Eat a Burger, Gain a Skill

Eat a burger. Gain a skill.

…

"So basically nobody knows…."

Kang Yul muttered to himself with a note of disappointment as he scrolled through the Gallery, then slipped his phone back into his pocket.

After discovering the hamburger-shaped flower inside the Gate, he had continued exploring for a while longer, but nothing else of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠note had turned up.

Figuring he could use a break, he stepped out of the Gate and posted a question thread to learn more about the flower — only to come away empty-handed. He had skimmed the information compilation threads as well, but nothing about a plant resembling a hamburger had turned up.

Do I actually have to eat it?

Of course, he wasn't about to just shove it in his mouth without thinking. As the comments had just reminded him, Kang Yul was fully aware of how dangerous it was to eat an unidentified plant. And yet the thought of eating it still crossed his mind for a simple reason.

Kang Yul had awakened as a hunter through a first-come-first-served free burger post. So if this burger flower was a supernatural phenomenon connected to that same origin, wouldn't it at least give him something he could eat — like an actual hamburger?

It was pure speculation, of course, so he intended to leave that option as an absolute last resort and look for better alternatives first. But with no leads whatsoever, the only choices left to him now were "eat the flower" versus "harvest it and submit it for appraisal." The problem was that even between those two, eating it looked like the more promising option.

Kang Yul tried imagining a future where he harvested the flower and sent it off for appraisal.

"So, Hunter. Which Gate did you collect this plant from?"

"Ah, I harvested it from a personal Gate of my own."

"Oh my! Such a precious slave— I mean, talent! We'll have to treat you with the utmost care~!"

"Excuse me? What are you— mmph…! Who are you people…!"

…Just imagining it is horrifying.

Kang Yul brushed the goosebumps from his arms as the thought settled in. That approach was out. He still couldn't afford to reveal the Gate's existence to anyone else.

It wasn't only about the Gate's value, either. The moment researchers learned that a hunter existed who could summon Gates themselves, Kang Yul's future would turn bleak beyond description.

I'd be subjected to every unspeakable experiment imaginable….

Which meant that after going around in circles, the only remaining option was "eat the flower."

…Or just leave it alone?

A thought suddenly crossed his mind. If there was no good option right now, then "just leave it" could be a choice in its own right.

I was going to focus on exploration for a while anyway.

There was nothing inside the cavern worth money at the moment. His plan had been to keep exploring — break through the walls to find a path to the outside, pry off whatever bones were embedded in the rock face and sell them, or dig up minerals that might be buried somewhere.

The flower wasn't about to sprout legs and run away, so there was no real downside to waiting. Some other method might present itself in the meantime.

I'll leave it alone for a while, then.

Having settled on that, Kang Yul strapped his gear back on and stepped into the Gate, a Hunter Market mining pickaxe gripped in one hand for breaking through the cavern walls.

But he had barely been inside a minute.

What the hell? Why does this feel so off…?

His resolve didn't even last sixty seconds. And for good reason.

Is it wilting…?

Deep ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠inside the cavern, the flower that had been the sole source of life and color was withering at a rate visible to the naked eye — as if urging Kang Yul to choose, right now, whether he would eat it or abandon it.

What the…

The sudden turn of events froze his thoughts, but his body didn't stop. Before he knew it, he was sprinting toward the flower. His mind couldn't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠make sense of the situation, yet his body already seemed to know the answer.

He ran in a daze until he found himself standing before the wilting flower. Even then, the only thought in his head was Why…? — but his hand was already reaching out without hesitation.

And a moment later—

Plop…

The instant Kang Yul's fingers touched it, the hamburger-shaped bud dropped limply from its stem.

"Ah!"

Only then did his mind catch up. He reflexively snatched the falling bud out of the air and stared at the flower withering rapidly in his palm.

Ah… it'd be a waste to just throw this away….

One second passed. Then two. Then five.

Kang Yul made his decision.

…I'm eating it.

He tossed the flower into his mouth and chewed. He could die, but there was no hesitation. If you wanted big rewards, you had to be willing to take on risks that matched them. That was the fundamental mindset of the hunters he had always admired. And this wasn't some reckless gamble with odds approaching zero. The chance of survival was real enough.

Please just don't kill me…!

Knowing that didn't make it any less terrifying, of course. While he chewed the flower, he registered neither taste nor texture — his jaw simply worked like a machine. How long did he keep chewing, trembling with fear?

As if rewarding his efforts, a familiar chime rang out and a notification window appeared before his eyes. But rather than celebrating, Kang Yul collapsed onto the ground and stared blankly at the alert.

The knowledge that he had just been walking a tightrope on the edge of death drained every ounce of strength from his body. He didn't even have the energy left to stand.

"Ha… haha…."

Day three since awakening as a hunter.

"…I actually pulled it off."

For the first time, Kang Yul had successfully completed a Gate exploration — and taken his first real step as a hunter.

The next morning.

Kang Yul woke up, ate a simple meal, and prepared to enter the Gate again. Under normal circumstances, he should have started mining the day before and checked out his newly acquired skill — but whether it was the aftereffects of a life-or-death gamble or his brain melting from a dopamine overload, the moment he stepped out of the Gate he had collapsed into sleep, and a great deal of time had slipped away.

I'd love nothing more than to rest for a full day….

The fact that only 921 won remained in his bank account was more than enough to drag him out of bed. Until he earned enough to cover this month's rent and put food on the table, rest simply wasn't an option.

…Time to live responsibly.

Steeling himself once more, he stepped into the Gate. He swept the area with his headlamp, found nothing particularly changed, and decided to check the skill first.

It really is a Gallery-related skill….

He'd guessed as much from the name, but reading a description that confirmed it was that Gallery left him oddly unsettled. He used the Gallery often enough, sure — but he hadn't exactly been hoping for a skill related to it.

That thought only lasted a moment, though.

No, wait — maybe this is only natural…?

Kang Yul had awakened as a hunter through the Gallery. The burger flower itself was practically something he'd obtained thanks to Gallery comments. What were the odds of finding a hamburger-shaped flower the moment he stepped into a Gate?

That flower had to be deeply connected to the supernatural as well. So if it all stemmed from the same phenomenon, then gaining a Gallery-related skill from eating the flower might have been the most natural outcome possible.

Better this than a completely useless skill, I guess.

He decided to look on the bright side. Being able to access the Gallery from inside a Gate might sound unremarkable when you put it into words, but looked at another way, it meant he had acquired a skill that let him communicate with the outside world in real time. It meant a hunter who entered a Gate could break free from the constraint of total isolation from the outside.

Depending on the situation, this is the kind of skill people might go all-out to kidnap someone over.

Hunters belonging to the Hunter Administration or corporate teams mostly operated in groups, so organizations like those would have a real need for hunters with this kind of ability. If Gate work turned out to be a bust down the line, considering a career path in that direction wouldn't be a bad idea either.

With that in mind—

It said to touch this, right…?

Wanting to try out his new skill, Kang Yul tapped the ◈ icon that had appeared on one side of his vision. A small amount of mana drained away, and a familiar Gallery window materialized before his eyes.

It's really the Hunter Gallery…?

It was genuinely the Hunter Gallery he knew. Pointless nonsense posts that helped no one, information threads that were actually somewhat useful, and the supernatural byproduct buy-up posts that had been going up for years. It was the same old Hunter Gallery he always browsed — and yet the moment Kang Yul spotted something, a chill ran through his entire body.

The * icon in front of the title — something that never appeared under normal circumstances — caught his eye. Kang Yul turned his head and double-checked the skill description floating beside the Gallery window.

…Didn't I first see that post three years ago?

He remembered it clearly — it had been one of the first posts he'd seen when he first started browsing the Hunter Gallery. And that meant—

Some supernatural something has been living among us, pretending to be human, for at least three years…?

Maybe the supernatural had been closer to them than he'd ever imagined.