Si-hun finished his work at this portal, and at night, he went to the second one.
This portal was also a normally ranked portal.
Si-Hun killed a few monsters and earned a few bucks – the usual cycle.
But today, he felt very uneasy, as if something bad was going to happen.
He and Kuro were going home.
The streets were dark, and barely any vehicles.
The soft glow of the streetlights and the noise of the city from far away.
Everything felt quiet – too quiet and Si-Hun noticed the silence.
It carried weight.
A few steps in, and Si-Hun was feeling more alert.
Slow and deliberate, barely making any noise.
Unusually soft footsteps.
Si-Hun stopped in his tracks.
He could see a shadow behind him.
A shadow, dark under the streetlight.
"Who is it?"
He slowly turned behind, only to be met with a sudden attack.
But he stopped it instinctively.
They were…those two men, the new members.
"I knew you were no good," Si-Hun said, his voice low.
"So, you really are different." One of the men spoke.
Si-Hun smirked and twisted the man's arm who had attacked him to a point where he could hear a crack.
The man backed off and winced.
The other man lunged forward, but Si-Hun kicked him in the stomach, and he fell back.
But they didn't stop; the other one took a gun out of his pocket and pointed it at Si-Hun.
The shiny metal flashed in the dark.
"Guess we have to do it." One of them said to the other.
Si-Hun stopped.
The man got up and took slow steps towards Si-Hun.
"Don't move, or else this is going to be your last day on this Earth."
Kuro stood there, eyes wide.
"Master, what is happening!?"
Si-Hun looked the man directly in the eyes and then smirked.
He instantly grabbed the man's hand and loosened his grip on the gun.
He then snatched the gun from his hand and pointed it towards the man.
"Who's the incharge now?"
The men were frightened, eyes wide.
"H-he's far more…dangerous than we thought."
Si-Hun took a few steps towards the man, and pointed the gun at the man's temple.
The cold metal instantly sending shivers down his spine.
He froze.
"P-please leave us! We beg for forgiveness!"
The man fell to his knees and held Si-Hun's feet.
The other man tried to run away from there, but Si-Hun shot him in his leg.
The man fell with a thud; the streetlight flickered in that moment, just witnessing, not interrupting.
The dry road sawallowed the man's dull red blood.
They were both very unlike humans.
Or maybe…they weren't.
The man, seeing his partner in such misery, started to cry.
"Please have mercy on us!"
"You started this, and now you're denying the consequences. Just tell me who you are."
The man blabbered out something, but nothing came out of his mouth.
"Why aren't you speaking!?"
"W-we can't speak about it, our tongues are forbidden to say that!"
"Then you're of no use to me. Something inside me tells me to just…kill you."
"Please don-
Boom!
A gunshot.
The quiet metal click echoed in the atmosphere.
"Master."
Kuro's voice cut through the silence.
Si-Hun looked at him, emotionless, his eyes unreadable.
Si-Hun killed him before he could mutter out any word from his mouth.
He turned the gun, fired once more. The bullet found his favorite spot, the skull.
In that moment, Kuro looked at his master, almost shocked.
He saw that his master was not the same right now.
They both died.
But the most strange part was that, after dying, their bodies turned into ashes and flew away.
"So…they weren't humans after all."
Kuro was standing there, worry visible on his face.
"M-master, they were sent by Abriyon…"
"Abriyon?"
"Yes, they were here to observe you and take you to him. He must've sensed some power, and that's probably why he sent those men in the forms of humans."
"Take me? That means I have to be extra careful."
"I guess, but since they died, they can't transfer their observations to Abriyon. So he'll perhaps never even get any news to him."
"That's good news then."
"But master, you fought with such power, and your reflexes are way better than before."
This encounter was cold, powerful.
Si-Hun didn't talk much on their way back.
The thought of what he'd done lingered, heavy and silent.
He gave death to those who were meant for it.
This was a new start.
Raw, painful, brutal.
The next day, the killing incident was all over the news.
Police had sealed the area.
The news was all about this mysterious, unknown killer.
Si-Hun was also seeing this on his TV.
Kuro sat there with him.
"You don't need to feel guilty, master. Those guys were not humans, they were just some creatures in disguise.''
"But still."
The police couldn't find a suspect or culprit.
It took a few days for the scandal to cool down.
Si-Hun's routine was as usual.
The street was now open to the public again.
One day, Si-Hun was again passing by that street.
Walking from there reminded him of that night, those painful screams and cries, that pool of blood, but it didn't bug him; he knew they deserved it.
He was just walking, minding his own business, wearing a black hoodie, when he saw it.