The village of Haneul was small, nestled deep within the misty valleys of the eastern mountains. Life here was simple—hunters, farmers, and craftsmen filled the streets, their days spent in routine labor. But for Lee Byung Hun, life was anything but ordinary.
He was different.
Born without parents, he was raised by the village elder, an aging man who rarely spoke of the past. The other children avoided him, and the adults only spared him glances of pity. He had no family name, no lineage to boast of. Only his name, given by the elder, tied him to this world.
Byung Hun never questioned why he felt an emptiness within him, nor did he understand why he was drawn to the ruined shrine at the edge of the village. A place long abandoned, its worn stone pillars and shattered statues told of forgotten gods and lost faith.
And yet, it called to him.
Today, like many others, he found himself standing before its crumbling altar. The air here was thick, heavy with something unseen. The villagers warned him never to come here, but something deep inside whispered otherwise.
He stepped forward, brushing the dust off a broken stone tablet. The inscriptions were ancient, unreadable. His fingers traced over the weathered carvings—until suddenly, the ground trembled beneath his feet.
A voice, deep and resonant, echoed within his mind.
"You… have come at last."
Byung Hun gasped, stumbling back. His heart pounded in his chest as the dust around him swirled, forming the faint outline of a towering figure.
It had no distinct form, shifting like mist, its eyes glowing like twin stars in the darkness.
"Who… Who are you?" he asked, barely above a whisper.
"I am one who was forsaken… One who has waited an eternity for a vessel."
The boy clenched his fists. "A vessel? What does that mean?"
The figure did not answer immediately. Instead, it raised a translucent hand, and the air grew colder. The whispers of the wind turned into distant voices—screams, battles, war cries. Flashes of memories not his own flickered through his mind.
A battlefield. A forgotten god. A betrayal.
And then, a flood of unbearable loneliness.
Byung Hun fell to his knees, gripping his head. The pain was overwhelming, the weight of the vision crushing. But amidst the chaos, he understood one thing: this entity—this forgotten god—was bound to him now.
And for the first time in his life, he was not alone.
The mist began to fade, but the presence did not disappear. Instead, it settled within him, a quiet hum in the depths of his soul.
"Our fates are entwined now, child," the god's voice murmured. "You will be my last hope… and I will be your only ally in the war to come."
Byung Hun didn't understand it all, but he knew one thing.
His life had just changed forever.