The taste of blood filled my mouth as I stumbled forward, my legs barely holding me up. Around me, the city burned. Buildings crumbled like paper, and the screams of the dying echoed through the smoke-filled air.
"Damn it all," I muttered, wiping the crimson from my lips.
My name is Kilua Araumey, and I'm the last S-Rank Hunter alive. At twenty-eight, I'd been told I was handsome enough, sharp jawline, piercing dark eyes, and the kind of build that came from years of fighting monsters. Not that it mattered much when you were covered in blood and monster guts most of the time.
Everyone else is dead.
The massive Rift tore through the sky above Seoul.. Dark energy poured out of it, and with it came monsters that shouldn't exist in the first place. Things with too many teeth, shadows that moved on their own, and creatures that made veteran hunters wet themselves just by looking at them.
I'd been fighting for three days straight. My mana was nearly gone, my body was broken in more places than I could count, and my legendary sword was cracked down the middle. But I was still standing.
Because I had to be.
"System," I called out, my voice hoarse. "Status report."
The familiar blue window appeared in front of me:
[STATUS]
Health: 12/2,847
Mana: 89/4,523
Stamina: 23/3,109
Current Threat Level: EXTINCTION CLASS
Yeah. That about summed it up.
The ground shook as something massive crawled out of the Rift. I didn't bother looking up, I'd seen enough nightmares for one lifetime. Instead, I focused on the ancient tome in my hands, its pages glowing with power I barely understood.
"Divine Seal of Eternal Binding," I read aloud, the words feeling heavy on my tongue. "To close what should never have opened, the wielder must offer their soul as payment."
Great. Just great.
I'd found this thing in the ruins of the Hunter Association's secret vault, right next to the bodies of twelve A-Rank hunters who'd died trying to reach it. The old man who wrote it was apparently some kind of scholar who studied the gods before they all disappeared.
Back when gods actually existed, that is. Now they were just stories. Myths.
Another roar split the air, closer this time. I could feel the monster's presence pressing down on me like a physical weight. Whatever had just emerged was probably strong enough to wipe out entire countries.
"Well," I said to nobody in particular, "at least I won't have to eat pineapple on kimchi anymore."
I opened the tome to the ritual page and started reading. The words were in some ancient language, but somehow I understood them perfectly. They spoke of sacrifice, of binding one's life force to seal away catastrophic threats.
Of trading everything you are for a chance to save everyone else.
The spell circle began forming beneath my feet, carved from pure light and my own fading life energy. Each symbol that appeared made me weaker, but I kept going. What choice did I have?
As I chanted, memories flashed through my mind. My first successful hunt at age sixteen. The day I became S-Rank. Meeting Yuri, the only woman who could look at a monster-slaying psychopath and somehow see someone worth loving.
Yuri, who died in the first wave because I wasn't fast enough to save her.
"For what it's worth," I whispered as the final symbol locked into place, "I'm sorry I couldn't do better."
The ritual reached its climax. Power beyond anything I'd ever felt surged through me, then began tearing me apart from the inside. It hurt—God, it hurt, but I held on.
The Rift started shrinking.
The monsters trapped on this side of reality began dissolving, pulled back into whatever hellish dimension they came from. Their screams of rage and confusion almost made me smile.
But as my vision darkened and my heart began its final beats, I heard a voice, soft and musical, speaking words I couldn't quite make out.
Then another voice. And another.
Female voices, beautiful and ancient like, filled with so much power.
It felt like they were saying something about debts, second chances, purposes unfulfilled and destinies rewritten and I could understand a little due to my years of studying and trainings at the academy.
The last thing I saw before everything went black was a pair of golden sad eyes, looking down at me with hope.
"Sleep now, brave hunter," the voice whispered. "When you wake, everything will be different."
And then I died.
In the void between death and rebirth, something stirred in my consciousness. Blue text materialized in the darkness of my fading awareness, glowing with ethereal light:
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
SOUL TRANSFER COMPLETE
INITIATING REBIRTH PROTOCOL
UNIQUE SKILL DETECTED: [PREDATOR'S INSTINCT]
SECONDARY SKILL DETECTED: [SYSTEM SYNC]
CAUTION: TIMELINE DISPLACEMENT - 500 YEARS
BEGINNING NEW LIFE SEQUENCE…
The words burned themselves into my dying mind before everything went completely black.
I opened my eyes to sunlight streaming through a window I'd never seen before, and in a strange, young body.
Was I given a second chance at life? If this was a second chance, then fine. I'd take it. But not as a hero or a hunter. I just wanted to live quietly. Drink something sweet. Sleep without nightmares. And maybe enjoy the beauty or beauties of life
The world had taken everything from me once. Not again