The gruff stranger's hand clamped down on Min-ho's shoulder like a steel vise, calloused fingers digging through fabric to grip bone as he yanked him back from the edge of whatever mental precipice he'd been teetering on. "Kid, snap out of it!" The man's voice sliced through the encroaching ice-thoughts like a heated blade through silk, each word sharp enough to cut. "Whatever's happening in your head, fight it."
Min-ho blinked hard, his vision swimming back into focus as copper flooded his mouth and warmth crashed through his limbs like a breaking dam. The stranger's weathered face materialized before him—deep-set brown eyes that had witnessed too much death, a jagged scar running from his left temple to his jaw like a lightning bolt frozen in flesh, and the unmistakable bearing of someone who'd survived more gates than most hunters ever entered. His presence radiated competence and barely contained violence. "Who—who are you?"
"Name's Park Dong-su. B-rank hunter with Crimson Fang Guild." The man released Min-ho's shoulder but remained close enough to grab him again, his stance balanced and ready. "And you're either the unluckiest E-rank in Seoul or something a hell of a lot more dangerous than you look."
The guild name struck Min-ho like ice water to the face. Crimson Fang—one of the mid-tier guilds that specialized in beast-type dungeons, their hunters known for methodical efficiency rather than flashy heroics. Their reputation was solid if unremarkable, built on a foundation of careful planning and brutal execution. "What's a B-rank doing in a random alley?"
"Looking for you, actually." Dong-su's gaze swept the ice-covered walls with the professional assessment of a predator cataloging potential threats. His eyes lingered on the frost patterns, noting how they spiraled outward from where Min-ho had been standing. "Got word from some contacts that there was unusual mana disturbance in this area. Temperature anomalies, shadow movement where there shouldn't be any." His eyes narrowed to dark slits. "Funny thing is, according to our equipment, the epicenter is standing right in front of me."
Min-ho's stomach plummeted like a stone down a well. If hunter guilds were already tracking him, monitoring his movements and cataloging his power spikes, how long before the bigger players took notice? How long before the Association came knocking with questions he couldn't answer? "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Sure you don't." Dong-su pulled out a small device that looked like a cross between a smartphone and a Geiger counter, its surface scratched from heavy use. The screen pulsed with angry red readings that bathed his scarred features in crimson light. "This thing's been going crazy for the past hour. Readings off the charts, mana signatures that shouldn't exist. And now that I'm close to you, it's practically having a seizure."
The shadow wolf stirred in the back of Min-ho's mind, its presence suddenly sharp and alert, hackles raised. *Danger,* it whispered, the word carrying undertones of barely restrained violence and ancient hunger. *He knows too much. Should silence him.*
Min-ho pushed down the wolf's predatory instincts, but couldn't shake the feeling that it was right. The device in Dong-su's hand continued its frantic beeping, each pulse like a countdown to discovery. "What do you want?"
"Depends." Dong-su pocketed the device with deliberate slowness and crossed his arms, the gesture revealing the knife hilts protruding from his jacket. "See, we've got a situation. B-rank gate opened up about six hours ago in Gangnam district. Should've been routine—beast-type dungeon, nothing our team couldn't handle with standard protocols. But when we went in for the initial survey, we found something... unusual."
The timing made Min-ho's blood turn to slush in his veins. Six hours ago—exactly when his memory went blank, when consciousness had fled and left him with nothing but empty time and the taste of shadows. "Unusual how?"
"Every monster in the dungeon was already dead. Not killed, mind you—no wounds, no signs of struggle. Drained." Dong-su's scarred face was grim as winter stone. "Like something had sucked the life right out of them, left them as empty husks scattered across the floors. And the mana signature we found at the scene?" He paused, letting the weight of revelation settle. "It matches what this little gadget is picking up from you."
The ice on the alley walls began to crack and splinter with sharp reports, responding to Min-ho's spiking anxiety like a barometric pressure gauge. He forced himself to breathe slowly, to think past the panic clawing at his throat. If he'd somehow been inside that gate during his missing hours, if his system had been active without his conscious control... "You think I killed those monsters?"
"I think you're connected to whatever did." Dong-su stepped closer, and Min-ho caught the scent of ozone and old blood that clung to veteran hunters like cologne, mixed with the metallic tang of frequently used weapons. "Question is, are you going to come with me willingly to help figure this out, or do I need to make some calls to people with bigger badges and less patience?"
The threat hung in the air between them like a suspended blade. Min-ho could feel the shadow wolf coiling in his mind, muscles bunching for a spring, but he also sensed something else—an opportunity wrapped in danger. If there really was a gate full of drained monsters, and if his system had somehow been involved, he needed to see it for himself. "What exactly are you proposing?"
"Simple transaction. You come with me to the gate. Help us understand what happened, what kind of power could do that to an entire dungeon." Dong-su's smile was sharp as broken glass, all edges and cutting potential. "In exchange, I keep this conversation between us for now. Course, if you try anything stupid, I'll put you down faster than you can blink."
Min-ho weighed his options like stones in his palm. Running would only confirm Dong-su's suspicions and bring the full weight of the hunter establishment down on him like an avalanche. But going into an unknown gate with a B-rank who already suspected him of mass monster murder wasn't exactly appealing either. Still, if his system had been active during those missing hours, there might be evidence—clues about what was happening to him and why his memories kept vanishing.
"Alright," he said finally, the word tasting like ashes. "But I want answers too. If I'm connected to this, I need to know how."
"Fair enough." Dong-su turned and started walking toward the mouth of the alley, his boots crunching on ice fragments. "But kid? Whatever you really are, whatever power you're hiding—it's got people's attention. The kind of attention that gets hunters disappeared if they're not careful."
They emerged from the alley onto a busy street, the afternoon sun a jarring contrast to the supernatural winter they'd left behind. Min-ho glanced back and saw that the ice was already beginning to melt, leaving only dark stains on the concrete like bloodstains. Within minutes, there would be no trace of what had happened, no evidence of the power that had nearly consumed him.
The ride to Gangnam took twenty minutes through Seoul's perpetual traffic snarl. Dong-su drove a modified SUV that reeked of monster blood and industrial disinfectant, the back loaded with enough weapons to outfit a small army. Swords, guns, devices Min-ho couldn't identify—all of it secured with military precision. He kept glancing at Min-ho through the rearview mirror, and each time their eyes met, Min-ho felt like a lab rat being studied by a particularly predatory scientist.
The gate stood in the middle of what had once been a shopping district, its swirling purple aperture contained within a standard Association barrier that hummed with contained energy. Hunter teams moved with practiced efficiency around the perimeter, their gear gleaming under the harsh work lights that turned the scene into something from a crime drama. Min-ho had seen dozens of gates from a distance, but this close, he could feel it pulling at something deep in his chest—a resonance that made the shadow wolf pace restlessly in his mind like a caged beast.
"Impressive, isn't it?" Dong-su killed the engine and studied Min-ho's reaction with the intensity of a hawk watching a mouse. "Most E-ranks can barely sense a gate's presence unless they're practically touching it. But you..." He trailed off meaningfully, letting the implication hang.
Min-ho forced his expression to remain neutral even as power thrummed through his veins like high-voltage electricity. The gate called to him, whispered promises in languages he didn't recognize. "When do we go in?"
"Right now." Dong-su grabbed a duffel bag from the back seat and shouldered it with practiced ease, the motion revealing more weapons strapped to his body. "My team's already inside, documenting the scene. But I wanted to see your reaction when you first laid eyes on whatever's waiting in there."
They approached the gate's shimmering surface, and Min-ho felt his system stirring to life without any conscious command, like a computer booting up on its own. The familiar blue window flickered at the edge of his vision, but the text was wrong—corrupted somehow, symbols that hurt to look at directly dancing across the display like living things.
**WARNING: MONARCH RESONANCE DETECTED**
**ENTERING DOMAIN OF [CORRUPTED DATA]**
**CONTRACTOR STATUS: [ERROR - UNKNOWN CONFIGURATION]**
"Something wrong?" Dong-su's voice seemed to come from very far away, distorted as if traveling through deep water.
Min-ho blinked hard, trying to clear the distorted interface, but it only grew worse, symbols bleeding into each other like ink in rain. The shadow wolf was howling now, a sound of pure terror that reverberated through his bones and made his teeth ache. And underneath it all, something else was laughing—a sound like breaking glass and dying stars that promised revelations he wasn't sure he wanted to face.
"No," he lied, stepping toward the gate's threshold on unsteady legs. "Everything's fine."
The portal's surface rippled at his approach like disturbed water, and for just a moment, Min-ho could have sworn he saw something looking back at him from the other side—something with too many eyes and a smile full of hunger that recognized him as kin.