Rover Cheon had been unconscious for three days.
Inside a high-security medical wing beneath the Korean Hunter Federation, alarms blinked with eerie calm. Scientists, magi-tech researchers, and awakened specialists crowded around a sterile stasis pod, where Rover's body lay suspended in a quiet hum.
Magical scans ran loops. Every pulse, every heartbeat, every flicker of life recorded.
But nothing was found.
No aura signature. No known energy alignment. No magical presence.
Just a body—bruised and battered, muscles lean but defined, built from grueling years of effort. A body that screamed of discipline, pain, and persistence.
Not a single thread of awakened mana.
Dr. Han pressed his palm to the scanner again. "He's empty. We ran divine resonance probes, core awakeners, soul-tuned arcane graphs. There's nothing inside this boy."
"But he destroyed a city-level threat," one researcher muttered, glancing at the footage frozen on the screen. A dragon—raging, majestic, ancient—reduced to crumbling scales and vapor in a single, incandescent strike.
The Federation ordered a full investigation. They needed answers.
---
[Hunter Association – Internal Archive Request]
> Subject: ROVER CHEON
Age: 25
Status: Unawakened
Classification: Porter
Assigned Team:
Jin Dae Ho (A-Rank, Frontliner)
Bo Gun (B-Rank, Tank)
Sera Moon (B-Rank, Blade)
Park Eunji (B-Rank, Support)
Nox Kyun (C-Rank, Tracker)
Evaluation Result: 0% Aura Activity – Rejected for Awakener Registration
A heavy silence fell over the research chamber.
Dr. Han whispered, "He has no power."
"Then… what destroyed that dragon?" someone asked.
---
[Federation Interviews — Jin Dae Ho's Team]
Jin Dae Ho
"It wasn't in a dungeon. That dragon ripped out of a crack in the city—real world. People screaming, buildings falling. We were done for. I saw Rover stand up against that thing. No aura, no weapon, just fists. But when he moved… he moved like something was raging behind his skin."
Park Eunji
"I was down, bleeding out, and then I saw it. His eyes weren't his anymore. They were… ancient. Like something older than us all was staring through him. It wasn't power. It was will—and it didn't belong to him."
Bo Gun
"He stood where we ran. I've never seen anyone block a dragon's claw strike with their bare arms. Not even S-Ranks. And when he struck back—his skin split from the force. Like his body was trying to hold back something it couldn't contain."
Sera Moon
"Just before the final hit… I saw it. Shadows. Wings. Like a god tried to reach into our world—and Rover's body barely survived the channel. I don't think he's one of us anymore."
Nox Kyun
"Rover wasn't special. Not to us. Just a quiet guy who carried our gear. Until that day. I don't think we ever knew who he really was."
---
[Hunter Association Response]
"Thank you for your testimony. That will be all."
But behind closed doors, debates raged. Threat assessments escalated. And far above the world of humans, others began to stir.
---
[Celestial Order — Strategic Chamber]
Roger Wilson: "He destroyed an S-rank beast without awakening. If that power's not his… then whose is it?"
Martin Saunders: "It's not a blessing. It's a possession."
Naiomi Sasaki: "Then we must ask: did he survive it—or become it?"
Hestia Roseberg: "We need to prepare contingencies. If that power awakens again…"
Christoff Erickson (watching the footage frame by frame):
"It's not just power. It's something that's been hiding for a long, long time."
---
[Silver Halo Guild – Maria del Rosario]
Maria closed her eyes, listening to the distant hum of Manila's sacred tower.
"He's not a mistake. He's a warning."
---
[Professor Kuroda's Apartment]
Ayaka slammed her fists onto the table. "They won't tell us anything! It's been a month since they took him!"
Mina looked up from her notes. "The lab erased all files. Even his name is flagged."
Vex's eyes were cold. "It's like he never existed."
Professor Kuroda finally spoke. "That's because they don't want him to exist."
He turned toward the window, gazing at the sky.
"We can't just stand by. Something awoke in that boy. And now… the world is afraid."
---
[Celestial Realm — Unseen Domain]
Far beyond Earth's skies, behind the layered veils of existence, a fractured temple shimmered in a place between time and light. Thrones formed from starlight and bone circled a black sun. There, the true players of the cosmic game gathered.
Radiant Angel (serene, disgusted):
"So… the Vessel has awakened."
Veiled One (voice echoing like thunder):
"He's incomplete. Unstable. But it's moving again."
Twisted Angel (smirking):
"Hah. So let's stop pretending we don't know who gave him that power."
Radiant Angel (sharply):
"Don't speak his name."
Twisted Angel:
"Oh, I won't. But you know he's awake. After all this time… the Outcast stirs."
Veiled One:
"He was sealed. Burned. Forgotten."
Twisted Angel:
"And yet—he reached that boy. Slipped through the cracks. Like a whisper in the dark."
Radiant Angel:
"Humans were meant to serve. Play pieces. We wrote the rules."
Twisted Angel (laughing):
"And now they're rewriting them."
A silence.
Then a fourth voice. One that hadn't spoken for eons.
Unknown Entity (calm, mocking):
"We are not the only gods on this board anymore."
Radiant Angel (alarmed):
"You dare—"
Unknown Entity:
"The Outcast moves. And when he walks… stars will fall."
The black sun pulsed.
In its heart, a single name burned:
> ROVER CHEON – STATUS: VESSEL [POWER SOURCE: UNIDENTIFIED | ENTITY RECOGNIZED: EXILED GOD]
The chamber cracked.
Unknown Entity (softly):
"The game was ours. Now it's his."
To be continue...