The first thing Renji heard was shouting. Not the guttural war cries of the battlefield these were sharper, urgent, human in a way that felt foreign after so long.
"Over here! We found someone!" Boots splashed through shallow water, the sound of rain mixing with distant sirens.
He tried to open his eyes, but the light stabbed at them. Shapes moved above him figures in dark tactical jackets, their visors reflecting the flashing red and blue of emergency lights.
"Pulse is weak," a woman's voice said. "Call it in we're bringing him in now."
His vision cleared just enough to catch her face. Short hair, eyes sharp with focus. She barked another order, and two others knelt beside him, sliding their arms under his shoulders.
"Stay with me," she told him, her voice cutting through the haze. "I'm Kim Chaewon, special operations. You're safe now."
Safe. The word felt strange. He wanted to ask where Selvara was, where the Crimson Throne stood, if the enemy had breached the gate but his throat burned, and only a croak escaped.
The rain hit harder, or maybe it was the water from his own hair dripping into his eyes. He felt the world tilt as they lifted him onto a stretcher, cold air rushing against his soaked clothes.
The ambulance doors slammed shut. The wail of the siren rose, and the city's neon lights smeared into streaks across his vision. Renji's eyes closed as the ambulance sped away.
The beeping was the first thing he noticed. Slow, steady too steady to be a battlefield heartbeat. Renji's eyes opened to a ceiling painted in soft white. The air smelled faintly of antiseptic. A thin tube ran from his arm to a hanging IV bag, the clear liquid dripping in time with the monitor's rhythm.
He sat still, scanning the room. A single chair. A folded blanket on the side table. No windows — just the faint hum of air conditioning. For the first time in what felt like years, there was no weight of armor on his shoulders, no blood on his hands. And yet he didn't feel at peace.
The door clicked open. It wasn't a doctor. Kim Chaewon stepped inside, her uniform jacket folded over her arm, now wearing a plain black shirt. Her eyes met his instantly sharp but not unkind.
"You're awake," she said, stepping closer. "That's good. You've been out for two days."
Renji opened his mouth, but his throat still burned. "Where...?"
"You're in Seoul National Medical Center," she answered quickly, as if anticipating his question. "We found you collapsed in the outskirts of the city. No ID. No phone. You had no signs of injury, yet your vitals were all over the place."
He stayed silent, studying her. The last time he had seen a human face like hers it had been years ago. At least, in his time.
"I'm not here as an officer right now," Chaewon continued, pulling the chair closer to his bedside. "I just wanted to see if you could tell me who you are. And maybe where you've been."
Renji's gaze shifted to the window, where thin daylight filtered through. He could tell her the truth about Selvara, the Crimson Throne, the portals but the words felt heavy in his chest.
Instead, he asked quietly, "What... year is it?"
Her brow furrowed. "It's 2025."
Renji exhaled slowly. In his memory, it had been 2020 when he last walked the streets of this world. Renji's gaze drifted to the window, where the sunlight cut pale lines across the floor. Five years gone.
Kim Chaewon's expression shifted, confusion flickering into something sharper. "Why? What year did you think it was?"
He didn't answer. His fingers curled slightly against the blanket, nails biting into the fabric. In his mind, the years between were a blur of battles, chains, and a voice whispering his name in the darkness. None of it belonged to this world and yet it clung to him.
Chaewon took a cautious step closer. "Renji if that's even your name"
"It is," he said flatly, though his tone lacked conviction.
She studied him in silence, searching his face. "People don't just disappear for five years without a trace. And they don't come back different."
Renji's eyes finally met hers not defensive, but ancient, as if he had seen lifetimes pass in those missing years. "I didn't just disappear," he murmured. "I was taken."
Chaewon froze, the air in the room suddenly heavy. "Taken? By who?"
His lips parted, but the word caught in his throat. If I tell her will she believe me? Or will she think I've lost my mind?
Instead, he only said, "You wouldn't believe me."
Chaewon didn't look away. "Try me."
His gaze drifted to the window, where the pale light of winter painted the hospital blinds in muted stripes. Five years for them. For him, it had been a century long enough for memories of home to fade like old photographs left in the sun.
"I was at the Han River," he began slowly, the words tasting strange in his mouth, "New Year's Eve, 2020. With my friends. We were counting down and then" He stopped, the memory flashing too vividly: the sky splitting open, the unnatural wind, the blinding light.
Chaewon leaned forward slightly. "And then what?"
Renji's hands tightened around the blanket. "The world fell apart. I woke up in a place that wasn't here. Time didn't move the same way. I spent a hundred years there."
Her eyes flickered skepticism, curiosity, and something else he couldn't place. "A hundred years? In five?"
He almost laughed, but there was no humor in it. "You asked me to try you. So I am."
She didn't break eye contact. "Where exactly were you?"
Renji's voice dropped, as if the walls might be listening. "A place they call the Origin Realm. Where everything begins and ends."
Chaewon's lips pressed into a thin line. "You're not the first to say that."
His heart skipped. "What do you mean?"
Chaewon's expression shifted, the hesitation in her eyes replaced by something sharper almost wary. "Renji cases like yours aren't rare. In the past five years, there have been dozens of people who vanished without explanation. And almost all of them came back different."
Renji's pulse quickened. "Different how?"
"They were stronger," she said simply. "Faster. Their reflexes their senses everything about them surpassed what's humanly possible. Some could heal from injuries in hours. Others could lift cars with their bare hands. One man took down an entire armed gang alone."
Renji's brows furrowed. "And they all came from—"
"The same place you mentioned. The Origin Realm." Her voice lowered as if speaking the name might draw unwanted attention. "Every single one described a world of strange skies and endless challenges. And every single one returned far more capable than when they left."
He leaned back, the memories of his hundred years there flickering in his mind—the battles, the hunger, the training, the constant push to survive. "So what happened to them after they returned?"
Chaewon's eyes didn't waver. "Some became heroes. Some became criminals. And some disappeared again willingly this time. Whatever the Origin Realm did to you it changed them forever."
Chaewon's gaze lingered on him, her mind clearly turning over something. Then, almost casually, her hand drifted toward the small holster under her jacket.
Renji's instincts flared. Without thinking, he moved his hand snapping out and clamping around her wrist in an iron grip.
Chaewon's eyes widened. "R–Renji—" Her voice hitched as his fingers tightened, forcing a sharp wince from her lips. The cold steel of the pistol never even left the holster before Renji's strength locked her in place.
It was only when she hissed in pain that he blinked, realizing what he was doing. He released her instantly, the tension in his shoulders dropping. "I—sorry. I didn't mean to—"
Chaewon shook her wrist out, forcing a strained smile. "You're fast. Much faster than before." She glanced at him, measuring his reaction. "Relax I wasn't going to shoot you. I just wanted to test your reflexes."
Renji exhaled, running a hand through his hair, trying to quiet the sudden rush of adrenaline. "You should've told me first."
"That would've ruined the test," she said lightly, though her eyes carried a spark of intrigue. She studied him for a long moment, as though imagining what he could do on a battlefield. "With that speed and strength, you could be something else entirely."
Renji raised a brow. "Something else?"
Chaewon's lips curved into a knowing smirk. "Korea's number one returner. And maybe... the strongest hunter this country has ever seen."
Renji let out a dry chuckle at Chaewon's words. "Number one returner? Strongest hunter?" He shook his head. "That's not me. Not right now. I just want to figure my life out first."
Chaewon frowned slightly. "Figure your life out? Renji, with your ability, you could skip years of climbing and land straight at the top. Do you realize what that means?"
"I do," he said simply. "But I've had enough battles for now. I'm not here to chase ranks or titles."
For a moment, his gaze drifted away from her, to the gray sky outside the window. A thought half-buried under months of chaos suddenly surfaced.
Family. His chest tightened. "That's right I had family here." He said in his mind
A flash of a girl's face smiling, flickered in his mind, but the image was hazy, incomplete. He couldn't even recall her name clearly, as if the past year had dulled the edges of his memories.
But he remembered her dream. She wanted to stand on the world's biggest stage, to sing in front of thousands. She had come to Korea to train at some entertainment company and she was here in Korea on the day the portals first appeared.
Chaewon caught the shift in his expression. "Something wrong?"
"I have a younger sister," Renji said quietly. "I haven't seen her in years. If she survived she's somewhere in this country."
For the first time since they'd met, Chaewon saw a different fire in his eyes not the instinct to fight, but the desperate need to protect.
Chaewon leaned forward, her voice softening. "Do you know where she might be?"
Renji shook his head. "Only that she was training with some company. I don't even know if she kept her stage name or her real one. I wasn't around much after I left home."
Her eyes narrowed with determination. "If she's in Korea, I can find her. The Association keeps extensive survivor registries, and I have access to some of those records."
Renji glanced at her. "You'd do that?"
Chaewon smiled faintly. "Of course. But" She hesitated for a moment, then continued, "It would be easier if you were officially registered. Hunters especially returners get higher priority in search requests. Your file would give me more reach."
Renji exhaled slowly, rubbing the back of his neck. "So, you want me to join the Association?"
"I want you to use every tool you have," she countered. "People who returned from the other side didn't just come back alive, Renji they came back stronger. Some are now leading whole guilds, reshaping the power balance here. That's not just a title it's influence. And influence means leverage even in finding one person."
Renji stared at the tabletop, silent. He didn't care about being number one. He didn't care about the politics of guilds or the prestige of rankings but if it meant even a chance of finding her
He finally looked up. "Fine. But the moment I find her, I'm done."
Chaewon's lips curved into a knowing smile. "We'll see."
The door clicked shut behind her, and the muted hum of the hallway wrapped around the silence. Chaewon walked a few paces away from Renji's room, glancing both ways before pulling out her phone.
She scrolled through her secure contacts and tapped Yunjin. It rang once.
"Unnie?" Yunjin's voice came through, hushed but curious.
"I need a full background check," Chaewon said, keeping her tone low. "Name's Sohara Renji. Korean-Japanese. Born 2000. Came back through the Seoul-sector gate. He's got a younger sister used to train as a K-pop idol before the world fell apart. She was in Korea the day the portals opened. I want every scrap of info training companies, stage names, hospital logs, missing persons registries."
"I can get Sakura on the Japan end," Yunjin replied without hesitation. "If anyone's got old entertainment contacts, it's her."
"Good. Tell Eunchae to run the missing persons filters. Kazuha can dig into immigration records she knows how to make the Ministry cough things up without raising flags."
There was a pause, then Yunjin's voice softened. "Unnie you think she's still alive?"
Chaewon's gaze hardened. "If she is, she's not where she's supposed to be. And if Renji finds her before we do we lose the advantage."
"I'll update you within the week," Yunjin said, voice clipped with focus before hanging up.
Chaewon slipped the phone back into her pocket and walked toward the elevator. They were the same age, but that didn't mean she'd lower her guard. In this world, trust wasn't given it was earned.
The next morning, the discharge papers were signed, and Renji stepped out of the hospital lobby, the early Seoul winter air biting at his skin. He adjusted the jacket Chaewon had given him yesterday, its faint scent of perfume still lingering.
A black SUV rolled up to the curb, the tinted window sliding down to reveal Chaewon in the driver's seat. "Get in," she said simply, her voice calm yet carrying that quiet authority.
Renji didn't argue. He opened the passenger door and slid in, the warm interior a welcome contrast to the cold outside. "You could've just told me where to go," Renji muttered as he buckled up. "I can walk."
Chaewon smirked faintly, eyes on the road as she pulled away from the hospital. "Isn't it better to enjoy the view while taking a car? Besides, I want to make sure you actually show up."
Renji glanced at her, brow furrowing. "And why exactly am I going to the Association?"
"To see where you stand," Chaewon replied, taking a right turn into the main avenue of Seoul. "You've been gone for a hundred years in the Origin Realm. You're probably stronger than anyone here realizes. And if my guess is right stronger than most returners."
Renji looked out the window, watching the city blur past sleek skyscrapers, crowded sidewalks, and the faint traces of magical security runes etched into street corners, glowing faintly in the morning light. "I told you yesterday," he said slowly, "I'm not interested in titles or rankings. I just want to find my sister and have a peaceful like"
Chaewon didn't respond immediately. Instead, she shifted gears smoothly before speaking.
"You can do both. Adjust to your life here and protect your sister. That's what hunters do."
Renji didn't mutter anymore and just watched through the car window and the major changes the city had while he was away in the Origin Realm.
The drive continued in silence for a few minutes until the towering silhouette of the Korean Hunters' Association Headquarters came into view a sleek black-and-glass skyscraper crowned with shimmering magical wards.
" Welcome to the Korean Hunter's Association Seoul Branch" Chaewon said driving pass the front entrance and heading into the underground parking lot reserved for employees and high ranked hunters.
"This is it," Chaewon said, stepping out first and motioning for Renji to follow. "Let's get you officially registered."
Inside, the lobby buzzed with activity hunters in armor and streetwear alike passed by, some chatting, others heading toward the mission boards. The air felt heavier here, charged with mana.
They were quickly ushered into a private testing room, sleek and sterile, with various mana-sensing devices and reinforced training dummies.
"First, we'll measure your mana levels and combat potential," Chaewon explained, tapping a tablet to bring up his provisional profile. "Once that's done, you'll be ranked. Most hunters fall between F and S rank."
She glanced at him, her tone shifting slightly more serious. "But there are rarer classificationsSS rank and SSS rank. Only a handful in the world are known to hold those titles."
Renji raised a brow. "And I'm guessing they're monsters compared to the rest?"
Chaewon gave a short laugh. "Exactly. They can single-handedly clear dungeons entire guilds struggle with. National-level assets."
She stepped closer to one of the holographic displays, swiping through information. "Ranks aren't the only thing. Hunters also specialize in classes: Assassin, Swordsman, Tank, Archer, Mage, or Support or Healer type. Your abilities determine where you fit best. Some people awaken with one class, others evolve into a different one as they grow stronger."
Renji listened quietly, his gaze on the glowing crystal in the center of the testing platform.
Chaewon gestured toward it. "All you have to do is place your hand here. The system will read your mana signature and determine your rank and class."
He stepped forward, the faint hum of the crystal resonating in his bones.
"Ready?" she asked.
Renji smirked faintly. "Let's get this over with."
Renji stood in the middle of a wide, sterile testing room, the faint hum of machinery filling the air. Across the glass observation wall, Chaewon leaned casually against the counter, clipboard in hand, her sharp eyes watching every movement.
"Alright," she called, "we'll start with a basic mana output test. Just place your hand on the crystal and push out your mana."
Renji nodded, stepping up to a large pillar-like device with a glowing blue crystal embedded in its center. He placed his palm flat against it and exhaled slowly. The crystal pulsed faintly, showing a low, steady light.
A technician scribbled on his tablet. "Mana output average. No abnormalities."
Chaewon tilted her head slightly, unimpressed. "Okay, next strength test."
Renji stepped up to a steel machine with a punch pad. He threw a controlled punch. The machine beeped, the reading barely above the average human range.
Chaewon's brows furrowed. "You sure you were in the Origin Realm for a hundred years?" she teased, half-joking.
Renji just smirked faintly. "You said warm-up, right?"
The technician switched to the agility test. Renji weaved through the motion sensors, his performance still ordinary. On paper, it looked like he was just a little fitter than a regular soldier.
But then came the sword resonance test.
A long black blade floated in the center of the room, suspended by mana. The technician instructed, "Grab the handle and let your energy flow into it. The sword will measure your compatibility."
Renji wrapped his fingers around the hilt. The moment he touched it, the blade trembled violently. The lights in the room flickered. The mana crystal at the far end of the hall began to glow then spike then overload.
"Uh is it supposed to do that?" one technician asked, stepping back.
Before anyone could answer, a sharp BEEP-BEEP-BEEP! echoed. The digital display on the wall flashed red: ERROR.
The technicians scrambled to shut down the system. The sword clattered to the floor, still humming faintly with residual mana.
When the equipment finally reset and they tested him again this time with a backup device it stabilized at a reading that shocked everyone.
"...E-rank," the technician muttered, staring at the numbers. " And class designation swordsman."
Chaewon blinked, then smirked slowly. "E-rank, huh? Somehow, I don't believe that."
Renji looked at his own results and shrugged. "Guess I'm just average."
But deep down, something about the sword's violent reaction nagged at him.
Renji stepped out of the testing chamber, still holding the freshly printed Hunter's Association ID. His photo looked slightly annoyed, but Chaewon didn't seem to notice. She was already walking ahead, her heels clicking against the polished marble floors of the Seoul Hunter's Association lobby.
"Alright," she began as they entered a quieter corridor, "now that you're officially registered, you need to understand how hunters actually make a living."
Renji followed silently, still mulling over the fact that the machine had called him E-rank.
Chaewon tapped her phone, and a holographic display projected in the air, showing a 3D model of a dungeon. "Hunters earn money by raiding dungeons. You clear them, you keep what you find though there are rules. The most valuable items?" She swiped her hand, zooming in on a glowing crystal embedded in a beast's chest.
"Monster crystal cores," she said. "When a monster dies, its core can be extracted. The higher the rank of the monster, the more mana it holds. These are used in weapons, armor, even powering city infrastructure."
Renji tilted his head slightly. "So you're saying monster hearts are basically batteries?"
Chaewon smirked. "That's one way to put it. Then there are mana crystals," she continued, showing him footage of hunters mining glowing blue stones from a dungeon wall. "They're harvested from the dungeon environment itself. Mages, artificers, even the military pay insane amounts for them."
Renji crossed his arms. "So basically, you're telling me hunters are part-time exterminators and part-time miners."
"That's the simple way of putting it," she said, a hint of amusement in her voice. "But for high-rank hunters, a single dungeon run can pay for a luxury apartment in Gangnam. People risk their lives because the rewards are that high."
Renji's eyes narrowed slightly. "And if you die?"
Chaewon's expression didn't change, but her tone grew sharper. "Then you don't get paid."
She turned away, leading him toward a set of elevators. "You'll see soon enough. I didn't bring you here to explain economics I brought you here so you can decide if you're going to waste your talent or use it."
Renji glanced down at the ID card again, the bold E-Rank staring back at him. He didn't know why, but something about her words made him feel restless.
They were just about to step outside when a sharp voice echoed from the front desk.
"I risked my life for this!" a tall man barked. He wore a battered leather chest plate and a red scarf that marked his guild affiliation.
The receptionist, a young woman in a neatly pressed uniform, kept her tone polite. "Sir, I understand your frustration, but the mana crystal you submitted is of low purity. The market rate"
"Market rate?!" The hunter slammed his palm on the counter, making the glass shudder. "Do you have any idea how deep that dungeon was? I almost lost an arm!"
Renji stopped, his gaze narrowing slightly. Chaewon's lips pressed into a thin line.
The hunter leaned forward, voice growing darker. "You think you can cheat me? Maybe I should"
His hand came up not to point, but to strike.
Renji felt his muscles tense as the world seemed to slow.
And in that moment, the scene froze just before the blow landed.