The World Beyond the Well
The entire field of vision flickered madly in black and white. His body convulsed uncontrollably, and even the mana he had been wielding scattered into oblivion, causing the gray energy he had been emitting to finally dissipate.
It was a miracle he hadn't died.
Amid the conflicting sensations of paralysis and pain sweeping through his entire body, Park Seryong suddenly had a thought. But the crisis wasn't over—it was still unfolding—so he barely managed to cling to his fading consciousness.
I have to run.
That was his only thought. Since becoming an S-class hunter, he had almost never been this desperate. No, this was the first time.
But it was already too late.
Just as his violently flickering and distorted vision was about to return to normal, a hand suddenly appeared in his sight. Before he could even react, it grabbed his collar and effortlessly yanked him away from the apartment's outer wall.
Reflexively clutching the forearm that held his neck in a vise, Park Seryong took in his opponent's appearance.
A twenty-something kid who was clearly a psychopath.
A brat who had never properly tested his skills and had never had the chance to do so had effortlessly subdued him and was now looking down with an expression of utter disdain.
Even more astonishingly, he was doing so while floating in midair.
Flight ability too?
Because humans had no natural connection to wings, flight abilities were extremely rare. In terms of rarity alone, they were on par with S-class hunters, regardless of their usefulness or power.
Yet the guy who had subdued him so easily also possessed flight.
Despite the situation, an intense emotion surged within him—the sheer unfairness of the world. It was a sense of injustice toward some indefinable force, and a helplessness that came from having his self-confidence completely shattered.
"Kill... me."
So Park Seryong unconsciously spat out those words.
His senses were recovering quickly, but the paralysis and pain throughout his body remained, and the scattered flow of his mana was still a tangled mess that he couldn't properly control.
At this moment, he was like a fish laid out on his opponent's cutting board. Faced with a reality he could no longer deny, his final spark of defiance had ignited.
But his opponent's reaction was anything but serious.
"Are you reflecting on the fact that you've just committed a mortal sin? But from what I see, it doesn't seem that bad."
At those casual words, Park Seryong felt more absurdity than anger rise within him.
"After doing something like this... you're going to let me live?"
If that was the case, how could he dare commit such an act of terror?
Rumble...!
At that very moment, the upper floors of the apartment building, which had been teetering on the brink of collapse, tilted toward them with a heavy roar, casting a massive shadow.
"So why did you have to provoke me when I was just minding my own business?"
Han Yujin clicked his tongue, his voice laced with profound pity.
"Well, I don't sympathize, but I can understand it intellectually. History has proven countless times just how much power can drive people to act like complete idiots."
"......"
"But I had no interest in any of that. If you hadn't touched me, we could have quietly gotten along just fine."
What nonsense.
As Park Seryong inwardly denied it, his opponent continued.
"Do you know why I wasn't interested? Because I'm humble? Because I've realized the spirit of non-possession? None of that. It's just... how could I possibly develop any greed watching frogs fight over a cramped little well?"
There was no time to ask what exactly that meant. The apartment building, which had been tilting and casting its shadow, began to crash down over their heads with an even louder roar.
Watch closely, you little frog. Just how insignificant that power you possess—and the authority you were so desperate to seize—really is.
In a situation so urgent he should have been panicking in terror.
Strangely, Han Yujin's voice rang out with perfect clarity, striking directly into his mind.
And the apartment building that had been falling like a hammer from the sky suddenly transformed into a violent storm of pink flower petals.
Shhhhhhhk—!!
The sharp sounds rang in his ears louder than thunder.
When the petal storm that seemed capable of sweeping away the entire world brushed past Park Seryong in his shock, the surrounding scenery had completely changed.
The familiar cityscape of Earth was gone. Instead, a fierce battlefield atop a massive castle wall had unfolded before him.
When he instinctively turned his head, he saw strange monsters surging forward like a tidal wave, filling the horizon beyond the walls. He also saw humans in very archaic attire bravely fighting against them.
Resounding shouts and screams, flashing lights, explosions that shook the ground, and intense waves of mana bursting forth and swirling everywhere.
It was nothing short of a battlefield from myth.
The monsters that looked overwhelmingly powerful at a glance, and even the people fighting them with ferocity that went beyond mere bravery—none of them were weaker than Park Seryong himself.
It was easier to find those stronger than him, and those on a similar level were few.
What... is this?
He had no idea when he had landed on the ground. As he stood there momentarily frozen, unable to process the situation—
A sudden, massive shock slammed into him. It was a terrifying wave of mana that carried an overwhelming pressure, as if a boulder were falling directly onto his head.
It's time to die, you human vermin.
Immediately after, a mysterious mental wave that seemed to crush and shatter all thought rang through his head.
His head turned on its own according to survival instinct, toward one side of the sky. Even though it was an incredibly distant creature, its sheer size made it clearly visible—a massive winged dragon.
It was no ordinary winged dragon. Adorned with precious metals across its body, it was a monster among monsters, radiating an aura of mana so immense that merely looking at it felt like it would burn one's eyes.
When the winged dragon opened its maw, a brilliant golden orb appeared in front of it. It rapidly grew in size before plummeting toward the battlefield.
In that instant, Park Seryong felt all the moisture in the surrounding air evaporate. Though it was still far from reaching him, the horrific heat engulfed everything, as if it would burn him alive.
Park Seryong thought he had screamed.
But he couldn't be sure if he actually had, because at that exact moment, a roar that swallowed all the noise of the battlefield erupted.
A humanoid figure shot toward the winged dragon like a beam of light.
It collided with the falling golden orb.
An indescribable explosion rang out once more.
A ring-shaped shockwave tore through every cloud in the sky, spreading with enough force to leap over the horizon. The very space itself warped wildly, and the sky flipped and churned like a sea caught in a storm.
...A god?
Even amid the terrible heat, that thought unconsciously crossed his mind.
A monster that looked like a mix of a mantis and a scorpion dove toward Park Seryong like a hawk. He instinctively tried to resist, but the speed of its scythe-like arm was far faster.
I'm going to die.
The moment he was certain of it, something shot forward with a thunderous crack and deflected the incoming attack.
You still have more to watch.
It was Han Yujin's voice, ringing clearly and striking into his mind.
The moment he was violently grabbed by the nape of his neck and his whole body flipped upside down, the surroundings darkened. Soon, he found himself standing in yet another unfamiliar place.
"Huk...!"
Park Seryong staggered with a groan at the chillingly realistic sensation that suddenly hit him. The heat he had felt just moments ago, along with all the accumulated damage from before, tormented him with pain.
But the surrounding scenery was far too ominous for him to simply collapse in relief.
It was at least a familiar modern city, but it looked as if it had been abandoned for decades after the apocalypse. Not even a single weed could be seen.
Every window was shattered, and there wasn't a single piece of metal that hadn't rusted. Beneath the gloomy sky, an unnaturally cold temperature made his body shiver. With every breath he took, white vapor poured out.
"What the...! What kind of damn ghost trick is this!"
Park Seryong transformed his fear into an angry shout. At least on the surface, that's what it looked like.
"Come out, Han Yujin! This, this is...!"
After stuttering several times, something suddenly occurred to him.
"This is all an illusion!"
Oh?
After that indifferent reply—
Aaaaaaaaah...!!
Suddenly, from far behind him, a scream that was completely different from Han Yujin's—something like a spiritual echo—rang out.
It sounded as if someone was suffering unbearable pain, yet also like a desperate plea for salvation from someone in deep sorrow. It was faint yet enormous, devouring all other noise.
When Park Seryong reflexively turned his head, he witnessed a man in a suit running toward him from afar with utterly bizarre movements.
If you believe it's an illusion, then just do nothing and die.
Han Yujin's voice, sounding as if he couldn't care less, rang in his head once more. As Park Seryong stared at the mysterious suited man with dilated pupils, his entire body began to tremble like an aspen tree.
Once again, that chillingly realistic sensation washed over him.
And within that realism, the situation continued to unfold without pause.
The suited man, twisting his upper body like a zombie with every step, closed the distance at terrifying speed. With his movement, faint screams filled with unknown terror echoed from the nearby buildings.
It was as if countless other ghostly entities hiding there were also fleeing in fear of the suited man.
The moment he made that judgment—
Park Seryong unconsciously turned and began running like a madman. His speed was painfully slow compared to when he was in normal condition, but fortunately, the suited man wasn't that fast either.
It was because the man would occasionally slow down and wail, as if suffering from some extreme agony.
"Where... where do I...?!"
Panting heavily, Park Seryong unconsciously cried out for help.
He couldn't see Han Yujin anywhere, only his voice, but since the man was the one who had thrown him into this situation, he was also the only one who could save him.
Just run. If you want to live.
That's exactly what he was doing.
Park Seryong felt like he was going insane from a fear far beyond the shivers running down his spine. He squeezed out every last ounce of strength he had.
As he ran desperately, a school building suddenly came into view. His stamina was at its limit, so without thinking twice, he headed straight for it.
He thought he might be able to shake off his pursuer inside the building. It wasn't particularly complex in structure, so escaping in an emergency would be easy.
But the moment he smashed open the glass door of the school building and stepped inside—
The echoing wail from behind abruptly cut off.
"Huk...! Huuuk...! Huk...!"
In the eerily heavy silence that had settled—
Park Seryong ran a few more seconds down the thickly dust-covered hallway, gasping for breath, before slowly coming to a stop. Half with relief and half with suspicion, he glanced back to check on his pursuer.
Hey.
When Han Yujin's voice rang out, Park Seryong nearly burst into tears. Even though the man should have felt like his mortal enemy, he had never been so glad to hear anyone's voice.
But the next words turned that relief into razor-sharp tension.
Why the hell did you go in there? Do you want to die?
"...W-why? What's wrong with this place?"
Why do you think the pursuit stopped here?
In that brief instant—
Park Seryong imagined all sorts of possibilities in his head. Before any single thought could fully form, his instincts kicked in and he began running again.
Right after he started sprinting—
Aaaaaah—!!
Aaaah...!
Dozens of overlapping spiritual screams echoed from above. When he reflexively looked up at the ceiling—
He saw a horrifying sight: countless 'student ghosts' with their heads grotesquely twisted, bodies wrapped in dark energy and bleeding from various places, chasing him with movements reminiscent of insects.
"Hwaaaaaaaaak—!!"
Park Seryong finally couldn't hold back and screamed. He ran with almost no sanity left, using every ounce of strength. Fortunately, by then he had regained a slight ability to manipulate mana, which added speed to his movements.
Kuuuuh...!
Don't go—!!
The student ghosts chased Park Seryong with terrifying movements and speed. They spread out across the ceiling, walls, and floor in every direction, pursuing him like hungry demons in a nightmare.
Fortunately, an exit that seemed to lead outside appeared ahead. Thanks to that, Park Seryong, who had nearly lost his grip on sanity, managed to cling to a spark of hope amid the horrific terror.
Kyaaaaaaaak—!!
Wonhui...!
Wonhui...! Wonhui is coming...!!
The student ghosts that had been fiercely chasing him suddenly screamed in reverse and stopped in their tracks. No—they weren't just stopping; they were desperately fleeing in the opposite direction.
When Park Seryong turned his head to check the situation and froze from instinctive fear—
The door he had thought was an exit opened, and a female student appeared.
More precisely, a female student ghost.
Her entire body was drenched in pitch-black darkness, yet she shed blood so vivid it seemed to pierce the eyes. She stood there silently watching him with abyssal black eyes filled with bottomless terror.
The thick scent of blood that suddenly assaulted him was so intense it felt like his lungs had filled with gore. The cold that had already been severe exploded to the point where it paralyzed his senses and froze his movements entirely.
The feeling was indescribably overwhelming. Even as he felt extreme terror, he couldn't tear his gaze away from the female student ghost's eyes.
It was something.
Not a mere ghost, but the sensation of facing a transcendent being—crushed, overwhelmed, and shattered by a mix of fear and awe.
Just before Park Seryong completely lost his mind—
Hair stretched out from the female student ghost, melting into the surrounding darkness. Carrying boundless killing intent, it surged toward him like a wave from all directions, ready to tear him apart.
At the same time, a hand snatched the back of his neck and yanked him backward. An odd sensation followed, as if his entire body flipped and shot upward.
The whole world turned white before returning to normal.
"......"
He couldn't even breathe properly. His body trembled faintly, completely rigid, as he barely managed to roll his eyes to check his surroundings. Cold sweat poured down from his forehead.
To his immense relief, it was the scene of that safe house.
The exact same, perfectly normal and peaceful scene right before Han Yujin had launched his sudden attack.
"If you think everything I showed you was just a false illusion, then go ahead and keep acting however you want. But if even a little part of you believes otherwise..."
Han Yujin, sitting in front of him, spoke in an utterly calm tone.
"You'd better reflect on the scenery outside the well I showed you and think carefully about what you need to do from now on."
He then jerked his chin toward the front door, signaling him to leave.
Park Seryong stood up reflexively, as if his body had never been frozen at all, and headed that way. He staggered dangerously several times, but somehow managed not to collapse as he stepped out the front door.
In that utterly miserable state, drenched in cold sweat from head to toe, he fled as if running for his life.
* * *
Less than an hour after Park Seryong had been chased out like a beaten dog—
Han Yujin was watching the 'official apology' press conference the man was holding on his smartphone, chuckling softly to himself.
Park Seryong, Vice-Leader of Pioneer Guild and Korea's Second S-Class Hunter, Issues Formal Apology
"I deeply regret my reckless actions... I will accept any punishment..."