Silence.
When Ryn opened his eyes, the world was no longer the same.
The dungeon had collapsed into ashes — monsters reduced to pieces of charred flesh.
The air was thick with smoke and blood, and the faint echo of his own heartbeat pounded inside his skull.
> [Mission Complete.]
[Warning: Transformation unstable.]
[Cooldown Required: 24 Hours.]
He looked down at his hands.
They were shaking — not from fear, but from the burning energy still trapped beneath his skin.
Black veins crawled up his arms, pulsing with faint light.
> "…This power… it's alive."
He stumbled out of the gate, collapsing to his knees.
Other hunters stared in disbelief.
They had seen him enter as an E-rank — the weakest in Sector 7.
Now, he was covered in blood that wasn't his own, and his eyes still glowed faintly red.
"Is he even human?" someone whispered.
Ryn didn't answer. He couldn't.
The world around him felt distant, muffled — like he was trapped behind a layer of glass.
Every breath was heavy. Every sound scraped his nerves raw.
---
That night, rain fell.
He sat on the edge of his bed, staring at the cracked mirror again.
Drops of blood still clung to his shirt, mixing with the rainwater dripping from his hair.
He remembered the last thing he heard inside the gate —
that voice.
That thing that spoke from inside him.
> [Keep killing. You'll understand what you are.]
Ryn clenched his fists until his knuckles bled.
He wanted to scream, but the sound never came out.
Instead, he muttered to his reflection, low and hollow:
> "If I lose myself… then maybe that's fine."
"Maybe I was never really human to begin with."
The reflection smirked back.
And for a moment, he wasn't sure which version of him had spoken.
---
The next morning, the city buzzed with rumors.
"An E-rank cleared a B-rank gate alone?"
"Impossible."
"Maybe he's cursed."
At the Hunter Center, administrators reviewed the footage.
The screen showed shadows moving faster than the eye could track.
The monsters didn't die — they were erased.
Even the system's sensors glitched when they tried to read his power level.
One officer murmured:
> "Whatever he is… he's not supposed to exist."
---
Ryn walked through the city streets, hood pulled low.
Every step echoed against the wet pavement.
His body felt heavier, the fire under his skin refusing to fade.
A stray cat hissed as he passed — then fled.
Streetlights flickered when he looked up.
He could feel the pulse of energy in every living thing around him.
And deep inside, the voice spoke again — soft, seductive, unrelenting:
> [The world fears you now.]
[Embrace it.]
[You were never meant to be weak.]
He stopped at a puddle, his reflection rippling in the rain.
Half of his face looked human.
The other half — shadow, horns, and faint, glowing veins beneath the skin.
> "So this is what I'm becoming…" he whispered.
The system's voice returned, emotionless yet urgent:
> [Warning: Host Synchronization 43%.]
[Risk of permanent corruption increasing.]
Ryn smiled faintly.
The first real smile he had shown in years — calm, fearless, and terrifying.
> "Then I'll keep going."
"Until nothing human remains."
Lightning split the sky.
The reflection vanished — and only darkness remained.
---