The morning light broke over Seoul like a slow-burning flame, turning glass towers into rivers of gold. The city was alive again—children laughing on their way to school, vendors shouting the prices of breakfast rolls, and the faint sound of car engines rolling through the air.
Peace had returned… or so everyone believed.
High above the noise of the city, Sung Jinwoo stood alone on the balcony of a tall apartment overlooking the Han River. The wind moved softly through his black hair, and the sun painted quiet reflections across the coffee cup in his hand. To anyone watching, he looked like an ordinary man. But beneath that calm expression, his shadow pulsed faintly with hidden life.
He had lived years in peace since the war of the Monarchs ended. No gates had appeared. No monsters had walked the earth. Humanity had grown bold again, rebuilding their cities and their dreams. But Jinwoo knew peace was only ever borrowed time.
He had seen what waited beyond the silence.
A faint vibration ran through the ground beneath his feet. The coffee in his cup trembled. He froze.
Then, like a breath held too long, the world shifted.
The mana around him stirred—gentle at first, then violent. Windows rattled. Birds scattered across the sky. Somewhere in the distance, sirens began to scream.
And deep within Jinwoo's mind, something ancient awakened.
A flicker of light appeared before him. The old blue interface of the System—a relic that should have vanished forever—glitched back into existence. Its letters blinked with distortion, half-burnt symbols fighting to form words.
[System Reinitializing…]
[New Power Calibration Detected]
[Updated Rank Table: E – D – C – B – A – S – SS – SSS – X – XX – XXX – Omega – Supreme – Transcendence]
Jinwoo's eyes darkened.
The ranks had changed.
He set the cup down slowly, his expression hardening. Somewhere across the city, mana flared like a dying star. His instincts sharpened instantly. That kind of power—wild and uncontrolled—didn't belong to any human.
He grabbed his black coat from the rack, the familiar weight of it falling over his shoulders like a memory. His shadow rippled again, and dozens of faint silhouettes stirred within it. The army of darkness he'd buried long ago waited silently for his command.
"Stay," he whispered. His voice carried the calm of a storm about to break.
The world outside was no longer peaceful. He could feel it—the hum of magic building, the pulse of the unknown crawling closer.
Across the northern district, the first gate in ten years opened.
It wasn't blue. It wasn't red. It was black.
And from within that black gate, a sound like thunder erupted—a roar so powerful that the air itself seemed to split.
The hunters' association scrambled. Sirens echoed through Seoul.
In the heart of the chaos, Jinwoo moved. His steps were silent, but every time his foot touched the ground, shadows followed, spreading across the streets like ink under sunlight. People ran, screaming as mana waves cracked through the buildings, and the scent of ozone filled the air.
Then he saw it.
A creature unlike anything from the old world—a being taller than the tallest skyscraper, its armor forged from molten darkness, its eyes glowing a sickly crimson. Every breath it took made the clouds tremble.
The first S-Rank monster of the new era had arrived.
It opened its mouth and roared again, a sound that shattered glass and turned cars to dust.
Jinwoo stared up at it, unshaken. His expression didn't change. There was no fear, no shock—only the cold acceptance of inevitability.
The System flickered once more.
[Quest: Reawaken the Monarch of Shadows]
[Penalty for Failure: Death of All Humans]
Jinwoo's heart tightened, not from fear but from recognition.
"Looks like you never left me alone," he murmured to the air.
Then, without another word, his shadow burst open. A wave of black smoke rushed outward as hundreds of soldiers emerged—knights, beasts, and creatures formed entirely of darkness, kneeling before him.
The monster's crimson eyes locked onto him.
The city fell silent.
Then the battle began.
The S-Rank monster swung its arm, the impact tearing through the air like a hurricane. Jinwoo didn't move until the last moment—then vanished. His shadow slipped beneath the creature's blow, reappearing at its flank. With one motion, his hand cut through the air, and darkness answered his call.
A massive blade of shadow erupted from the ground, cleaving into the creature's side. Black blood hissed like acid as it splattered onto the asphalt.
The monster screamed and lunged again, crushing buildings beneath its weight. Jinwoo leapt onto its arm, his movements impossibly fast, shadows spiraling around him like ribbons of smoke. Every strike he made rippled with pure mana, cracking the air.
But the creature didn't fall.
It was stronger—faster—smarter.
Every attack Jinwoo landed, it healed. Every move he countered, it adapted.
Then, through the roar and destruction, he realized something terrifying.
The monster wasn't trying to kill him. It was testing him.
It was smiling.
A spark of unease flickered through Jinwoo's chest. The last time he'd seen that look was during the Monarch Wars—when gods and demons fought for the fate of creation itself.
The monster lifted its hand again, and a sigil formed in the air—a glowing crimson brand shaped like a crown.
Jinwoo's breath hitched. He recognized that symbol.
It was the mark of the Supreme Rankers.
And that meant only one thing.
Something, or someone, was rewriting the hierarchy of power.
The System's voice echoed once more, trembling with static.
[Warning: The Transcendence Gate is opening.]
The words froze him in place.
The Transcendence Gate—the one power even the Monarchs had feared—was not supposed to exist.
The monster roared one last time, and a black light shot into the clouds, splitting the sky in two.
As the heavens bled with light, Jinwoo stood beneath it, eyes blazing like black fire.
Peace was over.
The world was changing again.
And this time, it wouldn't survive without him.