A New Class

Follow the road uphill from Hongje Station and you eventually reach Ant Village — an unauthorized shantytown slated for demolition, where Seo Hwarang and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠his family lived.

Mom, Dad, and me. Three of us together.

They weren't renting, either — the place belonged to his parents. Twenty pyeong at around six million won per pyeong meant it would fetch roughly 120 million won if they sold. His parents seemed determined to hold out to the bitter end, but the truth was, once they left here they'd be driven clean out of Seoul. His parents' work was here, and Seo Hwarang had just taken a job at the nearby library, so they were hanging on by necessity.

"Whew."

The park behind the village. Instead of heading straight home, Seo Hwarang made his way there. Ever since he was little, whenever his head got too crowded, he'd always grabbed a book and sat in that park.

He settled onto the wide bench.

"...Status window," he whispered, careful in case anyone might hear.

What is this?

Seo Hwarang scrutinized the status window with hawk-sharp eyes. The rank was indeed S, and the class was Skill Book Collector. But... why was his MP infinite? Was that just what came with being S-rank?

Hmm.

His head began to ache. He'd read plenty of books about awakeners, but there wasn't a shred of information anywhere about a born S-rank. And he'd never once heard of anyone starting with infinite MP. The unspoken rule was that everyone began with 10,000/10,000, same as their HP, wasn't it?

Let's check the rest too.

Seo Hwarang already knew all about the commands that could be summoned into view upon awakening — Status Window, Title Window, Skill Window, Inventory, Equipment, and so on. Titles, items, and gear were obviously going to be empty, so he whispered right away.

"...Skill window."

Three skills. He hadn't learned a single thing yet, so they were clearly class-linked skills.

Number one first.

He pressed on it in his field of vision, and another interface bloomed open.

Just as I thought.

A skill that embodied the very essence of the Skill Book Collector — the literal ability to collect skill books.

Next, number two.

Whoa. One look and you can tell this one's completely busted.

Collect skills, then pour them out endlessly with infinite mana. Even without knowing much about this industry, he could tell this was a madman's awakening. Still...

All I ever wanted was to read, though.

Frankly, he wasn't all that thrilled yet. What good was power? He had no intention of entering dungeons in the first place.

Next, number three.

"...What even is this?"

It could take him to the ancient Aetherion Continent? Using this skill? And with five coins already sitting there, it felt like the system was openly beckoning him to use it right this second.

Yeah, no. That was a bit much, even so...

"Hoooh."

Seo Hwarang let out long, heavy sighs. He had no idea what kind of place Aetherion was. He'd scoured his phone up and down, and not even the tiniest hint turned up. Go to some potentially dangerous place with zero preparation? That was straightforward suicide.

But still.

— Countless skill books exist throughout the ancient Aetherion Continent.

That line kept gnawing at his eyes. Books. Why did the mere fact that there were books waiting to be read over there set his heart racing like this? In the present era, countless books had vanished. Most publishing houses had shuttered their doors, leaving new volumes rarer than gold.

But that world — it had books in ridiculous abundance, didn't it?

"Ugh, no!"

No matter what, that wasn't happening. It wasn't!

Eyes squeezed shut, Seo Hwarang shook his head and headed home. Sleep, that's what. Nothing beat it for flushing out stray thoughts. However much he loved reading, his life mattered more.

Tap. Tap-tap!

After a light dinner, Seo Hwarang lay sprawled on his floor mat, poking at his phone. He'd meant to just sleep, but those skill books kept floating before his eyes — what was he supposed to do about that? If he couldn't go to the Aetherion Continent, he could simply try getting his hands on one skill book, right?

Seo Hwarang knew that a fair number of skill books surfaced as dungeon rewards every year. A rare prize among rewards, sure, but they undeniably existed. And naturally, the value of a skill ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠book was sky-high.

One casual search for "Skill Book" on Google and the listings came pouring out.

And then—

...Insane.

Half a million dollars? A million? Whose dog were those figures named after? In Korean won, that came out to roughly 650 million and 1.3 billion.

Ha. Even for combat skills, this was too much.

Where would I get that kind of money?

Selling his family's home wouldn't even bring in 200 million won. What made it even crazier was that those were the relatively cheap listings. The truly expensive ones climbed to 10 billion, even 100 billion won — and skill books too precious to price at all never even hit the market. They got sold off on generous terms to world-ranker awakeners.

"Whew."

There was no answer. What good was being S-rank if he couldn't afford a single skill book?

"...No point stirring up trouble. Let's just go to work tomorrow like always."

For all that, Seo Hwarang had been content with his ordinary life. Wealth? Power? Fame? He needed none of it. He lived on the simple joy of reading books in his book-filled corner of the world, and found happiness in encountering new ones.

Thud!

He tossed the phone aside and closed his eyes. Sure enough — the moment he gave up, the stray thoughts melted away. He was going to sleep like a log tonight.

The next day, Seo Hwarang reported to the library as usual. From far across the room, Yoo Seon-ah came striding toward him with murder in her stride.

"Hey, you little punk! Get over here!"

She stomped right up, seized him from behind in a headlock, and squeezed.

"Gah— let go!"

"Let go, my ass. Do you have any idea how much pain you put me through yesterday? Look over there. Don't you see I shelved the whole thing by myself?"

Seo Hwarang grabbed at her arm in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a panic, but Yoo Seon-ah's forearm muscles were already bulging to full swell. This noona — for someone so skinny, her strength was seriously alarming.

"Hrk—khk! Noona, you're a mage, why are you this strong?!"

"You punk! A Fire Mage IS a strength mage! Dieeeee!"

"We're not kids, why are you— kghk! Khaaak!"

Only after the whole ruckus died down did Yoo Seon-ah's anger subside a little. That noona was, for all her violence, genuinely kind. Most E-rank awakeners looked down on and ignored ordinary people, but she had none of that and got along with everyone. And she seemed to have a slightly naive side, too.

Wait, no — is she just an idiot?

Any awakener in their right mind wouldn't be camped out at a library hoping to trip over some stroke of fortune like this.

"So, you punk! Why'd you leave like that yesterday? You didn't actually awaken, did you?"

"...I told you, I didn't."

Seo Hwarang ultimately decided to bury the truth of his awakening. A sparrow should live like a sparrow. Try following the stork around, and you'll only tear yourself apart.

"No luck on the fortune front for you either, noona?"

"If I'd had any luck, would I be showing my face at work? I'd have quit on the spot and joined a guild. Haah, D-rank would change everything, right? I heard they start bidding at like 200 million a year from D-rank up."

Wow. Two hundred million a year. For Seo Hwarang, that was a dream number.

"Then honestly, wouldn't running dungeons be better? There's really nothing here at the library..."

He knew, because he'd read nearly all of it. Ah. Read everything and there'd be a fortune waiting, huh? Except it took reading over a hundred thousand volumes... and that fortune had already been claimed — by Seo Hwarang himself. A unique class that only he could ever possess.

"Don't worry about me, dude. I believe. There's definitely a fortune waiting in this library. If I were a warrior, maybe not — but I'm a mage, aren't I?"

"...Your strength doesn't seem very mage-like, though."

"Hey! Shut it. A mage should always stay close to books, obviously. Live in a library long enough and some magic-related fortune is bound to walk in the door."

Hmm. She had a point, actually. The skill Seo Hwarang had acquired, Wellspring of Mana — any mage would kill for that one.

"So, anything new among the fresh arrivals today? ...Nope, nothing, huh?"

"Yep, finished shelving everything, so... I'm gonna read. Got any recommendations?"

Just as the two of them were idly bantering—

Kurrung!

A faint tremor suddenly rolled through the air.

"Hm?"

Seo Hwarang hadn't noticed, but Yoo Seon-ah, whose senses were considerably sharper, clearly felt it.

"What was that?"

"What's wrong?"

"...An earthquake? You didn't feel that?"

"I didn't feel anything."

The moment Seo Hwarang narrowed his eyes—

"Wait!"

Yoo Seon-ah drew her staff from her inventory. FWOOSH! Flame roared up the length of it. Seen like this, she really did have the presence of a mage...

But why?

"I smell monster."

...Monster stench. Come to think of it, there did seem to be a faint whiff of sewer stink drifting from somewhere. Above them? Seo Hwarang tilted his head back — and froze solid.

What the hell is that.

"...Noona."

"Yeah?"

"Over there..."

Clinging to the library's ceiling was, unmistakably, a massive bat — the kind that had no business existing anywhere in Korea. A monstrous bat with a blood-crimson horn and drool dripping from its grotesque, gaping maw!

Goosebumps raced down Seo Hwarang's arms. He'd read a monster encyclopedia once, and the name surfaced instantly: the D-rank Horned Bat. The terror of the skies, capable of shredding a grown human into sashimi within ten seconds.

"That's a Horned Bat, isn't it...?"

Yoo Seon-ah looked where he was pointing, and quietly breathed:

"...Fuck."

"We're dead."