The night air cut colder than usual. Seoul felt heavier, like the streets themselves knew something was moving.
From a rooftop above the city, Seong Min sat perched on rusted iron, violet glint smoldering faintly in his eye. The streets below buzzed, neon bleeding into the damp concrete. But to him, the noise was background. What mattered was the silence underneath—the way people spoke of him without knowing his name.
"Fifteen guys dropped in a single blow.""He crushed a skull with his bare hands.""They said his eyes glowed."
Exaggerations. Lies. Perfect.
He smirked faintly, flipping his notebook open. His pen scrawled across the page.
Dog Pound: erased. Their absence louder than their presence. The rumor is the weapon. Fear spreads faster than proof. Let them build me into a ghost.
He tapped the pen against the paper, then looked out again at the endless sprawl.
But even from here, above the noise, he could feel it.Pressure.Like the sky itself was waiting to drop.
At J High, the tension clung to the halls like smoke.
"Did you hear?""They say the guy who crushed Dog Pound didn't even break a sweat.""No way that's true.""Then why are half of them still in casts?""My cousin said one of them can't even walk anymore."
The whispers followed Daniel Park from the gate to his desk. He tried to drown them out, but every fragment carved deeper.
Dog Pound had made his life hell when he first came here. They'd cornered him, humiliated him, used him like a toy. He should've felt relief that they were gone.
Instead his stomach turned. Whoever erased them so thoroughly… what kind of person does that?
His eyes drifted—unwilling, but magnetized—toward the back of the classroom.
Seong Min sat there, posture loose, half-smirk tugging at his mouth. He didn't fidget. Didn't react to the chaos around him. Just sat, eyes half-lidded but sharp, as if he was cataloguing every breath in the room.
Daniel swallowed hard. It has to be him…
A chill worked its way down his spine. He quickly looked away, heart pounding in his throat.
Elsewhere, far from the chatter of J High, a basement reeked of age and cigarette smoke.
The First Generation King sat in silence, smoke coiling around his face. His underlings kept their eyes lowered, none daring to meet his gaze.
The heavy door creaked open.
A man entered, scarred and broad, each step heavy enough to rattle the floorboards. He wore his violence like a second skin—ragged jacket draped over knotted muscle, a face carved by years of fights that didn't end clean.
The King didn't turn. Only the faint scrape of his lighter filled the air as he sparked another cigarette.
"You asked for a test," he muttered, voice gravel dragging against stone. "Here it is. Go see what this Seong Min is made of."
The scarred man cracked his neck slowly, the sound like splitting wood. His grin showed teeth jagged and broken, but his eyes burned steady.
"With pleasure."
The King leaned back in his chair, smoke veiling his face. "Remember… you're not proving yourself. You're measuring him."
The scarred man didn't answer. His grin said enough.
That evening, the streets of Seoul grew quiet. Too quiet.
Seong Min walked home alone, hands shoved deep into his pockets, hood pulled low. His pace was steady, unhurried, every step deliberate.
The underpass swallowed him whole, the fluorescent lights above flickering weakly. Graffiti sprawled across the walls, the faint smell of piss and rust thick in the air.
And then—silence.
The hum of the city faded. No footsteps ahead. No echo behind.
Except one.
Slow. Deliberate. Heavy.
Seong Min didn't stop. His violet eye flickered faintly in the dim light. His voice carried calm certainty."So they sent someone already."
A voice growled from behind, jagged and low."You're the brat who broke Dog Pound."
Seong Min turned, his gaze sharp as a blade.
The scarred man stood at the mouth of the underpass, shoulders wide enough to scrape the walls, shadows stretching around him like chains. His grin was cruel, carved deep into a face that had seen more fights than Seong Min's classmates could imagine.
The man rolled his shoulders. "Kids these days think they're wolves. Let's see if you bite."
He lunged.
The ground itself seemed to shake as his boots pounded forward. His fist cut through the air, a blur of raw force that made the lights overhead flicker.
Seong Min slipped sideways, coat flaring, and drove his elbow into the man's ribs. The impact rang out sharp, echoing through the tunnel.
The man staggered half a step—then straightened, laughing."Good. You're not just smoke."
His fist came again, faster, heavier. Seong Min caught it with both hands, his arms jolting from the impact. Pain throbbed up to his shoulders, but his smirk sharpened.
Finally—something real.
The scarred man twisted suddenly, driving his forehead into Seong Min's cheek. The crack of bone on bone echoed like a gunshot. Pain burst white across Seong Min's vision, blood filling his mouth.
He spat crimson onto the ground and licked his teeth. His voice was calm, but colder than ice."You're better than trash. Good. I was getting bored."
The man's grin widened into something feral. "Then let's make this fun."
Elsewhere, Daniel froze mid-step as a distant echo rattled the night. A sound too heavy, too violent to be normal.
Not fireworks. Not traffic.
…That's a fight.
His chest tightened. His legs moved without permission, carrying him toward the underpass.
Every step closer made the sound sharper—grunts like thunder, fists slamming meat and bone, the sick crack of concrete buckling.
By the time he reached the tunnel entrance, his palms were slick with sweat. His breath came shallow, heart racing.
He peeked around the corner—
And froze.
Seong Min's heel drove into the scarred man's knee. A crack rang out, the joint bending at an ugly angle. The man snarled, stumbling—yet his counter came instantly, a fist hammering into Seong Min's jaw with the force of a sledgehammer.
The blow rattled his skull. His head snapped sideways, blood spraying the wall.
Daniel's eyes widened. That would've killed me.
But Seong Min didn't fall. Didn't even blink. He straightened slowly, violet glow blazing brighter now, more alive with every drip of blood sliding down his chin.
The scarred man barked a laugh, voice ragged and wild. "What's wrong, boy? Thought you were a monster."
Seong Min wiped the blood from his mouth, calm as ever."Not a monster."
His steps echoed loud in the tunnel as he closed the distance, each stride heavier than the last. His eyes locked on the man with unwavering certainty.
"Just inevitable."
The man roared and swung again.
Their fists collided, shockwaves tearing down the concrete walls. Dust rained from the ceiling.
Daniel's breath caught, body pressed against the cold wall. His knees nearly buckled from the sheer pressure of that clash.
This isn't… human.
End of Chapter 15