For nine years, Lee Tae-won had sworn off the Domains.
Like a man allergic to their very existence, he kept his distance whenever an alert went off—no matter how close he was or how many people had been pulled into the domain. Since quitting as a Hunter, he had lived quietly, working like any other unawakened human. A deliveryman, that's all who he is, nothing more.
Thanks to his uncanny speed and precision, business grew. He rebuilt his late father's delivery shop, running it under the same humble name. For nine years, despite his terrible luck, Lee TaeWon managed to keep his promise, to never set foot near a Domain again.
And yet here he was.
One bright afternoon, barely a day after his birthday, back in the same hell he had once escaped.
"What— what happened?!" Mrs. Jang stammered, pushing herself upright. Her face was pale as she looked outside, where the familiar blue sky had curdled into a deep, swirling purple.
The other customers followed her gaze. The moment they saw it, a ripple of panic swept through the restaurant. A few of them, Hunters, judging by the faint glimmer in their eyes— turned deathly silent after they have seen the color of the purple sky.
"We're doomed," one whispered.
"This is it. This is our last damn day," muttered another.
"What are you talking about?!" Mrs. Jang snapped, voice trembling. "Don't say that! What's happening?!"
One of the Hunters swallowed hard, his knuckles white around his glass. "We're... inside a Domain," he said hoarsely. "An S rank Domain."
"W- What?" Mrs Jang's knees weakened as she pushed her back to the nearby table. "How could you be so certain this is an S rank domain?"
"The sky is purple," pointed one of the hunters named, Mr Jung-Il, an older Hunter with a scar deep enough to cause his left eye blinded. A veteran, a rank C Hunter. The moment he saw the sky was purple, even his face turn pallid despite the ten year long work history he had gathered ever since he awakened.
"The only domain with a purple sky is an S rank domain."
Sucking in his breath, Mr Jung-Il stepped outside briefly, opening the door to look at how only their restaurant was somehow swept into the dungeon and how it was the only building without a single scratch or tear. Odd, because they had just been swept into an S Rank domain from an explosion. It should have been easy for all of them to die earlier yet the restaurant building was as good as new.
Lee TaeWon could see the curiosity that brimmed in Mr Jung-Il's eyes as he walked back inside the restaurant, echoing his question to the room, "Is there an A rank hunter between us?"
Everyone was quiet.
Of course Lee TaeWon was as quiet as a mouse.
In fact, he had just registered the idea of being one with the walls of this restaurant.
"How about we count how many Hunters are in this restaurant?" a younger man with bright red hair suggested, forcing a shaky grin. "Name's Dan Min-jun. I'm a C-rank Hunter."
"I'm... a D-rank," another said hesitantly.
"Same here. D-rank," a third added.
Lee Tae-won's frown deepened as he scanned the faces around him. C, D, D.
At best, they could hold off a low-tier Domain creature for a few minutes. At worst—well, the D-ranks might as well be civilians with good reflexes.
He exhaled slowly, counting again. Four Hunters, including himself—though no one knew who he really was. Then the four civilians: Mrs. Jang, two middle-aged customers, and a trembling boy clinging to his mother's sleeve.
The child's wide, tearful eyes met his for a moment, and Lee Tae-won felt the cold rush down his spine.
He shut his eyes briefly.
The air tasted of static, and something in his chest—the thing he had buried for nine years—stirred awake.
[Apostles of Death question "When will you react"]
[Guardian of Justice advised "Do not turn into a coward"]
"Oh, be quiet," Lee Tae-won muttered under his breath.
Hunter Jung-Il turned toward him. "What's the matter, deliveryman? Do you dislike our approach?"
Despite being a veteran Hunter, most respected in his district, Jung-Il's tone remained polite, almost as if he was talking to a higher ranked Hunter. Perhaps even he could sense there was something off about the quiet man with the cap pulled low over his eyes.
Shaking his head, Lee Tae-won adjusted his hat, making sure the brim shadowed his face. "No, I just think it's safer if we stay put and wait."
"I agree," Dan Min-jun chimed in quickly. "By now, the Association must've been notified about the rupture. Since it's an S-rank Domain, the top Hunters will be dispatched right away. They'll come for us soon."
"Yes! Everyone, stay calm," one of the D-rank Hunters added eagerly, but his trembling voice betrayed his nerves. "We're lucky there aren't any monsters nearby. And this building's sturdy—it withstood the initial rupture without a scratch. Thank you, Mrs. Jang, for picking a place with such a strong shielder!"
Mrs. Jang looked at the D-rank Hunter with a puzzled smile. She didn't remember ever hiring anyone to install a shield, but perhaps her daughter had arranged it before moving out?
"I think so?" Mrs. Jang answered uncertainly, glancing toward Lee Tae-won with a small, hopeful smile.
Lee Tae-won didn't return it.
His eyes were fixed on the window, where the purple-tinted sky pulsed faintly—as if the Domain itself had a heartbeat. He could already tell from the tremor in the air that the final boss of this Domain would be a troublesome one.
They were wrong. The building hadn't survived because of a shielder hired by Mrs Jang. It had survived because he was there, activating his shield subconsciously the moment he felt the danger of the S-rank domain.
Hunter Jung-Il, standing near the window, caught the look on the deliveryman's face, and became suspicious. Something about him didn't feel right, didn't feel like a confused civilian. Yet nothing about him screamed "Hunter." His eyes were pitch black, proving that he's an unawakened. Even an F-ranker showed a faint tint of color from their mana—but this man's eyes were pure black.
And that shield...
Jung-Il swallowed hard. He'd seen many kinds of barriers in his years, but this one had held against an S-rank rupture without so much as a crack.
No D-ranker could make that. Not even an A-ranker.
Only an S-rank could.
But an S-rank wouldn't be standing here, pretending to be a delivery boy.
Normally, an S-rank Hunter would have already rushed outside to face the threat.
But Lee TaeWon didn't move. He just stood there, eyes fixed on the sky, the color draining from his face. His lips were nearly blue, his skin growing paler by the second.
Mrs. Jang, standing nearest to him, noticed first. "Delivery boy? Are you—oh heavens, you're so pale!"
"I'm fine," TaeWon muttered, his voice thinning. "Just... nervous. S-ranked Domain."
Before she could say more, Dan Min-Jun stepped closer. Though shorter than TaeWon, his bright red hair and confident posture marked him instantly as a C-ranker.
He flashed a grin, the silver piercing on his eyebrow catching the light as his sharp canines showed. His smile was too warm, too bright for the situation, like a puppy wagging its tail in a burning building.
"Hey, are you okay? I've got tranquilizers, good for the nerves." Min-Jun fished one out, placing a small pill on his palm.
TaeWon looked at it for a long moment, then calmly pushed Dan's hand back toward him. "I think you need it more."
Dan blinked, then realized his own hand was trembling— no, shaking— so hard it was a wonder he hadn't dropped the pill already.
"Oh, b-but I still have more—"
TaeWon shook his head, cutting him off. "I don't need it."
Not that he was pretending to be tough. But because those medicines won't ever work for him.
Ever since he had first awakened as an S-rank, all ordinary medicine had stopped affecting him. His body had changed so much so that going through a normal human's medicines was difficult for him.
Even tranquilizers meant for elephants couldn't slow his pulse now.
And that had been fourteen years ago.
"I see, I'm sorry," muttered Min-Jun, "If only we were an A rank Hunters, you wouldn't be so worried."
Lee TaeWon didn't answer and just looked over to Min-Jun.
Why was this kid apologizing? It isn't as if he was the one who had forced the domain open.
Was he apologizing because he's weak?
But why? Was there any need for him to apologize or to even protect them in the first place?
Such power was given to the system for their own safety, not for others.
Lee TaeWon felt dread.
This day was the worse. It was filled with everything he was trying to run away from.
The S-rank domain.
The purple sky.
The kind hunters.
The kind humans.
He shut his eyes as images flashed over his head as if he was watching a sped up movie. The horrors continue to rang until he could hear the voice of Hunter Jung-Il speaking again from the side.
"As long as we stay here, everything will be alright, Min-Jun," Hunter Jung-Il promised. "This shield seems strong enough and my guild master have been notified."
"Guild Master of the Triumphant?!" the two C-ranked Hunters seemed rejoiced.
Of course how could they not? The guild master of the Triumphant is none other than the S- rank Hunter, Wo JiWoo.
Even Lee TaeWon who had spent all his time hidden in his work, away from any news that brushed the topic of domains knew that man. He had seen him in TV more than the time he had gone to the graves of his families.
The man with the bright golden hair and the equally bright emerald eyes.
The S- rank hunter.
"So don't worry, delivery man," said Hunter Jung as he clapped a reassuring hand on TaeWon's shoulder. The pat landed heavily, solid and sincere. "Nothing's going to happen."
Instead of looking relieved, Lee TaeWon went completely still—then even paler than before.
"Please," he said quietly, almost pleading, "don't jinx it."
Since childhood, luck had never been on his side.
If there were a hundred lottery tickets and only one was marked "unlucky," Lee TaeWon would pick it every single time. Without fail.
He used to think his lifetime's worth of misfortune had been some cosmic trade—an exchange for awakening as an S-rank Hunter. But of course that too, was just misfortune dressed as miracle.
So when someone as decent as Hunter Jung said nothing bad would happen, TaeWon's stomach dropped. Because experience told him exactly what came next.
And right on cue— something bad did happened.
His lashes lifted, a chilling presence he was so familiar with had greeted him first.
Beyond the restaurant's window, the purple-tinted air rippled.
Something massive crouched just beyond the glass: a hare, snow-white and taller than a truck, with a single gleaming crimson eye set dead center in its forehead.
The creature tilted its head, its eerie smile stretching impossibly wide, as if delighted to find prey.
Then it opened its mouth again.
Rows of jagged teeth glinted as it lunged forward— and bit clean through the restaurant's front door.
"I told you, don't jinx it," muttered Lee TaeWon as he stared at the door, almost stricken with grief.