A building with dazzlingly white, smooth outer walls, standing tall in the heart of Seoul’s crowded downtown as if showing off its noble bearing all alone.
It was the headquarters of the Hunter Association, hastily established during the era when bizarre towers rose up all over the world and gates swarming with monsters began appearing one after another.
To be more precise, it was an association created to manage the Awakened who had appeared along with them.
A law had been passed requiring every person who Awakened to go to the Hunter Association and receive a hunter registration card, so I had come here. But from the moment I left home until now, as I waited for the results, I felt nothing in particular.
‘I guess… you could say the result is way too obvious.’
It was already common knowledge that an Awakened instinctively knew they had Awakened.
Even I, who hadn’t felt a single change in my body, had come to get tested, so that said it all.
“Mr. Lee Haneul? Your test results are out.”
At last, the time had come to kill me a second time.
I was boiling with rage inside, but since I had no desire to cause a scene, I forced a smile and approached the receptionist.
With a somewhat awkward expression, the receptionist handed me the paper containing my test results.
- Strength Test [ F ]
- Speed Test [ F ]
- Durability Test [ F ]
- Mana Test [ F ]
- Skill Test [ None ]
“…”
The worst of the worst.
Could an Awakened with specs like these even be called an Awakened?
Someone who had trained steadily through exercise was probably stronger than this.
Reading the dry, lifeless expression on my face as I held the test sheet, the stranger I had met for the first time today offered me the best consolation she could.
“D-don’t be too discouraged. Just being Awakened opens up more paths for employment…”
Well, she wasn’t wrong.
The biggest problem was that those paths were only at the level of porter work.
Who the hell would want to do that!
If my strength and durability were good, I could at least aim to be a porter for higher-level gates, but reality wouldn’t even allow that.
‘I’d barely manage as a porter in an F-rank gate…’
And that would be while risking my life for a pittance of a cut.
Naturally, I’d pass on that. I’d rather work part-time at a convenience store where I didn’t have to risk my life.
As soon as I trudged out of the Hunter Association, I turned on my phone and opened my banking app.
It was a habit I had developed around the time I couldn’t find a job no matter what I did.
[ Lee Haneul’s Account Balance: 160,780 won ]
“Haa…”
As I entrusted myself to the quiet subway and stared at a balance that would barely cover my rent, one corner of my heart ached.
I had expected this result, but having it crash into me as reality was hardly pleasant.
I naturally closed the banking app and went online to enter the Hunter Gallery.
It was called the Hunter Gallery, but in reality, its users were non-Awakened.
It was a place where people envied those who succeeded thanks to the luck of Awakening and mocked their own circumstances as they chatted.
[ Title: Those Who Have Failed to Awaken, Rise Up ]
[ Photo of a man carrying a load of cement at a construction site ]
[ You’re up? All right, then get moving! ]
ㄴ Lmao
ㄴ If you Awakened but got F-rank and your life’s still the same, smash that upvote lol
ㄴㄴ Me first~
[ Title: Don’t waste money on Awakening academies, guys… ]
[ Some scrawny bastard took his shirt off and started making me meditate, saying I had to train my mind, qi, and body or whatever. ]
ㄴ You actually believed that?
ㄴㄴ Fr lol If people Awakened just by training, there’d be no ordinary people left
ㄴ If you’re gonna spend money on places like that, buy me a Melona instead
[ Title: Got my Awakened test today, how’s this? ]
[ Photo of a test sheet showing all stats at C-rank ]
ㄴ Wow, hexagon build ㄷㄷ
ㄴ Mods, what are you doing!! Kick out this humblebrag!!
ㄴ If you start at C-rank right after Awakening, you could aim for A-rank hunter, no??
“Ah… that just ruined my mood…”
- This stop is Gaebong, Gaebong Station. The doors are on your right.
As I sat there in a daze, the subway had already arrived at my stop.
When I left the station and checked the time on my phone, it was 11:48.
Not a bad time to have lunch, but eating out was a luxury I couldn’t afford.
“Looks like it’s ramen again today…”
Passing by the flashy shopping districts near the station, I gradually made my way toward a more secluded neighborhood.
After a long walk, I arrived at my home: a shabby monthly rental room.
Well, so what if it was shabby? As long as it kept out the wind and rain, that was enough.
As soon as I got home, I took some ramen out of the cupboard and began boiling it.
“Ah… it’d be nice if I at least had an egg.”
Just as I was about to roughly place the properly cooked ramen on the small table and sit down, I heard someone knocking on the front door.
“No one should be coming over. Is it the landlady?”
Just in case, I looked through the peephole.
Pitch-black darkness covered the sky, but the endless Milky Way and the occasional falling stars made for an incredibly beautiful sight.
‘But it’s… lunchtime right now?’
I began backing away from the incomprehensible phenomenon, but then the door suddenly flew open, and a fierce wind started blowing.
“W-what kind of wind is this…!!”
“I finally found you.”
The wind pushed against my back as if shoving me beyond the door, into the night sky, and I was helplessly flung outside by the violent gale.
Even after I was outside, the wind did not lose its fierce momentum, as though it intended to take me somewhere.
After being pushed along for quite some time, the wind finally began to die down. By then, I naturally realized that this was not the neighborhood I knew.
‘Don’t tell me… a gate?’
There was only one thing that could explain such a strange phenomenon. A gate.
A mysterious phenomenon that sometimes appeared suddenly and sometimes appeared with warning signs.
Because gates were doors leading to other worlds, it wouldn’t be strange no matter what came out of them.
“S-still. If it’s a gate that appeared this suddenly, it has to be F-rank, right?”
The government had once announced the conclusion that the lower a dimension’s density was, the easier and faster it was to connect to Earth.
In other words, it meant there was a high chance this wasn’t a place inhabited by creatures of a completely different rank.
‘Get a grip, Lee Haneul! Even if you’re dragged into a tiger’s den, you can survive as long as you keep your wits about you…!’
First, I tried to find cover in order to reduce the area I had to keep watch over. But at that moment, a massive shadow fell over my surroundings, naturally making me lift my gaze.
The owner of the shadow was none other than a dragon.
Horns that drew graceful curves yet looked sturdy, and claws that seemed capable of tearing apart a truck with ease.
Its wings, like two 63 Buildings attached to either side, were overwhelming simply by existing.
I couldn’t tell whether it was the same kind of creature as the dragons depicted in Earth’s media, but in appearance, it was unmistakably a dragon.
“Ha… fuck.”
Its sharp reptilian eyes were staring clearly at none other than me.
Those government bastards… What do you mean, low-rank lifeforms…!!
There’s something living here that looks like it could blow away Seoul with a sneeze!!
“…”
Well, what would blaming them change?
The dragon was already bringing its terrifying face close to me.
Escaping from a creature this massive was already impossible. Then all that remained was to hope for a painless end.
I simply lay down on the ground.
Whether I was stepped on, eaten, or burned to death.
If it was that dragon, it would probably end me in a single blow no matter the method.
As the dragon’s head drew closer and closer, I squeezed my eyes shut.
Because I did not want to see my own end.
“Hm… This much is a fairly good draw.”
“U-um?”
“Show respect, successor. From this moment on, I shall begin the succession ritual.”
What the hell was going on?
Succession? What was I supposed to inherit?
At those incomprehensible words, I cautiously opened my eyes, only to find that burdensome face right in front of my nose.
“Uwaaaaah!!!”
“Hm. So it is not an intelligent lifeform. A pity.”
“A t-talking dragon?”
“Oh, you were merely startled? Good. I shall explain the situation, so sit.”
At a distance that was no longer uncomfortable, the dragon began calmly explaining why it had called me before it.
Dragons, beings of a class far beyond other lifeforms, possessed wills that were also extraordinary. Even when their bodies declined and reached death, their power and will remained in the world.
And because one who possessed a dragon’s power and will would become an existence comparable to a dragon, they sought out a fated successor and passed it on to them, preventing the world from falling into chaos by ensuring that not just anyone could approach it.
And the successor of the dragon before my eyes was none other than…
“So you’re saying I’m your successor?”
“That is correct. You could say you are the successor who shall inherit the power and will of I, the Black Dragon Tenebris. As you can see, my life hangs by a thread.”
Just as the black dragon said, his body was collapsing from the edges.
Cracks ran all over his body, and the wings that had once felt so imposing were now nothing but skeletal.
“T-that’s…”
“Pay it no mind. I have already lived long enough.”
The black dragon gazed for a moment at the night sky spread with the Milky Way, then closed his eyes and spoke.
“Are you ready, successor?”
His expression was that of someone who had already accepted death.
“…Yes.”
“Then let us begin.”
Crunch—!!
The black dragon slowly touched his chest, then began digging into it with his claws.
“W-what are you doing…?!”
“Do not speak to me. Kh… I am concentrating.”
No sooner had he finished speaking than the black dragon pulled the hand that had been digging into his chest back out.
At the tips of his claws was a gem-like heart shining red.
“That’s…”
“A D-Dragon Heart. It is no different from the essence of a dragon.”
Even as the black dragon breathed roughly, he brought the Dragon Heart before me.
I reached out to receive it, but as if that had not been his intention, the black dragon violently drove the Dragon Heart into my own heart.
At that moment, an indescribable pain flowed through my veins, from my heart all the way down to my toes.
“Kh, kraaaaagh—!!”
“E-endure it… successor.”
After pulling out his own heart, the black dragon’s body began declining rapidly.
The speed at which cracks spread across his entire body accelerated, and in an instant, almost everything had turned to powder and scattered.
Now, the black dragon could no longer even stand, just like me.
“Uuuugh!!!”
“To think the final scenery I see would be this beautiful… Not bad.”
“Kkgh… Ugh. Uuugh…”
How much time had passed? When the pain subsided and my surroundings began to come into view, the black dragon was already in a wretched state.
“…”
“Have you come to your senses? Before I go, I would like to know your name…”
“…It’s Lee Haneul.”
“Ahh. A name as splendid as this scenery…”
With those words as his last, the black dragon closed his eyes and said nothing more.
I quietly looked at him for a while, then set off.
Relying on my sense of direction as I moved forward, finding the gate leading back home was no difficult task.
“…”
What was that?
A flood of information had poured in before my brain had time to process it, I had watched the deathbed of a person I had met for the first time… no, a dragon…
And a Dragon Heart had been embedded in my body, making me feel horrific pain.
“I think too much happened all at once… I need to rest for a bit.”
As I headed to my bed, my eyes naturally fell on the ramen.
Cold ramen without even the slightest wisp of steam rising from it.
It was a waste, but I didn’t feel like eating it either.
I was so exhausted that I didn’t want to do anything except go straight to bed.
***
“Mm… What time is it?”
Huh? Did I leave Neotube on before I fell asleep?
Otherwise, there was no way a girl’s voice would be heard in this room reeking of macho energy.
I reached for the phone I always kept beside me before sleeping, intending to check the source of the voice.
But before I could even turn on the phone screen, I learned where the voice had come from.
A youthful face reflected in the darkened screen.
Round, sparkling eyes and gentle-looking features.
Long hair with a neat wave perm, even though it was unkempt.
It was, unmistakably, the appearance of a young girl.