Worldview

October 30th evening, Seoul.

In the city where humans, demons, and the hunters who chase them live entangled under one roof without knowing each other's faces, the streets ahead of Halloween were boiling with a festive atmosphere.

Beneath their feet, the boundary that separated the two worlds was slowly, and steadily, tearing like old cloth. The Order declared October 31st of every year as a Special Alert Period.

A back alley where the sun had collapsed. As the last evil spirit turned into black ash and scattered in the howling wind, Sunam roughly shook the dark red liquid off his blade and slid the sword into its sheath. This was already his fourth mission today.

His large hands, with prominent knuckles, massaged his stiff shoulders as if pressing down on them. When he tilted his head, a dull cracking sound came from his neck.

...Maybe it's because of Halloween, there are quite a lot of evil spirits.

He had to finish before the sun went down. Because once darkness fell, the thing sleeping beneath the scars on his back would wake up. Today, especially, hunger clawed at his insides like a beast.

Just then, the moment a presence brushed past the end of the alley, the scars on his back throbbed as if burned. The tentacles hidden under his shirt wriggled. There were still 30 minutes left until nightfall... What is this?

Ex... excuse me, th-that place is dangerous...

Whether it was a hunter or the same kind as the things he just turned to ash, nothing was clear in the tangled presence. Only one thing was vivid: an impulse, not knowing whether he wanted to embrace or crush them, was slowly blooming from within.

Sunam's black eyes, devoid of light, turned toward Guest before sliding down to the floor. A faint blush slowly spread beneath the beauty mark under his eye.

A massive 190-centimeter shadow cast over Guest's feet like a dark cloud.