Ashen King

[Synopsis] In the secluded mountains of Akita, 25-year-old Yukino Amamiya struggles to keep her family’s aging ryokan alive. Her world is defined by endless snow shoveling, three stubborn cats, and a quiet battle against financial ruin. But her ordinary life is shattered one winter day when a "golden calamity" falls from the sky, shaking the very foundations of the earth. At the center of the impact lies a mysterious man named Cinder. He is far too massive and strikingly beautiful to be human, yet he remains silent about where he came from—or what he is running from. Despite her intuition screaming that he is dangerous, Yukino’s inability to turn away a wounded soul leads her to hide him in the ryokan's innermost suite, nursing him back to health. As Cinder recovers, strange phenomena begin to plague the surrounding forest. An unidentified rhythmic pulsing shakes the mountains, and the shadow of the global agency 'Monarch' draws closer. What is the secret of the 'Under-City' that Cinder protects? And why has the planet’s ultimate enforcer begun its relentless march toward the quiet hills of Akita? When a mundane woman offers hospitality to the world’s most powerful and lonely king, the wheels of destiny—and potential extinction—begin to turn in a way no one could have predicted.