The form of a dragon, presumably Bellium. The moment Minjun saw it, he felt as though his breath had stopped.

“Minjun... sir?”

When Minjun stared at Bellium’s remains in a daze without saying a word, Adil called to him cautiously, seemingly worried. But Minjun did not answer. Or rather, he could not. He was all but cut off from the outside world.

Staring blankly at Bellium’s apparition, Minjun cautiously spoke. “Are you... Lord Bellium?”

As soon as he said it, the radiance surrounding him swelled until it swallowed him whole. Minjun vanished along with the light.

* * *

When Minjun opened his eyes, he saw pale smoke spread thickly before him like fog. ‘Where... am I?’ It did not look like Earth or Pangaea.

He tried to shout and ask if anyone was there, but no words came out—and he could not move his body at will, either. He felt like someone paralyzed, able only to blink. ‘What on earth is going on?’

The smoke gradually cleared, revealing dozens of dragons crowding the distant sky. The sight of not one but dozens of them filling it left Minjun transfixed. But his awe did not last long.

‘What is Bellium trying to show me?’ The radiance, Bellium, and Bellium’s remnant of consciousness. Putting those clues together, Minjun became certain Bellium was showing him this scene for a reason. If so, what he was seeing was probably a scene from the past. Why show it to him, of all people? And why were so many dragons filling the sky?

A small gap opened among the dragons spread across the sky, then grew wider. As the view zoomed in, Minjun saw citizens of many races staring upward in terror. Those people were probably... ‘Residents of Elysium?’ Their varied races and the sight of people fleeing into an underground shelter led him to conclude that he was seeing Elysium tens of thousands of years ago.

‘But... wait.’ Given how Elysium had come to be, he had heard that outsiders had often invaded it since ancient times. But if this many dragons had invaded Elysium, surely someone would have told him about it. He had never heard a thing. Even if the residents did not know, Adil was a historian; he would certainly have mentioned it, if only briefly. ‘Why?’

What reason could all those dragons have to invade Elysium? They could hardly have come in such numbers to catch a human who had defied a dragon. They were probably here for Bellium, a dragon himself. Perhaps Bellium had gathered exiles and founded a village because he, too, had been shunned by dragon society for some reason. Or perhaps it had to do with his child. Adil had said the leading theory about why Bellium founded the city involved that child, about whom no information had survived. What if the child had done something terribly wrong, and the dragons had come to hold them accountable? Minjun had no idea what had really happened, but the theory sounded plausible enough once he put it together.

While Minjun was busy forming his own theories, his view suddenly shifted. A man was urgently directing residents into the shelter—the Sanctuary. The residents were panicking, and he shouted something to them as he used dragon speech to help them evacuate. So many voices overlapped that it hurt Minjun’s ears, yet he could not understand a word. For some reason, though, he felt he could guess who the man was. ‘Bellium.’ He looked human, but given everything Minjun had seen, there was a good chance he was Bellium under a Polymorph spell.

Once the man had confirmed that all the residents were safe, he shouted at the dragons occupying the sky at the top of his lungs. Again, Minjun could not understand him. ‘If that man really is Bellium...’ The way he faced the dragons made it clear there was some conflict between Bellium and the others.

In the middle of their heated exchange, Bellium abruptly turned and spoke urgently to someone who was not a dragon. Just as the view was about to shift toward that person, it suddenly began to crackle with static. ‘Why?’

Minjun wanted to see more. He could not understand what they were saying, but their faces, expressions, and the agitation in their voices gave him a rough idea of what was happening. And since Bellium had raised his voice even more, the person he was addressing was likely his child. Minjun felt certain he could find an important clue here.

But he would not get his wish. Unable to speak or move, Minjun could do nothing. The crackling image never returned to normal. It blurred again, and soon everything around him turned pitch-black.

Not long afterward, the radiance from before slowly began to bloom again. This time, though, something was different. Instead of illuminating what seemed to be a scene from Elysium’s past, it simply shone in the black void. And unlike before, Minjun could move freely. No longer held in place, he walked toward the light as though entranced.

The radiance gradually took on a human shape. When the transformation was complete, someone stood before him: a tall man with ash-gray hair and mysterious eyes that seemed to hold blue starlight. It was the man he had just seen in the vision. Given the circumstances, this was probably what Bellium had looked like when he was alive.

Minjun swallowed hard and took a step toward him. The man’s expression was difficult to describe. It was as if joy, anger, sorrow, and delight were all there at once. Unable to make sense of it, Minjun grew even more curious. He had so many questions that his mind was going blank.

Was this really Bellium? Had he brought Minjun to Elysium? If so, why? What was that radiance, and why had it helped him? Why had the jewel said to be Bellium’s Tear been absorbed into his body? Had Bellium intended that too?

But just as Minjun was about to ask his first question, the man said, <I’m sorry.> With those words, he began to dissolve into light, as though the figure Minjun had seen had been an illusion all along. They had not even exchanged a proper word yet. Minjun reached out to Bellium in desperation. “Lord Bellium! Wait! Why did you bring me—” Before he could finish, Bellium dissolved completely into light and vanished without a trace.

Minjun sank to the ground, hollow with disappointment. “I thought I’d finally get to talk to him...” Was everything going to come to nothing? He stared at the last traces of Bellium, now returned to radiance, his eyes vacant. ‘What... happens now?’ He had thought that, having met like this, they could at least exchange a few words.

While Minjun was lost in disappointment, the light that had taken Bellium’s shape slowly approached and enveloped him. Before, that would have ended with a momentary surge of the dragon energy inside him. This time, there was more: a notification window appeared before his eyes. It had been quite a while since he had seen one, and its contents were no less startling.

[A portion of a skill you possess has been unlocked by ???.]

[??? (EX)

Skill Description:

1) Concealment: When activated, completely conceals the user’s energy. However, while this skill is active, the user cannot affect others in any way.

The skill can be deactivated before its duration ends. (Duration: 30 minutes; Cooldown: 10 minutes)

2) ???: (Unlocked upon achieving ???)]

Part of the mysterious skill he had possessed since awakening had been unlocked. Yet its name remained hidden, and the skill itself was not even fully unlocked. Even so, it was enough to astonish him. Why had this unknown skill unlocked at precisely this moment? And what, exactly, was the connection between the skill, the radiance, and Bellium? His thoughts were tangled enough already. This wholly unexpected development only made them more so.

But Minjun had no time to puzzle it out. Soon after the notification appeared, the radiance faded, and a doorway to another dimension appeared. He instinctively knew it led back to Earth. Without hesitation, he leaped through.

After Minjun left, only darkness remained in that space, and through it echoed a faint voice from Bellium’s remnant of consciousness—a voice that never reached him. <Let’s meet again.>

* * *

The moment I jumped through the dimensional doorway, a tremendous burst of light poured out. Dazzled, I shut my eyes. When I opened them again and looked around, I saw a familiar sight: countless hunters and Hunter Association personnel staring at me in astonishment as I emerged from the gate. Beyond them were the blue waters of Jeju Island and the gate I had been inside only moments ago.

“Finally...” I was back on Earth. I had worried I might never return, that I might never see the people I loved again. Thankfully, it seemed God had not abandoned me.

But before I could savor my return, questions came pouring in. “Minjun!” “Are you all right? Are you hurt anywhere?” “What happened in there?”

I understood why they had so many questions, but I was in no state to answer every one of them. When I stared blankly at the crowd, a woman who noticed my condition called out to the others. “Everyone, please be quiet for a moment! I know you have questions, but he’s only just come back! What’s the rush?”

After quieting the crowd, she fetched a bottle of water from a tent and handed it to me. “Oh, thank you.” I drained it in one go. She took the empty bottle and said gently, “I don’t know what happened in there, but please catch your breath before you tell us.” Thanks to her thoughtfulness, I had a moment to collect my thoughts.

As I did, I realized there was something I needed to check. “How much time has passed since I entered the gate?” Gates were fragments of other dimensions, and time could flow differently in each dimension. Sometimes it passed at a different rate inside a gate than it did on Earth: three hours inside might mean only one hour on Earth, or vice versa. But no one had ever reported an extreme difference—nothing like spending an hour inside a gate and returning to find that a year had passed on Earth. This gate had defied every rule I knew, though. Perhaps even something that absurd was possible.

I swallowed nervously and waited for her answer. What if far more time had passed on Earth than I thought? Sia, my family, and Rokan must have been worried sick all this time. But her answer was nothing like I expected.