along its surface, each symbol pulsing like a heartbeat.
He grabbed a notebook and scribbled the pattern down, his hand trembling slightly. He had seen something similar before—etched on the tomb walls of the Fallen Guild, back before his death. A mark of something older than humanity itself.
"Seven rings," he murmured. "Seven bearers… seven fates."
The memory flashed in his mind—the final battle before his death. The dungeon core had split into shards, and within it he had seen that same crimson light. The same heartbeat. And then—the end.
He clenched his jaw. "It's not a coincidence."
Unable to sit still, Shin stood and pulled on his cloak. The academy curfew meant nothing to him anymore. He needed answers.
The moon hung low as he slipped out of the dormitory window, landing silently on the damp grass below. Mana drones floated lazily overhead, their pale blue light scanning the grounds. Shin ducked behind a tree and timed their rotation, moving only when the shadows deepened.
The path to the archives was empty. Only senior students or research hunters were allowed inside, but that didn't stop him. He used a sliver of mana—just enough to short the door's detection array. A faint click, and he was in.
The library smelled of dust and mana ink. Towering shelves lined the walls, filled with centuries of guild records, relic analyses, and pre-Gate manuscripts. The light from the moon pooled through the glass dome above, silvering the floor.
Shin moved through the aisles like a ghost. His fingers brushed across the spines of ancient books until he found what he was looking for—The Origin Fragments: A Record of the First Hunters.
He sat at the nearest desk and opened it carefully.
The first page was faded, ink nearly erased by time. But he could still make out enough.
"Before the first Gate opened, seven relics fell from the void—rings forged by the First Will. Each bound to a mortal soul, each cursed to repeat the cycle until balance is restored."
He turned the page.
Sketches of seven rings filled the parchment, each unique.
But his eyes locked onto one—The Ring of Resolve.
Its inscription read:
'He who bears this ring shall be bound by death yet defy it.'
Shin's breath caught. His fingers hovered over the drawing.
That was his ring. The same pattern, the same glow.
He flipped through more pages—but half the book was missing. Torn clean out.
"Someone took the rest," he muttered.
Then, a faint sound—footsteps.
Shin froze. He slid the book into his cloak and turned off the mana lamp.
The steps drew closer, soft but deliberate.
Through the crack between shelves, he saw a figure in a black academy coat—hood drawn low, face hidden. The stranger moved toward the restricted section and placed their hand on the mana lock.
The barrier shimmered once, then opened—for them.
Shin narrowed his eyes. "So I'm not the only one breaking curfew."
He followed silently, his footsteps perfectly measured.
The hooded student entered the relic vault—a room lined with sealed cases containing fragments of ancient mana cores and broken artifacts. The air inside was heavy, almost alive.
Then Shin saw it.
On the table before the intruder lay a fragment of a ring, cracked and dull, but radiating faint traces of the same energy as his own.
The stranger reached for it—and the fragment pulsed.
Shin stepped out from the shadows. "You might not want to touch that."
The figure spun instantly, a dagger flashing out. Shin blocked it with his forearm, twisting to disarm the attacker. The hood fell back.
A girl—no older than him—stared at him with sharp, violet eyes.
Her mana flickered like dark mist. "Who are you?"
"I could ask you the same thing," Shin said quietly. "You're not here for a midnight read."
The girl scowled. "This fragment belongs to my family. Don't interfere."
"Your family?" he echoed. "Then you should know it's not just a fragment—it's a curse waiting to wake."
The ring on his hand pulsed again—harder this time. The fragment on the table responded, glowing faintly in sync.
Two heartbeats—one rhythm.
The girl's expression flickered. "You… you have one too?"
Before he could answer, the door behind them flared open. A guard's voice shouted, "Who's in there?!"
Shin's instincts kicked in. He grabbed the girl's wrist and pulled her into the shadow of a nearby shelf just as the light burst through the doorway. Guards scanned the room, finding nothing but dust.
When they left, Shin exhaled.
The girl wrenched her hand free. "Next time, I won't let you touch me."
He smirked faintly. "Next time, try not to get caught."
She hesitated, eyes flicking to his ring. "The ring will change you," she warned. "Just like it did them."
"'Them?'"
"The other bearers." She backed away slowly. "If you keep using it, you'll lose yourself. Just like my brother did."
And before he could ask another question, she vanished in a burst of shadow mana—gone as if she had never been there.
Shin stood in silence, heart pounding. The ring glowed faintly in the dark, as if mocking him.
"Other bearers…" he whispered. "So it wasn't just me."
He looked down at his hand. The rune lines had spread—no longer just a single band of light, but two, intertwined like chains.
The whisper returned, soft as wind.
"Fate moves again, bearer of Resolve. Prepare."
By the time Shin returned to his dorm, the first light of dawn was already creeping over the horizon. He sat on the bed, the stolen page from the book spread before him.
Seven rings. Seven bearers. Seven cycles.
He clenched his fist. "If this ring was meant to bind me… then I'll make it my weapon."
Outside, the morning bell tolled through the mist.
Inside, the ring pulsed once, a faint ember of power ready to ignite.
And for the first time, Lee Shin wasn't afraid of its whisper.
He was ready to listen.