The facility didn't stay quiet for long.
It never did.
By the next morning—
Everything had changed.
Again.
Footsteps echoed through the corridors. Orders were being issued. Screens lit up across control rooms. Hunters moved with purpose, no longer observing—
Preparing.
Kael noticed immediately.
"…Something happened."
He stood by the window, watching as armed units mobilized outside.
Vehicles.
Equipment.
Hunters gathering in groups.
Not training.
Deployment.
The door behind him opened.
"…You're observant."
Kael didn't turn.
"…You're predictable."
Han Seojun stepped inside.
"…We have a situation."
Kael smirked faintly.
"…Of course you do."
He turned.
"…Let me guess."
A pause.
"…You need me."
Silence.
Then—
"…Yes."
Minutes later—
A large briefing room.
Multiple screens displayed a single image.
A Gate.
But not a normal one.
"…That's new."
Kael stood near the back, arms crossed.
The Gate on the screen—
Was unstable.
Distorted.
Its edges flickered like broken data.
Its color—
Was wrong.
Dark.
Too dark.
Yoo Sera spoke.
"…It appeared three hours ago."
Another screen lit up.
Data streams.
Mana readings.
Error signals.
"…All attempts to analyze it have failed."
Kael narrowed his eyes.
"…Failed how?"
"…The System can't classify it."
Silence.
That sounded familiar.
"…And?"
Yoo Sera hesitated for a fraction of a second.
"…It reacted."
Kael's gaze sharpened.
"…To what?"
She looked directly at him.
"…To you."
The room fell silent.
Of course it did.
Kael exhaled slowly.
"…So that's why I'm here."
Han Seojun stepped forward.
"…We're forming a strike team."
A screen changed.
Displaying a list.
S-Rank Hunters.
Names.
Ranks.
Abilities.
"…And you're part of it."
Kael glanced at the list.
Then back at them.
"…You trust me that much?"
"…No."
Honest.
"…But we don't have a better option."
Fair.
Kael pushed himself off the wall.
"…Alright."
Everyone froze.
"…You're agreeing?"
Kael shrugged.
"…I'm curious."
That answer—
Didn't help.
Outside—
The team assembled.
Five S-Rank Hunters.
Each one powerful.
Each one dangerous.
And then—
Kael.
The anomaly.
The atmosphere was tense.
No one spoke to him.
But everyone watched him.
"…So this is the team."
The silver-haired man stood nearby.
Still clearly annoyed.
"…Don't slow us down."
Kael smiled faintly.
"…Try to keep up."
The quiet woman sighed slightly.
"…Focus."
Han Seojun stepped forward.
"…We enter together."
A pause.
"…No reckless actions."
Kael raised an eyebrow.
"…That sounds like it's aimed at me."
"…It is."
Kael chuckled.
"…I'll behave."
No one believed him.
They stood before the Gate.
Up close—
It felt worse.
The distortion.
The pressure.
The instability.
And beneath it—
Something familiar.
Kael stepped closer.
"…Yeah…"
It was the same.
The same feeling as before.
The same presence.
"…This isn't a Gate."
Han Seojun glanced at him.
"…What is it then?"
Kael stared into the darkness.
"…Something opening."
Silence.
That answer—
Wasn't reassuring.
"…We move."
The team stepped forward.
One by one—
They entered.
The moment Kael crossed the threshold—
Everything changed.
The world twisted.
The air distorted.
Reality itself—
Flickered.
Then—
Stillness.
They stood in a new space.
Dark.
Endless.
No sky.
No ground.
Just—
Void.
"…This is wrong."
Even the S-Ranks felt it.
Their instincts screamed.
Danger.
Kael didn't move.
"…We're not inside a Gate."
A pause.
"…We're inside something else."
Then—
A voice echoed.
Not from above.
Not from below.
From everywhere.
"Welcome."
The team froze.
"…What was that?"
Kael's eyes darkened.
"…It's alive."
Silence.
Then—
The darkness moved.
Shifting.
Forming.
Shapes began to appear.
Figures.
Dozens.
Hundreds.
Not monsters.
Not creatures.
People.
But wrong.
Distorted.
Incomplete.
"…What the hell…"
The figures turned toward them.
All at once.
And then—
They spoke.
"You don't belong here."
The air collapsed.
The battle—
Was about to begin.
Kael stepped forward.
A faint smile forming.
"…Good."
Because for the first time—
He wasn't the only anomaly.
And that—
Made things interesting.