The Bottom of the Golden Generation

『Cheongryong Guild's youngest raid leader, Hunter Kang Taehyuk. Today, he has succeeded in conquering an A-Rank dungeon once again……』

A familiar face appeared on the TV screen.

"Good for him."

I muttered from where I lay sprawled on the sofa, munching on chips.

On screen, Kang Taehyuk was surrounded by a swarm of reporters. Even under the relentless barrage of camera flashes, his face was calm and at ease, as if he'd long since grown used to the attention.

『Rumors say an S-Rank promotion is just around the corner for you. What's your take?』

『I'm still a long way off.』

Kang Taehyuk smiled and waved his hand.

『Some of my classmates are far ahead of me, after all.』

I changed the channel.

『Last week, Hunter Yoon Serin became the twelfth S-Rank in South Korea…….』

"……."

Another familiar face. I switched channels again.

『Leading the future of South Korea's hunter scene — a new Golden Generation—』

Click.

I turned off the TV.

In the silence of the living room, the sound of my chewing was suddenly, irritatingly loud. There sure were a lot of familiar faces on today, of all days.

One had become the raid leader of a major guild. Another had already carved her name into the ranks of S-Rank — a title held by only twelve people in the entire country.

It had been years since I cut off contact with any of them, but there was no way I couldn't know what my old classmates were up to. Their names were everywhere.

"Hoo…."

Hero Academy, 17th Class. The class I graduated from had been extraordinary from the moment we enrolled.

The incoming students' average was the highest in the school's history. Records were shattered over and over during our time there, and even before graduation, the big guilds were already locked in a bidding war over who'd get to sign us.

And the moment we graduated, we all shot upward as if we'd grown wings. That's how ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠we eventually earned a name of our own.

The greatest Golden Generation of all time.

And me, from that very same class…

I had never, not once, been counted as a member of it.

I sat up and looked around.

Leftovers from delivered food. Empty liquor bottles strewn carelessly across the table.

And in the corner, a sword, shoved out of sight, gathering dust.

It had been three years since I graduated from ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the Academy. While my classmates announced their names one by one and claimed their places in the world,

I was living as an unemployed F-Rank nobody.

Ding—

The phone I'd tossed on the table rang. With a lazy groan, I dragged myself up and checked the screen.

My living expenses for the month.

This was one of the reasons I'd been able to coast along unemployed for three years.

I lived in a small villa on the outskirts of Cheonsan, where the clan estate was located. On top of that, a monthly allowance arrived like clockwork.

Thanks to that, I never had to lift a finger to keep myself fed and housed. Honestly, didn't that put me in the top one percent of the unemployed?

"Even a life like this has to end eventually, I guess."

I murmured under my breath.

The Cheonsan Baek Clan — the family I was born into — still had no official successor.

Any child of the clan head could enter their name into the succession, and until the contest was decided, each candidate was entitled to support befitting their station.

I was the current clan head's son too. So even now, nominally, I was one of the candidates.

Of course.

No one actually considered me a contender for succession.

The reason was simple. I was weak.

The trait I'd awakened with was pathetic, and my talent was below average to boot.

It's not that I gave up from the start. If anything, being surrounded by gifted people made me cling to the contest all the more desperately.

While others trained once, I trained twice. While they trained twice, I trained three times.

My palms split open from gripping the sword, and I drove my body to ruin until I dropped.

But what wasn't going to happen, didn't happen.

My final grade at graduation was F. Nothing much changed after that, either.

In the end, I was pushed out of the succession race long ago, and I fled — practically ran away — and shut myself up in this villa.

Three years, just like that.

"……."

Seeing it laid out as a number felt strange. Three whole years of doing nothing.

"What the hell am I even doing with my life."

Saying it out loud only made it sting more.

"Pathetic."

Deciding I couldn't go on like this, I got up. Not that some grand new ambition had suddenly taken root.

I just.

Needed to do something.

Poking at my phone, I opened a hunter job app.

"……So F-Ranks aren't even people, huh."

Every listing I could see had a minimum requirement of E-Rank.

I was about to give up and close the app when one posting caught my eye.

"Now that I can do."

Without a second thought, I hit apply.

"Already?"

I checked the posting again. Assembly time: 2 PM. The date… today.

The clock floating at the top of my phone read 1:34 PM.

"Oh, come on."

There was no time to prepare, let alone shower.

"Guess I'm wearing a hat."

Thankfully, the location wasn't far — an F-Rank dungeon nestled at the southern edge of Cheonsan.

I dug through the clothes strewn across the floor, pulled on the least wrinkled thing I could find, and hurried to the front door.

Stepping outside, the harsh sunlight stabbed at my eyes.

"Ugh."

I honestly couldn't remember the last time I'd gone out during the day.

Hat pulled low, I quickened my pace. Taking a nearby warp gate, I could just barely make it on time.

"…Whew."

It was close, but I arrived at the F-Rank dungeon listed on the posting without being late.

"Baek Doyun?"

At the sound of my name, I turned. A middle-aged man in a fluorescent safety vest stood there holding a tablet.

"Yes."

"You're the one applying for post-raid cleanup today, correct?"

"That's right."

The man glanced back and forth between his screen and my face.

"Let me see your hunter license, please."

I pulled up the electronic license saved on my phone, and the check took only a moment.

"All good. Put this on."

I shrugged on the fluorescent vest he handed me. Big block letters were plastered across the back: POST-RAID CLEANUP CREW.

"Once the raid wraps up, just follow the others inside. Clear out the corpses and debris, and collect only the marked byproducts. If you find anything still alive, don't touch it — just yell out immediately."

"Understood."

"You can wait over there."

Where the man pointed, a handful of people wearing the same vest as me had gathered. I was heading over when—

Boom.

A heavy tremor rolled out from deep inside the dungeon entrance.

The people around me barely bothered to glance over.

"Looks like they're done."

"Fast, today."

The moment someone finished speaking, the membrane at the dungeon entrance rippled.

Moments later, figures began to emerge one by one. The first out was a man carrying a shield.

Dark red blood was splattered across his armor everywhere, but his stride was perfectly steady. Behind him, the rest of the hunters filed out, weapons in hand.

"Hey, Park Junho. Your shield's done for again."

"It's not done for, it's scratched."

"You call that scratched? The side's split clean through."

"I'll just repair it."

"You said the same thing last time."

"It's my money fixing it, so why are you losing your mind over it?"

Light banter, considering they were covered head to toe in blood and dust. Off to one side, someone grumbled while getting a wound on their arm treated.

"Bringing rookies along makes this twice as exhausting as usual."

"At least nobody got hurt."

"And I suppose what happened to me doesn't count as getting hurt?"

"That's just a scratch, isn't it?"

"What is it with everyone and their precious scratches today?"

Laughter rippled through the group.

Just then, the cleanup foreman in his safety vest walked over to the raid team.

"Great work out there!"

"Ah, yeah. Thanks."

One of the hunters at the front raised a hand in acknowledgment.

"Everyone's out, right?"

The person counting heads behind him nodded.

"Yes. All accounted for."

"Good."

The foreman gave the raid team a quick once-over.

"You've earned your rest. We'll handle the rest, so go home and take it easy."

"Will do. Take care."

After the brief exchange, the foreman turned around.

"We go in in ten minutes! Check your gear and get ready!"

The waiting cleanup crew members rose from their spots one by one.

"Alright, dinner's on someone tonight."

A bright voice drifted over from the raid team.

"Dinner again?"

"What, you don't want to?"

"No, sir. Happy to have a meal with you."

"Then why should I pay?"

"Wait, you're the one who brought it up first!"

"I proposed dinner. Never said I was buying."

"Wow."

Jeering laughter broke out. I slipped on my gloves, thinking nothing of it.

"…Huh?"

Then someone's voice cut off mid-sentence. A moment later, footsteps approached me.

I looked up to see a man from the raid team walking straight toward me, staring intently.

At first I didn't recognize him. His hair was shorter, and his frame had filled out far more than it used to be.

But as he drew closer, a familiar face came into focus. The man's eyes narrowed.

"Doyun… right?"

"Yoon Seungbeom?"

An Academy classmate of mine.

"Wow, it really is you."

Seungbeom had been approaching warmly, but his gaze snagged on my outfit and stopped dead. The fluorescent vest.

"You work here?"

"Part-time."

"Ah…."

His voice trailed off, and an awkward silence settled in. One of the rookies behind him asked,

"Is that a friend of yours, sir?"

"Yeah, an Academy classmate."

"Classmate… from the 17th class?"

The rookie's eyes went wide — then dropped to my clothes.

"That's the Golden Generation."

"……."

Feeling awkward for no good reason, I answered.

"I'm F-Rank."

"Oh…."

The rookie averted his eyes uncomfortably and shuffled back behind Seungbeom.

"Alright! Let's move out!"

Just then, the foreman bellowed. I gave Seungbeom a half-hearted wave.

"Gotta get to work."

"Oh? Hey, wait — give me your num—"

I turned away as if I hadn't heard.

If an old classmate had actually pitied me right then, I honestly wouldn't have been able to bear it.

Should've just stayed home.

I entered the dungeon.

A dungeon after its raid was completely quiet.

All around were the only traces of the battle that had raged until moments ago.

Shattered walls and floors slicked with blood. Kobold corpses sprawled here and there.

"First-timers, start collecting the corpses! Don't touch the mana stones!"

Following the foreman's orders, I picked up a grabber claw and a collection sack.

It was a bit rough going at first, but nothing I couldn't manage. It's not like I'd never set foot in a dungeon back at the Academy.

The problem lay elsewhere.

Three years of playing a full-time couch vegetable had utterly wrecked my stamina.

After moving just a few corpses, I was already out of breath.

Still, I kept my hands moving at a steady pace, and before I knew it, the corpses littering the area had thinned out considerably.

"Hoo…."

I straightened my back for a moment to catch my breath, then reached for the next corpse—

"Hm?"

A trail of blood stretching across the floor caught my eye.

At first I took it for a smear left behind by hauling the bodies.

But something was off. The trail began at the pile of corpses and ran in a long line deeper into the corridor.

And it hadn't dried yet.

No way…?

I raised my head.

Something was twitching in the distance.

A kobold.

Its flank was carved open deep, and one leg dragged with a limp. It had evidently played dead among the corpses, then slipped away once we started clearing them out.

At the same moment, the foreman's instructions came back to me. If you find a live specimen, don't engage — shout out immediately.

"Foreman!"

The instant I bellowed it out, per the manual, the kobold spotted me too.

Kyak!

Baring its teeth, it bolted deeper into the dungeon.

"Huh?"

Other workers were still inside. Deeper in.

"Hey, wait—!"

My body was moving before my brain caught up.

Even a half-dead monster would be more than the cleanup crew could handle.

Not that I had a weapon either, but…

The image of Yoon Seungbeom flashed through my mind.

"……."

A kobold in that state? I could deal with it alone, easily.

Steeling myself, I rounded the corner.

"!"

A short dagger flashed. I twisted away — too late.

Thud—

A searing heat bloomed across my side. My breath caught in my throat.

"Kgh."

Gritting my teeth, I kicked the kobold square in the chest to break the distance. The creature lost its grip on the dagger and went rolling across the floor.

I pressed a hand to the wound. Hot blood ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠seeped out between my fingers.

"Damn it…."

F-Rank. The lowest danger grade the Association assigned.

But that only meant weak relative to other hunters.

A kobold was still a monster. Get careless, and killing a human was nothing to it.

Kyak!

The kobold staggered back to its feet.

Its eyes had changed completely. The eyes of a cornered beast.

Come on, then.

I lowered my stance.

My body was sluggish, and my breathing was already ragged.

But three years of slacking hadn't erased what the Academy had drilled into me.

Kyak!

The kobold lunged.

The only reason that last strike had landed was the ambush — the movements of an injured creature were nothing I couldn't read now.

I angled my body slightly, let the outstretched arm slip past, and seized its wrist.

"Hah!"

I yanked with everything I had, and the kobold lost its footing. Without letting the opening slip by, I drove my shoulder into it.

The creature's back slammed into the wall.

Crack—

"……?"

Hairline fractures spidered across the wall behind the kobold. Then, as the creature thrashed, the entire wall shuddered.

Crack-craaack—

"W-wait—"

The wall came down in a single collapse.

"Cough, cough."

Dust burst outward in a cloud. Covering my mouth and nose with my hand, I staggered backward.

"……?"

But the kobold was acting strangely.

Flat on the ground, it was dragging itself toward the broken wall as if squeezing out the very last of its strength.

I lifted my head and looked where it was crawling.

In the darkness, a faint light was flickering.

What is that?

I picked up the dropped dagger, finished off ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the kobold, and cautiously stepped through.

Past the narrow gap, I found — contrary to my expectations — a surprisingly spacious chamber.

And at its center, a single round crystal hovered, giving off a faint glow.

"A dungeon… core?"

It looked slightly different from what I knew, but there was no mistaking it — this was a dungeon core.

Why is this here?

The moment I approached, a message bloomed in the center of my vision.

…What?

In that instant, something resonated deep inside my body.

"……."

No idea what it meant. But I couldn't see how accepting would cost me anything.

Got any reason to refuse?

"…I do."

At the same time, my mind flooded with white.

"Reawakening?!"

So startled I forgot the pain entirely, I shouted it out loud.

In that same instant, my heart slammed against my ribs.

Thump—

My vision pulled back. No — it expanded.

The chamber I stood in. The workers still collecting corpses in the corridor.

Every single space that made up the dungeon unfolded before my eyes at once, as if spread across the palm of my hand.

"Whoa……."

The awe slipped out of me unbidden.

As I swept my senses back and forth through the dungeon's interior, a small window popped up at the edge of my vision.

Wondering if there was some hidden area, I checked it out of curiosity.

Earth — well, that name made sense.

But… Cheonmugye?

What on earth was this?