Leo stayed frozen in the narrow alley, back pressed against the cold brick wall. His chest rose and fell in sharp bursts. His palms were slick with sweat. Every sound from the street felt louder — steel clashing, monster roars, hunters barking orders.
He risked a glance toward the alley mouth. The chaos outside was still in full swing.
Think. Think. Where am I in the timeline?
He forced himself to focus. Before the gate erupted, he'd overheard a few hunters talking. Something about "the weakest E‑rank" being a liability. That had to be Sung Jin‑Woo. Which meant this was still early… really early. Before the double dungeon. Before he became the Shadow Monarch.
That also meant Leo had basically zero chance of surviving in this world unless something insane happened.
A new sound cut through the noise outside — a low, rumbling growl, but… human. Heavy boots slammed into the pavement in a steady rhythm. A commanding voice barked:
"Clear the perimeter! Push them back toward the gate!"
Leo leaned just far enough to see.
A tall man strode into view, clad in reinforced combat armor. His frame was broad, built like a predator. His amber eyes caught the light, practically glowing under his messy brown hair.
Leo didn't need to guess who that was.
Baek Yoonho. S‑rank hunter. White Tiger Guild Master.
The wolf‑man himself.
Behind him, his team fanned out — the White Tiger Guild raiding unit. They moved like a machine, taking formation without hesitation.
One of them yelled, "Guild Master! West flank!"
Baek's gaze snapped toward a group of charging Icefang Lycans. His lips pulled back into something between a grin and a snarl. "I'll take point. Collapse on my mark!"
The moment he spoke, he surged forward with inhuman speed.
Leo barely followed the blur of motion. Baek shifted mid‑stride, his body rippling into his beast‑form hybrid — claws lengthening, fangs bared, aura flaring so thick Leo could almost taste it.
The first Lycan didn't even have time to snarl before Baek's claws tore its throat open. He didn't stop moving. He ripped through the next, then the next, like they were paper targets.
His guild followed, their coordination brutal and efficient. In seconds, the street was littered with monster corpses. Hunters from smaller guilds gawked openly.
A White Tiger member jogged up beside him. "Gate core team's ready, Guild Master!"
Baek's amber eyes flicked toward the violet rift still pulsing in the middle of the street. "We're going in. Hold this position until we clear it."
"Yes, sir!"
The raiding unit shifted direction and advanced toward the gate.
Leo's eyes locked onto it.
Up close, the gate looked… wrong. The purple haze around it seemed to pull at him, like invisible fingers curling into his skin. His stomach tightened, not in fear, but in… recognition?
The rational part of his brain screamed: Stay here. Stay alive.
But another part — the same reckless, desperate part of him that hated his old life — whispered back: If you want a chance, this is it.
Baek and his team moved into position. Association staff scrambled to secure the area, focused entirely on the S‑rankers. No one was looking at Leo.
His hands curled into fists. "Screw it," he muttered under his breath.
When Baek gave the signal and his team stepped into the gate's shimmering surface… Leo followed.
He kept his head low, timing his steps with the chaos. A staff member glanced his way but turned immediately toward a radio call. In three quick strides, he was at the rift.
The air in front of it was cold, prickling against his skin. The purple swirl seemed endless, drawing him in.
He took one last look at the street — at the hunters, at the barricades, at the life he'd just left behind.
Then he stepped through.