He still couldn't get the hang of it. No matter how hard he tried, no matter how much mana he poured into his veins, the wall — that invisible, suffocating wall — refused to break. The chamber around him trembled, small cracks crawling up the ancient metal as his mana flared out uncontrollably. For a moment, the air shimmered with black energy, dark yet strangely tranquil, like smoke twisting in reverse.
A week passed.
Inside that isolated chamber, time had long lost its meaning. It had now been four full years since he first stepped in. But outside? Only a single year had gone by. The mana chamber operated under a distorted time ratio — one year outside equaled four within. For others, he had been gone just a year. For him… it felt like an eternity.
His body had changed beyond recognition. The young boy who entered at fourteen was gone. The man who stood now was eighteen, taller, sharper, with long black hair that flowed down to his ankles. His eyes — pitch-black, deep, endless — carried the calmness of someone who had witnessed destruction a thousand times over.
He looked down at his hand, letting raw mana flicker to life. It coiled around his fingers like smoke before shifting to a glowing blade of black light. He frowned slightly.
Still not stable enough.
The chamber beneath him groaned again. His power had already surpassed what the room was meant to contain. The walls, once glowing with runic inscriptions, now bore deep fractures that pulsed with faint blue light — signs of mana overload. After the third year, he had learned to control his output, to balance strength and calmness. But even that wasn't enough. His existence itself strained the limits of the chamber.
He took a slow breath. "...Time to go."
The sound of his voice, quiet yet steady, echoed through the chamber as he raised his hand. Black mana condensed into a sword-like form, cutting through the reinforced door like butter. A loud, metallic screech followed as he stepped out, his hair brushing the ground, the dim light reflecting off his pale skin.
Outside, two guards stood alert. The sudden burst of mana had caught their attention, and both raised their spears instinctively, their hearts thundering. They had been assigned to protect the chamber, unaware that the one inside needed no protection at all.
"State your name and how you came out of the chamber!" one shouted, pointing his spear directly at him. His voice trembled slightly.
Erlen tilted his head, expression unreadable. "I'm Erlen," he said simply, his tone calm but sharp enough to make the air heavy.
The two froze for a moment, eyes widening as realization struck.
"O–Oh, shit! Sir Erlen! Welcome back!" the guard said hurriedly, lowering his spear immediately and bowing slightly. "You can meet the president if you head forward — or should we accompany you?"
Erlen gave a faint nod. "Sure. And tell me what's happened while I was gone."
"Yes, sir," the guard replied, walking beside him with hurried steps, still slightly nervous to be in the presence of the person who had survived four years in the chamber — a feat thought to be impossible. "Well… where do I even start?"
He took a breath and began.
"There aren't just ghosts anymore, sir. There are demons now — stronger and far more terrifying than ghosts. Every demon sighted so far has been above A-rank. The world… it's been shaken. Ordinary people can now see them too, which has caused panic everywhere."
Erlen's expression didn't change, though his eyes narrowed slightly.
"The shortage of mana around the world reduced, too. Because of that, there's been a massive increase in awakened ones — new hunters are popping up every day. Oh, and there's a prodigy from China, they call him the Avatar of the Sun. Some say he's on par with Kopa, the intermediate S-rank hunter. A monster in human skin, they say."
Erlen stayed silent, his eyes looking forward as the hallway stretched endlessly. The guard continued, his voice lowering as if speaking of forbidden things.
"Also… there are rumors of something worse than demons. Entities above S-rank. They call them 9-S Calamities. Nobody knows what they are — human or something else — but even the USA has issued reports about them. Some think it's fake. Others… say it's something from beyond space."
A faint smile touched Erlen's lips. "Interesting."
"Oh, and one more thing," the guard added nervously. "An A-rank hunter found a strange sword. But the moment he touched it, he went insane and killed himself. The sword was sealed with talismans and stored deep underground."
Erlen chuckled quietly. "A lot of things happened while I was gone, huh?"
By now, they had reached the large steel doors of the President's Hall. Two elite guards opened the way, bowing respectfully.
"President Rimon," one of them called, "Sir Erlen has returned."
Inside, a tall man with graying hair and a wide grin stood near a glass table, sipping tea. "Well, well, well…" Rimon chuckled as he turned around. "I can't feel your aura anymore. Don't tell me you've gotten weaker, big shot?"
Erlen smiled faintly. "I don't know what my rank is anymore. How should I check?"
Rimon's grin widened. "Hah! I've just the thing for you. Come with me."
They walked through the corridors until they reached the training sector — a massive dome-like structure where new recruits were training. Whispers immediately filled the air.
"Who's that with the president?"
"I think… he's the guy who was in the chamber!"
"Wait, that guy? Four years inside and alive?"
"Damn… look at him. Why's he so— attractive?!"
"Shut up, idiot. You're drooling over a monster."
Rimon ignored the chatter and gestured to a platform at the center of the room. "Alright, Mr. Big Shot. Drop a bit of your blood right here."
The platform was made of stone, engraved with two glowing triangular poles standing on each side. Erlen stepped forward silently, pricking his finger with mana. A single drop of black blood fell onto the stone.
For a moment, nothing happened. Then — the ground began to tremble.
The poles glowed violently, flashing between red, purple, and white before turning pitch black. The entire detector started vibrating like it was about to explode.
"What the—" Rimon flinched back slightly, eyes wide.
The screen beside the device began to glitch, symbols flickering rapidly before stabilizing.
The reading appeared.
It screamed in bright red letters:
[APEX S-RANK DETECTED]
The trainees gasped in disbelief. The guards who had followed him earlier nearly dropped their weapons.
Rimon stared, then burst into laughter. "APEX S-RANK?! You're kidding me! You actually did it!" He clapped his hands, shaking his head in disbelief. "You really are a monster, Erlen!"
But Erlen didn't smile. He just stared at the reading silently, his black eyes reflecting the chaotic light.
Even now, even after reaching Apex S, something inside him whispered that this wasn't the end. That the wall — that invisible wall he had been fighting in the chamber — still stood somewhere beyond this rank.
He closed his eyes, letting out a quiet breath.
"I still can't feel satisfied," he murmured. "Not yet."
The world had changed while he was gone. But so had he — far beyond what anyone could imagine.
And as Rimon's laughter filled the hall, everyone watching that moment felt it — the birth of a new era.
An era where the line between human and monster was no longer clear.
Because Erlen had returned.