Chapter 1
The air inside the Testing Hall of the Seoul Academy for the Gifted was heavy with the scent of ozone and anticipation. Dozens of youths stood in neat rows, their eyes fixed on the massive, crystalline Orb of Awakening at the front of the stage.
Shun tightened his fists, his knuckles turning white. This was it. The moment his life would finally begin. For as long as he could remember, he had stared up at the towering, swirling abysses known as Gates—monsters pouring out into the world, and the brave Hunters who threw themselves into the meat grinder to protect humanity. He didn’t just want to survive in this world; he wanted to be a hero. He wanted to be the shield that stood between the innocent and the dark.
"Next. Shun Min-su," the proctor’s voice droned over the loudspeaker.
Shun took a deep, steadying breath and stepped forward. The whispers of his peers faded into a dull hum. He approached the pedestal, his heart hammering against his ribs like a trapped bird. Slowly, he placed his palm against the cool, smooth surface of the crystal.
For a second, nothing happened. Then, the crystal vibrated.
A hum resonated through the floorboards, growing into a deep, guttural thrum that vibrated in Shun's teeth. But the light that erupted wasn't the brilliant gold of a Paladin, or the fierce crimson of an Elementalist.
It was green.
Not a vibrant, leafy green of nature, but a thick, ethereal, bioluminescent **plasma green**, churning violently around a pitch-black, gravity-defying **dark core** at the center of the crystal. The temperature in the room plummeted. The air grew rancid, smelling faintly of ancient, stagnant tombs.
Above the crystal, the holographic text of the system interface flickered into existence, displaying his awakened innate ability in stark, unyielding letters:
> **[INNATE ABILITY: SOUL SAP]**
>
The proctor dropped his tablet. It shattered against the marble floor.
A suffocating, paralyzing silence fell over the entire auditorium. Shun blinked, looking from the screen to the proctor. "Um... sir? What rank is—"
"Get away from it!" the proctor shrieked, scrambling backward, his face drained of all color.
In an instant, the whispers returned, but they weren't curious anymore. They were terrified. The name *Soul Sap* rippled through the crowd like a virus. Decades ago, the world had nearly ended at the hands of the Great Necromancer, Lilith. She had commanded an unholy, unstoppable army of corpses animated by green plasma and dark cores. She had forged the souls of fallen heroes into twisted, malevolent weapons. She had possessed *Soul Sap*.
And now, a sixteen-year-old boy in a school uniform was standing there with the exact same power.
Before Shun could even process the horror dawning on him, two high-ranking combat instructors escorted him out of the hall. They didn't touch him; they kept their hands on the hilts of their weapons, watching his hands as if vines of death might sprout from his fingers at any moment.
He was brought directly to the highest tower of the academy—the Dean's office.
The office was lavish, filled with artifacts harvested from S-rank Gates, but the atmosphere inside was ice-cold. Dean Kang, a veteran Hunter with deep scars cutting across his face, sat behind a heavy mahogany desk. He didn't look angry; he looked profoundly tired.
"Sit, Shun," the Dean said quietly.
Shun sat, his knees trembling. "Sir, I... I don't understand. The system gave me this power, but I want to be a Hunter. I want to clear Gates! I want to protect people!"
Dean Kang closed his eyes, rubbing his temples. "Shun, thirty years ago, I fought on the front lines against Lilith. I watched her use *Soul Sap* to rip the spirits out of my squadmates, turning their corpses into mindless puppets while she forged their souls into blades to slaughter the rest of us. The world has not forgotten that nightmare."
"But I'm not her!" Shun’s voice cracked, tears welling in his eyes. "I'm just me!"
"It doesn't matter," Dean Kang said, his voice dropping to a grim whisper. "The Academy of the Gifted was created to prevent the rise of evil Hunters. The board of directors, the government, the Hunters Association—they will never allow a Necromancer with Lilith’s exact signature to walk these halls. It's a PR nightmare, and frankly, a security risk we cannot afford."
The Dean slid a piece of paper across the desk. It was a withdrawal form.
"Pack your things, Shun. You are being dismissed from the Academy. For your own safety, and the safety of this city, you need to leave."
Shun stared at the paper. The words blurred. His dream, his entire future, was being erased with a single stroke of a pen. A profound, crushing devastation settled into his chest, heavy as lead. He wanted to scream, to beg, to flip the desk. But he didn't. He slowly stood up, leaving the paper on the desk.
"I won't sign it," Shun whispered, his voice trembling but resolute. "I haven't broken any rules. You can kick me out of the dorms, you can strip my scholarship, but until the Ministry of Education officially revokes my Hunter license registration, I am still a student here."
Dean Kang looked at him, a flash of pity crossing his eyes. "You are making a mistake, boy. The monsters in the Gates are cruel, but humanity can be much worse."
Shun walked down the corridor toward his designated classroom for the afternoon lectures. Every step felt like walking through deep mud. His chest ached so badly he could barely breathe, but a stubborn, burning spark deep within his soul refused to let him lie down and die. *I want to be a hero,* he told himself, repeating it like a mantra. *I don't want to quit.*
He pushed open the heavy door to Class 1-A.
The moment the door clicked, the lively chatter inside died instantly. Thirty pairs of eyes snapped toward him.
Shun tried to swallow the lump in his throat. He walked down the aisle toward an empty desk near the back. As he passed, students visibly recoiled. One girl pulled her chair so far away it screeched against the floorboards. The boy sitting next to his designated desk immediately grabbed his bag and moved to the opposite side of the room, leaving a massive, glaring empty radius around Shun.
No one spoke a word to him. The silence was absolute, heavy with a thick, suffocating ostracization. They looked at him not as a classmate, and not even as a human being—they looked at him like a monster that had somehow wandered into their midst.
Shun sat down, staring straight ahead at the chalkboard. His hands were clasped tightly under his desk so no one could see them shaking. He felt utterly, completely alone in a crowded room, crushed under the weight of the world's fear.
But as he stared at the board, a faint, barely perceptible warmth flickered in the center of his chest. Deep within his consciousness, a dark core spun slowly, surrounded by a faint wisp of glowing green plasma, waiting for its first spark.
They feared him. They hated him. But Shun squeezed his eyes shut and gripped his knees.
*I will show them,* he thought, a fierce, desperate resolve hardening inside his devastated heart. *I will become a Hunter. Even if I have to walk through hell alone.*
