The air in the dungeon felt heavy, but not from the mana of the boss. It was the presence of the man standing in front of Ren. Sung Jin-Woo.
Jin-Woo's eyes, glowing with a faint purple light, scanned Ren. He didn't see a regular hunter; he saw a flickering anomaly. "You're not part of the raid team," Jin-Woo said, his voice calm but sharp as a blade. "Who are you?"
Ren didn't flinch. He let the Void energy pulse through his veins, masking his fear. "Just a 'glitch' in the system, Jin-Woo. Someone who knows that this world is more than just a game."
[System Warning: High-Level Entity Detected!] [Target: Sung Jin-Woo (Shadow Monarch)] [Relationship: Unknown/Neutral]
"You know my name," Jin-Woo's shadow began to expand, the ground beneath him trembling. "And you smell like the Monarchs... yet you aren't one of them."
In a blur of speed, Jin-Woo moved. He didn't attack, but his presence was a physical weight. "Tell me your purpose, or I'll let my shadows find the answer."
Ren smiled, a dark, hollow grin. "I'm not here to fight you. Not yet. I'm here to grow. The Void needs to feed, and these mutated monsters were just the beginning."
Ren pointed toward the back of the dungeon where a massive, black-scaled dragon-kin was beginning to wake up. It was a Hidden Boss, much stronger than the Hobgoblin.
"How about a race?" Ren challenged. "The one who takes the heart of that beast gets the information they want."
Jin-Woo looked at the beast, then back at Ren. A small, intrigued smile touched his lips. "A race? Fine. But don't blame me if you get erased."
Before the words finished, Jin-Woo vanished into a streak of purple light. Ren didn't wait either.
[Skill Activated: Void Flash!]
Ren turned into a wisp of darkness, surging forward. The clash between the Shadow Monarch and the Void Monarch had officially begun, not with a fight, but with a hunt.