Episode 2
Cheon U-bin's death brought shock to the world.
Nations rushed to express their regrets, and citizens shed tears.
Online, people mourned Cheon U-bin's death while incessantly voicing worries about humanity's future.
-May the deceased rest in peace... I hope you rest easy where there are no monsters...
└You're about to become a deceased person too, though. If Cheon U-bin dies, who's going to raid the Nests?
└Read the room. A person died, and you're worried about Nest raids?
└You're the one who can't read the room. If we can't raid Nests, it's only a matter of time before cities are wiped out. Are you not worried?
└That's a fair point. If you look at the Nest raid ratio so far, Cheon U-bin is overwhelmingly dominant.
-With Cheon U-bin gone, it's practically over. The Apostles won't leave the safe zones, and only powerless ordinary people will die.
└Real talk lol. Without Cheon U-bin, the frontlines roll back to 20 years ago.
└Even so, 20 years is overkill; maybe 15 years?
└Korea's standing in history has never been this high, and now it ends like this....
The people's worries were only natural.
One of the most important things for humanity's survival and progress was 'Nest raiding.'
A Nest was a kind of colony formed by monsters gathering together.
If left alone, they would grow in scale and launch group attacks (Waves), so they had to be eliminated.
So far, 143 Nests had been raided worldwide.
Of them, the raiding party led by Cheon U-bin had raided 101.
He had raided a whopping 70% of the total.
Thanks to Cheon U-bin, humanity had reclaimed much land and established safety.
That was why so many people grieved and lamented Cheon U-bin's death.
-May the deceased rest in peace...
└Rest in peace...
└I hope you rest easy in a world without monsters.
At the very moment everyone was wishing for Cheon U-bin's peace and rest.
"Please stop chasing me! You crazy bastards!"
The very person in question, Cheon U-bin, was surrounded by the worst monsters, struggling desperately to survive.
***
/Rift Day 3
He had succeeded in hunting for the first time.
It was a monster resembling a mouse, with a body length slightly exceeding 1 meter.
It seemed to occupy the very bottom of the food chain pyramid here.
Cheon U-bin ravenously tore into the raw, dripping meat.
He had to hurry and finish it before another predator appeared.
Fortunately, his experience eating monster meat during times when there was nothing to eat proved helpful.
/Rift Day 10
Life inside the Rift had become somewhat familiar.
Most minor injuries had healed, and his stamina had returned.
"Ha... I'm hungry..."
However, Cheon U-bin still couldn't escape the bottom of the food chain.
The Rift was vast, and there were many strong predators.
'I wonder what's happening outside. It feels like about ten days have passed.'
He was counting the days by his biological rhythm, but since the sun and moon didn't rise here, he couldn't be sure.
He could only sense the passage of time instinctively.
/Rift Day 30
He had finally hunted a group of rabbits.
It wasn't entirely by his own strength; he had ambushed them after they were exhausted from fighting other monsters.
"Hehehe, delicious!"
As he had promised on the first day, Cheon U-bin boiled rabbit soup.
Though it had no seasoning whatsoever and even tasted bitter, it was the most enjoyable and delicious meal he had eaten here.
/Rift Day ???
He didn't know how much time had passed.
He had given up counting the days.
Lately, his memories from outside were growing hazy.
It didn't feel like that much time had passed.
Perhaps it was because every day here was a continuous string of tension.
Each time, Cheon U-bin recalled his final moment.
'I must never forget that damned bastard!'
The man who had dropped him into the Rift.
He endlessly repeated that man's voice and twisted smile.
With the sole determination that he would definitely take revenge once he escaped the Rift.
"Hoo, thinking about it stresses me out. I feel weak; maybe I should brew some bear gallbladder."
That evening.
Cheon U-bin dined on the bear gallbladder of a giant bear(?) with three heads.
/Rift Day ????
A long time had passed.
He didn't know how long.
He merely guessed that at least 5 years must have gone by.
Cheon U-bin was now a full-fledged member of the Rift.
That didn't mean he had become an absolute predator.
The Rift was far wider than he had anticipated.
Even the mantis he had first encountered, which he had thought he could never oppose, turned out to be merely mid-to-upper tier in the food chain.
Cheon U-bin was now just treading a similar level.
"Which bastard should I thrash today~"
Cheon U-bin's appearance as he shook his hips while looking at a map drawn on monster hide looked somewhat precarious.
/Rift Day ?????
A very long time had passed.
During that time, Cheon U-bin had strived to escape the Rift and realized one fact.
How could he get out of the Rift?
'To get outside the Rift, I have to cross over to another zone.'
To leave this place, he had to pass through a gate.
The problem was the monster guarding the passage leading to the other zone.
It was one of the strongest in the vicinity.
Its massive body exceeded 20 meters in height, and its hide was so tough that ordinary attacks couldn't even leave a scratch.
"Let's finish this today."
Cheon U-bin spat on the ground.
Grooooar-!
As if responding, the creature roared.
"Here I go!"
It was his 232nd challenge.
/Rift Day ?????
Cheon U-bin fought for a full two days.
And he won.
He packed the creature's hide and teeth as spoils and set off.
"Finally starting to see some familiar faces."
As he crossed into the next zone, monsters he had seen outside began to appear.
This was a good sign.
It likely meant he was getting close to the outside.
"Hello."
Grrrr...
A monster with a tiger-like appearance and large horns growled.
He had definitely seen it before, but he couldn't remember its name.
'Well, I guess it doesn't matter.'
Actually, he didn't care what its name was.
"Move! You mongrel!"
Cheon U-bin kicked the monster aside and picked up speed.
/Rift Day ?????
Cheon U-bin stood before a purple Rift.
He had finally reached his destination.
If he passed through this Rift, he would probably get outside.
The problem was that he couldn't know where it led.
Perhaps it connected to another world rather than Earth.
Or perhaps it led to a deeper Rift.
Staring at the Rift for a moment, Cheon U-bin smirked.
"I'll find out if I go."
He had no lingering attachment to this place.
He was confident he could take care of himself no matter where he fell.
Cheon U-bin boldly stepped forward.
***
As soon as he exited the Rift, it was a forest that greeted Cheon U-bin.
"Sss~ haa. The air is nice."
Having only breathed the heavy, stifling air of the Rift, coming to the surface felt refreshing.
[Congratulations! You have met all the conditions to obtain a Divine Nature!]
Instantly, a message floated in one corner of his vision.
[You are invited to become a member of the Constellations!]
Cheon U-bin narrowed his eyes and read the message repeatedly.
"You want me to become a Constellation?"
No matter how he looked at it, that was the only way to interpret it.
"What kind of nonsense is this out of nowhere?"
Cheon U-bin knew what the Constellations were.
They had existed even when he was active.
Back then, Constellations had constantly courted him.
How annoying it had been that they nagged him to sign a contract at every turn.
'No matter how many times I said no, they clung on tenaciously.'
Cheon U-bin had rejected all those requests.
Because he had been able to grow strong without a Constellation's help.
And he was certain that the moment he contracted with a Constellation, his growth would stagnate.
He also didn't like the idea of being bound to something.
After mulling it over, Cheon U-bin soon waved his hand dismissively.
"I'm not doing it."
The message disappeared, only to reappear shortly after.
[You are invited to become a member of the Constellations!]
"I said I'm not."
[You are invited to become a member of the Constellations!]
"I said no, so why are you clinging like this!?"
[...]
Was this what being a Constellation's lackey felt like?
This message was as tenacious as the Constellations themselves.
"Why are you so desperate to make me a Constellation?"
It was human nature to want to do something less the more you were told to do it.
Already possessing a strong contrarian nature, Cheon U-bin grew to hate the idea of becoming a Constellation even more.
[Are you truly refusing?]
"Yes, yes~ I've said no how many times now. You're such a nuisance. Why won't this notification turn off?"
That was when it happened.
[System Error!]
[Forcibly bestowing Divine Nature upon the user!]
"Dammit! I said no, so why are you doing this!?"
Suddenly, light began to emanate from Cheon U-bin's body.
[System Synchronization 16%]
"Crazy! Stop clinging already!"
As the number beside Synchronization rose rapidly, he felt an unknown energy seeping into his body.
Cheon U-bin emitted mana to push out the unidentified energy.
"Just leave me alone...!"
[System Synchronization Error!]
[Failed to link with Constellation System]
[Due to user rejection, a portion of the Constellation System is being appropriated]
[Generating Divinity arbitrarily]
[Bestowal of Divine Nature complete]
Cheon U-bin slumped to the ground.
In that brief moment, he had exerted himself so much that he was drenched in sweat.
"Haa... I really don't like this."
He had tried his best to push out the mysterious energy, but in the end, part of it had settled in a corner of his body.
It was so uncomfortable that he tried to remove it, but the remaining energy wouldn't budge, like a heavy rock.
It seemed it had already become one with his body.
Clicking his tongue, Cheon U-bin sprang to his feet.
"Whatever! It'll work out somehow!"
For now, there didn't seem to be anything wrong with his body, so that was enough.
"Constellation or whatever, right now I just need to think about getting back."
Cheon U-bin was someone who had often been told he had a screw loose.
The 25 years of Rift life he had endured.
That hellish time was more than enough to make Cheon U-bin the ultimate optimist.
***
Cheon U-bin carefully surveyed his surroundings.
To return to Korea, it was essential to first figure out where he was.
"Well, it seems to be Earth at least."
The vegetation around him was familiar.
Observing the trees, grass, insects, and such, he concluded that this was likely Asia, and among that, China.
He had traveled all over the world working as a Hunter, so he roughly knew the geographical characteristics of each region.
He hadn't studied it separately; it was experiential knowledge born from simply having a good eye.
Kkiaaaak-!
The sound of a monster roaring from the sky was heard.
Looking up, a giant flying monster came into view.
Its wingspan alone easily exceeded 5 meters, and it was a monster Cheon U-bin knew.
"Its name was Venatoraks, wasn't it?"
Venatoraks, meaning fierce hunter in Latin.
It was characterized by disproportionately large talons for its body.
The reason he remembered it in such detail was because his colleague had given it the name Venatoraks.
"Min-su. He was a funny guy."
At the time, the convention was that whoever discovered a monster first got to name it.
When they first discovered Venatoraks, Min-su had begged them to let him be the one to name it.
'From Latin meaning fierce hunter, Venatoraks! What do you think, bros!? It's totally rad, right!?'
The next day, Min-su was ruthlessly hunted and killed by Venatoraks.
Afterward, Cheon U-bin and his colleagues who returned formally reported the name Venatoraks to the association in honor of the deceased Min-su's wish.
"If I'd known he was going to die like that, I would've hit him more gently."
At the time, Min-su had whined all day about being allowed to name it.
Cheon U-bin still vividly remembered how annoying it had been, so much so that he had smacked Min-su on the back of the head.
If he had known Min-su would die so futilely the next day, he might have hit him a little lighter.
"Anyway, this works out well for me!"
Cheon U-bin grinned.
"Simple is best after all."
With a little effort, he could easily hunt it.
For example, setting traps and luring it.
However, once you surpassed a certain level of power, you could skip such tedious processes.
If your body was strong, there was no need to overwork your head.
Kkwaaak-!
As he gripped the rock and swung his arm back, the muscles throughout his body pulled taut.
His muscular tension reached its limit.
Then, like a drawn bowstring being released, his muscles moved explosively.
Ssseuaek-!
The rock shot forth like a beam of light.
Flying fearsomely, it struck Venatoraks's head perfectly.
Puaaang!
The impact was so strong that the rock instantly scattered into powder.
Caught off guard by the sudden rock bombardment, Venatoraks rolled its eyes back and crashed.
"Hunter-nim~ nice shot."
Cheon U-bin smiled in satisfaction at his rock throw.
Then he suddenly furrowed his brows.
"Wait. Don't tell me it's dead?"
It would be a problem if his means of transportation to Korea died here.
He rushed over and stood before the unconscious Venatoraks, repeatedly slapping the monster's cheeks.
"Hey, hey! Wake up! You can't die! Don't fall asleep!"