The blizzard had raged through the night like a beast intent on devouring all it touched. By dawn, it lay slain, leaving only a silence so deep it pressed against the skin. Renji parted the curtain of shadows sealing their shelter, and cold light spilled inside, carrying with it the brittle sting of morning frost.
Winter stepped out first. The snow crunched beneath her boots, her shoulders hunched, breath streaming from her lips in hurried wisps. For a long moment she stood still, letting the wind brush across her face, as if testing whether the world would break into fury once more.
Instead, a voice descended from the heavens
Announcement: The survival round has concluded. Remaining candidates: 64
Winter sagged at once, the tension unspooling from her frame. A laugh half relief, half disbelief escaped her. "I passed. Without fighting, without" she glanced down at her trembling hands "without doing much of anything."
Renji joined her in the snow, his boots sinking without a sound. He studied her sidelong, a faint curl at the corner of his mouth. "Sometimes survival is more difficult than victory. Be proud."
She caught the glimmer in his eye and bristled. "You're mocking me."
Renji flicked a pinch of snow against her arm. "Not mocking. Just wondering how someone named Winter looks ready to collapse at the first chill. It doesn't quite fit, does it?"
Her face warmed with indignation, her voice sharp but too weary to carry real bite. "I told you I'm not built for cold!"
Renji chuckled low, his expression gentler than his words. The sound was brief, yet it eased the weight from the air around them. Deep inside, he too felt the slow easing of the knot wound tight in his chest. The storm had passed. The killing round had ended and Winter still alive, still beside him had been spared a trial she was not ready for.
But his thoughts strayed elsewhere. To the faces of the students he had guided before the exam, their eyes bright with untested resolve. He wondered which among them had endured, and which had been claimed by the storm.
The banquet hall glowed with firelight and gold, but the air inside was taut as drawn steel. The announcement had reached them all: only sixty-four remained. Four sections of the arena, hundreds of hopefuls scattered and in less than half the expected time, three quadrants had collapsed entirely.
Minister Jang raised his goblet, the ruby wine catching the light. His smile was as thin as the blade of a razor. "Remarkable, isn't it? All four terrains were deadly leaving only the strong to survive"
Seungri leaned back in his chair, laughter curling from his lips. "Fast but disappointing. I wanted to see more carnage before the weaklings dropped out. Some of them barely lifted a weapon before they were swallowed."
CL's eyes narrowed, her voice smooth but sharp as a dagger. "Perhaps you'd prefer the trial turned into a slaughterhouse? Efficiency has its uses. Not all strength is measured in corpses."
GD smirked beside her, tapping a finger against his glass. "Though I must admit that most of the hunters were lucky to survive, luck is also part of survival"
Seungri's grin hardened, venom behind his amusement. "Says the guild that couldn't even keep its best hunter. Perhaps your obsession with 'efficiency' is why Obsidian slipped to the bottom of the rankings."
The air crackled. Choi Jong-hoon remained silent at his master's side, but his heavy gaze lingered on CL like a drawn blade.
CL's expression didn't falter, though her eyes glinted dangerously. "Traitors often find comfort in louder halls. Enjoy your seat at Behemoth's table while it lasts."
Before the tension could ignite, Suho's booming laugh cut across the hall.
"Ha! Quicker, slower who cares? The battle royal just swept away the fodder. What matters is the next round: one against one. There we'll see real power."
Kai leaned forward with a wolfish grin. "No storms, no hiding. Just strength against strength. That's how hunters are measured."
Across from them, Irene set her glass down gently, her words carrying calm weight. "And yet, strength without discipline is nothing but wasted motion. Many who survived did so because they chose restraint."
Seulgi scoffed lightly, sparks dancing at her fingertips as though her magic answered her mood. "Restraint won't save them in the duels. They'll burn out quickly once they face real fighters."
Lee Jong-Suk's voice flowed smooth and polished, almost soothing. "Still it is curious. The survival round was meant to test endurance, yet it ended before endurance could be proven. I wonder if that was by design."
IU finally spoke, her tone soft, yet every syllable clear. "Perhaps it was. After all, storms do not last forever but the damage they leave behind is what truly shapes survivors."
A heavy silence followed her words, until Ma Dong-Seok's voice broke it like stone under a hammer. "Enough. The survival round is over. What lies ahead are duels, not debates. The hunters will prove themselves in combat soon enough."
Minister Jang's smile only deepened, the flicker in his eyes betraying his satisfaction.
"Yes," he murmured, lifting his goblet once more. "Soon, masks will fall, and the strong will carve their names into history."
Around the hall, glasses lifted, but few drank. Each guild master was already thinking of the duels who among the sixty-four would rise, and who would be crushed before the eyes of the nation.
Floodlights blazed as the surviving hunters filed out of the snow-scarred arena, sixty-four in all. Their breath fogged the night air, their steps echoing beneath the roar of thousands.
The announcer's voice rolled through the coliseum like thunder:
"Hunters! Against the storm, against the beasts, against each other, you endured!. Out of hundreds, only sixty-four remain!"
The crowd erupted. Names were screamed, banners shook, and the city itself seemed to tremble with excitement.
"The next stage the one-on-one duels begins soon! Matchups have been drawn and can be viewed through the official page. Survivors, you have two hours to prepare yourselves!"
Beneath the arena, the survivors were led into the preparation halls. The deafening roar of the crowd dulled to a steady hum. When Renji stepped into the Association's room, a familiar voice rang out
"Hyung!"
Do-jin was the first to rush over, his massive tower shield strapped across his back. He nearly tackled Renji in his eagerness. "We made it! I told you we'd hold out!"
Right behind him, Min-seo leaned against the wall, his sword nicked and his tunic torn. He smirked, trying too hard to look nonchalant. "Don't make it sound like you carried us, Do-jin. Some of us actually fought instead of hiding behind steel."
Renji's gaze slid to him. "Funny. Then why are you standing like an old man with a cracked rib?"
Min-seo stiffened and straightened, a flash of pain flickering across his face. "Tch... just a bruise, hyung."
At the back of the room stood Hye-rin, clutching her frost-tipped staff, her robes faintly damp with melted snow. Her voice was soft, almost fragile. "Renji-oppa we survived. Just like you said we could."
Renji let out a slow breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. Three of them. All three had returned.
"You didn't just survive," he said, his tone even but warm. "You listened. You remembered your training. That's the only reason you're standing here now."
Do-jin's grin softened, Min-seo's smirk wavered, and Hye-rin's lips trembled with the effort of holding back emotion.
The door opened again.
Chaewon entered first, pistols holstered at her side, her sharp eyes scanning the room. Behind her came Sakura and Eunchae, bruised but steady, their pride intact.
And trailing them RM, Yunjin, Kazuha, and Jae-hee. They hadn't entered the Festival, but their relief was written plain across their faces.
Chaewon gave a faint nod toward Renji. "Your kids pulled through. That's more than most guilds can say."
RM chuckled, folding his arms. "Coming from her, that's practically a love letter."
Do-jin puffed up at the words, Min-seo smirked like he owned the room, and Hye-rin flushed with embarrassment.
Renji only snorted. "Careful. They'll start believing they're invincible."
The room filled with laughter, small and tired but real. For a moment, they weren't competitors, just hunters who had made it back alive. But on the massive screens across the city, the brackets had already been posted.
Two hours later, the round of 64 began.
Most fights ended quickly one or two strikes and the weaker hunters were already sprawled on the ground. The audience, hungry for blood and spectacle, cheered at every clean blow, but murmurs never fully quieted. Everyone was waiting for a name buried deep in the brackets.
Renji. He was the anomaly. The first hunter ever recorded to jump from E-rank to A-rank in a single retest, a leap so absurd that even the Association's seal of approval hadn't silenced the rumors. Some called him a fraud. Others whispered he was the Association's secret weapon. Most, though, simply wanted to see for themselves.
Finally, the announcer's voice boomed:
"Renji of the Hunter's Association versus Wooyoung of the Obsidian Guild!"
The crowd roared. This was it the E-rank ghost, stepping into the light for the first time.
Renji walked to the center of the arena, calm and steady, while Wooyoung twirled his twin blades with a grin. The A-rank from Obsidian was already well-known swift, aggressive, a fan favorite.
But when the two met, there was no animosity. Wooyoung bowed with respect, eyes gleaming.
"Hyung, I've been curious about you. First E-rank to become A-rank crazy story but looking at you now, I can tell it's not just rumors. After this, can you teach me a few of your sword tricks?"
Renji smiled faintly, hand resting on his hilt. "If you're still standing after this, maybe."
The signal rang.
Wooyoung burst forward, blades flashing, speed dazzling enough to draw gasps from the stands. Against anyone else, it might have ended instantly but Renji's sword moved just once clean, precise, absolute.
The clash ended in a heartbeat. Wooyoung's weapons spun from his hands, clattering across the arena floor. Renji's blade hovered at his chest, stopping a hair's breadth from drawing blood.
Silence. Then the arena exploded in sound cheers, shouts, arguments all at once.
"Impossible!"
"He's the real deal!"
"That's A-rank strength, no question!"
Up in the high balconies, the guild leaders leaned forward. Minister Jang's smile was razor-thin. CL of Obsidian crossed her arms, unreadable. Irene of Stormwatch whispered something to Seulgi, while Seungri of Behemoth leaned back with a scoff.
Renji sheathed his sword and offered Wooyoung a nod. The younger hunter laughed breathlessly, bowing again. "As expected. I'll be waiting for that lesson, hyung."
Renji didn't answer, but his silence spoke enough.
This was the first time the world had truly seen him and now, there was no turning back.
The Association building glowed like a beacon against the Seoul night, its glass walls reflecting the city lights. Inside, the grand dining hall bustled with life. Long tables stretched wall to wall, covered in steaming dishes and bright drinks but tonight it wasn't about the food it was about those who advanced to the round of 32 under the Association name.
RM stood at the head of the table, his deep voice carrying easily over the chatter. He raised his glass, and the room instinctively quieted. "To the hunters who joined the festival," he said, his tone both warm and commanding. "Tonight this banquet is for those who faced their fears and fought in the festival. The association is proud of you!"
A cheer went up. Glasses clinked. The tension of the past days gave way, if only briefly, to laughter and relief.
Renji sat at the far side of the room, a little apart from the others. He nursed a half-empty glass, watching more than partaking. Whispers of him being the first E-Rank hunter to become A-Rank were not that rare anymore.
The E-rank who became an A-rank overnight.
The man no one had ever seen fight until today.
Was it real, or just another Association trick?
Renji ignored the murmurs. He'd grown used to eyes on his back.
"Getting used to being the center of attention?"
The familiar voice drew his eyes up. Chaewon stood there, arms folded, her usual confident smirk softening into something closer to concern. She slid into the seat across from him without waiting for an invitation.
Renji huffed, setting his glass down. "You'd think they've never seen a hunter fight before."
"They haven't seen you fight before," Chaewon countered. "An E-rank jumping straight to A-rank overnight? Of course people are going to talk but honestly, oppa this was bound to happen. You can't expect to hide forever."
He tilted his head at her, a faint smile tugging at his lips. "Hide? I wasn't hiding. It was you, RM hyung, and the leader who cornered me into retesting. If anything, this is your fault."
Chaewon laughed, the sound sharp but warm. "Oh please, don't pin this on me. You think anyone believes I could push you into doing something you didn't want to do?"
Renji smirked but said nothing, sipping his drink instead.
After a pause, Chaewon leaned forward, her tone shifting. "By the way I've been meaning to tell you something." Renji intrigued by what she said lent an ear "It's about your sister."
Renji's posture straightened instantly. His gaze locked on hers, sharp and searching. "What about her?"
"She's safe," Chaewon said quickly, reading the tension in his face. "When the portals first appeared, your parents took her back to Japan while the airports were still open. They've been living there ever since. I found out through Sakura's connections in Japan and they match with the timeline"
For the first time all evening, Renji's shoulders eased. He exhaled a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. "Good. That's good."
Chaewon watched him, her expression softer than usual. "You should visit. She'd want to see you."
Renji shook his head, a small but firm motion. "Not yet. Not while this Festival is still going. My face is on every screen right now. The wrong people could notice. The safest thing I can do for them is finish this first."
Chaewon nodded slowly, though her lips curled into a teasing grin. "Typical Renji. Always so serious. You finally get the chance to be a doting oppa and instead you're playing the noble martyr."
He chuckled under his breath. "Says the person who spends half her life babysitting rookies."
She raised her glass in mock salute. "Touché."
For a while, they just sat there across the table, the noise of the banquet fading into the background. Two colleagues, same age, same battlefield close enough to laugh at each other, close enough to share the weight that neither showed the rest of the world.
The stadium lights flared to life, washing the massive arena in gold and white. The announcer's voice boomed across the loudspeakers, carried on the cheers of tens of thousands.
"Hunters and citizens of Korea—welcome to the Round of 32!"
The crowd roared. Flags of guilds waved high, chants rolled like waves, and massive holographic screens above the coliseum lit up with the match brackets. Faces of the remaining hunters flashed one by one, accompanied by bursts of light and fanfare.
"These are the strongest of the strong the ones who survived the brutal survival rounds, who fought their way through the 64, but their path isn't over yet as there can only be one person standing at the top" The MC's voice rose higher, feeding off the energy of the crowd. "Every match from here on will be a clash of wills, strength, and destiny!"
In the Association's private waiting room beneath the arena, the cheers were muffled, like distant thunder.
Chaewon sat at a bench near the wall, calmly loading a magazine before sliding it into her custom sidearm with a soft click. Her focus never wavered. Sakura stretched her arms, rolling her shoulders in smooth arcs, her movements sharp and efficient like a predator limbering before the strike. Eunchae sat cross-legged on the floor, blades resting across her lap, her breaths slow and steady as she steadied her nerves.
Do-jin adjusted the straps of the tower shield on his back, muttering about the weight but grinning all the same. "Hyung, if I finish quick, you promise to treat me to food, yeah?" he said, flashing Renji a playful grin.
Min-seo, sharp-eyed and restless, was already swinging his blade in tight arcs, the whistle of steel cutting through the air. "Save your breath, Do-jin. You'll need it when you get flattened in the first ten seconds."
"Yah, you punk" Do-jin started, but the banter only drew a soft chuckle from Hye-rin. She sat apart from them, her staff across her knees, fingers tracing faint patterns of frost into the air. She didn't speak much, but her eyes occasionally flicked to Renji, as if to reassure herself that he was there.
And Renji he sat in the quietest corner of the room, sword resting against his leg. He didn't pace, didn't fidget. He breathed slow, steady, the calm center of a storm. The crowd's energy thundered above them, but to him, it was only background noise.
The waiting hall hummed with nervous energy, every sound from the arena feeding into the tension.
"Ladies and gentlemen!" the MC's voice boomed, carried by the speakers, "to open the Round of 32 we have the Hunter's Association's young shield, Do-jin, the Iron Wall!"
The crowd's cheer thundered through the walls.
Do-jin pushed himself to his feet, fastening the last strap of his gauntlet. His shield leaned against the bench beside him, towering nearly as tall as he was. He exhaled, steady but tight. "Guess that's me."
Min-seo leaned back in his chair, smirking. "Figures you'd get the first match. Better wake everyone up out there."
Do-jin rolled his shoulders. "That's the plan." But his hands lingered just a little too long on the shield's grip, betraying the nerves under his grin.
The MC's voice hit again, heavy with showmanship.
"And facing him an A-Rank powerhouse from Behemoth Guild Jung Joon-young!"
The monitor lit up with Joon-young's image: a mountain of muscle in heavy armor, his sheer presence drawing a roar from the audience.
Hye-rin clutched her staff tighter, eyes wide. "He looks like he could crush someone with one hand"
Do-jin muttered, half to himself, "Then it's a good thing I brought two hands and a shield."
The attempt at humor earned a small laugh from Min-seo, but both he and Hye-rin couldn't hide their worry. They were rookies barely past their first real trials and this was no sparring match. It was the biggest stage they'd ever stepped on.
Renji's voice broke the silence, calm and grounding. "Do-jin."
Do-jin looked back, meeting his mentor's steady eyes.
"You're not here to beat him at his game. You're here to show them what a shield means. Don't rush, don't force it. Stand firm, and let him wear himself down."
For a moment, the nerves in Do-jin's eyes softened into something steadier. He gave a short nod. "Got it, hyung."
He hefted his shield onto his arm, the familiar weight settling him before stepping toward the arena doors, he turned to his teammates. "Don't worry. I'll show them we belong here."
The doors slid open, flooding the hall with blinding arena lights and deafening cheers. Do-jin stepped through, the shield raised like a banner, before the doors slammed shut behind him.
Silence filled the room again, broken only by the echo of the crowd outside.
Hye-rin whispered, almost to herself, "He'll be okay right?"
Min-seo folded his arms, eyes glued to the monitor. "If there's anyone who can take those hits and still stand, it's him."
Renji leaned back against the wall, arms crossed, his voice low but firm.
"He's ready. More than he thinks."
The doors shut, leaving only the rumble of the crowd filtering through the walls. On the waiting room monitor, Do-jin stepped into the center of the arena, shield raised high. Across from him, Jung Joon-young loomed like a wall of living steel, every flex of his muscles met with cheers.
The opening bell rang.
Joon-young surged forward with frightening speed for his size, his greatsword carving through the air like thunder. The first strike rattled Do-jin's shield so hard the sound cracked through the speakers.
Min-seo flinched. Hye-rin's knuckles whitened on her staff.
Do-jin dug his heels into the ground, holding steady, but Joon-young didn't stop. Blow after blow hammered against his defense, every strike meant to crush, to break. The crowd roared with each impact.
On the monitor, Do-jin staggered. His shield dipped.
Renji's fists tightened at his sides. His jaw clenched, eyes fixed on the screen.
Another strike. The image shook.
Hye-rin whispered, "He can't... he can't keep taking that..."
Do-jin's knees buckled. His shield wavered under the assault.
Renji's breath hissed through his teeth, his voice a low growl only those nearby could hear.
"Damn it"
The monitor flashed with the next blow. Do-jin's figure lurched back, the crowd exploding in cheers and the feed cut to a wide shot of the arena, leaving his fate unseen.
Renji's nails dug into his palms, fury simmering just beneath his skin.