The dust from the Mutated Hobgoblin's erasure hadn't even settled when the air at the dungeon entrance rippled. A young man with dark, messy hair and sharp, intensified eyes stepped into the cavern.
It was Sung Jin-Woo. He was wearing a simple tracksuit, holding a basic dagger, but the aura radiating from him was unlike any E-Rank hunter Ren had ever seen.
Jin-Woo stopped dead. He looked at the empty Boss room. No body. No mana stones. Only a strange, lingering coldness that made his own 'System' send out warning pings.
"Who are you?" Jin-Woo asked, his voice low. His hand tightened on his dagger.
Ren turned around slowly. His eyes, still swirling with the after-effects of the Void, met Jin-Woo's. For a split second, both of them felt a violent vibration in their respective Systems.
[Warning: An Unidentified 'Player' is nearby.] — Visible to Jin-Woo. [Warning: A 'System Pillar' is nearby. Consume or Ignore?] — Visible to Ren.
"I'm the one who finished the job," Ren replied, his voice devoid of emotion.
Jin-Woo looked at Ren's bare hands. "You killed a D-Rank Mutated Boss with your hands? Without a weapon?"
"Weapons are for those who need to cut things," Ren said, walking toward the exit, passing Jin-Woo by just a few inches. "I don't cut. I delete."
Jin-Woo felt a chill run down his spine as Ren walked past. It wasn't the chill of a monster; it was the chill of a vacuum—a feeling that if he touched Ren, he might just cease to exist.
"Wait," Jin-Woo called out. "You were at the hospital. And the Double Dungeon. You're... Ren, right?"
Ren paused but didn't look back. "Forget my name, Sung Jin-Woo. You have your System, and I have mine. If you're smart, you'll stay on your side of the screen."
As Ren stepped out of the gate and disappeared into the city shadows, Jin-Woo stood alone in the empty dungeon. His 'System' window was flashing frantically.
[Alert: The 'Void' is a threat to the Great Design.] [Emergency Quest: Monitor the 'Glitch' known as Ren.]
Ren, on the other hand, was looking at a different screen.
[Level Up!] [Current Level: 5] [New Ability Unlocked: 'Void Pocket' — You can now store 'Nothingness' to unleash as a projectile.]
The rivalry hadn't just begun. The war for reality had started.