The massive iron gates of Haeundae Horizon High School swung open with a rusty creak after a three-month silence. However, this new term brought not fresh beginnings, but a video that spread like a digital executioner. Long before the school bell rang, the corridors were already poisoned with whispers. A single image looped on every phone screen: a humiliating video of Park Jae Hyun being brutally beaten by a gang in a back alley.
Ha-Eun, one of the popular girls in class, let out a deep sigh as she sat at her desk by the window. "Ah, another school term... I guess I'll be seeing the same stale faces all over again," she said with weariness.
Someone from the adjacent desk thrust their phone nearly into Ha-Eun's face. "Don't say that, Ha-Eun! This term isn't going to be like the others. Didn't you see the massive Portal that suddenly appeared in the heart of Seoul yesterday? Or the news about people turning into monsters one by one in an office building in London? The world is no longer the safe place we knew; it's heading toward a strange reality."
Ha-Eun flinched at the mention of the "Portal" but maintained her composure. "What happened to the Portal, then?"
"No one knows," her friend shrugged. "It vanished as quickly as it appeared. But forget about the world for a moment look at the real local chaos! Haven't you seen this video?"
Ha-Eun began to watch the screen-recorded video. In the footage, Jae Hyun was kneeling in the mud, shrinking a little more with every blow that landed on his face. The comments below the video were spewing pure hatred: "What a loser!", "Why isn't he fighting back?", "No one would care if he died."
At that moment, a memory flashed in Ha-Eun's mind. A few months ago, the moment Jae Hyun had timidly approached her and asked, "Can I buy you an ice cream?" There was a vast chasm between Jae Hyun's innocent, trembling voice that day and the pain-filled groans in the video. Ha-Eun felt a pang in her chest.
"You guys are being too hard on the kid," Ha-Eun said, her voice shaking. "Stop it already. After this video, this boy won't even be able to look people in the face"
Her words were cut short by a violent blow that strained the hinges of the classroom door. Alex Kwon and his gang, standing like shadows behind him, burst in as if entering a kingdom. Alex scanned the room with his infamous, derogatory smirk.
"Damn it!" Alex roared. "We can't squeeze enough protection money out of this penniless principal anymore. I've told my brother a dozen times; this school is a nest of paupers, just burn it down—but he won't listen to me!"
Alex walked over to an innocent student who was quietly reading a book at his desk. Without warning, he grabbed the boy by the collar and lifted him into the air with one hand. As the boy's feet left the ground, a deathly silence fell over the room.
"Look at me, you piece of filth. Hand over the cash!"
The boy tried to grab Alex's arm with trembling hands. "Please... Please don't. This was my last bit of money; I saved it just for the bus fare to get here. I promise, next time—"
CRACK!
The boy's words were choked back by a vicious punch from Alex that exploded across his face. The boy collapsed onto the desk, blood splattering from his face.
Ha-Eun jumped to her feet, unable to take it any longer. "Look at me, Alex! You need to stop this pathetic bullying! They are innocent; they have no quarrel with you!"
Alex continued to kick the boy on the floor mercilessly, then stepped directly on the boy's fallen glasses, crushing them to pieces. Then, he tossed the boy toward his other friends as if he were a bag of trash. He walked with heavy steps toward Ha-Eun, grabbing her waist and pulling her close in a possessive manner.
"I know you like it, baby," Alex whispered as he kissed Ha-Eun. "They are just insects. It's the law of nature for them to be crushed. And you... as the most beautiful girl in this school, you belong to me. Maybe one day we should have our way right in front of these losers to show them what a real man is, what do you say?"
Facing Alex's dark charisma and power, Ha-Eun pushed aside the remaining fragments of her conscience and replied with a twisted smile: "Whatever, let's just go to the yard. I don't want us to get blamed if someone sees us."
As they left the classroom, they left behind a student crying in a pool of blood and a class with its honor trampled. It seemed as though everything was over Even though the sun warmed the yard of Haeundae Horizon High School, the aura radiating from Alex Kwon and his following gang was ice-cold. Stepping out into the yard as if nothing had happened after the brutality in the classroom, Alex paraded around at the peak of narcissism, flaunting his newly bought luxury shoes.
"Hey guys, check these out!" Alex said, thrusting his foot forward. "Bought them yesterday. Even the texture of this leather is amazing, isn't it?"
One of the gang members swallowed hard and warned him: "Don't do that, Alex. We know you bought these behind your brother's back. If he finds out, it won't be pretty you know how disciplined he is."
Ha-Eun could no longer remain indifferent to this mysterious "brother" figure. "Your brother? You keep talking about him, Alex. Who is this guy, exactly?"
A surge of arrogance flashed in Alex's eyes. "My brother is a Vassal. A Level 4 Mage! He serves in one of Seoul's most famous guilds. Pretty cool, right?"
Ha-Eun paused in surprise. "A Vassal? What does that even mean?"
"Simply put," Alex said, as if explaining something elementary, "you know those absolute powers we call the Sovereigns? My brother signed a contract with them. He pledged his loyalty and, in return, received power far beyond that of the Awakened. Call it selling your soul or binding your fate... in the end, he is now a Sovereign's shadow on earth."
Meanwhile, the joy of the yard was found among a group of students playing ball innocently. However, misfortune fell upon them like a shadow. A ball thrown by one of the children traced an arc through the air and exploded right against Alex's arrogant face.
A deathly silence fell over the yard. Within seconds, the gang members surrounded the child. "What do you think you're doing, you brat!" one roared. Ten people grabbed the small boy by the collar and hoisted him into the air. The child was trembling with fear, tears streaming down his cheeks as he tried to apologize.
Ha-Eun murmured with a mocking tone: "You're finished, kid..."
Alex was shaken by the shock of the impact on his face. Stretching his arms, he clenched his fist; his veins became so prominent they looked as if they would tear through his skin. "So, you throw a ball at my face, huh? Fine. Hold him tight so this serves as a lesson to everyone."
Just then, an elderly woman entered through the school's iron gate. In her hands were bags containing warm, home-cooked meals she had brought for her grandson. The moment she saw the scene, her world collapsed.
"My grandson! Get your filthy hands off my grandson!" the grandmother screamed. Her voice was trembling, but her protective instinct was stronger than anything. For Alex, however, this was merely new entertainment.
"Ha! What is this hag rambling about?" Alex said, laughing. "And she brought food. Take the food from her; we were getting hungry anyway."
The gang members harassed the old woman, forcibly taking the bags from her hands. While the grandmother knelt and begged so that no harm would come to her grandson, Alex had her held upright by force to make her watch the blow he was about to deliver to the boy.
As the little boy looked at the massive fist about to descend upon his face, he turned to his weeping grandmother and called out with a bitter smile:
"Don't be afraid, grandmother... I'm so glad I was your grandson. I love you so much."
Alex gathered all his rage into his fist. His school uniform burst at the seams as the muscles in his arm swelled. White smoke escaped his mouth a sign of the artificial and searing power granted by the Sovereigns.
"DIE!" Alex bellowed.
The fist stopped mere centimeters from the boy's face. Alex's eyes widened in shock. His fist had been caught in mid-air by a claw made of iron.
"Huh? Who the hell are you—"
Before Alex could even finish his sentence, the person holding his suspended fist made their move. The newcomer delivered a punch so violent, right to the center of Alex's abdomen, that it felt as if his internal organs had been displaced.
BOOM!
The impact was so heavy that stomach acid and blood erupted from Alex's mouth. His body shot backward like a projectile, skidding across the concrete yard for meters. After a moment of paralyzed shock, the ten gang members standing behind Alex roared in fury: "Kill this piece of filth!"
But the person before them was no longer the old Jae Hyun. When the first attacker lunged, Jae Hyun simply slipped to the side and shattered the man's jaw with a flawless right hook. As the second one made a move, Jae Hyun's left hook ground his ribcage into powder The strongest member of the gang, known as Alex's right hand, drew a knife and rushed forward. Jae Hyun caught the knife-wielding hand in mid-air and drove his knee into the man's solar plexus. As the man rose into the air, gasping for breath, Jae Hyun slammed him onto the hard concrete with a crushing strike. Stepping over the unconscious, bloodied man and grinding his boot against his head, Jae Hyun walked with heavy, deliberate steps toward Staggering, Alex tried to push himself off the ground. He began to tense his body with the artificial power he had received from the Sovereigns; every punch he threw shattered the surrounding benches and stones. He attacked like a madman, but Jae Hyun parried these strikes with ease, as if moving through slow motion Finally, Jae Hyun caught Alex's last desperate punch in mid-air. Alex tried to break free, but Jae Hyun squeezed his hand so hard that the sound of snapping bones echoed throughout the entire yard. Alex began to scream in agony:
"Let go! Let go of my hand, you damn bastard!"
Jae Hyun didn't answer. Only that cold, purple light flickered in his eyes. With a single, brutal motion, he tore Alex's arm from his shoulder as if ripping a piece of paper. Then, he landed a jarring punch to the face of the howling Alex, followed by a heavy kick combo. Alex collapsed in a pool of his own blood, unrecognizable With his broken jaw, Alex whispered with great difficulty: "Who... who are you? What do you think you're doing? My brother... my brother won't let you live. After everything you've done... Tell me, who are you?"
The surrounding students, teachers, and even the grandmother who had dropped her bags held their breath. Ha-Eun stared at this stranger in sheer horror. The man slowly pushed back his hood. His face was the same, yet his gaze looked as if it had aged a thousand years.
"I will tear you limb from limb right here in front of everyone," he said in a voice as cold as ice. "I will crush your skull and throw it to the dogs; I will dismantle your body without mercy. Today, you will experience the wrath of the innocents you have silenced for so long."
Ha-Eun asked in a trembling voice: "Who are you?"
The figure locked his gaze onto Ha-Eun's eyes and gave that legendary answer:
"Park Jae Hyun."
-
3 Days Ago
When Park Jae Hyun opened his eyes, the first thing he felt was a sharp scent of ozone mixed with the sterile smell of a hospital. His vision was blurred. Before him stood a semi-robotic figure, whose fingers were covered with metallic cables resembling a complex android that was part human and part machine.
X: "Hey, hey... Look at that, he's starting to move. Hwan, are you sure this kid is actually alive? I thought his heart stopped for a moment."
Hwan-Hee replied in a calm voice while tracking data from a monitor in the corner: "I think he pushed his limits a bit too far. Honestly, his power level has already surpassed Kang-Woo's. According to current data, he has reached the level of a Level 3 Mage. Such development in such a short time... it's not normal at all."
Seo-Ah chimed in with a proud smile on her face: "Hey! I'm the one who trained him, remember? I worked him to the bone for three months; of course he was going to surpass Kang!"
Kang-Woo grumbled from the corner: "You damn girl... your jokes aren't funny. He almost killed me back in that dungeon."
When Jae Hyun fully regained consciousness, he saw that terrifying figure right in front of him: the white-haired, red-eyed, Viking-like monster who had ripped off his left arm in the dungeon! Out of reflex, he lunged from the bed to attack, but Hwan and Seo-Ah caught him in mid-air and pinned him back down.
"Calm down, Jae Hyun!" Hwan-Hee shouted. "He is a Vicar, chosen to test you. He fought you in the dungeon, but his goal wasn't to kill you it was to awaken the 'Purple Core' within you. Though, truth be told, you almost actually killed him."
Once Jae Hyun took a deep breath and calmed down, Seo-Ah sat beside him and began explaining the world's new, ruthless rulebook.
"I know you're confused, 'baby'. Right now, we are in a secret mage guild in Seoul; one of the five largest guilds in Korea. Power in this world is now divided into five classes:
• Level 5 (Amateurs): Newly awakened novices who can only sense the elements.
• Level 4 (Vassals): Those who can clear C and B-class dungeons alone, like Alex's brother. They make contracts with the Sovereigns, trading their souls for power.
• Level 3 (Masters): Those capable of stopping A and S-class threats. You are currently on this threshold.
• Level 2 (Ancients): Those who stop SS and Z-class threats monsters that can level entire cities.
• Level 1 (Sovereigns): They are no longer human. There are only 10 in the world, and 2 are in Korea. The source of their power is unknown, but each is a walking apocalypse."
Just as Jae Hyun was about to ask "Why me?", the heavy steel door of the room swung open with a loud thud. The presence of the man who entered seemed to suck the oxygen right out of the room He wore a sharp, blood-red suit. Behind his glasses, his eyes glowed with a feral red aura. His hair was perfectly groomed, but the energy he radiated was that of a predator. Every experienced mage in the room stood up and bowed their heads the moment he entered The man in the red suit walked to the edge of the bed. He looked deep into Jae Hyun's eyes as if reading his very soul and spoke in a chilling, charismatic voice:
"Greetings, Park Jae Hyun."