The Box That Shouldn’t Exist
[■ Contribution Rank 1. Musin (100%)]
[■ Congratulations.]
A ranking window floated overhead. Where there should have been a hundred names, there was only one.
Musin.
I could only stare dumbly at that name.
……Well, I’ll be damned.
What the hell was this?
I didn’t hide the tremor in my eyes as I looked straight ahead. The place beyond had turned into a wreck. All from one single punch.
It was the aftershock of a straight fist that had cut through empty air.
It had swept away not only the monsters that had been charging the reincarnators, but even the rift that had spit them out.
……That was fifty times stronger?
A 5,000% increase in power. Even at a glance, that was an absurd number. I just hadn’t expected it to be this absurd.
Crackle.
I felt heat and looked down at my fist. Steam was rising in wisps from the cross-section of my knuckles.
Patcheonmu.
It was a skill I’d gained by recalling my past life and increasing my synchronization rate. Right, a skill.
……This is a skill.
All reincarnators inherited the techniques their past selves had used, and my Patcheonmu would have been no different.
……Can something like this even happen?
Could a gate really be ended with a single strike?
From the start—
……I’ve never even heard of a case where stats got buffed because the rank didn’t match.
Not in anything I’d studied. Not in the centuries of gate history that had unfolded since they first appeared.
Not gates becoming more dangerous.
Not anyone receiving a specific buff.
What in the world……
What exactly was my past life? What was the identity of that unheard-of EX-class rank? As I was lost in that thought—
[■ Congratulations!]
[■ Hidden Mission: Achieved over 50% contribution to gate clearance. Special perk “I’ll Finish It Alone!” has been successfully completed.]
Huh?
A hidden mission?
What the hell was that?
[■ Verifying 100% contribution to the special perk.]
[■ A high success rate will enhance the reward.]
[■ Rewards will be granted upon return to the world of the living.]
The system window kept appearing. I’d earned a reward?
……So I’m getting that because I took all the contribution for myself?
There was such a thing? I’d heard gate types were countless, and that clearing one meant rewards dropped to everyone who’d participated.
I definitely never heard about this sort of thing.
Hidden missions and whatnot. I’d never heard of any of it. Everything I was experiencing was just one thing after another I’d never even imagined.
This was rough. Where was I even supposed to begin making sense of it? Just as I was baffled—
“……Hey!”
A voice stabbed into my ears. I turned my head and saw the Black Night Witch from before.
“You. What the hell are you……?”
Her face was full of confusion.
“……What are you, exactly? You’ve got to be at least S-class, so why did you come here as D-rank? Don’t tell me, you’re one of them too…….”
She swallowed the rest. S-class, she said? It looked like she’d mistaken me because of that last strike.
“……No. No, forget it. What on earth would you even be trying to—”
My shoulder started to itch a little. While she was speaking, I cut her off and lifted a hand to scratch it.
She flinched.
I saw the Black Night Witch jerk in place.
She’d been scared. And once she realized she’d shown it, her face reddened in an instant.
“……Hah…….”
She reacted as though she were offended.
“100% contribution. I’ve never seen a number like that before.”
“Who is that guy? Musin? Have I heard that name before?”
“Never heard of him. What rank is he?”
“Wait, Musin?”
As the murmurs slowly spread, someone seemed to recognize it and blurted out, “If it’s Musin, then that’s the guy from the uproar on the community board.”
“The community board? If you mean the community board…… ah!”
That was the turning point.
“The black name.”
“……The one that haughty mage acknowledged?”
It was a story that had briefly set the reincarnator community on fire. The first ever appearance of a color, and the first time in history the community had gone down.
That incident was what was triggering reactions now.
The Black Night Witch seemed to know about it too, because her eyes narrowed.
“……So it was you. The black name, then. What rank are you? Did you already know all of this when you showed up?”
What exactly had I known? She seemed to be making all sorts of assumptions.
“What are you even—”
The Black Night Witch bristled and started up again. Why was she getting so angry? I was just wondering if I should say something when—
[■ The gate is closing.]
[■ Consciousness is returning to the world of the living.]
[■ Thank you for your hard work.]
With the system message, my consciousness snapped off in an instant.
* * *
Gates first appeared several centuries ago, in the span of human history.
The system had suddenly manifested on an ordinary Earth.
And it warned humanity:
[■ If the gates are not stopped, contamination will rise.]
[■ If contamination reaches 100%, Earth will be destroyed.]
[■ Save the Earth.]
If the gates weren’t stopped, Earth would be destroyed.
Many people didn’t understand what those words meant at first, but before long they found out.
As the reincarnators who had awakened to their past lives refused to enter the gates and contamination continued to rise—
[■ Earth contamination has exceeded 10%]
[■ Calamity manifests.]
Because the gates weren’t being stopped, contamination crossed the 10% threshold.
That day, half of Russia vanished from the face of the Earth.
Unbelievable monsters invaded the planet and devoured everyone in their path, from reincarnators called superhumans to ordinary civilians with no power at all.
For nearly half a year, humanity fought to drive back the invasion and clear the monsters away.
But in the end, they had to give up half of Russian soil to the flood of beasts.
That was when everyone realized it.
If 10% could do that, then what would happen as the number climbed higher and higher?
Only then did people truly begin to fear it, and time passed as the superhumans did everything they could to hold the gates back.
[■ Contamination: 24%]
That was Earth’s current contamination level.
Another calamity had erupted after the 10% disaster. This time it had appeared over the Pacific, but because preparations had been thorough, they managed to contain it without major losses.
Everything was a matter of Earth’s survival.
That was why the value of reincarnators known as superhumans was so high.
That was why so much was expected of them.
The place I had wanted to enter so badly.
It was proof and evidence that one had become a superhuman, so entering a gate had always seemed like a dream.
“……Ah…….”
At last, I’d been able to go through a gate.
I let out a breath the moment I opened my eyes.
The gate was a place that sent only the spirit in; the body remained in the real world.
They’d said there would be a strange kind of nausea on the way back, and they’d been right.
My stomach does feel a little off.
It was an unpleasant sensation. Feeling it, I slowly propped myself up.
Outside, it was still dawn.
“……Ugh.”
I rubbed my stomach to soothe the discomfort.
It still didn’t feel real.
I actually went to a gate.
Did I really go there? I was still bewildered. Everything felt like a dream. Just as I stood there with a vacant look—
[■ Congratulations on clearing the gate.]
[■ You have obtained a reward based on your contribution to the clear.]
[■ Would you like to claim your reward now?]
“Ah.”
As if to prove this wasn’t a dream, the system presented the evidence.
Reward.
It was the reward you received for clearing a gate. A [Y/N] button appeared in front of me. It looked like I had to choose one.
Carefully, I pressed the Y button with my finger.
Ring—!
A loud alarm rang out and flashed before my eyes.
Whoosh.
Something in front of me spun as though it were rotating.
At the same time—
[■ Combining with the hidden mission clear reward. Reward enhanced.]
Was this the reward for getting over 50% contribution all by myself? The thing I’d received as the hidden mission reward merged together with it, and then—
Thunk.
A box dropped onto my thigh.
“What?”
I narrowed my eyes. It looked to be about thirty centimeters on each side. A box, out of nowhere? What was this now?
[■ Pandora’s Box.]
Even the name the system gave it felt odd. Pandora’s Box.
Open it……?
Was it really okay to open it? I kept staring at the box when—
[■ It will grant the item most needed by the opener.]
It even offered a helpful explanation. It would give me the thing I needed most?
What is it, then?
What was the thing I needed most right now? It could really find that and give it to me?
I was curious. Slowly, I opened the box.
The lid lifted. Inside was utterly black, as if whatever was in there didn’t want to be seen.
Was there even anything in there……?
I reached into the black space. The moment I did—
Oh.
Something caught in my hand. This was it? I pulled it out. My hand emerged from the darkness, dragging whatever it had caught along with it.
……A handle?
It was the handle of something. It kept coming, long and heavy. For now, there was no way it should have fit inside a thirty-centimeter box.
Just as the object’s shape became somewhat clear—
[■ S-rank Artifact.]
The rank came into view.
Crazy.
An S-rank artifact?
……Does that even make sense?
Some items that come out of gate rewards are called artifacts.
But if it was S-rank here—
That’s a national-level relic.
It meant an item managed by an entire country. The price couldn’t even be measured.
And that thing was being pulled out for me right now? As the object most needed by me, no less?
My anticipation surged. I was just about to pull the artifact free when—
Clench.
Huh?
Something grabbed my wrist. I couldn’t see anything, but I could feel it.
[No.]
Then I heard a voice.
[If you’re going to give something, then give it properly.]
[You can’t hand out something like this to such a narrow vessel.]
It was the familiar voice of an old man. Just like that—
Rrrip!
“……!!”
My hand was yanked back into the box. I let go of the handle. Damn it, my S-rank artifact……!
For a moment I was stunned, but my hand moved against my will, groping through the darkness and dragging something else up instead.
What was this? What it dragged free was a pale green bead.
I’d missed the S-rank artifact and pulled out a tiny bead instead?
My anger was climbing all the way to my scalp when—
[■ SS-rank Artifact.]
The moment I saw the rank, the heat drained right out of me.
“……SS?”
An SS-rank artifact. My eyes widened at the rating. I knew this one. There was only one in the world.
The artifact in the United States.
As far as I knew, there was only a single item of that rank on Earth, and it was under American control.
This jade bead is SS-rank?
What the hell was it?
[■ Korka’s Mirage [SS]]
Of course, the name didn’t mean anything to me. Just as I was wondering what this bead even was—
Fwoooosh-!
Suddenly it burst with light. And then—
Clutch-!
“Keck!?”
It drove straight into my chest.
Right where the heart was.
The bead sank into my chest as if it were melting into me, and a tremendous heat surged through my body.
“Ghk……!!!”
I grabbed my chest and collapsed. The pain was incredible.
[■ Korka’s Mirage and your body are being fused.]
[■ Korka, one of the Four Seasonal Gods, is taking note of the trace that is its own.]
[■ Korka curses the human trying to seize its trace, enraged.]
[■ Korka’s curse does not work.]
[■ Korka is confused.]
[■ Korka attempts to locate you using a divine artifact.]
[■ Failed due to the difference in rank.]
[■ Due to the difference in rank, Korka receives the backlash of the failed pursuit.]
[■ Korka screams.]
[■ Korka collapses from the pain. Fusion of mirage and body successful.]
Unknown messages exploded across my vision. Before long, the deathlike pain faded just as quickly.
“Kgh…… Haaah…….”
Cold sweat pouring down me, I rolled my eyes around. Another message floated in front of me.
[■ Korka’s Mirage [SS]]
[■ Because your synchronization rate is low, you cannot fully manifest the artifact’s power.]
[■ Its effectiveness has been reduced.]
[■ You can easily perceive the essence of those who exist under the Four Seasonal Gods.]
[■ Conversely, none of those under the Four Seasonal Gods can perceive your essence.]
[■ Effect sealed.]
[■ Effect sealed.]
[■ Effect sealed.]
System windows kept piling up. It was hard to read them all. My head was a mess.
“……Ugh.”
What a state this was. I clutched my still-stinging chest and somehow forced myself upright. Just then—
Knock, knock, knock.
As if there wasn’t time for this, someone knocked from outside.
“Hunter Lee Jinwoo……!”
It was the nurse, her voice frantic. Had she come in the middle of the night to check on me or something?
I looked toward the door with a tired expression.
“The association president has arrived……!”
“……What?”
I froze at the nurse’s words.
Who came, now……?