Chapter 1
Chapter 1
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 001
Chapter Title: The Status Window Went Haywire
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1. The Status Window Went Haywire.
I wanted to make it big.
It was a dream anyone might have at least once.
To succeed in one thing and turn my fate around.
I thought awakening would make it possible.
I thought hard work would get me there.
I was wrong.
It was nothing but a pipe dream.
"Yu-seong. Hey, Jeong Yu-seong!"
"Ssp, yes sir!"
It was the team leader calling.
I wiped my mouth and scrambled to my feet.
"Didn't sleep last night? You look like a sick chicken."
"Haha, I was visiting the hospital."
"You should've said something. I would've let you off today."
Kim Team Leader patted my back.
As expected from someone with Body Reinforcement, his hand stung.
My back was tingling fiercely.
"What? Yu-seong was at the hospital? How'd it go?"
My senior apprentice brother, who'd grown close while working together, approached.
I gave an awkward smile.
"Same as always. Nothing much."
"Hang in there. There's at least some progress, right?"
"Yeah..."
Progress? It was just maintaining the status quo.
Fifty years since the era of Gates and Towers dawned.
There were tons of Awakeners—and just as many unknown diseases.
Incurable illnesses were commonplace these days.
That's what Mom and my little sister had.
"You know the neighbors? The Shins. Word is the old man there woke up from his incurable disease last month."
"Really?"
Senior Apprentice Brother chimed in at Kim Team Leader's words.
It was meant to cheer me up, a comforting gesture.
"His son's a Hunter. Apparently snagged some rare herb from a Gate recently. Saved him with that."
"Whoa, speaking of which, an acquaintance of mine had an incurable disease too, but his friend got something from the Tower of Trials..."
Hopeful stories flew back and forth.
They all ended the same way.
"See, Yu-seong? Your family can pull through too."
"Yeah. Come on, back to work."
They gave me no hope, no resonance.
Those stories.
Wasn't it all the same in the end?
Because the son was a Hunter.
Because the acquaintance was a Hunter.
I didn't have a son like that.
No acquaintance like that either.
All I could do was work this body of mine.
To keep my family's fragile lives going.
That was it.
'Haa.'
I swallowed a sigh so they wouldn't hear and start another hopeful pep talk.
I just quietly opened my Status Window.
A very sparse Status Window appeared before my eyes.
Others had Skills and Passives listed alongside their Innate Ability.
A whole lineup of various powers.
Me? Just one measly line.
'Predation. I thought it was a good skill.'
The first ability you get upon awakening—your Innate Ability.
Everyone has one.
Mine was Predation.
Predation! What a powerful ring to it.
I knew from all the media out there.
The power to devour targets and steal their skills and abilities!
The first day of awakening, my heart nearly stopped.
Was this it? My ticket to making my dreams come true?
I felt like I'd hit the jackpot.
But that jackpot turned out to be dead last—not even fifth prize.
I realized it when I read the description.
[Predation: Can digest anything.]
That was it. End of story.
Read it top to bottom, side to side.
Just easy digestion. Full stop.
What was I supposed to do with this? Become an eating show YouTuber?
But that content tanked ages ago.
The hot trend now was Gate raid streams.
Just gaming and mukbangs were long dead.
'Still, you never know.'
I held onto hope.
Maybe there was something special. Who could say?
So I went all in and bought monster corpses.
After paying family medical bills and living expenses.
Tightened my belt hard.
Scraped together the 50,000 won left in my pocket.
Finally shelled out a fortune: one million won for troll meat.
I ate it.
That foul-tasting crap.
Trash so bad it got reprocessed for medical use.
I even scooped up what I puked mid-way and ate that too.
But nothing changed.
The one upside to my Innate Ability that I discovered?
'Literally anything that goes in gets digested.'
That garbage meat turned into 827kcal.
A million-won lesson.
Still, it had its perks.
Like right now.
"Yu-seong! Grab this one."
"Yes sir!"
I dashed over at Team Leader's signal.
A thumbnail-sized crystal attached to a black lump.
Glowing purple.
A Mana Stone.
"Even lowest-grade ones add up nicely."
"Haha, sure do."
We were miners.
A job revived in this changed world.
Gates often left them behind in their wake.
I was gathering those Mana Stones.
'Let's see, calories...'
Calories dropped just from breathing.
I could see it with my own eyes.
Replenish them, and I got a burst of energy.
Until they ran out.
This body moved well and felt strong.
Cold? Aches?
Just top up the calories, and I was good as new.
The problem was how fast they plummeted.
'Even injuries heal quick by burning calories.'
One of the few perks of my Innate Ability.
Use it in combat to become a top Hunter?
Impossible.
But for grunt work like this? Perfect fit.
"Whew! Take a break?"
"Yes! Sounds good."
Senior Apprentice Brother agreed with Team Leader.
I finally sat down too, spreading out my spot.
Thud. My backpack hit heavy.
"Everyone looks beat. Haha."
"That's mining for ya."
Faces caked in dirt and grime.
Still, we all grinned.
We'd dug up Mana Stones from the muck.
How much was in these packs?
Once tallied through the Management Bureau, today's pay...
'Sweet. Small cup ramen gets upgraded to a big bowl. Triangle kimbap too.'
Had to pinch pennies with hospital bills looming.
Usually fueled up on cheap energy bars at 300 won a pop.
"Feels like Mana Stones pop more here, Team Leader."
"Yeah. Being near the Tower of Trials cave maybe? Seems double what we got last time."
Towers of Trials sprouting worldwide out of nowhere.
Gates popping up everywhere, spewing monsters.
All for Hunters only.
And the spark for new national rivalries.
Not my concern, though.
"Oh yeah. Team Leader, I looked it up before coming. This place was a mine development site before the Hunter era."
"A mine? What for, when there were no Mana Stones?"
"Uranium! This is Daejeon, right? Prime candidate for deposits or whatever."
"But it's abandoned now?"
"Yeah, halted development—no economic viability. Now it's..."
Senior Apprentice Brother glanced around with a grin.
"Our Mana Stone mine. Pretty handy repurposing."
"Heh, true enough. But hearing that makes it spooky. Should've brought a Geiger counter?"
Geiger counter.
Radiation detector.
Team Leader worried about everything.
Still.
"Got it covered. Haha."
I had my own worries too.
Couldn't let the family breadwinner get hurt.
"Oho. As expected, Yu-seong. Always prepared."
"Heard of 'em, first time seeing one. Creepy sound in videos. It make noise?"
"One sec?"
I checked the gear at Senior Apprentice Brother's question.
Oh no. Wasn't even on.
Rushed to Seoul and back for the hospital visit yesterday.
That must be why.
'Tired enough to make dumb mistakes.'
Powered it on.
Screen wouldn't light.
What's wrong?
"Busted?"
Bought it used.
Grabbed the seller by the pants leg, begged for half price.
No way.
'Sold me one on its last legs!'
That seller.
Gonna complain the second I get back.
I grumbled inwardly and smacked the device.
Crackle.
A sound leaked from it.
"It on?"
"Seems like?"
We sat spaced out.
I sighed in relief at the lit screen.
Turned it so they could see.
"There, you see it?"
"Whoa, cool. Sound's creepy like you said."
"Haha, yeah."
Crackle! Craaaaaackle!
I knew radiation was bad for you.
Was that why?
The sound gnawed at my body.
Huh? What's that noise.
"Really broken?"
I smacked it again.
No way it'd quiet down.
If anything, it got louder.
And this reading.
"Y-yeah. Must be busted. R-right?"
My voice shook.
Senior Apprentice Brother, who'd seen the number, went pale.
Team Leader read the mood, face hardening.
Craaaaaackle!
The eerie noise filled the silence.
Cold sweat soaked me before I knew it.
No thought to wipe it.
I swallowed dry.
Mechanically checked the device again.
[154 µSv/h]
Over a million was deadly.
This was 154.
Aaah...
"U-uaaaagh!"
Suddenly the thing in my hand felt like a radioactive lump.
I flung it without thinking.
Ironically, right in the middle of us.
"......"
"......"
Our eyes met on it.
No one spoke.
But we moved as one.
I snatched it up quick.
"Ditch the gear! Run—now!"
Team Leader's shout straightened us.
Tossed the device and turned.
Just as we bolted.
Our desperate escape hit a wall from the start.
Rumblegrrr! Boom!
Sudden vibrations.
And the floor caved in.
"Ah."
Fleeting weightlessness ended.
Endless freefall began.
"Uwaaaah!"
Comrades' screams faded fast.
Dull pain crashed with the drop.
Then agony smashed my head.
Like a fire poker searing my side.
"Kaaaaagh!"
Soul-searing pain gaped my mouth.
To add insult, dirt poured in.
Shoved straight down my throat.
Breathing hurt amid the torment.
Instinct swallowed spit with each gasp.
Dirt mounds gulped-gulped down.
Going mad.
Side agony.
Gravel churning my mouth.
Dirt's bitterness.
Even bizarre stimuli snapping me alert.
Spirit on the brink.
But wouldn't fade.
The body's torments held it.
'Augh! Wh-what... is this...!'
Nothing visible.
Stimuli kept me clinging.
No more dirt, please.
Clamped mouth, braced for landing.
Crouched legs, curled body.
But right leg protested.
'Foreign object in side. Big.'
Something sharp blocked curling.
Doomed.
Body shattering on impact?
Amid wild thoughts, one conclusion.
'Family. Who's gonna pay treatment?'
No talented kin, no connections.
Sad. Regretful.
Should've stayed sharper.
That regret scattered in blunt pain.
Boooom!
Freefall ended.
Body felt shattered.
Thankfully not.
Fallen dirt cushioned first?
"Kuh..."
Got to pull it together.
Dealt with dirt-packed mouth first.
Hawked spits, scraped with hand.
Finally moist tongue, I yelled.
"Team Leader! Senior Brother!"
No reply.
Just me here?
Check surroundings first.
Patched chest: front-slung flashlight intact. Lucky.
Click!
Lit it, relief inside.
Gray jagged walls.
Tiny space for one person.
Ahead: hole for one to squeeze through.
That was all.
'Cave-in rock tomb.'
Solid ceiling and walls saved me post-fall.
"Hoo... now wounds."
Culprit of first-ever agony.
Trembling eyes shone flashlight.
Revealed wound.
Eyes quivered madly.
"Auuugh..."
Side pierced by broken pickaxe head.
Handle gone, blade embedded.
Gazing made pain surge.
Adrenaline maybe.
Pain dulled.
They say too grave an injury numbs pain.
'Pull this, massive bleed-out death.'
Fist-sized hole.
Yank it, blood geyser.
But to escape, had to.
Crawl that pit ahead with this skewered?
One-person squeeze?
'No way.'
Pulling last resort.
Escape with it first somehow.
That was priority.
How?
Sudden crisis spun my head.
Grabbed thoughts, crazy ideas flowed.
'Innate Ability let me force down dirt.'
Dig out the pit bit by bit.
Fill my space till full...
Then cram this into my gut.
Predation digests it?
'I've lost it.'
Chuckle, shook head.
Curiosity poked at wild idea.
How many calories from the fall?
Sudden wonder at dirt calories.
Avoiding wound, leaned wall.
Opened Status Window.
"......Huh?"
Innate Ability: !@%^Predation Lv???
(2,000,205,417,289,423kcal)
Am I seeing this wrong?
Closed it. Opened again.
Innate Ability: !@%^Predation Lv???
(2,000,205,417,289,247kcal)
Blinked hard.
Looked away, back.
No change.
Glitched Innate Ability, endless digits below.
Units... one, ten, hundred...
"2,000... quadrillion calories?"
Mind blanked.
Astounding figure slipped from my lips.