The sky was clear that morning.
Too clear.
Ren Kazuki thought that every time he looked up. It always felt like the world was pretending to be normal, even when it clearly wasn't.
He walked alone through the busy street of Neo-Hikaru City. People rushed past him in every direction—office workers, students, Hunters heading toward missions. Screens on tall buildings flashed warnings about recent dimensional activity, but nobody seemed surprised anymore.
It was just another day.
Just another attack.
Just another cleanup.
Ren yawned slightly, stuffing his hands into his pockets as he stopped at a small vending machine near the corner. He pressed a button, waited, and grabbed a canned drink.
"Another breach last night in Sector 4…" someone behind him said.
"Yeah, S-Rank Hunters handled it in minutes."
"Lucky them. Must be nice getting all the action."
Ren didn't turn around. He already knew the conversation would go nowhere interesting.
Everything in this world was like that.
Predictable.
Boring.
He opened his drink and took a slow sip.
Then it happened.
A faint sound—like glass cracking.
Not loud. Not obvious. Just… wrong.
Ren paused.
He slowly looked up.
In the middle of the sky, a thin line appeared.
A crack.
People around him didn't notice at first. Or maybe they were used to it. But Ren always noticed. He didn't know why.
The crack widened slightly.
A low alarm finally echoed through the city.
"WARNING: DIMENSIONAL BREACH DETECTED."
Now people stopped walking.
Now they looked up.
Now panic started spreading.
Ren sighed.
"Here we go again…"
The sky tore open.
Not like a door. Not like a portal.
More like reality itself had been ripped apart.
Something began to fall from it.
A shadow at first.
Then a shape.
Then a monster.
It landed somewhere in the distance, but the impact shook the entire street. Glass shattered from nearby windows. People screamed and started running in all directions.
Ren stayed still.
Of course it was here.
Of course it had to be today.
Within seconds, sirens filled the air. Drones flew overhead. And then came the Hunters.
They arrived fast—armored suits, glowing weapons, confident expressions. The kind of people who were trained to deal with "problems" like this.
One of them shouted, "Evacuate civilians! We've got an S-Class breach!"
Another smiled nervously. "Finally… something worth fighting."
Ren watched them pass by.
For a moment, he almost felt something.
Not excitement.
Not fear.
Just… curiosity.
The monster finally became visible.
It was huge. Its body looked like it didn't belong in this world—too many limbs, too many wrong angles. Its skin kept shifting like it couldn't decide what shape to stay in. Every step it took cracked the ground beneath it.
An S-Class threat.
People were already calling it that.
The Hunters didn't wait.
They attacked.
Fire exploded from one side of the street. Lightning struck from above. A blade of compressed wind sliced through the air.
The monster barely reacted.
It turned its head slowly.
And then it moved.
In a single instant, one of the Hunters was thrown through three buildings.
Silence followed.
The confident expressions disappeared.
"…It's stronger than intel said," someone whispered.
Another stepped back. "We need backup. Now."
But Ren wasn't looking at them anymore.
He was looking at the monster.
Strangely… he didn't feel anything.
Not fear.
Not pressure.
Nothing.
He took another sip from his drink.
"Annoying," he muttered quietly.
The monster let out a deep, distorted roar and started moving toward the remaining Hunters. The ground shook with every step.
People were still running.
Sirens were still screaming.
But Ren?
He finally moved.
Just one step forward.
Then another.
A nearby Hunter noticed him. "Hey! Civilians aren't allowed—get back!"
Ren didn't respond.
He kept walking.
Slowly.
Like he had nowhere important to be.
The Hunter reached out to stop him—
But stopped mid-motion.
Something felt wrong.
The air around Ren had changed. Not visually. Not loudly. Just… instinctively. Like your body knew before your mind did.
The Hunter stepped back without realizing it.
Ren passed him.
"Don't go near it!" someone shouted. "You'll die!"
Ren stopped for a second.
For the first time, he looked slightly tired.
"…Die?" he repeated softly.
Like the word didn't mean much anymore.
Then he kept walking.
Closer.
Closer.
Until he was standing only a few meters away from the monster.
It finally noticed him.
Its glowing eyes locked onto Ren.
The world seemed to hold its breath.
Even the sound of sirens felt distant now.
The monster raised its arm.
And struck.
A blow fast enough to tear through a building.
But Ren didn't move.
He just raised one hand.
And gently placed two fingers forward.
That was it.
No explosion.
No dramatic light.
No sound.
The monster froze.
Its body stopped mid-motion like someone had paused reality itself.
Then, slowly… it began to disappear.
Not destroyed.
Not burned.
Just erased.
From existence.
Within seconds, there was nothing left.
No monster.
No crater.
Just empty air where something massive had stood moments ago.
The street went completely silent.
Even the sirens seemed to hesitate.
Ren lowered his hand.
"…Still not enough," he said quietly.
He looked at his fingers like they belonged to someone else.
For a second, something flickered in his eyes.
Not power.
Something worse.
Boredom.
And far above the broken sky…
Something watched him back.