National Hero, My Brother
I had an older brother who was ten years older than me.
Back then, a ten-year age gap felt like an insurmountable wall.
To me, my brother was always a real adult.
He could be curt and hard to talk to, but whether it was studying or sports, there was nothing he couldn’t do. In my eyes, he was the most perfect hero in the world.
Then one day the world flipped upside down.
The day the Gates appeared on Earth, my brother became a genuine hero.
And not just any hero—one the entire nation cheered for, on a completely different level.
The fact that Baek Suho was my brother was the only thing I could brag about in my entire life.
Turn on the TV and there he was.
I would watch him and swing a toy sword around the living room.
I was sure I would awaken just like him and smash Gates at his side.
But the world wasn’t that kind.
The miracle of awakening never came for me.
While my brother’s status shot through the ceiling every single day, I remained stuck in place.
A star.
Before I knew it, he had become a star so high I had to crane my neck until it hurt just to catch a glimpse.
Well, if I couldn’t be a star, the next best thing was to get close to one. What choice did I have?
The only way a civilian could set foot inside a Gate was by taking the lowest subcontracting job.
A bottom-tier contractor who had rolled all the way down to the very dregs.
That was my official title.
Gates weren’t populated solely by hunters.
There were support roles—cleaners who hauled away the nauseating corpses after battles, and carriers who lugged the hunters’ gear.
People lumped them together and called them Gate Runners.
But that wasn’t my goal.
My blood wanted to boil hot on the front lines of battle, just like my brother’s.
That was exactly why I had chosen this dangerous, low-grade Gate contractor position.
If I kept running the field, I believed an awakening opportunity would come to me someday.
The contractor office was full of rough types who had drifted in from who-knows-where, but honestly it didn’t matter.
I was going to awaken soon and quit this place in spectacular fashion.
Until then, I would endure it a little longer.
Then one day, my brother—who I rarely even got to see—showed up.
“Whoa, hey! It’s Baek Suho! Baek Suho!”
“No way, for real? What’s he doing here?”
“Jackpot! First time seeing Baek Suho in the flesh!”
The moment my brother appeared, the temporary contractor office flipped like a kicked hornet’s nest.
I soaked up every single stare pouring my way and squared my shoulders with pride.
Seen that? That’s my brother.
But the actual expression on my brother’s face as he walked toward me was quite serious.
His brow was twisted more fiercely than usual. I forced a bright smile and spoke first.
“Hyung! I thought you were busy—what brings you here?”
“The 14th Sector Gate. You’re going in too, right?”
“Yeah. Hyung, it’s finally my dungeon debut! What do you think? Pretty impressive, huh? I’ll awaken soon and catch right up to you. Just wait!”
I pointed toward the Gate entrance and laughed brightly.
But before I even finished speaking, my brother’s face crumpled.
“Don’t go.”
“…Huh?”
“I said don’t go in there.”
In an instant, all the anticipation that had filled my head withered away.
I had been excited at the rare chance to earn his recognition.
His firm refusal made irritation surge up from my gut.
“Hyung, I’m all grown up now. I’m eighteen! I’m an adult!”
“Baek Sujae. If you’re still a student, act like one and study. Why do you keep trying to go into dangerous dungeons?”
His scolding twisted my insides.
“The world changed ages ago and you’re still nagging me about studying! What, do monsters die if you’re good at Korean, English, and math?”
“You think dungeons are some neighborhood playground? You’re a non-awakened. Get your head straight, you idiot.”
His voice dropped low.
Normally I would have shrunk back, but today I had nowhere to retreat.
“Why do you always just say no? In a world like this, what good is a college degree? Being a hunter is the best thing you can be!”
“Ha… Is the allowance I send you not enough? If you need more, just say so.”
We were talking past each other.
It wasn’t about money. I wanted to become a shining main character like him!
Because of our age difference, it seemed he planned to treat me like a child for the rest of my life.
“I’m not talking about money! I’m saying I’m going to be a hunter just like you!”
For the first time in my life, I shouted at my brother.
The ten-year wall between us was higher than I had thought.
To me, my brother was both older brother and father. Raising my voice to someone like that had been unimaginable.
But today, I broke that taboo.
At that moment, the contractor boss standing in the distance raised a megaphone and bellowed.
“All right, all right! Stop yapping and get ready to enter! Everyone gather up!”
At his shout, both my brother’s and my heads turned toward the Gate at the same time.
The blue rippling mana of the Gate surged as if it would swallow everything.
“Hyung, I’m going!”
“Baek Sujae! You stay right there!”
My brother called out urgently behind me, but I didn’t look back. I sprinted toward the Gate with everything I had.
My heart pounded so hard it felt like it would burst at the fact that I had defied my brother for the first time in my life.
A strange thrill rippled through this first act of rebellion.
To be honest, I wasn’t completely unafraid of the consequences.
But I couldn’t keep living helplessly under his overprotection.
If I finished this debut raid safely and went to see him, my brother would forgive me.
Our hyung had always been secretly soft on me.
For that to happen, results came first.
Even though it was a low-grade Gate that only hunted trash mobs, to a non-awakened it was still a disaster.
If I closed this Gate properly, built up my record step by step, and proved my worth as a mercenary, maybe he would acknowledge me as a comrade.
Just watch. One day I’ll join Hyung’s team.
I was spinning happy scenarios in my head while standing in line at the Gate entrance.
Then the middle-aged man next to me, reeking of stale cigarette smoke, narrowed his eyes and asked.
“Hey…”
“……?”
“Was that really Baek Suho, your actual older brother?”
Suddenly every gaze in the area locked onto me.
Unlike the big guilds that moved in fixed parties, mercenaries formed one-time raid teams whenever a Gate opened.
So unless they already knew each other, mercenaries weren’t particularly friendly, and they certainly didn’t care about other people’s business.
They were the type who would only think about their increased share even if someone died inside the Gate.
Apparently my brother’s appearance had ignited their curiosity.
They hadn’t treated me like a person earlier.
Now they were all perking up their ears, waiting to hear what I would say. It was almost funny.
“Yes… He’s my brother.”
“Wow, Baek Suho is really your brother? That’s amazing! When we come out, let me take a picture with him, yeah?”
“Ha… Haha. We’ll see, depending on the situation.”
By then my brother would already be gone.
I smiled awkwardly and turned my head away.
The man seemed unhappy with my lukewarm reaction. He pursed his lips and muttered.
“Tsk. But if your brother is that successful Baek Suho, what are you doing here? Your family must be rolling in money.”
“…….”
“Oh right. You’re a non-awakened civilian, aren’t you? Today’s your dungeon debut?”
“Puhaha! Hey, knock it off. You’re gonna make the kid cry!”
The big guy who had been watching from the side slapped my shoulder and burst into loud laughter.
The others around us joined in, laughing so hard they nearly split their sides.
They were non-awakened too, no different from me.
The way they acted superior just because they had started this mercenary work a few months earlier was truly a sight.
Yeah, laugh it up while you can. When I awaken and stand beside my brother, you won’t even be able to meet our eyes.
I swallowed the boiling anger in my chest and glared at the blue vortex of the open Gate in the distance.
“All right, everyone start heading in.”
The raid team leader, who had been talking seriously with the contractor boss, finally spoke.
His eyes were quite sharp, as expected from someone who had been in this business a long time.
His gaze swept over the group and stopped on me.
After about three seconds of that stare, just as I started to feel awkward, he said flatly.
“I hear there’s a rookie entering for the first time today, so let me warn you in advance. In here, no one takes responsibility for anyone else’s life. Look after yourselves.”
“Yessir!”
“Got it!”
Playful shouts erupted from all around.
The team leader nodded as if he had expected it.
“Well, you all know what to do, so I’ll skip the explanation. Let’s move out!”
“Let’s gooo! Time to hit the jackpot today!”
“Heh heh. Rookie, see you alive on the other side?”
The big guy who had been needling me earlier clapped me on the shoulder a couple times and threw himself into the Gate.
…What was that look just now.
It was the same unpleasant gaze you’d give a calf being dragged to the slaughterhouse.
That obnoxious look only fueled my determination.
Just wait.
I would close this Gate and prove myself no matter what.
I bit my lip and threw myself through the blue Gate.
* * *
When I came to my senses, cold, damp air swept over my entire body.
The background of this dungeon was an ancient ruin cave.
Glowing bluish moss of unknown origin emitted fluorescent light from the ceiling, and the walls were covered with bizarre patterns eroded by time.
“Ugh… The smell is awful.”
Everyone pinched their noses and openly showed their disgust.
The unidentified liquid pooled on the floor gave off a strong fishy stench.
On top of that, the air was thick with the smell of old mold that stung the nose.
While everyone was distracted by the overwhelming atmosphere of the dungeon and looking around, a gunshot rang out.
Bang—!
The ear-splitting report echoed violently throughout the cave.
“Eek!”
“Wh-what was that?!”
Startled by the sudden shot, everyone whipped their heads around.
There stood the team leader, pistol raised with smoke still curling from the barrel, staring fiercely into the darkness.
“Don’t let your guard down. You think we’re here on vacation?”
Where his gaze landed, a giant spider the size of a grown man was convulsing.
Thick green fluid gushed from between its sharp, hard legs.
“Ah, damn it. Had to be spiders.”
“This raid… looks like it’s going to be pretty tough.”
The mercenaries clicked their tongues as they looked at the spider’s corpse.
I swallowed dryly, sensing that my debut raid was going to be far more difficult than I had imagined.
Dungeons were nasty like that. There was no way to know what the interior was like until you actually went in.
All they could do was measure the mana leaking from the outer Gate to assign a rank.
That was why, for safety reasons, non-awakened could only enter up to F-rank dungeons.
Even among those, ‘spiders’ were one of the monsters mercenaries hated most.
Spiders might be called F-rank, but to non-awakened they were practically hell.
Their legs were as hard and sharp as steel.
Plus they moved silently in the dark without any presence, so you could have your throat slit in the blink of an eye.
“Hey, rookie. Don’t just stand there spacing out. Getting caught by these spider bastards means dying is the merciful option.”
“…Yes, sir.”
Better to just die.
Spiders didn’t kill their prey right away.
They wrapped humans in sticky threads, stored them as living energy reserves, and later sucked their blood alive when they needed it.
For that reason, intact corpses were rarely recovered from spider nests.
“…Damn it, isn’t the difficulty a bit high for a debut raid?!”
I wiped away the cold sweat running down my back and gripped the gun I had been issued more tightly.