Luck comes to those who are prepared.
It’s a common saying.
Even if good fortune comes by sheer luck, if you lack the power to make it your own, it’s meaningless.
Just like me right now.
“Lee Ganghyeon, I’m sorry, but you’ll have to return to Earth.”
This was the Eldorad Continent, a world in a dimension different from Earth.
And the Saintess of the White Order—the only and most authoritative religious order on the Eldorad Continent—had ordered me to leave.
I froze for a moment at her sudden notice, then came back to my senses.
“Saintess! You can’t just say that out of nowhere…”
There was no way I could accept being told to return to Earth.
I still had to remain here.
Twenty-five years ago, Earth underwent a massive change known as the Great Cataclysm.
Dungeons and monsters, things we had only ever seen in novels, appeared in reality.
They rampaged across the world, threatening humanity’s survival.
Humanity stood at the crossroads of extinction.
Just when a bleak atmosphere had spread, as if there was no hope left,
people with the power to stand against the monsters began to appear.
Those who awakened their powers hunted dungeons and monsters, contributing to the rebuilding of civilization.
Their existence became a ray of hope for humanity, and people called them hunters.
Luck came to me as well, and through awakening, I became a hunter.
Though I was called a half-baked one.
The reason I was called a half-baked hunter was simple.
It was because I had no status window.
Even though I had awakened, unlike other hunters, I alone was not given a status window.
This led to a fairly large gap. For starters, I couldn’t grow at all.
Never mind skills or traits—it was impossible for me to even learn them.
Even if I killed monsters, I couldn’t obtain experience points.
With things like that, how was I supposed to grow?
Yes, I was simply treated as an ordinary person who was a little stronger than most.
In the end, I decided to use every method available to me in order to grow.
One of those methods was enrolling in the Hunter Academy.
Fortunately, I had awakened, so I had no trouble entering the academy.
But would anything change just because I got in?
Unlike me, who still had no status window, the other students in my year grew like monsters.
Naturally, I received the lowest grade, an F, in every subject.
I desperately held on, at least to avoid expulsion.
Perhaps because that sight of me was pathetic, or perhaps because they didn’t want to acknowledge me as a hunter, my classmates considered me a stain on the academy.
Until graduation, I was treated like an invisible man, but somehow, I managed to receive my diploma, even if I graduated dead last.
Of course, graduating didn’t make a nonexistent status window appear.
In the end, nothing changed.
Since I couldn’t make a living as a hunter, I became a porter.
Then, my final chance came.
Though it was purely luck, not effort.
The Eldorad Continent.
The otherworld I was standing on right now was the Eldorad Continent.
The Eldorad Continent, where only a randomly chosen few among hunters could come.
This place, which granted even greater power to hunters who were already strong and gave insignificant hunters a chance to pull their own weight, was a land every hunter dreamed of.
I was no exception.
By some unknown mechanism, only a small number of hunters were randomly selected, and I had been included among them.
When I first set foot on the Eldorad Continent, I was truly overjoyed.
Because I thought I might be able to obtain a status window.
If only I got a status window, escaping my lot as a porter would just be a matter of time.
Maybe I could give those classmates who had looked down on me a taste of their own medicine.
Back then, I had imagined my classmates looking up to me, and guilds competing to scout me…
But that dream had just been shattered in an instant.
“Please, reconsider just one more time. I’m begging you, Saintess! I’ve done everything I could until now. I can’t go back like this!”
I threw away any pride I had and even knelt as I begged.
Two years had passed since I was summoned to the Eldorad Continent.
During that time, I had truly worked like a dog.
Knowing that I lacked ability, I tried my best to work hard.
I did every odd job possible within the Order, and I even took care of the paladins and priests from behind the scenes.
I didn’t even ask for any compensation.
But what was the result of all that effort?
I still hadn’t obtained the status window I’d hoped for.
Nor were any helpful items within my reach; they were nothing but pie in the sky.
And now they were going to send me back to Earth like this, without me gaining a single thing?
I barely held back my expression from twisting as I waited for the Saintess’s answer.
“Ha… Mr. Lee Ganghyeon. No.”
The Saintess’s expression crumpled in an instant.
“Hey.”
The tone of the Saintess, who had always worn a benevolent smile until now, changed completely.
It was a side of her I had never seen in the two years we had spent together.
“Why are you being so pathetic, huh?”
Harsh words poured from the Saintess’s mouth.
“Isn’t it enough that we took in a worthless bastard like you until now? What more do you want from us? A status window? Is it my fault you don’t have a status window? Or are you like this because we didn’t give you an item?
I was already fucking irritated that a piece of trash came here, and now you’re pissing me off.”
“…”
I couldn’t say anything.
In my position, no rebuttal was permitted.
When I couldn’t talk back to the Saintess, the paladins around us joined in as well.
“Odd jobs? That’s something you obviously had to do because you’re trash. Don’t get all proud over that.”
“Exactly! Who would’ve thought a crippled bastard like this would show up?”
“You never belonged in our Order to begin with!”
“Get back to where you came from this instant. The Saintess is showing you mercy, you know.”
Even the paladins, called the righteous swords of the Order, criticized me.
“…”
Yes, it was true that I was useless.
That was why I stayed silent.
Of course, I felt wronged.
I had tried to work even harder to make up for what I lacked.
Every morning, I woke earlier than anyone else and trained.
Since I had no skills or traits, I tried to endure with my body alone.
Not only did I clean inside the Order, but whenever a dungeon subjugation squad went out, I naturally worked as a porter, and I took charge of cooking, miscellaneous tasks, and errands as well.
‘Ha…’
Thinking about it carefully again, they had always been like this.
Because I was in the weaker position, I bowed my head first, but they took that for granted.
Once, they had even used me as bait to disarm a dungeon trap.
At the very least, if I had received suitable compensation for it, I wouldn’t have felt so wronged.
No, I did receive it.
The problem was that they took it back as soon as they paid me.
Even while being treated like this, I had said nothing.
Now that I thought about it again, it pissed me off.
But that didn’t mean I could honestly reveal how I felt.
It was unfortunate, but what could I do?
Forget revenge—I couldn’t even get angry or protest directly.
Such privileges were rights granted only to those with power.
For a weakling like me, revenge was nothing but an empty cry echoing inside my mouth.
As someone once said, maybe it would be better to obediently step back when told to just go home.
‘Whew.’
Swallowing my resentment, I looked at them.
“Yes. In that case, I’ll go back. Thank you for everything until now.”
No matter how much more I clung to them, there was no way they would listen.
For a moment, I considered running away to another region, but soon shook my head.
The Eldorad Continent was incredibly vast.
Even if I, who had no ability and no connections, ran out of the Order, I would still be in the palm of their hand.
The moment the Order branded me a heretic, there would be nowhere on the continent for me to set foot.
That was how immense the Order’s authority was.
When I said I would return obediently, the Saintess looked surprised.
“Well, fine. I’ll send you to Earth right away.”
Before I knew it, the Saintess was speaking politely again.
She even returned the belongings I had with me when I was first summoned here.
‘At least it’s a relief she gave them back.’
My luggage was simple.
Clothes, a wallet, a smartphone, and other miscellaneous items were all there was.
Perhaps because it had been left alone for two years, the smartphone wouldn’t turn on.
“Now, then, shall we send you back to your original world? Let’s never see each other again.”
With those words, the Saintess began muttering something and cast a spell.
Then a circular magic circle appeared beneath my feet and emitted an intense light.
This seemed to be the spell that would send me back to Earth.
I had heard that, usually, the residents held farewell parties for hunters returning to Earth…
But I was simply being driven out in vain, without having gained anything at all, so it only felt bitter.
No, if I had gained one thing, it was probably hatred for the Order.
As I was lost in those thoughts, the light wrapped around my entire body, and my field of vision changed in an instant.
“This is…”
I saw a familiar room.
It was the house I had lived in.
The only inheritance left to me by my late parents.
And so, I was expelled from another world.
* * *
Earth, which I had returned to after two years.
I immediately connected my smartphone to the charger.
A little while later, I turned it on, and fortunately, it worked.
As soon as it powered on, I checked to see if anyone had contacted me.
“Hmm…”
But my smartphone was silent.
There wasn’t even a single text message.
Why was there not a single one?
Two years had definitely passed.
I had been out of contact for two years, and yet there wasn’t a single person worried about me.
“Not even the guild contacted me?”
My academy classmates had treated me like I didn’t exist, so let’s say they didn’t count.
But even the guild, with whom I had thought I at least had a business relationship, had not contacted me at all.
I felt slightly bitter.
Right before I was summoned to the Eldorad Continent, I had been working as a porter for a small guild.
I had thought they would at least send me a text, but there wasn’t even that. I couldn’t help feeling disappointed.
I immediately called the number saved in my contacts, but it didn’t connect.
‘I’ve been cut loose.’
Perhaps it was only natural.
Porters often disappeared without notice, after all.
On top of that, considering I had no special abilities, the guild had no reason to pay attention to me.
Just as I was sighing and lamenting,
Ding!
A notification sounded from my smartphone.
When I checked, a text had arrived.
“Come on, it was just an ad?”
I had gotten my hopes up for a moment, but it was an advertising text.
It said that a game I had pre-registered for had been released and that I should install it.
“But did I ever reserve a game like this?”
So much had happened that I couldn’t remember.
“Well, who cares.”
I had plenty of time anyway.
Although I had returned home after two years, cleaning my room could wait.
In truth, I had been through so much all this time that right now, I was filled only with the desire to rest.
I immediately followed the link in the text and installed the game.
“The game’s name is ‘Eldorad,’ of all things.”
After being expelled from Eldorad, it had become the number one word I wanted to erase from my mind.
And yet, of all things, I was facing it again as a game title.
For a moment, I considered deleting it, but I couldn’t overcome my curiosity and pressed the start button.
[Eldorad]
The game title appeared in large letters on the screen.
At times like this, wasn’t there usually supposed to be cool BGM playing too?
Somehow, the music was bland.
I thought it might be an indie game.
Well, I had been on the Eldorad Continent for two years, and seeing how a game I had pre-registered for was only being released now, it was obvious enough.
For now, I touched the screen, and the story began to unfold.
—In the beginning, there was a goddess. The goddess created the Eldorad Continent and…
I immediately pressed the skip button.
The history of the continent was something I had heard until my ears bled at the Order.
It was fine to skip this much.
The game began right away.
—Welcome. From now on, Player, you will become the master of a dungeon and manage it.
—Use every means at your disposal to spread the fame of your dungeon across the Eldorad Continent.
—First, please enter the name of the dungeon whose fame you will spread.
I hadn’t seen it properly because I skipped the story earlier, but it seemed the goal of this game was dungeon management.
It was rather fresh.
What were dungeons on the Eldorad Continent?
They were the source of calamity, endlessly spewing out monsters and devastating nearby villages.
And that wasn’t all.
Depending on the dungeon, high-ranking demons and high-grade monsters existed within them, making them places that everyone guarded against.
As a result, not only various nations but also adventurers and even the Order regularly set out to subjugate dungeons.
For me as I was now, a game like this was welcome.
Because through the game, if nothing else, I could satisfy my desire to turn the Eldorad Continent into a complete mess.
Maybe the developer who made this game was someone who hated Eldorad, just like me.
Otherwise, there was no way they would have released a game this blatant.
All of a sudden, I found myself feeling fond of the developer.
‘Anyway, a name….’
It was supposedly the hardest part of starting a game.
I didn’t agonize over it for long.
- Dungeon Name: Adversary of the Order
Mm. Pretty good, no?
Personally, I think names are best when they’re simple and contain the goal.
From now on, the goal of the game was exactly as the name said: harassing the saintess and the Order.
- Would you like to use this name?
- [Yes] [No]
I pressed “Yes” without hesitation.
- The dungeon name has been automatically adjusted.
- Changed Dungeon Name: Lair of the Evil God
- Further name changes are not possible.
“What the hell is this?”
The name had suddenly changed on its own.
Was it really okay for the game to change the name the user had chosen however it pleased?
A game that didn’t even allow the freedom of naming.
The goodwill I had been building toward the developer until just a moment ago cooled at a rapid pace.
Fine, if I tried it once and it wasn’t fun, I could just quit.
I looked over the name the game had changed it to.
Evil God?
Looking closely, it wasn’t a name that strayed too far from my original intent.
“My final goal is the Order anyway.”
It gave off a strong sense of being a hostile existence opposing the goddess.
I liked it well enough.
I touched the screen once more.
- Oh no! The saintess of the White Order, which serves the goddess of the Eldorad Continent, has detected Master’s dungeon.
- Warning! If no action is taken, the White Order may subjugate the dungeon.
- We recommend using an item to protect the dungeon.
- Recommended Item (1,200 won)
[Dungeon Concealment]
Effect 1: Permanently blocks the dungeon’s aura, making it impossible for anyone to detect.
Effect 2: Conceals the dungeon’s location for 7 days.
“What is it this time?”
As if changing the name on its own wasn’t enough, it was now naturally leading me toward a cash purchase.
“That’s crossing the line.”
This time, I really considered quitting, but I held myself back once again and clicked the screen.
As if being verbally abused by the saintess wasn’t enough, I had even been exiled.
Reality aside, I had no desire to lose to the saintess even inside a game.
Besides, the price was only 1,200 won, so it wasn’t a burden.
“Fine. I’ll buy it.”
I didn’t want to start stressing out from the very beginning of the game.
- Item purchase complete.
- Permanently blocking the dungeon’s aura.
- The dungeon’s location will be concealed for 7 days.
- The saintess of the White Order has failed to detect Master’s dungeon.
The item I bought with my first cash purchase seemed to have been applied properly.
“I don’t know what this is, but let’s think of it as a good thing.”
Then I touched the screen to see the next one.
- Synchronization will proceed before the dungeon location is generated.
- 1%… 2%… 4%…
The screen suddenly froze, and a notification popped up saying that some sort of synchronization was in progress.
What did this mean?
Could it be that?
Downloading additional update files?
For now, I decided to wait.
* * *
“…….”
The saintess, Helisa, slowly opened her eyes.
Her face was clearly filled with confusion.
“Saintess, you do not look well.”
A holy knight who had been guarding nearby approached and spoke in a worried voice.
“I’m all right. Thank you for your concern.”
Though she said that, her mind was nothing but complicated.
‘It was definitely an immense aura…….’
While offering her prayers, she had sensed an immense aura.
The problem was that the aura had not felt pleasant.
With an ominous premonition, she had tried to trace it immediately, but it had suddenly vanished without a trace.
As if its very existence had never been there to begin with.
‘Maybe it’s because I used too much power.’
Before praying, Helisa had expended a great deal of strength.
All to send Lee Ganghyeon back to Earth.
She would likely need several days of rest.
‘If only it hadn’t been for the orders from above….’
If not for the instructions from the upper ranks of the Order, there would have been no need to overexert herself to send him back to Earth.
But what was done was done.
Regretting it would change nothing.
Helisa set aside thoughts of the departed Lee Ganghyeon and steadied her heart once more.
That strange aura she had felt a moment ago.
She tried to search for it again, but no matter how hard she tried, she could not detect it.
‘It must have been my imagination after all.’
Comforting herself like that, Saintess Helisa erased the unease from her heart.