Ants

The Ants originated from normal ants that were exposed to the dense mana inside the S-rank gate that opened on Jeju Island. The magic energy mutated them, causing them to grow to the size of a human and develop razor-sharp mandibles, incredible speed, and a collective hive mind capable of coordinating devastating swarms.

Once the gate fully opened, the Ants flooded onto Jeju Island, slaughtering every human inhabitant and transforming the land into a barren wasteland. The Korean Hunters Association urgently mobilized its forces, but three consecutive raids ended in failure — the Ants’ numbers were overwhelming, and the hive was protected by the fearsome Ant Queen deep inside the nest.

As the colony’s food supply on the island dwindled, the Ants evolved further and gained the ability to fly over long distances, threatening the Korean mainland. At the same time, the Ant Queen birthed a powerful guardian — the Ant King — who possessed intelligence and strength far beyond any ordinary Ant, making the island even more impenetrable.

The Korean Hunters Association, having detected the Ants’ flight capabilities, organized the 4th Jeju Island Raid with top S-rank hunters, initially in cooperation with Japanese hunters. The operation struggled against the evolved Ants until Sung Jin-Woo arrived and personally entered the nest. He slew the Ant Queen and later confronted the Ant King, eventually extracting its shadow and turning it into the shadow soldier Beru.

With the Queen and the King eliminated, Sung Jin-Woo and his shadow army systematically wiped out the remaining Ants, completely annihilating the colony. The 4th raid was the decisive victory that finally reclaimed Jeju Island for humanity, while the birth of Beru became a symbol of Sung Jin-Woo’s rapidly growing power.