An Orphan Evolves into a Female Orphan (1)
During the high school entrance ceremony, a monster appeared in the sports field and bit off the principal's head.
Blood gushing from the jagged stump was an unnaturally vivid red, like stage prop paint.
Some girl screamed. Parents screamed too. My ears rang.
I turned toward where my mom and dad were watching the ceremony. Another monster loomed behind them, jaws wide.
"Mom—"
The monster snapped its jaws shut. Crunch.
That incident got a name.
Gate Incident.
Gates suddenly ripped open worldwide, spilling monsters from another world that massacred people.
The world I knew vanished after that.
Too many died. Society's foundations—electricity, water, food, security, even governance in many places—collapsed.
But one group thrived in the ruins.
The murim warriors.
Name: Cheon Do-yeon. Age: 28. Education: Middle school grad. Job: Porter.
Over ten years post-Gate Incident, that was my profile.
Not your average porter. The dangerous kind.
I trailed hunters raiding gates, hauling out monster cores and items from corpses. That was my gig.
Upside: Fat pay.
Downside: Could scream your last inside a gate anytime. And...
"Hey, porter! Hurry up!"
"Sorry! Coming right now!"
...kissing up to arrogant, high-handed murim assholes.
Here inside the gate: Dense forest, pine-scented air.
The one yelling at me? Nam Yeon, senior disciple of Dobongpa, the Daoist sect ruling Dobong-gu.
Sharp-eyed, irritable-looking. And just as sharp and irritable in reality.
"Keep up! Drop one core, and I'll dock double from your contract fee!"
Bitch. I cursed inwardly. Had to. Defying murim folk was suicidal, job or not.
Murim warriors: New elite in this broken world.
Only they could slay modern weapons-proof monsters. Only they filled the security void.
Plus, they had perks the old murim never dreamed of.
"Tch..."
Nam Yeon clicked her tongue, fiddling with her invisible status window.
"Ugh... Let's see, Cheon Do-yeon, F-grade... No wonder you're useless. Martial arts incompatible? Who hired this trash?"
Joo Yeon, another Dobongpa senior disciple, soothed her.
"Haha, senior sister, don't get mad. F-grade or not, he's diligent with porter work, right?"
Nam Yeon glared at me.
"Try slacking, and I'll blacklist you from the industry."
"H-ha... Sorry. Please go easy."
I forced a grin, chewing the inside of my cheek.
Normal folks would've quit over this humiliation.
A single guy could scrape by without this gig.
But I couldn't quit. Needed 7.3 million won by month's end.
Reason? Black spots blanketing half my body.
Joo Yeon eyed me pitifully.
"Black Spot Disease patient..."
Post-Gate oddity afflicting some. Body slowly blackens, ends in total ink and death. Incurable.
Drugs to slow it? 10 million won monthly.
Health insurance? Korea couldn't afford that luxury.
No money, no medicine—you die.
Mine hit the night of the Gate Incident.
"Ugh... Black Spot? Stay back. You're creepy."
Nam Yeon oozed disgust.
Fucking bitch...
How's she gonna ascend to immortality acting like that? Daoist sect means cultivation, cultivation means virtue, right? At least distance from worldly vices?
Shitty cunt. Bet her skills suck too.
Then, a massive beast emerged from the woods.
"Grrr..."
"Senior sister."
"Hm. Cheolsan-gun? High-grade gate means high-grade monsters."
Nam Yeon posed: one hand forward, one back.
"Raaargh!!"
Cheolsan-gun charged.
"Hup!"
Nam Yeon thrust her palm with a shout. White flash—boom!!
Its head exploded, brains spraying.
"As expected of Senior Sister Nam Yeon!"
"Tiger Shadow Immortal Palm... Mastering such a tough technique!"
"Senior sister, you'll cross the wall soon!"
"Don't hype me. Even I might not reach Absolute Peak."
Her lips twitched to her ears. Until she glared at me.
"What're you doing, porter?"
"Yes, ma'am!"
While Nam Yeon and the Dobongpa crew chatted leisurely, I butchered the wrecked Cheolsan-gun, extracted its core, and packed it.
Standing, she beckoned.
"Bring it."
She inspected, pleased.
"Big, good quality. Might score big here. Lucky, maybe an item too..."
She glanced, tapped my shoulder.
"Yeonryo Blood Point... right here."
Pain exploded.
"Argh!!"
"Steal anything, and this 'light tap' will seem mercy. Got it?"
"H-ha... Got it."
Dark urge hit: Punch her face once, even if I die next.
—Survive.
Mom's voice echoed.
I clenched teeth. Tasted blood. Endured.
Nam Yeon led.
"Let's go. Long way to clear this gate."
"...Aigoo, fuck, I'm dying."
Gate cleared, world midnight outside.
Porter pay was solid. They had to pay big for risking lives.
I'd seen double-digit porters die myself.
Paying today's wage, Nam Yeon said:
—Come tomorrow too.
Request? Order.
Curses bubbled unbidden.
Detoured to a convenience store pre-home.
Exhausted eyes hit soju.
Not a drinker usually, but today...?
[Price: Market Rate]
"Auntie, soju bottle?"
"Now? 32,000 won."
"..."
"Don't glare. We barely break even."
"Fuck, then these crackers?"
Pointed at crunch ramen snacks every Korean knows.
"8,000 won."
"..."
"Oops, yesterday's price."
"Today's?"
"8,700 won."
"..."
No energy to rage at cracker prices.
Old news anyway.
Root cause same for booze or snacks: Post-Gate sourcing, factories, transport—all hell.
Trucks needed hunter escorts in convoys now.
"...Just rice and kimchi."
Shitty world. Shitty life.
But home excited me.
Tiny studio, but internet access.
Booted PC first.
Bought with years of post-med savings from life-risking hauls.
World sucked, but power and net existed. Pricey.
Clicky-click.
Hit the galleries—internet forums.
Scanning incidents and news: My sole dopamine hit.
Fave: Murim Gallery.
Titles alone buzzed.
Rage at infuriating posts, chuckle at humor, hoard useless trivia, feel sated.
Sometimes vent on murim pricks who shit on me, anonymous power.
Sleep at night, work at dawn.
My routine.
Unchanging days. Black Spot worsening—maybe years left, who knows.
Trash-talk Nam Yeon bitch?
Tempting, but skipped. Dobongpa spotting it? Disaster.
Murim Gallery perk: Occasional martial arts shares. Huge buzz—421 comments.
Rare non-sect, non-donor access to real techniques.
Click.
Not all, just 4 for now
"Heh..."
Chuckled at the memes, eyed images for forms.
"Ugh...!"
Sudden agony—like blood turned to acid, burning from inside.
Black Spot flare-up.
Lately, eyeing martial info triggered it.
Medicine...!
Popped bottle, dropped a pill under bed.
"Fuck!"
Swallowed one, flattened to floor.
Grab it. That's cash.
Reached under bed. So close...
"Just a bit more... Argh!"
Forced it, wrenched shoulder.
"Grr... Ah, ugh..."
Clutching pain, misery crashed.
Fuck. Fuuuuck.
I wanna live well too.
Master badass arts, raid high-risk gates, rake cash.
Nine Great Clans, Five Great Chaebols, Seven Sects praising me, royals offering posts or princess brides.
Earn billions, gorge on snacks, meat, luxuries till stuffed.
Spacious house, fat internet, AC, chill life.
Or just normal.
Or painless.
"...Tired."
Tears welled, sober.
—You must live.
"...Mom, it's hard."
Curled tight, held back. Man crying? Pathetic.
Passed out. More exhausted than thought.
[Attempting Awakening (3653rd time)]
[Failure]
[Target's Karma Value Rises (Current Total: 3653)]
[Target's Karma Value Reached Limit]
[Awakening Perk Upgraded from SSS to Transcendent]
[Awakening Perk Grade Reached Upper Limit]
Next day.
"Agh... Neck's killing me..."
Bad sleep posture wrecked me, but dragged to yesterday's gate on Nam Yeon's schedule.
Birds chirped.
Post-Gate Seoul: Transformed.
Asphalt cracked. Ruins untouched for 10 years. Lights, signs busted, shoved aside at best.
Few on streets. Population halved.
"Cough, cough."
Feeling worse today. Flare and drop dead any day?
"Hey, kid."
Hope Nam Yeon bitch chills to—
"Kid!"
"!"
Looked around: Tiny girl waving.
"Come here a sec."
"...I'm heading to work?"
"Just a moment. Listen to adults."
Adult? Tiny thing.
Daoist robes, super long hair.
Murim? High-realm child-body side effect?
Stooped for her inspection.
She grabbed wrist, yanked sleeve, bared black-spotted skin.
"!"
Tensed. Recalled Nam Yeon's disgust.
"Indeed...!"
But she lit up like treasure found. No hate.
"Child, which sect are you with!?"
Her eyes sparkled intensely.