Chapter Text
Cha Eui-jae was just trying to get into his grandmother's house to bring Ha-eun home safely when he was hit by a crushing headache. His grip went slack, and without realizing it, he let go of his niece's hand.
When he opened his eyes, he was somewhere else entirely. Getting kidnapped in broad daylight was bad enough, but what really got him was that they'd snatched the number one hunter. Former number one, anyway. Details.
He kept his guard up, scanning the area with the sharp eyes of a tracker, but then another wave of pain hit him. This time, it spread through his whole body. He stood there for a moment with his eyes shut, vaguely aware of startled voices, though they sounded muffled and far away.
Finally, his ears cleared up enough to catch a conversation, even if he'd missed the beginning.
"Gyu-Gyu! Shut your damn mouth!"
Yeah, he kinda wished he was deaf again. The blonde supermodel lookalike had a set of lungs on her that could shatter glass. And not knowing what they were talking about before was just adding to his annoyance.
"Ooh, someone's feisty. What are you gonna do about it? You should be more worried about where we are, Wasp."
Miraculously, the blonde actually shut up. Time to get his bearings.
First thing he noticed: the dark interior and a whole bunch of… colorful characters. Right next to him was a guy he'd seen recently. Lee Sa-yeon? The man was staring right at Eui-jae, like he was trying to bore a hole through him.
Oh great, what's this disrespectful punk doing here? was his first thought. His second: The hell are you looking at? No way was he backing down from a staring contest, so Eui-jae looked away first.
Next, another familiar face: Jeong Bin. He hadn't seen him in ages, except in ads. The awkwardness was real until he shifted his gaze.
Another blonde. This one looked a little… off. Who walks around holding a whole chicken and munching on popcorn? The guy sighed, stuffed his snack away, and looked away from the pair who were clearly not friends. A weird golden glint flashed in his eyes for a second, and then, bam – blood started pouring out of them.
Okay, that was new. Who just starts bleeding from the eyes for no reason? The weird blonde yelped and clapped his hands over his face. Jeong Bin rushed over.
"Hong Ye-seung! What's wrong with your eyes?" His voice was steady, but you could hear the concern. Guess he was just as clueless about where they were.
"I-I don't know! I activated my appraisal skill and something just… messed with it! It hurts so bad, ow ow ow…"
"Can you see?" Hong Ye-seung pried one eye open and, surprisingly, looked calmly at Jeong Bin. Deciding the pain was gone, he wiped the blood off his face with his sleeve and opened both eyes.
"I can see! And it doesn't even hurt anymore! Am I like, immune to attacks now?! As expected from the Great Master!" Jeong Bin, satisfied the weirdo wasn't dying, just turned away.
"Alright, so there's eleven of us and one chicken here. Seems like not everyone knows each other, so how about we introduce ourselves?" A perfectly reasonable suggestion, but it sent a chill down Cha Eui-jae's spine.
Ham Seok-jong was here… He wasn't planning on running into her this soon. Actually, he wasn't planning on running into her at all until he'd recovered the remains of the other hunters from the rift.
He was so lost in his guilt-ridden thoughts that he didn't notice someone staring at him intently.
"I'll go first. I'm Jeong Bin, from the Awakened Management Bureau… I honestly forget the exact name. I'm S-class, ranked third." And with that, the basic intros were done. Jeong Bin looked around expectantly.
The loud blonde was next: "I'm Wasp from the HB Guild. I'm A-class, ranked fifth. Nice to meet you!" Her greeting was clearly aimed at the few people who didn't already know her personally. Like their resident fake civilian.
"I'm Hong Ye-seung, the greatest master! I'm also with the Awakened Management Bureau, S-class, ranked seventh! And this is Ko-Ko! I created her!" Jeong Bin quickly clamped a hand over Hong Ye-seung's mouth, and everyone in the room was silently grateful. That could have gone on forever.
"I'm Nam Woo-jin. I'm the guild master of Sewon. A-class, ranked sixth."
"I'm Ham Seok-jong. Director of the Awakened Management Bureau. A-class, ranked eighth. I hope we can cooperate." Cha Eui-jae couldn't meet her eyes, but it was a relief to see she was okay. Tired, sure, but alive. That was the main thing.
"I'm Gyu-Gyu. S-class, ranked fourth." Apparently, he wasn't affiliated with any guild, since he skipped that part. The other hunters' eyes went cold. Not a great reputation, it seemed.
"I'm Bae Won-u, from the Pado Guild, I'm the vice-guild master. A-class, ranked tenth. Nice to meet you!" Cha Eui-jae was surprised to see his regular customer here. And even more surprised he was ranked tenth. Sure, he knew Bae Won-u was a high-ranking hunter, but tenth?
He was surrounded by top-rankers. Was the system just grabbing the strongest hunters in the rankings? That was absurd. What if a dungeon broke out on Earth? What would happen to the civilians?
"I'm So Min-gi, aka 'The Very Small Miracle'. A-class, ranked thirty-first. I'm with the Pado Guild." Bae Won-u shot a meaningful look at Lee Sa-yeon but didn't say anything. Looked like they knew each other. Same guild?
"I'm Lee Sa-yeon. Guild master of Pado. Ranked first." Did he just roll his eyes? The introduction was brutally short. So he'd been arguing with the number one ranked hunter. The guy who's now at the top is a criminal? This country is doomed…
His mournful thoughts were interrupted by a young girl's voice.
"I'm Yoon Ga-eul. A high school student." Now Cha Eui-jae was confused. The system brought a civilian too? A high school student? This was all so messed up…
Ah. His turn.
"I'm Cha Eui-jae. Civilian. I work at a restaurant." Bae Won-u's eyes lit up with recognition.
"How could I not recognize you! You work part-time at the 'Hangover Soup' restaurant! I'm so glad to see you! But we're in a dungeon? What if you die and can't make the hangover soup anymore?! No! My hangover soup!" Well, that conversation started normal and took a sharp turn. Cha Eui-jae just stared. Good thing he had his Poker Face B.
"Hey, calm down. No monsters have jumped out at us yet. Maybe there aren't any here," Lee Sa-yeon quickly shut down his vice-guild master's panic, secretly pleased that getting info about this employee had been so easy.
"Now that you mention it, could this be a different type of dungeon?"
And as if on cue, a window appeared in front of everyone:
[Memorial Dungeon]
[Objective: View the memories of an individual from the hall]
[Reward: Knowledge of the past and future]
[Penalty for failure: ☐☐☐☐]
"Ha ha, well, it doesn't look so bad? Except for the whole violating someone's privacy thing…" Not everyone was thrilled with the dungeon's terms.
Sure, knowing the past and future was tempting. But having someone's memories put on display? That was unsettling.
[Please take your seats.]
[This will activate the playback.]
[Talking will pause the recording.]
[If the atmosphere in the room becomes too negative, an automatic break will be taken.]
[Scheduled break every five chapters.]
[Water and light snacks will be provided on the central table.]
[You will not feel hunger, thirst, or the need to sleep.]
[Fighting and skill usage are prohibited in this space.]
[Time on Earth has been stopped.]
[Enjoy the viewing, hunters.]
That last line weirded Cha Eui-jae out, but no one else seemed to notice.
As soon as he sat down, Lee Sa-yeon punched Gyu-Gyu.
Well, 'punched'. His fist just went right through the other hunter.
"I know you don't like me, but attacking me from behind? So cruel!" Lee Sa-yeon ignored him and walked over to Eui-jae.
Eui-jae watched him approach with a weird look. Why was this punk sitting next to him? There were plenty of other seats!
Everyone else followed suit and found seats. When Bae Won-u started panicking that Lee Sa-yeon's 'gas' would kill him, Eui-jae just pointed to the system rules. It neutralized all harmful effects and skills. Only then did he calm down.
Seating arrangement: Eui-jae on the far left, Lee Sa-yeon next to him, then So Min-gi, Bae Won-u, Jeong Bin, Hong Ye-seung, Yoon Ga-eul, Nam Woo-jin, Wasp, Ham Seok-jong, and Gyu-Gyu. They'd strategically placed people between the ones who might kill each other.
Finally, everyone was seated. A title appeared on the screen in front of them.
Chapter 1 – Prologue
"Thank you! Please come again!"
With the employee's cheerful farewell, the automatic doors of the supermarket slid shut. A young man in a grey hoodie, carrying a strawberry-print shopping bag full of various ingredients, headed for the bus stop.
"Weird start. How are we supposed to learn the future and the past from this?" Hong Ye-seung, the resident couch critic, immediately complained.
"It's the start. Did you want to jump right into a battle?" Receiving a negative headshake, Jeong Bin nodded and turned his attention back to the screen.
"A rift has appeared at the intersection. Traffic is restricted. Please remain calm and follow the instructions."
An unusual scene unfolded on the young man's usual route. A person in a suit with a bright yellow vest and a hard hat was blocking the road, waving a red signal baton. Above him, the entrance to a blue rift shimmered.
Beneath the rift, hunters were desperately fighting monsters that had broken through.
"Kyaaa!"
"Damn it! Not yet?!"
"Just a little more…!"
No one was surprised by what they saw. After years of dealing with rifts, scenes like this didn't faze them much. Especially not for high-ranking hunters.
A car-sized lizard was wildly thrashing its spiked tail, making strange noises. A hunter with a shield blocked the attack, but the agitated lizard started whipping its tail around indiscriminately, as if trying to sweep everything in its path. Barely blocking the flurry, the hunter cursed:
"Damn it, just die already! Fireball!"
Bright red flames engulfed the lizard. Seizing the moment the monster froze, another hunter shot an arrow. It pierced the lizard's eye, making it writhe in pain and scream:
"Kieeek!"
"Whoa, that was cool…"
"Don't go near the barricade!"
"I'm filming this for YouTube Shorts."
"I'm already filming."
The crowd stood at a safe distance from the barricade, filming and watching.
The hunters in the room all winced. Civilians seriously underestimated their own fragility and the monsters' strength.
The young man, not joining the commotion, quickly walked away. His strawberry shopping bag swung with his steps.
Turning into a deserted alley, he came face to face with a huge creature blocking the narrow path. A massive purple toad was rummaging through a pile of trash, snapping its head towards the young man as it sensed his presence. A long, green tongue shot out from its mouth, grabbed an empty plastic bottle, and swallowed it. This was clearly a monster that had escaped from the rift.
Cha Eui-jae wanted to scream. Why him? They hadn't shown his face yet, but he was sure it would become painfully clear whose memories they were watching.
"How did the Bureau staff miss such a dangerous toad? Aya, bad job, bad job," Gyu-Gyu commented. Surprisingly, no one reacted with irritation. It was a problem that the workers were so negligent with monsters.
"And now there's a civilian… Well, he's done for."
"Damn rift management staff. Can't even do their jobs properly…"
The staff members in the room hung their heads.
"We'll make sure this doesn't happen again. Our staff's negligence could have cost someone their life," Ham Seok-jong stated firmly, promising stricter penalties. Bae Won-u could only feel sorry for the poor workers.
Muttering to himself, the young man rummaged in his bag and pulled out something long that looked vaguely like a sword. From its soft, curved tip to its straight stalk and firm root…
In his hand… was a fresh green onion.
"A green onion? Seriously? What's he going to do with that?"
The toad croaked and turned towards him. Each heavy step shook the alley like an earthquake. The young man carefully set down his bag, twirled the green onion in his hand, and gripped it tightly. Then:
He leaped onto a trash can lid and, floating like a butterfly—
Brought the green onion down on the toad's head!
Bam!!
Whoosh.
"Now that's elegance. I wish everyone had that kind of form."
A crisp, clear smack echoed through the alley. The toad, not even able to let out a death cry, rolled its eyes back and started convulsing. A deep dent, perfectly matching the shape of the green onion, was left on its head.
"Whoa, one-hit kill!" The previously silent schoolgirl's exclamation surprised Cha Eui-jae. He'd forgotten she was there. And the system had addressed them all like they were hunters. His suspicion about the quiet schoolgirl grew.
The young man caught his breath and dusted off his hands. The hood fell back from the momentum, revealing his cold face.
"I don't know any A or even S-class hunter with that face…"
Gyu-Gyu squinted. Then, slowly, almost comically, he turned his head towards Cha Eui-jae.
"Or maybe I do." A smirk touched his lips. Now he knew whose memories they'd be watching.
Cha Eui-jae could only curse him silently. He was starting to dislike this Gyu-Guy guy as much as everyone else did.
And then, as one, everyone turned to the left.
"You do know the penalty for intentionally not registering as a hunter, right?" Jeong Bin's face was set in a threatening smile. They hadn't met often, but Eui-jae had never seen that expression on him.
Cha Eui-jae took a deep breath. Knowing he couldn't hide it anyway, he just shrugged.
"I'm not breaking any laws."
Jeong Bin was taken aback. Usually, when he pointed out the huge fine, people playing vigilante started to sweat.
Deciding they'd talked enough, the system resumed playback.
"Green onions are expensive… What a waste."
"You're seriously worried about the price of a green onion right now?" Wasp's gaze bounced between the Cha Eui-jae on screen and the one in the room.
"They really are expensive." Bae Won-u nodded vigorously in agreement.
"High-rankers wouldn't understand." So Min-gi nodded in agreement, apparently unbothered that he was sitting next to the number one hunter.
The young man crouched in front of the toad, bare-handedly stuffing the remains of the green onion into its mouth, and pulled out his phone. After a moment, when someone answered, he spoke:
"Hello… There's a dead monster in the alley. Looks like a hunter killed it and just left it…"
His voice trembled towards the end, like he was scared and about to burst into tears. However, unlike his fragile, wavering voice, his actions were cold and calm.
"What an actor." Everything inside Cha Eui-jae cringed. The shame he felt in front of Ham Seok-jong was almost chronic.
"It's the alley near the Dickero supermarket… The monster? I think it's a toad, but it's too big and gross to really tell. Please handle it. Yes, I don't need to be contacted… You'll be here in five minutes? Thank you, that's fine. Yes, thank you…"
The young man sniffled and ended the call. Even after hanging up, he stayed crouched, shoving pieces of green onion into the toad's wide-open mouth. Despite saying the monster was too disgusting to look at, his gaze was fixed on it.
He's clearly been dealing with monsters for a long time. The thought flashed through Lee Sa-yeon's mind. And he was absolutely right.
Five minutes until the hunters arrived.
I'd rather not run into them.
Jeong Bin frowned at the clear proof of an unregistered awakened's dislike for other hunters.
Probably another vigilante type. Too bad he awakened at a high rank.
The young man stood up and wiped his traces off the trash can lid. The toad had apparently died instantly, the only injury being the green onion-shaped dent on its head. Without any other clues, finding who took down the monster would be tough.
Cleanup done, time to leave. The young man picked up his bag, bounced lightly on his feet a couple of times, and replayed the phone call in his head.
…Should I have sounded more shocked when I reported it?
Did he just start secretly hunting monsters recently? Why does that sound so weird…
But it was too late for regrets. The young man easily jumped over the wall, which was taller than him.
---
"Is this the alley?"
"Yes, it is!"
A few minutes after the young man had calmly vanished, a man and a woman in fluorescent vests over their shirts arrived at the scene. Seeing the dead toad, their tense faces noticeably relaxed.
The woman, Yang Hye-jin, an A-class hunter from the Rift Management Bureau, gasped as she looked at the toad with its tongue lolling out.
"Wow, this is insane."
"Why, ma'am? Let me see… Whoa."
The newbie following her whispered in surprise to his senior:
"Whoa… Someone actually took down a swamp toad this cleanly?"
"That's just impossible. This thing got taken out in one hit. If your timing is even slightly off, it sprays this incredibly strong acid. It eats through everything—buildings, people… It's a total nightmare."
"Impressive."
The newbie, amazed again, straightened his yellow hard hat, which had slid sideways in his haste. Yang Hye-jin, after carefully looking around, ordered sharply:
"Check for any traces left here. Someone this skilled is definitely not ordinary."
"Too bad they're not gonna find a single thing!" Sarcasm practically dripped from the number four hunter.
"Yes, ma'am!"
The newbie started digging through the trash can and examining the surroundings.
"Whoever did this… They cleaned up so well we barely have any work to do."
"Right. It's so tidy we could hand this over to the monster research team. I wonder why such an experienced person didn't dispose of the body and just left it here."
Saying this with a hint of sarcasm, Yang Hye-jin put on white gloves and opened the toad's thick mouth. Toad-type monsters swallowed anything that touched their tongues and secreted poison or strong acid. A useful toad, like in fairy tales, was nothing more than a myth in reality.
Either way, she needed to carefully check if the toad had swallowed anyone on its way from the rift. Yang Hye-jin took out a flashlight and shone it into the mouth. Fortunately, no human remains, just a few half-melted plastic bottles. Breathing a sigh of relief, she muttered:
"Looks like it didn't swallow any people…"
Everyone in the room sighed in relief, especially the hunters from the Awakened Management Bureau. It always lightened the mood to know your mistake didn't cost someone their life.
Meanwhile, the newbie, using a radar device to scan the alley, called Yang Hye-jin with a troubled face:
"Ma'am, whoever handled this toad is a real pro. There are no traces here at all."
"Seriously? Just with physical strength? You're definitely a monster!" Hong Ye-seung leaned out from behind Jeong Bin to look directly at Cha Eui-jae.
Cha Eui-jae's face was a mask of extreme displeasure. A snicker came from somewhere to the side.
Yang Hye-jin, dusting off her hands, squinted in surprise.
"They must have used their ability, right? No traces? Look closer."
"I am looking! But no signs of ability use or anything like that. Nothing at all."
"What, they did it with their bare hands?"
"Not bare-handed, actually. With a green onion." After Wasp's comment, chuckles broke out around the hall. She'd picked a good time to lighten the mood.
Though she'd accidentally guessed almost the truth without realizing it, Yang Hye-jin shook her head.
"Ha, probably another one of those hidden strong hunters. Why are there so many? Comics and novels have ruined everyone."
Cha Eui-jae frowned involuntarily. He'd registered way before any of them. And it wasn't like he was eager to kill the monster, but he couldn't just leave it in a residential area, could he?
Turning off her flashlight and standing up, Yang Hye-jin stretched to ease her tired body.
"Anyway, a level four monster came out of the rift, but it didn't eat anyone and didn't destroy any buildings. We should be grateful for that. Let's bag the toad and head back. You're writing the report today."
"Yes, ma'am. Who should I list as the monster eliminator?"
"Write 'unknown'."
"Got it. Oh, and ma'am…"
"What now?"
Looking awkward, the newbie asked:
"Do you smell green onions?"
Explosive laughter immediately filled the hall. Nam Woo-jin, sitting closest to the three cackling 'kids', winced.
The playback continued for a while longer. Cha Eui-jae's face was a mixture of sorrow and stoicism.
"…Now that you mention it…"
Yang Hye-jin sniffed the air and, finding nothing strange, shrugged.
"Maybe the toad picked up a green onion from the ground somewhere. Anyway, we're going for dinner after work, right?"
"Yes. Same place?"
"Yeah, the hangover soup place."
Bae Won-u's eyes sparkled. Hangover soup restaurant! But before he could start babbling nonsense, Lee Sa-yeon silenced him with a look.
Meanwhile, at the decades-old hangover soup restaurant…
"I oppose this marriage!"
"Father! How can you say that!"
"The truth is… You two are brother and sister!"
"Oh my god…"
"What is this crazy nonsense?" Cha Eui-jae shot an angry look at the lunatic next to him, but said nothing.
On the old brown TV, a rerun of the cable show "Family Clinic: Love or War" was playing. Someone sitting in the prime spot with a good view of the screen was peeling garlic, eyes glued to the drama.
"Don't scold the children! You're hardly saints yourselves!"
"Mother-in-law, stay out of this! This is about my child's marriage!"
"I didn't plan to reveal this secret, but since it's come to this, I have no choice. The truth is… we are also brother and sister!"
"Mother-in-law and son-in-law are brother and sister?"
"How do you even follow this?" Wasp looked indignantly at the screen, then turned to Cha Eui-jae.
"Watched a lot of it." That ended the questions. New questions arose about his terrible taste in TV shows.
His busy hands dropped the garlic. Unfazed by the next scene, the person only snapped back to reality when the bald lawyer said, "See you in four weeks," announcing the start of the mediation period. His dazed hands only started moving again after a few commercial breaks. By the time a decent pile of peels lay at his feet, the previously seated figure straightened up.
"Taking out the trash~"
The humming voice was a little low, but pleasant. The figure striding through the hall with long steps was significantly taller than average, but still didn't hit his head on the ceiling, so moving around was easy.
Nam Woo-jin nodded discreetly. Nice voice.
After tossing the garlic peels in the trash, the young man glanced at the clock. There was still some time before the evening shift started. His gaze swept to a corner of the establishment, and he frowned for a moment.
"Ah, I should have hit it with something else…"
Sighing, he cleared the spot where he'd been sitting and headed for the door. Taking down the 'closed' sign, he casually tossed it where he'd been looking earlier.
[Ingredient prep time: 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM.]
Under the carelessly placed sign lay a crumpled, completely empty strawberry-print shopping bag.
[End of Prologue]
"Well, except for the toad, that was pretty peaceful. Should we be glad? But we didn't really get any useful info…" Hong Ye-seung was apparently bored, rocking back and forth.
"I'm more curious about the time period. Would Mr. Cha Eui-jae answer my humble question?" Lee Sa-yeon looked at the hunter next to him with a sly gaze.
It wasn't a particularly important question, so Cha Eui-jae answered calmly.
"It's the past."
This question was actually on most people's minds in the room.
"Will it only show this past? Or will it show your other flashbacks too?" Gyu-Gyu, as always, hit the nail on the head.
"Do I look like the dungeon master to you? How should I know?" And that was the end of that conversation.
Deciding the talk was over, the system continued playback.
[Chapter 2]
In a secluded corner of a clearly old alley stood a restaurant with no sign. The only indication of what it was was a sticker reading "Hangover Soup" stuck to the rusty sliding iron door. Despite that, the place was packed. Life buzzed inside, rivaling the bustle outside where people were lined up.
The menu had only two items: hangover soup for fifteen thousand won, and alcohol.
"Such a limited selection, and this many people… That's amazing. I've never seen anything like it abroad!" Gyu-Gyu smiled broadly, but no one paid him any attention. He quickly deflated.
Next to the menu, faded posters and autographs were haphazardly plastered on the wall. But these weren't celebrity autographs:
[Hangover Soup Restaurant – Hunter Bae Won-u]
[Great place! – Hunter Yang Hye-jin]
They were autographs from hunters.
What are hunters doing here? We can't even get drunk.
A young man with black hair navigated confidently through the crowd. Dressed in a grey hoodie and a black apron with a soju brand logo, he moved swiftly through the cramped restaurant, despite carrying trays with sizzling hot stone bowls in both hands.
Jeong Bin frowned again. He just couldn't understand this hunter's logic. Working in a hangover soup place when you could be making way more money in dungeons? He was the strangest one he'd ever seen.
"Hangover soup, ready."
"Oh, thanks."
"Boss, we need two more hangover soups!"
"Okay."
"And please add two bowls of rice."
"Sure, coming right up."
Bae Won-u's mouth might have watered just from the sight of the soup. But there was no soup on his table. He reached out, grabbed a cookie, and chewed gloomily as he continued watching.
The young man barely glanced at the table and hurried to the kitchen. Just then, a loud voice came from a bald man behind him.
"Hey, can we get another bottle of soju?"
"No. You've already had two bottles."
"What are you talking about? This is our first."
"I saw you hide the empty bottle in your inventory. No more."
As much as Bae Won-u trusted the part-timer, it did explain a lot if he was an unawakened.
The young man pointed to a spot next to the simple menu. An A4 sheet of paper, hastily scribbled on with a black marker, eloquently showed the author's resolve.
[Soju limited to two bottles per table]
[※ To avoid inconvenience and fights]
The young man collected the empty plates and stone bowls from the next table and headed to the kitchen. Meanwhile, the bald man, sheepishly pulling the empty soju bottle from his inventory, got scolded by the person sitting across from him.
"See, I told you it wouldn't work. That worker is really strict about the drink limit. Always just two bottles."
"He's sharp as a hawk. I hid it faster than I catch monsters. Is he a hunter?"
Ham Seok-jong, like Jeong Bin, frowned at that remark. Hunters shouldn't be saying things like that. He'd be better off using his energy on a monster than trying to hide a soju bottle. But there was nothing they could do.
"I heard from Team Leader Han that he already asked him. The guy said he's a regular person."
Everyone in the room looked at Cha Eui-jae with skepticism. No one believed it, of course. Not even Bae Won-u.
"What? Is that the new trend? Hidden-ability hunters? Or is he unregistered?"
"Come on, you know the penalties for unregistered hunters are harsh. And if he was really hiding his power, he'd be making money in dungeons, not working part-time at some hangover soup joint."
The young man's back stiffened for a moment, but the bald guy didn't notice. Instead, he nodded in agreement.
Jeong Bin frowned and started to ask something, but Ham Seok-jong shook her head.
"Exactly. People hiding their power are always looking for a chance to show off."
"Team Leader Han is waiting to recruit him when he awakens. If he's this good now, he'll be at least B-class after awakening."
Amidst the murmur of hunters behind him, the young man, now in the kitchen, filled the sink with dishwater and snorted to himself. Wanna bet I awakened before you? Instead of dragging some distant veteran here…
"What?"
Nothing else could escape his throat. Awakened before Shield Guy? Even Lee Sa-yeon was stunned. How long ago had he awakened?
But since no one said anything else, the system continued playback.
The young man, named Cha Eui-jae, possessed exceptional eyesight that allowed him to spot hidden empty soju bottles and superhuman strength to carry boiling hot stone bowls. Despite being a hunter with hidden power, he had a reason for choosing to work in this old, rundown little restaurant instead of making easy money in dungeons.
The silence was almost suffocating. Cha Eui-jae quietly reached for water, downed it in one go, and buried his face in his hands. He didn't want to be here. To relive this.
---
A few months ago, Cha Eui-jae woke up on a garbage dump. How long had he been unconscious? He blinked for a long time as his distorted senses slowly began to return.
"What were you doing on a garbage dump?" There was no answer.
"Where the hell am I…!"
As soon as the foul smell hit him, nausea surged. Though he hadn't eaten anything, his exhausted body convulsed. The world spun, and he didn't even have the strength to move a finger.
Monsters poured endlessly from the white ruins. Yes, he remembered fighting the basilisk at the very end, plunging a knife into its head. And then…
It seemed like everyone only now noticed the old clothes. Clothes belonging to only one hunter in Korea. The silence was louder than any scream.
Just watching a few seconds of this horror made some people's stomachs turn. Thousands of monsters, piles of bones, everything red. And in the center of this nauseating spectacle was J.
When he finally opened his eyes, at the center of the dark blue night sky, he saw a giant black hole. It had appeared as if heralding the end of the world, but by now it had become so familiar it was hard to imagine the sky without it. They simply called it the Black Hole.
Black holes aren't visible inside rifts. That meant he was back in reality. As his consciousness cleared and he understood the situation, the next thing that hit him was a physiological need.
"I'm hungry…"
Nam Woo-jin noticed the severe hoarseness in the voice, as if the hunter hadn't had water in a very long time, the extremely gaunt appearance for such a strong hunter. The body was covered in scrapes, the clothes had been through the nine circles of hell. His hair was white – maybe from stress, or maybe like his eyes…
He needed to eat something. Cha Eui-jae used the piles of trash around him to lean on and get up. Leaning against a dirty wall, he caught his breath for a moment. Then, using the wall for support like an invertebrate, he dragged his weakened body forward.
Seeing a hunter this weakened hit hard. Especially when that hunter was the icon of hunters, the number one. The person to Cha Eui-jae's right silently clenched his teeth.
As he forced his trembling legs to keep moving, the smell of meat drifted from somewhere. Instinct made him open his eyes wide and look around. At the end of the alley, he saw a single light. He continued dragging himself towards it.
He reached a shabby place with no sign. Through the glass of the sliding iron door, he saw an old woman sitting alone. Sensing someone's presence, the woman, who had been peeling garlic with her back to the door, slowly turned her head. Cha Eui-jae pressed his face against the glass and mumbled.
"Can I… get… some food…?"
Of course, he looked like a complete mess: an emaciated, wasted body barely held up by trembling legs. His words probably came out like, "C'n… I… f-foo…?" But he didn't have the time to realize how pathetic he looked. Despite resembling a homeless person who'd just escaped a maniac, the old woman didn't scream. Instead, she opened the door for him.
Everyone sat like mute fish. It was too hard to say anything in a situation like this.
"What are you standing there for? Get in here, quick."
Cha Eui-jae looked up, and gratitude washed over him. He was so thankful to the grandmother that he'd probably be in her debt for the rest of his life.
A warm atmosphere and the smell of meat broth enveloped him as soon as he entered. Cha Eui-jae stared blankly at the old woman who had opened the door for him.
"What happened to you? Been rolling in the mud? Or did you just come back from a dungeon?"
"Uh…"
Tsking, the old woman waved her hand for him to sit and disappeared into the kitchen. Cha Eui-jae awkwardly sat at the furthest table. After a while, a bowl of white bone broth and a bowl of rice appeared before him.
"Eat. The hangover soup will take a bit."
She must have figured out who I was a long time ago. Looking at it with a clear head, he realized how mindless he had been back then. He literally couldn't think from hunger.
"…"
"If you're not going to eat, throw it out."
Cha Eui-jae, who had been staring blankly at the bowl of rice, finally lowered his head and looked at the old woman again. Without waiting for his answer, she turned away and continued peeling garlic.
As soon as he saw the food, his appetite flared up again. Like a man possessed, he attacked the bowl ravenously. As the warm bone broth filled his empty stomach, the cold and hunger that had made him tremble began to recede. Cha Eui-jae thought that perhaps the light in the alley was the embodiment of this old woman's kindness, and he added the rice to the broth.
Satisfied, he finally started noticing details of the restaurant's interior. There was an old CRT TV on a shelf, faded soju posters on the walls, a worn-out wall fan, and a large calendar from some association. This place clearly held traces of time.
Watching him eat so quickly, Nam Woo-jin could only shake his head. Eating a lot after a long fast can be very bad. It was good the old woman didn't give J heavy food right away. He didn't think J wanted to spend the whole night in the bathroom.
Overeating after prolonged fasting can lead to stomach discomfort, indigestion, and in some cases, serious problems like malabsorption syndrome or acute gastric dilation. To avoid negative consequences after fasting, you need to gradually increase the amount of food you eat, starting with easily digestible foods.
How long had it been since he entered the rift? Cha Eui-jae looked carefully at the calendar.
"20… what year is it?"
He blinked in confusion. The calendar on the wall showed that eight years had passed. Cha Eui-jae rubbed his eyes, thinking he was mistaken, but the printed numbers on the paper remained unchanged.
The feeling of disorientation still haunted him even now. The feeling of unreality of what was happening, of having escaped the West Sea Rift, was killing him.
Unexpectedly, Lee Sa-yeon pulled him out of his self-reflection. He gently took his hand, running his gloved fingers over his knuckles. Not understanding the reason for this action, he nevertheless gladly accepted it. He needed an anchor to reality.
He held his breath. The sense of reality he had barely managed to regain was starting to slip away again. He tried to calm his scattered mind by taking another sip of broth. Just then, the TV on the shelf began to broadcast a calm news anchor's voice.
"The Awakened Management Bureau has confirmed the deaths of all hunters who entered the rift, three months after its closure."
The screen changed. Cha Eui-jae, holding an empty spoon, mechanically brought it to his mouth.
All dead?
Even the S-class hunter J?
He kept making the same motion, unaware that the spoon in his hand was empty. Now a middle-aged man appeared on screen, concluding his speech.
[Song Jo-hon | S-class Awakened | Head of Samra Guild]
"Without J, our country has no future. Eight years ago, we lost a hero in Incheon. J and 44 hunters bravely entered the rift. They gave us a future. We must look forward and move on."
Seeing J's mechanical actions, the way he wasn't even eating, just moving the spoon, was a blow below the belt. He looked so lost… The reality of what was happening couldn't even reach the viewers. J is alive. But how bad is everything?
The man with a grim expression spoke solemnly, looking directly into the camera.
"This concludes the documentary commemorating the eighth anniversary of the first-class West Sea Rift, 'For J'."
A caption appeared at the bottom of the screen: [This program was produced with support from the Pado Guild and the Awakened Management Bureau], and then the screen went dark for a moment. Cha Eui-jae replayed what he'd heard in his head several times to make sure he understood correctly.
The grip on his palm tightened for a moment. With support from the Pado Guild… Pado. The leader of the Pado Guild was sitting right next to him. Turning his head sharply towards Lee Sa-yeon, he received only a nod. What was that supposed to mean?
"Confirmed that all hunters who entered the rift have died."
"Eight years ago, we lost a hero in Incheon."
"The documentary for the eighth anniversary, 'For J'."
All the hunters who entered the rift are dead. The thought churned his stomach. Suddenly, a glass of water appeared in front of his face.
Looking at the glass, then at the person who handed it to him, he accepted it gratefully.
Is this a dream? If I close my eyes and open them again, will I wake up? But it was perfectly clear that this was all real. The black hole he'd seen earlier, his now-full stomach unlike the previously empty bowl, and the spoon he'd dropped with a loud clatter – all proved that what was happening was real.
Nam Woo-jin thought sympathetically that hunter J needed psychological help.
Cha Eui-jae couldn't hide his shock and clutched his head. All the hunters sent to the West Sea Rift had died? As far as he knew, that was an absolute lie. No, it simply couldn't be.
Because hunter J, Cha Eui-jae, was the sole survivor and was sitting right here, finishing his soup!
[End of Chapter 2]
The stunned silence seemed to last for another year. The number one hunter, the sole survivor.
After the first fact, the others poured in. What did he eat? Did he go crazy alone in there? What happened in the West Sea Rift? How did he survive that hell?
Everyone wanted to ask at once. And as if to help, the system sent a message.
[Due to severe emotional shock, a mandatory break will now begin.]