"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you." Matthew 7:7
The cold London wind whipped against Jack Lee's face, but he didn't even feel it. His feet were carrying him in an unusual direction, toward the River Thames. Jack's mind was cluttered with fragments of that bizarre conversation he'd just had in his manager's office. The manager's eyes... they weren't the eyes of a normal human. It was as if they were two bottomless pits peering directly into Jack's soul.
Jack paused, pressing his hand to his throbbing temple.
"No... what did that damn manager do to me? The words, the images... I can't remember anything clearly. It's like he ripped a piece of my mind right out of me. Damn it!"
As Jack wrestled with his internal turmoil, the city's peace was shattered by a deafening explosion. A massive pillar of fire erupted near the Houses of Parliament, painting the sky a violent crimson. Within seconds, London's iconic fog was replaced by the stinging stench of gunpowder and thick smoke People scattered in a blind panic, their screams blending with the rising wail of sirens. Jack stood frozen in shock. Then, through the veil of dust, a figure emerged. Unlike everyone else, this man was walking toward the blast zone with calm, steady strides as if he were merely taking a stroll through a park.
Driven by an instinctive protective urge, Jack shouted:
"Hey, man! You can't go that way! Can't you see? It's a hellscape over there, it's dangerous!"
The mysterious man stopped. He slowly turned his head and locked eyes with Jack. In that instant, Jack felt the blood freeze in his veins. The man's gaze didn't belong to a human; it possessed the raw killing intent of a wild predator sizing up its prey. The air around the man seemed to shimmer and vibrate, and a weight of several tons seemed to press down on Jack's shoulders. Jack stood speechless, unable to utter a single word. This "Savage Aura" felt like a death sentence whispering to Jack just how short life could be.
Meanwhile, the London police had begun setting up barricades. However, what the officers saw was no ordinary terrorist attack. As the dust settled, a massive Crimson Portal appeared, hovering in mid-air and lashing out with streaks of blood-red lightning.
The police chief gripped his radio with trembling hands:
"Command, the situation is much worse than we thought! This could be a Dungeon Break! We need immediate support from the Great Guilds of Britain. Send the Mages, now!"
But help would take time. The Mages needed to measure the portal's rank and analyze the energy within. For London, time was running out Just then, another figure standing out from the crowd caught everyone's eye. Clad in a blue t-shirt, wearing cool black sunglasses, a glinting earring in his right ear, and a buzz-cut hairstyle, this man looked like he was mocking the chaos. The oppressive energy radiating from the portal didn't seem to affect him in the slightest.
A police officer blocked his path:
"Hey, sir! Please step back, this area is closed to civilians! Don't make this difficult!"
The man didn't stop. He didn't even slow down. As the officer reached for his weapon, the man casually raised his hand. A streak of blue light flickered from his fingertips. Suddenly, as if gravity had inverted, the officer was hoisted into the air.
The man flicked his hand as if shooing away a fly, and a single word escaped his lips:
"Begone!"
The officer was hurled dozens of yards away, crashing onto a vehicle. The man looked at the Crimson Portal and smirked, his white teeth gleaming through the dust.
"Nice... looks like this is going to be fun."
Jack Lee watched all of this from a distance, paralyzed by horror. He didn't know who these men were or what this portal meant, but he knew one thing: he had to get away from here, and he had to do it now Jack Lee trembled to his very core as he watched the man in the blue t-shirt toss the police officer aside like a ragdoll. This world was no longer the peaceful London he had known moments ago. The air was thick with the metallic scent of blood and a sharp, stinging energy, as if the ozone layer itself had been punctured.
"If I stay here, I'm going to die," he whispered to himself. Despite the hazy void in his mind, Jack clung to his survival instinct. He turned on his heel and began to sprint through the smoke, heading toward the narrow side streets where the civilians were fleeing. His lungs burned from the searing dust, and his heart hammered against his ribs Meanwhile, the cool figure standing directly before the portal lowered his dark sunglasses slightly, peering into the swirling crimson energy within. The surrounding officers had their weapons drawn, but none dared to fire. There was such an overwhelming arrogance in the man's posture that it felt as if an entire army could not make him kneel.
"Are Britain's mages still busy drinking their tea?" the man muttered derisively. Then, he took a step toward the threshold of the portal, which resembled a colossal vortex. As the surface of the portal began to suck his body in, a pressure wave rippled outward, shattering the windows of nearby buildings into dust. Without a hint of hesitation, the man vanished into the darkness.
Jack thought he was escaping the main thoroughfare, unaware of the trap fate had laid for him. Just as he was about to round a corner, a police car with its sirens wailing piteously lost control completely—perhaps due to the driver's shock from the blast or the magnetic distortion radiating from the portal.
The shrill scream of tires skidding on asphalt was the last earthly sound Jack heard.
THUD!
When the mass of metal slammed into Jack, the world went silent for a heartbeat. Jack's body was suspended in the air for a fraction of a second before being hurled backward with immense force directly toward the crimson hell he was trying to escape: the center of the portal. As Jack drifted through the air, a warm fluid erupted from his mouth; the taste of blood was like rusty iron The moment Jack's severely injured body made contact with the portal's energy, purplish lightning crackled through the air. The portal flared for an instant, as if it had finally found the last victim it was searching for. The second Jack fell into the portal like a stone, the massive crimson hole collapsed inward, vanishing with a deafening vacuum sound Nothing remained but an empty street, a smoking police cruiser, and bewildered officers who couldn't comprehend what had just happened. Jack Lee had been completely erased from the world he knew
-
Seoul was not just a city of skyscrapers; it was the city of Guilds the new aristocrats of the post-"Dungeon" era. The sky was draped in colossal holographic advertisements, but at the Enchanted Shadow Guild, a different kind of spectacle was unfolding Two figures stood facing each other: one was Park Jae Hyun, a young man who had only just completed his awakening and was still reeling from shock; the other was one of Korea's living legends The man standing before them resembled an underworld kingpin more than a typical mage. Clad in a blood-red suit, with hands covered in intricate tattoos and a buzz-cut hairstyle featuring sharp shaved lines, Kim Do-yun radiated pure terror. The gaze behind his glasses didn't view his opponent as a human being, but merely as a "unit of measurement."
Park Jae Hyun realized the gravity of the situation when he noticed his friends, Hwan-Hee and Seo-ah, trembling beside him. Jae Hyun stammered out a greeting
X=" Kim Do-yun. Leader of the Enchanted Shadow Guild, a Rank 2 Mage, and one of the 10 Sovereigns this world has ever seen."
The word "Sovereign" echoed in Jae Hyun's mind. It was the absolute pinnacle a mage could reach a god-like power capable of annihilating an entire army single-handedly.
"A Sovereign? I... I'm honored to meet you, but what do you want from me?"
Kim Do-yun adjusted his leather gloves and took a single step forward. As his foot hit the ground, the pavement beneath him cracked slightly.
"Fight me, Park Jae Hyun."
Everyone in the square, including his friends, screamed in unison:
"WHAT?! W-what are you saying?!"
Jae Hyun's friend, Kang-Woo, intervened in disbelief: "Did I hear that right? A Guild Leader of the Sovereign class wants to fight a rookie who just awakened yesterday and can't even control his abilities? This isn't a fight; it's an execution!"
Kim Do-yun didn't even spare a glance for Kang-Woo. His eyes were fixed solely on Jae Hyun. He had seen something—a potential in this boy that no one else had noticed, something that perhaps even unnerved the Sovereign himself.
"Prepare yourself, Park Jae Hyun," Do-yun said, turning to walk away. "I expect you at dawn tomorrow in the private training grounds beneath my Guild. If you don't show up... I will find you."
Once Do-yun had departed, Jae Hyun collapsed where he stood. Hwan-Hee rushed to his side, his voice shaking with fear as he began to recount what he knew:
"Man, you don't understand how serious this is. That man is one of the two most powerful mages in Korea! He's the one who solo-cleared that 'Apocalypse Class' Z-Rank Dungeon that appeared in China years ago. He even killed the pride of China, the Sovereign Shui-Hian, with a single blow in front of everyone! That's why the World Committee declared him the 10th Sovereign."
Seo-ah tried to lighten the mood, though her face was ghostly white: "Well... think about it this way, a literal Sovereign sees you as a rival. Isn't that kind of cool? Maybe you won't die..."
Kang-Woo snapped back: "Don't talk nonsense, Seo-ah! Jae Hyun doesn't stand a chance! This is like an ant trying to stand up to a hurricane!"
Jae Hyun looked down at his trembling hands. Though he was unaware of the portal accident in London or the existence of Jack Lee, he felt his own world sliding toward destruction.
"I'll do my best."
As Kim Do-yun vanished down the corridor, leaving behind a heavy, suffocating aura that reeked of blood, the silence in the room was broken only by Park Jae-hyun's irregular breathing. Jae-hyun's hands were trembling slightly; his mind was frozen by the "lethal resolve" he had just witnessed.
Hwan-hee was the first to break the silence. The usual mocking tone in his voice was gone, replaced by deep respect and a hint of fear: "Jae-hyun, if you think the man you're facing is just a 'Guild Leader,' you're dead wrong. Do you remember the 'Z-Class Sky Rift' that appeared in Shanghai three years ago? That dark day when world armies retreated and nuclear options were on the table?"
Jae-hyun nodded The apocalyptic images he had seen on television were still fresh in his mind.
. A One-Man Army: Even before he was officially declared a 'Monarch,' Kim Do-yun dove into the dungeon alone, defying all prohibitions from the Chinese government.
• The End of Shui-Hian: When China's pride, the Level 1 Sovereign Shui-Hian, lost control inside the dungeon and became a threat more dangerous than the monsters themselves, Do-yun neutralized him with a single strike in front of everyone.
• The 10th Sovereign : Following this event, the World Magic Committee was forced to rewrite the global balance of power, officially designating Kim Do-yun as the 10th Sovereign
Seo-ah looked at the situation from a different perspective, crossing her arms to hide her shaking hands:
"It's not just that. That man is one of Seoul's biggest fashion icons. That red suit he's wearing? It's his own brand's signature. While he turns thousands of monsters to ash with one hand, he graces the covers of fashion magazines with the other. He's a total narcissist—but he's a narcissist with the power to back it up."
Kang-woo cut in fiercely, the veins in his neck bulging with anger:
"Stop talking nonsense! Fashion? The man is a killer! Jae-hyun, if you go to that training area, your chances of coming out alive are the same as an ant's chances after being run over by a truck! That man is a Level 2 Mage. You? You just awakened yesterday!"
Meanwhile, X, standing in the corner with his metallic components emitting a faint hiss, spoke in a voice as cold as ice:
"We are talking about an extraterrestrial threat and the global balance of power here, you stupid girl. Your tabloid news won't save Jae-hyun."
Seo-ah grit her teeth and screamed:
"I TOLD YOU NOT TO CALL ME A STUPID CYBORG, YOU RUSTY PILE OF SCRAP METAL!"
Amidst all the bickering, Park Jae-hyun turned his gaze to his own hands. He could still feel the tingling sensation left by Kim Do-yun's aura on his palms. He was afraid, yes. But something inside him—perhaps that mysterious newly-awakened power—felt a strange hunger for this challenge.
Park Jae-hyun: "I'll do my best, Hwan-hee. If I run now, this fear will be my shadow for the rest of my life. But if I step onto that field... maybe I can find out why he chose me."