Chapter Text
Night draped over Seoul, city lights shimmering like distant stars. On the rooftop of a tall building, Sung Jinwoo, now officially an S-Rank hunter with his updated licence stood alone, the wind tugging at his hoodie. Below him, the familiar hum of mana blended with the city’s bustle. But tonight, something felt off.
In his mind’s eye, the System window fluttered like a broken screen. His stats blurred, parts of his interface froze, and his normally razor-sharp shadow-summoning felt… distant.
He tried to summon an orc soldier, but when he willed it, nothing happened. His mana usually steady slipped away faster than he expected. He clenched his fists.
Warning: System instability detected!
Error Code: 0x0F1A
Attempting recovery…
The message echoed in his mind, but then vanished before he could read the details. A cold surge of unease settled in his chest.
Jinwoo frowned. He tried to re-open his status panel, but it glitched and flashed. Parts of his stats were missing, his experience bar frozen. His skills felt sluggish, like his shadow army responded slower than usual.
Alarmed, he closed the System interface and concentrated. His body felt… wrong. Lightheaded. Vulnerable.
Jinwoo knew this wasn’t a simple bug with the system. He leapt off the rooftop to test his shadow powers, but the shadows flickered feebly as if they too, were corrupted.
Landing heavily on the ground far below, he steadied himself. The city’s lights looked different now, more menacing, as though they hid something in the darkness. He narrowed his eyes.
He whispered, “What’s going on…”