The wind on the roof was howling, carrying the sharp, metallic stench of ozone and distant blood.

Ha-Jin stood near the edge, his boots planted firmly on the cold tar, watching the bruised purple clouds roll over Seoul.

A massive, winged shadow suddenly darted through the clouds above, letting out a screech that rattled Ha-Jin’s teeth.

He immediately ducked behind the parapet, his grip tightening on the heavy steel machete.

Standing on an open roof was tactical suicide.

If he stayed silhouetted against the sky, he would draw aerial aggro directly to their ceiling, completely bypassing the physical barriers of the building.

To be the wall, he had to guard the gates, not stand on the roof like a lightning rod.

He turned and hurried down the rusted fire escape, slipping back through the living room window just as the digital clock on the wall flipped to 12:00 AM.

The transition was instantaneous and horrifying.

The pale silver moonlight filtering through the blinds vanished.

It was replaced by a heavy, unnatural crimson light that bled through the glass, painting the small apartment in the color of dried blood.

A sharp, piercing ring echoed directly inside Ha-Jin's skull.

It wasn't a sound from the street. It was the System, broadcasting directly into the minds of every human on the planet.

[The Night Event: Blood Moon Carnage has begun.]

[Objective: Survive until dawn.]

[Kill to earn Blood Points (BP).]

The heavy silence of the neighborhood shattered in a matter of seconds.

Distant sirens began to wail, a mournful, panicked sound that was quickly drowned out by the rolling thunder of explosions from the city center.

The major Guilds were already firing artillery.

Inside the apartment, the air pressure felt heavy, almost suffocating.

His father, Dae-Jung, was sitting on the edge of the worn sofa, holding his mother’s trembling hand.

Neither of them spoke. They just stared at the red light bleeding through the gaps in the blinds.

Ha-Ram was sitting on the floor by the radiator, hugging her knees to her chest, her knuckles completely white.

Ha-Jin walked over to the window, keeping his body pressed flat against the wall, and peeked through a narrow slit in the blinds.

The street below was a nightmare.

The asphalt was bathed in crimson. The flickering streetlights were completely dead.

From the shadows of an alleyway across the street, movement caught his eye.

A pack of five creatures slunk out onto the main road.

They looked like wolves, but wrong. Their bodies were pitch-black, composed of thick, wiry muscle and shifting shadows.

Their eyes burned like hot red coals, and their jaws dripped with a viscous, dark fluid that sizzled when it hit the pavement.

Shadow Hounds. E-Rank event monsters.

They were significantly larger and faster than the goblins he had fought in the dungeon.

The hounds sprinted down the street, their claws tearing deep gouges into the asphalt.

One of them leaped onto the hood of an abandoned sedan, completely crushing the metal frame under its weight, sniffing the air frantically.

Ha-Jin held his breath, his hand hovering over the hilt of his machete.

The lead hound jumped off the car and turned toward their apartment building.

It took two steps forward, its nose twitching.

Then, its red eyes glossed over. It shook its head, letting out a confused growl, and simply turned away, sprinting further down the block.

The ward was working.

To the hounds, the building simply didn't register. Their senses slid right off the invisible dome Ha-Jin had placed on the roof.

He let out a slow, quiet exhale.

A small hand gripped the sleeve of his hoodie.

He looked down. Ha-Ram was standing next to him, her eyes wide with absolute terror behind her glasses.

She had seen the hounds.

Ha-Jin reached out, placing a steady, warm hand on top of her head. He ruffled her hair gently.

"It's fine," Ha-Jin whispered, offering a small, reassuring smile that didn't reach his eyes.

"We're safe here."

Ha-Ram swallowed hard, nodding slowly, her grip on his sleeve loosening.

Then, the sky tore open.

A deafening, concussive BOOM echoed from the downtown Guild sector, followed immediately by a streak of blinding blue light.

An anti-air mana cannon.

The blue beam sliced through the red clouds, striking something massive directly above their district.

A horrifying, ear-splitting shriek ripped through the air.

Ha-Jin looked up through the window just in time to see a massive, winged silhouette plummeting from the sky, trailing thick black smoke and fire.

A wyvern.

"Get down!" Ha-Jin roared, grabbing Ha-Ram and throwing both of them to the floor.

The wyvern crashed directly into the middle of the street right outside their window.

The impact was apocalyptic.

The entire apartment building violently lurched. The floorboards buckled, and the framed photos on the walls shattered against the ground.

Car alarms blared into life.

The sheer kinetic force of the crash sent a wave of asphalt, twisted metal, and debris slamming into the front of their building.

A heavy chunk of concrete smashed through the first-floor entryway, annihilating the main gate.

The fire hydrant on the corner sheared cleanly off its base, sending a massive geyser of high-pressure water blasting into the air.

Ha-Jin coughed, waving the dust away from his face.

His ears were ringing violently.

He looked up at his parents. They were safe, huddled beneath the heavy wooden dining table.

Before he could even ask if they were okay, a sharp, terrible sound chimed in his mind.

[Warning: Anchor point disrupted.]

[Warning: Lesser Ward of Concealment has been destroyed.]

Ha-Jin’s blood ran completely cold.

He scrambled to his knees, ignoring the throbbing pain in his bandaged shoulder, and peered over the windowsill.

The street was a cratered mess of fire, water, and shattered concrete.

The dead wyvern lay in the center of the road, its massive neck snapped at a grotesque angle.

And standing perfectly still on top of the crushed sedan, just fifty feet away, were the five Shadow Hounds.

The ward had broken. The veil was lifted.

The hounds slowly turned their heads toward the apartment building, their wet noses flaring as they caught the fresh scent of human fear.

The lead hound looked up.

Its burning red eyes locked directly onto Ha-Jin through the second-story window.

It bared its jagged, shadow-wreathed fangs and let out a low, bone-chilling howl.

"Fuck," Ha-Jin cursed, the word dripping with venom.

He snatched his reinforced machete off the floor and stood up.

He couldn't fight them in here. The apartment was too small.

If a hound got past him, his parents and sister would be shredded in seconds.

"System. Allocate points," Ha-Jin muttered rapidly. "Three to Strength. Three to Agility."

[Unallocated Points applied.]

[Updated Stats - Strength: 15, Agility: 13, Vitality: 8, Mana: 5.1, Insight: 13, Luck: 9]

A sudden, aggressive rush of heat flooded his muscles, snapping the lingering fatigue in his legs like a dry twig.

He turned to his parents, his expression completely devoid of a teenager's innocence. It was the cold, calculating look of a killer.

"Lock the door," Ha-Jin commanded, his voice leaving no room for argument. "Do not come out no matter what you hear. Do you understand?"

"Ha-Jin! Wait, what are you…" his father yelled, scrambling out from under the table.

Ha-Jin didn't wait.

He threw the front door open, stepping out into the dim, flickering light of the hallway, and slammed it shut behind him.

He heard the heavy deadbolt click into place a second later. Good.

The sound of shattering glass and furious snarling echoed from the bottom of the stairwell.

The hounds had already breached the ruined lobby.

Ha-Jin ran down the hall toward the staircase, his boots pounding against the cheap carpet.

He bypassed the stairs completely.

He launched himself forward, driving his heavy steel-toed boot straight into the large hallway window overlooking the street.

The glass exploded outward in a shower of glittering shards.

Ha-Jin dropped through the empty frame, free-falling the fifteen feet to the street level below.

His 13 Agility kicked in perfectly.

He hit the wet asphalt, tucking his shoulder and rolling to absorb the momentum, popping back up to his feet in one fluid motion.

He stood right in front of the ruined entrance to his apartment building, completely blocking the path inside.

The geyser from the broken fire hydrant rained down on him, soaking his hoodie in seconds, mixing with the red light of the Blood Moon to make it look like it was raining blood.

The five Shadow Hounds spilled out of the lobby, stopping just a few feet away from him.

They snarled, spreading out in a semi-circle, their red eyes fixed on the lone human standing in their way.

A holographic panel flashed violently in front of his face.

[Event Target Engaged.]

[Kill to earn BP.]

Ha-Jin slowly raised the heavy steel machete, resting the flat of the blade against his shoulder.

He focused on the warm core in his stomach, forcefully dragging the ambient, chaotic mana of the Blood Moon straight into his lungs.

He exhaled heavily.

The air was so cold that his breath plumed into a thick cloud of white mist in front of his face.

He locked eyes with the massive lead hound.

"Come here, you overgrown mutts."