Seoul glowed beneath the night sky — a million lights buzzing like insects, artificial and fragile.
Yi Ji-Hyuk stood on the rooftop of a high-rise building, wind tugging at his coat. From this height, he could see the pulse of the city's life. So many people. So many stories.
And none of them knew what was coming.
He had tracked two more rift signals today. Both weak. Both incomplete. One fizzled out before it stabilized, the other left behind scorched concrete and a dog that wouldn't stop barking. No casualties — not yet.
But the pattern was growing.
Whoever was spreading Berafean magic wasn't stopping. They were testing the boundaries. Probing the veil like a pick searching for a crack in the lock.
Ji-Hyuk's eyes narrowed.
They were close to finding one.
Back at Yeonho's shop, the air was thick with incense. The old man had lit a protective ward in the corners — thin blue flames flickering above the shelves.
Ji-Hyuk entered without a word and dropped a USB drive on the counter.
Yeonho raised an eyebrow. "You've gone modern."
Ji-Hyuk nodded. "Traced the forum the kid used. It's called Velvet Gate. Buried under layers of encryption and fake domain links."
Yeonho plugged the drive into a dusty laptop. The screen flickered as it loaded.
Dozens of threads appeared. Titles like:
"Ritual of Black Blood (Verified)"
"Summon Lesser Spirit (Need Feedback)"
"Veil-Walking Dreams — Am I Cursed?"
Each post came with diagrams. Runes. Instructions. Most of it was nonsense.
But some… some were real. Too real.
"Look here," Yeonho murmured. He clicked open a pinned post:
The First Flame Has Been Lit. The Doors Will Open.
Attached was an image — grainy, distorted — of a glowing portal in an abandoned warehouse. The Berafean sigils around it pulsed faintly, even through the screen.
Ji-Hyuk leaned in. "Where was this taken?"
Yeonho tapped a few keys. "Posted from an IP in Incheon. The photo's timestamp is three days old."
"Incheon..." Ji-Hyuk frowned. "Close enough to test… far enough not to cause panic."
He turned toward the door. "I'm going there."
Yeonho reached under the counter and handed him a folded cloth. "Take this. Veil Scanner. Old tech. Might still work."
Ji-Hyuk pocketed it without thanks. He didn't need tools. But he wasn't arrogant enough to ignore them.
Not anymore.
The warehouse was quiet when he arrived.
Dust coated the floor. Rust clung to the metal beams like disease. Broken pallets and old machinery sat in silence. But Ji-Hyuk didn't need his eyes.
He felt the mana immediately.
Residual. Cold. Berafean.
He activated the scanner. The cloth unfolded itself with a shimmer of blue light, displaying faint runes midair. A glowing line circled the room — traces of where the portal had once burned.
He stepped into the center.
Closed his eyes.
The memory of the rift still hung in the air — like a scream that hadn't fully stopped. He touched the space and whispered a spell of reading, a simple one. It wouldn't open the gate, just trace its energy backward.
Images flickered behind his eyes.
A figure cloaked in red. Hooded. No face visible. Standing before the forming portal, holding a staff that reeked of corruption. Not human.
Not fully.
The figure had spoken no words. Just raised its hand, and the rift obeyed. Then it vanished — not through the portal, but into the shadows.
Ji-Hyuk opened his eyes, breath slow and measured.
This was no random cultist. This was someone trained in Voidcraft — the darkest of Berafean arts. The ability to not just use the rifts… but command them.
And more troubling still — he had seen that staff before.
Centuries ago. In Berafe's deepest pit.
The weapon of a creature called Kareth-Van, one of the "Forgotten Architects."
A being Ji-Hyuk had killed with his own hands.
So why was its staff here now?
On his way back, he passed a market alley just as it was closing. Vendors packed up their carts, muttering about the late hour. Rain started to drizzle, washing the dust from the pavement.
And then he felt it again.
A presence. Watching.
But this time… not malicious.
He turned quickly. A girl stood at the alley entrance. Young. No more than thirteen. Wearing a white dress far too clean for the area.
She stared at him with eyes that shimmered silver.
Ji-Hyuk's posture shifted. "You're not human."
She tilted her head. "Neither are you."
Silence.
He stepped closer, but she didn't move.
"Why are you here?"
"I was sent to observe you," she said softly.
"By who?"
She blinked. "By the Ones Who See."
That name chilled him. Not because he feared it — but because he remembered it.
The "Ones Who See" were Berafe's oldest watchers. Not gods. Not demons. But something that witnessed — every war, every death, every ascension.
He had thought them long gone.
"Why me?" he asked.
She gave a sad smile. "Because you were supposed to stay gone."
With that, she vanished.
No portal. No shimmer. Just gone.
Ji-Hyuk stared at the spot she'd stood, heart hammering for the first time in years.
Back in his room, he sat on the edge of the bed, hands folded.
The truth was clear now.
Someone — or something — was collecting the fragments of Berafe's power and leaking them into this world. The staff. The rituals. The words on forgotten forums. It wasn't random.
It was a campaign.
One meant to prepare Earth for a new age.
And whether he wanted it or not… Ji-Hyuk was at the center of it.
He looked out the window at the sleeping city.
Berafe had come for him once.
It would come again.
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