Chapter 1
Chapter 1
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: Porter (1)
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In 1999, Dungeon Gates began opening.
The monsters that poured out from them turned the world into a living hell.
Not even massive aerial bombardments could bring them down.
Then, Awakeners began appearing among the people.
"Evacuate the civilians!"
"We'll hold these bastards off!"
The brave Awakeners stood their ground.
People started calling them Hunters, referring to the monsters as Magic Beasts, and thus began an era of upheaval.
By 2007, thanks to the Hunters' heroic efforts, the world had begun to regain some semblance of stability.
But then, numerous dimensional gates opened, and beings from other worlds invaded Earth.
The number of dimensional gates was estimated at around a hundred.
Of course, that didn't mean an equal number of dimensions were connected.
Sometimes multiple gates linked to a single other world.
"Damn it, the Beastmen are heading into the city...!"
Beastmen, Elves, Dwarves, Spirit Race, Mermaids, and others who viewed humans as inferior—the people of Earth called them Otherworld Races or simply Outsiders. To counter them, humanity formed alliances with three dimensions dominated by human races.
A dimensional gate even opened on Jeju Island in South Korea, leading to parts of Jeollado and Gyeongsangdo falling to the Spirit Race.
Attacks from Otherworld Races and Magic Beasts caused the population to plummet and the economy to teeter on the brink of collapse.
Park Kang-hyuk, a 29-year-old E-rank Hunter—the son of a hardware store owner couple who had barely managed to graduate college—let out a deep sigh as he stared at the bills clutched in his palm.
"150,000 won."
It was his daily earnings from working as a porter inside a Dungeon Gate.
Even with skyrocketing prices, 150,000 won was a decent chunk of change.
Knowing his parents' situation, Kang-hyuk had started working as a Hunter as soon as possible to gain independence.
Awaking as an E-rank Hunter from the start wasn't bad at all.
The problem was his skill: Lowest Skeleton Summon, rated F-rank.
He could summon a single skeleton clutching a sickle.
"If I could just level up my skill by one stage, I could summon up to five skeletons..."
The issue was that to level up the skill, his skeletons had to defeat enemies.
And a Lowest Skeleton simply couldn't handle even a single F-rank Magic Beast properly.
It was worlds apart from the skeleton warriors found inside Dungeon Gates.
"Hoo..."
At least as a porter, he was pretty good at his job.
Porters didn't just carry gear—they handled all the odd jobs too.
He left the heavy lifting to his skeleton and took care of the lighter tasks himself.
Thanks to that, Kang-hyuk earned a bit more than the other porters.
"Park, good work! Let's team up again sometime if the chance comes up!"
"Sure, take care!"
Kang-hyuk gave a wry smile and slowly made his way home.
After about 50 minutes by bus and subway, he arrived.
He'd been living independently for a year now.
A 5-pyeong studio apartment in Seongnam City, Gyeonggi Province.
The southern Gyeonggi region had once suffered devastating damage from Magic Beasts.
Because of that, rent was dirt cheap, making it easy for him to move out on his own.
The moment he got home, Kang-hyuk stripped off his clothes and headed into the shower.
"Haa..."
After a year of portering, the work was starting to feel a little routine.
"Seriously... without that skeleton, I never would've lasted."
Kang-hyuk felt a surge of gratitude as he thought of his dismissed skeleton.
As long as it wasn't destroyed, he could keep it summoned indefinitely.
But he couldn't exactly take a skeleton on the bus.
So he summoned it for work and dismissed it at the end of each day.
After showering, Kang-hyuk grabbed a cup of instant ramen and flicked on the TV.
[This morning around 7 AM...]
He slurped down the ramen while holding his smartphone in his left hand.
"Tomorrow's a day off."
Portering was competitive.
Especially for the high-paying gigs.
And even if he wanted to enter a Dungeon Gate as a Hunter, E-rankers like him weren't easily accepted.
Sure, groups of E-rankers sometimes tackled F-grade gates, but with the news full of daily reports on casualties and injuries, who wanted the risk?
Low-rank Hunters preferred to party up with higher ranks.
The catch? Hiring high-rank Hunters cost a fortune.
"They call it an 'investment for growth,' but most low-rankers can't even cover their daily wages..."
Unless a high-rank Hunter gave them a free ride, low-rankers grew at a snail's pace.
"They say hiring a bus leader costs anywhere from millions to tens of millions a day..."
Kang-hyuk let out a small sigh and shook his head.
Even splitting the cost 1/N way among low-rankers, it was still a huge sum.
And scams in that space weren't uncommon.
"Bank balance... 6 million won."
It was his hard-earned savings from a year of grinding.
Thanks to national scholarships, he hadn't needed student loans.
His parents had covered his living expenses during college.
They'd supported his dream of becoming a Hunter.
'Now it's my turn to give back.'
His much-younger sister was about to enter college soon.
With their parents having little savings, scholarships would cover tuition, but living expenses would run tens of thousands a month at least.
And in her bright early twenties, she deserved to enjoy herself too.
'If I send them pocket money every month, they'll have room to send her some.'
So he planned to wire his parents 500,000 won monthly from next year until his sister graduated.
[Teynen Guild's Hunter Kim Min-chan has successfully cleared an S-grade dungeon...]
Kang-hyuk watched the TV with envy.
Hunter ranks started at F and went up to A, followed by S3, S2, and S1.
The pinnacle S1-rank Hunters were hailed as the strongest, receiving all sorts of national perks.
South Korea had only three such Hunters.
Truly chosen ones.
They'd shown A-rank level power even at level 1 stats.
'Yeah, like they're from another world.'
Kang-hyuk finished his ramen, scrolled through SNS for a bit, then flopped into bed.
His daily routine flowed on unchanged.
A few days later, he spotted Teynen Guild's posting and hurriedly applied as a porter.
It was a four-day job.
Tough, but it paid 300,000 won a day.
1.2 million total.
'I have to take this!'
[Greetings. This is Teynen Guild. We're thrilled to have you join us. Please arrive at Migeum Station Exit 1 by 9 AM on December 23rd, where our shuttle will be waiting. Be sure to arrive on time at Exit 1. If you're late...]
Kang-hyuk clenched his fist with a grin.
Porter hiring sites rated porters by score.
He had a solid rating.
He'd toughed out any unfair treatment and always worked diligently.
That's why Teynen hired him on the spot.
"Stuck in a dungeon over Christmas, though..."
It was a sacrifice worth making.
For 300,000 won a day.
Kang-hyuk called his family.
[Four days straight in a dungeon? You sure that's safe?]
He smiled softly at his mother's worried voice.
"It's a B-grade dungeon, but I'll be with Teynen's first-string members, so it should be fine. I heard it's for field-testing their 1st and 2nd string rookies."
[Still, don't do anything too risky.]
"I know. Oh, about the vitamins I sent this time..."
[Yeah, they arrived. I'll take good care of them. Oh, and your dad wants to talk too...]
"Sure, put him on."
After chatting with his parents, Kang-hyuk texted his sister.
-Won't be able to contact you for four days, so treat Mom and Dad to something nice. Sending money.
-Whoa! Bro's the best!
Maybe because of the big age gap, he got along well with his sister.
Kang-hyuk transferred 150,000 won to her account.
Then 300,000 won each to his parents' accounts.
He then reviewed the detailed dungeon info shared by Teynen Guild.
'Migeum Station's about 30 minutes away? Buffer it to 40... nah, just plan for an hour.'
Phone in hand, Kang-hyuk lay back on the bed.
E-tube was full of Hunters streaming live.
One channel, 'From F-rank to S-rank,' featured a Hunter with a skill that boosted physical abilities.
[Haa, seriously... even with physical buffs, there's a limit.]
He'd entered a controlled zone with his party and was drawing aggro from the Magic Beasts.
[Man, if I could just wield Lowest Expert-level Sword Aura!]
He glanced enviously at his fellow Hunters.
Sword Aura had various realms, and Lowest Expert was the most basic.
Like someone just stepping into true mastery.
Even so, Lowest Expert Sword Aura could slice through goblin hide, which was tough for normal human strength.
[Uwaaak! The goblins...!]
A Hunter wielding Lowest Expert Sword Aura was suddenly chased by a horde of goblins.
A few? Manageable.
But a Lowest Expert Swordsman couldn't handle a swarm.
Then, a Mid Expert Swordsman who had been commanding from the rear leaped forward.
[Slash-! Shwick! Shwick!]
"Whoa..."
The Mid Expert took down five goblins in one breath.
"Definitely a world apart."
The gap between Lowest and Mid Expert was night and day.
And Highest Experts, the pinnacle of sword mastery, felt even more transcendent.
Kang-hyuk checked the time while watching, then quickly closed the E-tube app.
"Time for bed."
He set his phone by his head and drifted off.
On December 23rd, he headed to Migeum Station bright and early.
At Exit 1, he boarded Teynen Guild's shuttle and headed to Gwanggyo Mountain.
"Ah..."
They really were on another level.
The Hunters' gear alone put everyone he'd seen before to shame.
And there were dozens of Teynen staff supporting them.
"Hey, familiar face, huh?"
Kang-hyuk looked at the young man waving at him.
"...!"
His expression soured slightly.
The son of a KOSDAQ-listed construction firm CEO. Awakened as a B-rank Hunter in college.
His name was...
"Lee Sung-ho?"
"Yeah, you're not joining Teynen too... are you? No way. Porter?"
"...Yeah."
Sung-ho sneered, eyeing Kang-hyuk up and down.
"Tough luck. Suits you—the guy who always huddled in the corner back in school."
"You..."
"Oh, just got promoted to S3-rank. Made it into Teynen's first string... oh, right, you know these faces too. Hey!"
At Sung-ho's call, five men and women approached Kang-hyuk.
They widened their eyes upon seeing him.
"Huh? This guy... looks familiar..."
"Ah... you're Park Kang-hyuk, right? That... guy who always sat in the back in college..."
"Oh! What? You joined Teynen too... or not."
Kang-hyuk's gear looked pathetically shabby compared to the first and second-string Teynen Hunters.