The suffocating heat in the air seared Ryu Seoha’s skin. In the distance, Choi Kanghu lay collapsed on the blackened ground, which was covered in volcanic ash. Eight F-rank monsters lay dead around him, their bodies bloodied.

Ryu Seoha’s heart sank. This unfamiliar, brutal scene—her lover’s past in the Abyss, where he had fallen without preparation—clutched painfully at her chest.

Even for someone like Choi Kanghu, fighting monsters barehanded without any equipment, just after awakening his abilities, was almost impossible. Only his natural combat instincts had allowed him to survive his first battle.

‘He couldn’t even use magic properly back …