August 1, 2023.
My workplace was a small-scale event agency.
We were always short-staffed, so I did design work I'd never tried in my life, hauled heavy luggage, made casting calls, and even handled accounting. I had faced countless situations where I had to do things outside my job description.
But collaborating with strangers to pull off a project wasn't all that bad. I'd even harbored hopeful thoughts that perhaps I had finally found my calling.
That is, until this morning when the boss suddenly told me to quit.
"I'm wrapping up the event agency and starting a different business."
"Even so, how can you tell me to quit so suddenly?"
"Yubom. You know how bad the economy is these days. It's not easy to get work."
"Even so, if you do this so suddenly..."
"I'll help you get unemployment benefits."
"That's not the issue."
The boss let out a deep sigh and rubbed his forehead as if he had a headache.
"You didn't come into this job thinking all that seriously about it either. Didn't you say so in the interview?"
When I was at a loss for words, the boss brought up the past.
"That you didn't know what you wanted to do yet, so you wanted to find out."
"..."
"Then it doesn't have to be this, right? Anyway, take it as such and don't come in starting tomorrow."
In just a few lines of conversation, I lost my job.
Had my words about wanting to find what I loved not sounded sincere to him? I had meant them more earnestly than anyone.
I packed my things right then and there. He said not to come in starting tomorrow, but so what? I didn't want to spare another minute, another second for a company like this.
As I trudged out of the office building, a taxi stood waiting at the curb as if it had been expecting me.
"Hello. Please take me to Hapjeong Station."
"Yes, sure."
"...No. Yanghwa Bridge."
On any other day, I might have brushed it off as a load of crap, but today I simply had no energy left.
I was filled with nothing but despair as I wondered where exactly my life had gone so wrong.
Was it because I'd joined this company without much thought? Or from when I'd declared independence, insisting I could make it on my own?
If not that, was it my brother's sudden disappearance? Or from fifteen years ago, when Mom went missing in a dungeon?
Gates appeared that humanity called the "Great Calamity," and from the spaces created within them called "Dungeons," ferocious monsters poured out.
They emerged through the gates to attack and threaten humanity.
The weapons soldiers possessed—guns and missiles—were useless. People despaired, convinced that the world was headed for destruction.
But a small number of people began to "Awaken."
They learned of this fact from an unknown existence called the "System," and were granted astonishing power rivaling that of monsters.
Humanity quickly adapted to the change and built a new civilization.
The Awakened were called "Hunters," and with their mighty strength, they slew the monsters within dungeons.
Among them was a Hunter who displayed the most outstanding skill.
SSS-rank Hunter Jo Inyeong. Mom became the definitive number-one Hunter the moment she Awakened.
"Bom. Want to try this?"
"What is it?"
Whenever she returned from a dungeon, she brought back curious byproducts as if they were souvenirs.
Among them, Sincia was a rare fruit that only grew in high-rank dungeons.
"It's pretty."
"Right?"
The fruit, no bigger than a thumbnail, had an exterior as transparent as glass. Inside, a white sap sloshed about.
Since Mom gave it to me, it should be okay to eat.
Being an elementary schooler at the time, I popped it into my mouth without hesitation.
The outer shell tasted as sweet as hardened sugar, and as I crunched down, a sourness spread that made the bridge of my nose scrunch up.
"How is it?"
"...Is there no more?"
"Delicious, huh?"
"Yeah."
"Mommy will bring lots more next time. Dungeons have many other tasty and fascinating things."
"Really?"
"Of course. There's a place called the 'Blue Starlight Valley,' you know? It's considered one of the most beautiful places among dungeons. I brought this fruit from there. I bet you'd love to see the beautiful sky there, Bom."
"But dungeons are where scary monsters come from. It's dangerous."
"Not dangerous at all. Mommy is SSS-rank, after all."
Mom said dungeons were beautiful and fantastical places.
She said when you looked up at the sky, the stars were so numerous and large that it felt like peering into a small universe.
She said they were places filled with new and thrilling things.
Looking back now, I think she said those things to reassure me because I might worry. Whenever Mom entered a dungeon and came home late, I would wait up without sleeping.
Because Mom planted such a positive image of dungeons, my perception gradually changed.
They were not dangerous places, but places filled with fantastical magic befitting a fairy tale.
It was around the time my reason for waiting for Mom changed from worry to anticipation of the new things she would bring from the dungeon.
Mom suddenly went missing in a dungeon and never returned.
My brother, who had entered dungeons searching for Mom in turn, also disappeared.
In response, Dad devoted himself entirely to work to find his family, rising to the position of Dungeon Research Center Director. With so much to do, he spent little time at home, and his relationship with me grew distant.
After I became independent, it became even harder to see him.
"We've arrived."
"Thank you."
The place I arrived at by taxi was a bridge over the Han River. Whenever I felt drained, I always came here. The cool wind made me feel as though my chest were clearing up.
The moment I stepped out, a fierce river wind blew, tousling my hair. As I took a step toward the fence, my pocket buzzed.
[Bom, happy birthday.]
It was Dad. I had thought he'd been so busy that he forgot my birthday.
Receiving a birthday message like this made me feel as though the gloom soaking my heart was lifting slightly.
Messages arrived in succession.
[If you're done with work and don't have plans, could you spare some time for Dad? I'd like to have dinner together, at least.]
The tone was cautious—too cautious for a message between father and daughter. It was partly because we hadn't seen each other often lately, but also likely because we had fought a few days prior over Dad entering a dungeon.
Dad was a D-rank Hunter. Yet his work often took him into high-rank dungeons, and recently he had even gone to an S-rank dungeon.
I loathed the idea of Dad entering dungeons. I was terrified that Dad, too, would disappear in a dungeon when the rest of my family was already missing.
So even though I knew it wasn't Dad's fault and that it was his own way of doing his best, I had ended up venting my frustration.
The truth was, the person I resented most was me, Yubom. Myself.
Everyone had worked to find our family, while I had done nothing but wait.
Now that I'd quit my job, shouldn't I set out to find my family starting now?
'If I Awaken with a high rank, Dad won't have to enter dungeons anymore.'
If I became a Hunter, maybe I could do something too.
Mom was SSS-rank, and my brother was S-rank. So if I Awakened as a Hunter, I couldn't help but have expectations.
Rumors circulated that Awakening came in moments of crisis. I lowered my head slightly beyond the fence and looked down at the river.
"Shouldn't we stop her?"
"She's probably just looking."
"No. She's been like that for a while."
I heard whispers from passersby who saw me standing precariously by the railing.
"Goodness, how scary..."
But it looked terribly high even at a glance. The seemingly endless river looked deep and distant, as if it could swallow a life at any moment.
"Yeah, this isn't it. What if I actually die? This is a dog's death; what else would you call it? ...Ah, right!"
I belatedly remembered I hadn't replied to Dad and took out my phone. I had no plans, but I felt I wouldn't be able to manage my expression if I saw Dad today, so I sent a message asking to meet tomorrow.
I didn't want to worry him when we'd be meeting for the first time in a while.
"Whee! Whee—!!!"
I received an immediate reply saying he understood, and as I was smiling faintly, someone blew a whistle and ran toward me from afar.
"Miss! Get away from the fence right now, it's dangerous! No matter how hard things are, you can't do this!"
A man in a police uniform was quickly approaching. Thinking he had misunderstood something, I was about to step back.
"Ack!"
My hair got caught in a joint of the fence.
"Ugh, why won't it come loose?"
I was struggling for a while when the officer reached right in front of me.
"Hurry and come here! I said it's dangerous!"
"I want to leave too, but this..."
"Hurry up! Why is a young person so stubborn!"
The more the officer pulled at my body, the more my head lifted and my short hair was tugged along, bringing pain that felt as if my scalp were being torn off.
"No, so please let go!"
I pushed the officer with one hand while desperately pressing my body against the fence, trying to free my tangled hair with the other.
"No, wait! Let go! My hair is caught!"
"Oh, really?"
In the midst of the unintentional scuffle, the officer let go. My center of gravity shifted forward in an instant.
"Huh?"
Time seemed to flow slowly, like stretching tape. The process of my body tipping over the fence was vividly felt.
The officer's eyes went wide as he reached out. I reached out belatedly too, but we didn't touch.
My body fell slowly. His face grew very, very distant.
Looking down, I saw the surging river water. It gaped as if urging me to enter its maw.
'Is this how I die?'
It was a futile death. I didn't want to die yet!
It suddenly struck me that this was a moment of crisis; I looked around, wondering if I might miraculously Awaken.
But the surroundings only drew rapidly closer to the river, with no sign of a System message appearing.
'They say you Awaken in a moment of crisis, so why only me...!'
With a splash, my body was sucked into the river water. Water flooded in through my mouth and nose like a deluge. My ears were muffled, and I couldn't hear anything.
'Why can't I! Awaken me too!'
[The System is scanning your potential to determine if you can Awaken.]
'What?'
I had shouted in frustration because it was so unfair, but the System had responded.
[...Scanning... This process may take a considerable amount of time.]
[...Scanning...]
It had said it might take considerable time, but the System remained silent, seemingly making no progress at all.
'At this rate, I'll die before I Awaken!'
The longer the scan took, the further hope slipped away. Just as my consciousness was fading, a clear notification chimed with a ding.
[Suitable class scan complete.]
[Congratulations on your Awakening. Your eyes have opened to new abilities!]
'Really? Seriously? What rank is it? Could it be S-rank?'
[You have Awakened with the class: Campground Owner.]
...? Excuse me?
[You have acquired the exclusive skill: Pitching a Tent (F).]
...Campground? Pitching a tent? Are you kidding me right now?
F-rank aside, a Campground Owner? It was a class name I had never heard of anywhere.
[Please designate the dungeon where you will build your campground.]
But I was in no position to be picky. Even as this happened, my body was sinking deeper and deeper.
'Blue Starlight Valley!'
It was the only dungeon name I knew.
[You will warp to the Blue Starlight Valley shortly.]
'I'm screwed...'
I thought I had barely survived at the crossroads of life and death, but another crisis had arrived.
[5 seconds until arrival at the Blue Starlight Valley. 5... 4... 3...]
The Blue Starlight Valley was an S-rank dungeon.
[2... 1...]
[Warp successful!]
Mom, why did you have to tell me about an S-rank dungeon.......