Struck by Lightning and Suddenly I Can See the Heroine Gallery
Rain was falling. A steady, soaking drizzle that drenched the ground and my body alike.
It poured down as if the heavens had sprung a leak on the very first day of the new year. I walked through it without even an umbrella, letting the rain hammer me.
My clothes were already soaked through, clinging coldly to my skin. A bitter chuckle slipped out as I lifted my head and glared at the sky.
Twenty-five years old. I had accomplished nothing. All I had to show for it was an F-class Hunter license.
The gloomy weather felt like a perfect reflection of my life, and it pissed me off even more.
“Hey, God.”
I muttered like a madman in the middle of an empty alley. There was no real reason. I simply felt like picking a fight with the sky.
“If it looks like I’m not getting a girlfriend this year either, just strike me with lightning…”
Before I could even finish the sentence—
A deafening crack split the air as a blue bolt slammed into a telephone pole ten meters away.
BOOM—!!
The acrid smell of burning cut through the rain and stung my nose. The blinding flash made me stagger.
“…You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. For real? You’re actually doing it?”
I had only been venting. I never expected an actual lightning strike.
It had to be a coincidence. That was what I told myself as irritation surged through me.
I spread both arms wide, looked up at the sky, and shouted.
“I’ll say it again! If it looks like I’m not getting a girlfriend this year either, then strike me with—!”
Flash—
Once again, before I could finish, my vision turned pure white.
The thunder came a beat later. Then the pain that engulfed my entire body. That was the last thing I remembered.
My eyelids felt impossibly heavy.
I forced them open with a groan. “Ugh…”
The familiar musty smell tickled my nose, followed by the equally familiar ceiling of my one-room apartment. Water-stained wallpaper from a leaky roof. Instant ramen cups scattered everywhere.
“…When did I get back?”
I was sure I had been struck by lightning. I wiped away cold sweat and sat up. I checked my body, but there wasn’t a single burn, not even any pain.
“Was it a dream?”
I was still blinking in confusion when I started to pull off my hoodie. That was when it happened.
Ding—
A notification sound rang out, and a translucent blue window suddenly appeared in front of my eyes.
What the hell? A hologram?
Text was scrolling up the floating window like a community forum. It looked like a chat. I rubbed my eyes and looked again, but the translucent window remained.
Just to test it, I reached out and swiped. The screen scrolled down naturally. I dragged upward and it scrolled back up.
“…Is this seriously a gallery?”
I scrolled to the most recent post.
Real forum posts were appearing, and new ones kept refreshing in real time.
“This can’t be real.”
Without thinking, I tapped the latest post.
…Gallery owner? Were they talking about me?
Right then, another title caught my eye.
Open the chat? What the… Oh, this must be it.
I spotted the Live Chat button in the upper right and tapped it. Even then, I still had no idea what was happening.
“Am I hallucinating right now?”
The moment I muttered that, the chat window in the air reacted to my voice and messages began flooding in.
What the hell was this?
The chat was talking as if it knew me. Like people who had been watching me for a long time, throwing around mocking remarks without hesitation.
God, my head hurt. I pressed my throbbing temples and spoke.
“Who the hell are you people? Who are you and what is this? What is this hologram?”
“Only I can see it?”
Second playthrough? What the hell was that supposed to mean?
I stared at the chat window in disbelief.
Survivors? First playthrough?
I ran my fingers through my hair, trying to process it. So the people in this chat were essentially the lingering thoughts from the first playthrough, and the world I was living in was the second one.
What the hell? Was this a joke?
I snorted and sat crookedly on the edge of the bed.
“So you’re saying you’re all ghosts from the first playthrough. Alright, who exactly are you?”
“Wait, the leader of the Demonic Cult? You mean… the actual Cheonma?”
Cheonma, the owner of the Magic Tower, the Knight Commander.
In other words, the ghosts appearing in the chat window before my eyes were the leader of the Demonic Cult, the Archmage known as the master of the Magic Tower, and the commander of Europe’s strongest knight order, Arcadia.
And Kim Soyeon? Wait, the Kim Soyeon? South Korea’s youngest S-class hunter?
Wow. They really had gathered every single one of the world’s strongest figures.
I let out another dumbfounded laugh.
“Let’s say that’s all true. Why would such amazing people be doing this?”
“No, I mean, why are you ghosts…”
“Meet you? Why?”
Excuse me? A Great Rift?
Were they talking about the one that happened thirty years ago?
“Sorry, but the Great Rift was already resolved thirty years ago…”
“…And then the Great Rift happens?”
“…Destruction? You’re saying the world will be destroyed by the upcoming Great Rift?”
“Why me, though?”
I frowned. Destruction? Fine, I got that part. But meet all of you and get stronger?
None of it sounded realistic. It was all just empty talk.
“There’s no proof any of you are real, and even if you are, how am I supposed to do that? Do you people even know me? Do you know what rank hunter I am…?”
…These were supposed to be the legendary figures? They were way too casual.
“7 p.m. Seoul Station tower collapse.”
I snorted and checked the time on my smartphone. It was currently 2 p.m.
“Fine. Let’s see what happens. If nothing occurs, I’m not doing anything you say.”
After making the bet, I poured water into a cup of ramen I had bought from the convenience store and waited.
I sat crookedly in my computer chair, staring holes through my smartphone screen. The chat window only I could see kept chattering nonstop, but I did my best to ignore it.
…What do you want me to do? I’m broke.
6:50 p.m.
Was it really going to happen? No way, right?
6:55 p.m.
Gulp. Even though I kept telling myself it wouldn’t, I still swallowed dryly.
And then, exactly at 7 p.m., the smartphone I had left on a news channel suddenly began shaking with a breaking news banner.
EMERGENCY BREAKING NEWS: The tower at the former Seoul Station has collapsed. It appears the raid has failed… The scene has turned into complete chaos. The nearby Hunter Association branch has dispatched an emergency suppression team…
The urgent voice of a field reporter could be heard. On the screen, part of the collapsed Seoul Station building was visible, along with grotesque monsters pouring out while emitting eerie howls.
I unconsciously dropped the wooden chopsticks in my hand.
With a soft clack, I muttered, “Holy shit…”
It was real. It wasn’t a hallucination or the ramblings of lunatics. The future the chat window had spoken of had actually happened.
I could feel cold sweat running down my back.
Still in a daze, I opened my mouth. “So… what am I supposed to do now?”
The moment I acknowledged my loss in the bet, the chat window flickered brightly.
Among them, the one who had identified herself as Cheonma spoke.
Do I know how to use mana?
“Are you ignoring me right now?”
No matter how much of a nobody I was with nothing but an F-class license, I could still sense mana. A surge of anger rose inside me.
I was still a hunter, damn it.
“Watch this! Even if I’m F-class…!”
I got worked up. To prove my words weren’t just empty boasting, I drew mana from my magic circuits.
I intended to move the faint mana I usually handled and raise it. But the moment I did—
A tingling chill raced up my spine, and blue electric current began flowing across my body.
Crackle. Pop.
The old fluorescent light in the room flickered.
Blue lightning spread out in all directions from both my hands.
“W-what the—?!”
I breathed roughly as I stared down at my hands wrapped in lightning. The crackling sparks rang in my ears while the first playthrough ghosts’ excited messages flooded the chat.
In a low voice, I asked, “Hey, give me some lottery numbers first.”