A-Rank Hunter Lee Hyunwoo
"Hey, Hyunwoo! The sun's already high in the sky — get up and eat!"
A palm cracked against my backside like a whip.
"Kuhk…."
Suppressing a groan that escaped all on its own, I slowly blinked my eyes open.
The first thing to fill my vision was my sister's face — her hair tied up neatly, an apron wrapped around her waist. I scratched my head and hauled myself up out of bed, and immediately my nose began to twitch.
The smell of well-fermented aged kimchi and rich pork broth wafted up to meet me!
My absolute favorite — kimchi-jjim!
"Kimchi-jjim? Oh!"
"Come out quick. It won't taste good once it's cold."
I hurried to the table and dragged a chair out, my mouth already flooding with saliva. I was just about to pick up my spoon when a faint shadow at the corner of my sister's eye caught my attention.
She was clearly still worn down, the fatigue not yet faded from her face. Still smacking my lips, I quietly set the spoon down and opened my mouth.
"Noona, you really don't have to cook for me like this every time. I can handle breakfast on my own, seriously. I'm telling you…."
My sister set her rice bowl down and snorted.
"Ha! Look at this guy, all mouth. He'd skip class and skip meals if it weren't for me. Just eat what you're given."
Even as she snapped at me with that prickly tongue of hers, she was plopping a piece of meat onto my rice bowl. Watching the kimchi juice soak into the rice, I broached the subject carefully.
"Isn't work rough on you? Being a hunter manager sounds nice and all, but I hear you're basically a glorified babysitter for a bunch of difficult Awakened."
Ever since she'd joined the management department, my sister's hours had been unpredictable. Being dragged out at the crack of dawn was routine, and there were days she came home injured from supervising cleanups around Gates.
My sister gave a soft laugh and reached out to ruffle my hair.
"Hey, Hyunwoo. Who exactly is your sister? I'll have you know I'm a D-Rank Awakened — an Awakened. To your eyes as a Non-Awakened civilian it probably looks like I'm working myself to the bone, but with an Awakened body, this much is nothing."
"Ah, you're messing up my hair."
I batted her hand away with a grumble, and my thoughts drifted to Awakened in general.
D-Rank or not, the difference in physical ability between someone who had awakened their mana and an ordinary person who hadn't was like heaven and earth. Even so, I knew perfectly well that manager work wasn't something physical stamina alone could handle.
"Of course it isn't. Which is exactly why I need to shake off this Non-Awakened status as fast as I can, even if I have to cheat a little."
"Big dreams. Hurry up and eat, then get to school."
Using my sister's nagging as a side dish, I polished off every grain of rice.
School let out, and I returned home just as the sunset was burning red. When I opened the front door, only silence greeted me.
"Noona?"
No answer. Her shoes were nowhere in the entryway. I checked the clock. Seven in the evening — well past quitting time. Besides, she'd said clearly that morning there'd be no overtime today.
Did some sudden company dinner come up?
I checked my phone, but no messages had come through. I almost dialed her number, then just flopped onto my bed instead. I didn't want to bother someone that busy.
I stared blankly at the ceiling. Stories of Gates and hunters had been drilled into my ears since I was a child, and here at the edge of that dazzling, dangerous world, my sister was risking her life every single day.
I wish I could awaken too.
It wasn't as if I'd never dreamed of an Awakened life. If only I had a power of my own, I could make her quit that dangerous, exhausting job. I could become her unwavering shield, so she'd never have to bow her head to please anyone ever again.
Just as my eyelids were drifting shut—
Beeeeep—
A shrill ringing began to tear at my eardrums. My breath caught, and my vision flickered white. My heart pounded so violently it felt like it would shatter through my ribs, and a burning heat surged through my veins as if my very blood were boiling.
I knew it instinctively. This was the prelude to awakening.
"Haaah… ha!"
Gulping down ragged breaths, I bolted upright. Then my eyes flew wide open.
In the pitch-dark room, a cluster of bluish light had condensed in midair, tracing out the shape of a crisp rectangular window — one, presumably, that only I could see.
Verifying Player eligibility.
Unlocking dormant wellspring of the soul.
Unique ability manifesting.
With every character that etched itself into the air, something settled deep in my chest. And then my gaze locked onto the line that finally appeared.
Rank: EX
Unique Skill: Memory Erasure
Description: Offers up memories engraved upon the soul as tribute to manifest its power. The heavier the weight and emotional value of the memory sacrificed, the greater the output and strength it is converted into.
EX-Rank. An off-the-charts classification I'd never heard of on any news site or in any hunter encyclopedia. But the description written beneath it was… well, kind of a lot?
'The more precious the memory you sacrifice, the greater the power you receive in return.'
Honestly, I was dumbfounded. I mean… come on! MemoryErasure?!
Still — from this day forward, I was officially an Awakened! I was going to spoil my sister rotten!
And so, several years slipped by.
KUGUGUGUGUNG!
A tremor that shook the very earth rolled through the district as sirens wailed across the entire city.
"All citizens, evacuate to the underground shelters immediately!"
"Seal off the streets until the suppression team arrives!"
I stood on the rooftop railing of a five-story commercial building, my clothes snapping in the wind as I looked down below. The asphalt had already split apart in jagged seams, and abandoned cars sat piled into chain-reaction wrecks, belching thick black smoke.
I'd been the first to arrive on scene after receiving a support request for this Gate Break.
Between shattered glass and scattered debris, two figures came stumbling into view, running for their lives.
"Mom! Waaah, Mommy!"
"It's okay, we just have to make it a little farther — just a little!"
A mother and child, the woman clutching the little one to her chest and driving her legs forward with everything she had. And behind them, crushing a collapsed streetlight underfoot, a monster was closing in.
A hound-shaped mutant beast, eyes flashing, drool streaming from its jaws in long strands.
There was no time to hesitate.
Ta-ak!
I kicked off the rooftop railing and hurled myself into the open air. Cold wind raked my cheeks as I plummeted straight down from the fifth story. Falling, I drew the sword strapped at my hip.
Shrrring!
I poured every ounce of free-fall acceleration into the tip of the blade — gravity, body weight, and the crushing force of the downward strike all condensed into a single blow.
KWAAAANG—!
The blade split the beast's spine with perfect precision and drove deep into the asphalt itself. Ruptured organs and dark blood burst outward in every direction as the monster detonated on the spot.
Drenched in its blood, I wrenched the sword free. The mother, who had collapsed to the ground and been trembling uncontrollably, lifted her head in a daze.
"A… A-Rank Hunter Lee Hyunwoo?"
Her voice quavered, thin and reedy. It was hardly surprising she recognized me.
Officially ranked A-Rank on the Hunter Registry — though my base physical specs hovered around C-Rank. Enough to clear ordinary trash mobs without breaking a sweat, but nowhere near sufficient to go head-to-head with high-tier creatures. Factor in my explosive burst damage the instant I sacrificed a memory, however, and the Association had classified and published me as an A-Rank hunter.
"Whoa! It's the cool hyung from TV!"
The kid, meanwhile, had completely forgotten the crying fit from moments ago and was practically vibrating, eyes shining.
The woman snapped out of her daze, grabbed the child's hand, and bowed so fast and deep her forehead nearly touched the ground.
"Thank you…! Thank you so much, Hunter-nim!"
I gave a small laugh and pointed toward the end of the street.
"Thank me later — get to the shelter, quickly. This area still isn't safe."
The two of them scrambled to their feet and turned to run — and in that exact instant—
THUD—!
A heavy vibration rolled through the ground and up into the soles of my feet.
THUD! THUD! THUD!
Rhythmic, colossal footsteps. The traffic lights and street signs lining the avenue began to sway, and a primal danger alarm jolted up my spine like a live wire.
Slowly rounding the corner of the intersection, a colossal monster revealed itself.
Eight legs splayed out in every direction, each one sharp as a steel spear, and its dark navy carapace looked hard enough to shrug off anything short of heavy weaponry. A mutant spider beast, dozens of compound eyes flickering and blinking.
'…High B-Rank — no, a mutant, so it's pushing A-Rank.'
My mouth went bone dry.
There was only one way to take it down. I would have to pay a memory.
"Hoo…."
I took a deep breath and glanced to the side — at the kid, frozen solid under the spider's crushing presence.
"Hey, squirt."
"Y-yes?!"
"You know what my ability is?"
Despite the terror still wide in his eyes, the boy nodded with all the bravado he could muster.
"Yes! I know! You sacrifice your own memories to use your power, right! Me and my friends talk about how insanely cool it is all the time!"
The corner of my mouth curled up at the kid's innocent answer.
"That's right. Even I think my power's pretty cool. Watch closely and go brag to your friends — that you saw Hyunwoo-hyung's ability right before your eyes."
The expression on the mother standing beside him, though, was a different story entirely. Her eyes reddened, her face crumpling like she might burst into tears at any second.
I gave her a small shake of my head.
"No need for that look. It's really nothing."
I couldn't stand people pitying me like I was some tragic figure.
I pulled my gaze away from the boy and his mother and slowly turned. Leveling my sword straight at the spider as it hissed threats, drool dripping in ropes from its maw, I murmured in a low voice.
"I offer."
What to sacrifice? Well, if it came to it… it might as well be this one.
'I offer the memory of getting caught watching porn on my sister's phone.'
I felt my body grow lighter.