Busan – Gwangalli Beach, 8:57 PM
The usually vibrant coastline was silent.
No music.
No night vendors.
No lights on the bridge.
Just fog.
Thick, cold, unnatural fog that rolled in fast from the sea—dense enough to choke lanterns and freeze traffic mid-motion.
In the distance, something walked along the water's surface.
One step at a time.
No splashes.
No ripples.
Just absolute control.
A shape cloaked in silver-black mist. Nearly humanoid. Nearly still.
Its feet didn't touch the sand.
The water beneath it receded—running away as if the ocean itself feared contamination.
---
Hunter Response Team – Arriving Late
A four-man squad from the local Busan guild arrived, armed with mid-tier artifacts and crowd-clearing authority. By the time they reached the beach, the fog was so thick their flashlights only stretched a meter.
> "Do we have visuals?"
> "Negative—thermal is glitching."
> "Any readings?"
> "...None. That's the problem."
> "Wait—where's the tide?"
Then they saw it.
The silhouette.
And froze.
> "...That's not a monster."
> "Then what is it?"
The figure turned its head slightly. No eyes. No mouth.
But they heard a voice.
> "Crimson..."
The fog exploded outward.
And the screams never left their mouths.
---
Jung Ha-Joon – Arrival
From the sky—like a falling feather—he appeared.
No teleport.
No flash.
He simply descended quietly, hoodie fluttering, landing softly on the wet sand.
The fog peeled away around him like a respectful curtain.
Crimson eyes glowing faintly in the darkness.
> "So you're the first," he said.
The creature stood still.
It didn't roar.
Didn't posture.
It just began to shift—its form cracking, stretching, becoming something not meant to exist.
Tendrils.
Maws.
Stars inside bones.
> "You think I forgot," Ha-Joon said softly.
> "But I remember all of you."
He took one step forward—
And the sea split in two.
---
Across the Coastline – Broadcast Towers React
Though no cameras were supposed to function within a dead mana zone… they did.
One after another, local and foreign news drones rebooted.
Cell towers flared.
Streams kicked back on.
And all across Korea—people watched.
A crimson-eyed boy.
Facing a godless thing on the beach.
Alone.
---
The Fight Begins
The being lunged—not physically—but conceptually.
It phased through light, through reality, skipping like a broken tape.
Ha-Joon didn't move.
He merely raised his hand.
And the moment the creature breached one meter—
Time cracked.
The sand beneath him folded into itself.
Every ripple of motion froze.
And with a whisper, he muttered:
> "Collapse."
The creature imploded.
Screaming—not in pain, but in confusion.
It reformed instantly, pushing back, striking from every angle with blades made of compressed dimension.
Ha-Joon finally moved.
A palm raised.
A finger drawn in air.
A line of red—crimson logic—sliced the creature in half.
Then again.
Then again.
It kept regenerating.
Kept adapting.
---
Spectators Watching the Stream
> "Who is that!?" "Is this a movie?" "Did you see his eyes?" "Why's he not registered on the Hunter database!?"
The world watched, breathless.
And the boy fought as if this was routine.
Like he had fought it a billion times before.
Because he had.
---
Final Strike
The entity howled, pulling power from the broken gate behind it. A tide of void energy surged upward—a tsunami of everything unnatural.
Ha-Joon stood still.
And then—he blinked.
Not his eyes.
Reality blinked.
And the wave… disappeared.
No collapse.
No explosion.
Just vanished.
The being tried to retreat, sensing something for the first time.
Fear.
But Ha-Joon reached out.
Clenched his fist.
> "No second warnings."
The entity shattered.
Not just physically.
But entirely.
No corpse.
No trace.
Not even memory.
Just nothing.
---
The Beach – Silence
The fog lifted.
The ocean returned.
Stars reappeared.
And Ha-Joon stood quietly, hoodie now slightly soaked, hands in pockets.
The gate behind him flickered… and shut down.
For good.
---
Back at Hunter HQ – Live Feed Ends
Silence.
No one in the room could speak.
Then the Director, watching the red-eyed boy walk alone down the beach, finally exhaled.
> "That's not a hunter."
> "That's a… force."
The woman in silver narrowed her eyes.
> "No system. No aura. No signature."
> "He's rewriting the rules."
---
Suwon – That Night
Ha-Joon returned home quietly.
Entered through the balcony, as usual.
His mother was folding laundry.
> "You took another walk?"
> "Yeah," he said gently.
> "The air helps."
She smiled. "Wash your hands before dinner."
He nodded.
> "...Of course."
Behind him, the news talked faintly in the background.
> "Unidentified boy saves city..."
> "No registered ID..."
> "...Red-eyed guardian?"
His mother turned the volume down.
> "What a strange day," she muttered.
Ha-Joon smiled faintly.
> "Yeah… strange."
---