Chapter 2
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: Kang Han-gyeol (1)
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I opened my eyes. A white ceiling, sectioned by a grid pattern, came into view. I slowly looked around.
“This place is…”
An ordinary hospital bed and the structure of a modern building greeted me. Had I returned to my original world? I couldn’t be sure.
“A hospital?”
The memory was faint, but before I crossed over to that other world, I had been struck by lightning. If I had been taken to a hospital, it would have made perfect sense.
Beyond the curtain, I heard the sound of a sliding door opening. The person who drew back the curtain was neither a doctor nor a nurse.
He was wearing a suit.
The moment the man pulled the curtain aside, I was certain this wasn't a hospital.
It was too crude to be a hospital ward; it looked more like a school nurse’s office.
‘Strange, a nurse’s office?’
Something wasn’t adding up.
A man who looked to be in his early thirties and dressed like an office worker approached me.
“This is why young Awakened Ones are such a handful. Always getting into pointless fights. How’s your body?”
He pulled up a chair, sat down in front of me, and loosened his tie slightly.
Seeing his utterly exhausted face, I spoke nonchalantly.
“Who?”
“Why the informal talk?”
After loosening his tie and stuffing it in his pocket, the man, who was now rolling up his shirt sleeves, smiled faintly and tilted his head. I felt a strange killing intent emanating from him.
It wasn't that the killing intent was overwhelming, but it was certainly not the kind of aura I’d expect from a man dressed in modern attire.
Hmm, maybe he’s a soldier, not an office worker?
“Excuse me, but who might you be?”
“First you’re rude, and now you’re being ridiculously formal?”
His reply was impossible to decipher, leaving me wondering if he was testing me or just joking around.
Then again, even I had to admit my tone was a bit much.
The good thing was that he seemed to have withdrawn his killing intent after my question.
“I didn’t hear anything about a head injury.”
At his words, I quickly touched my head.
Thankfully, it was fine.
“You don’t know who I am?”
I stared at him, my mouth agape.
How am I supposed to know who you are?
Are you some kind of celebrity?
Fortunately, he had an ID card hanging around his neck.
I quickly read the name written on it.
‘Choi Soo-hyun, Hunter Education Division.’
He didn’t seem like a celebrity.
Choi Soo-hyun stood up and rummaged through a refrigerator on one side of the wall.
He chugged a bottle of Bacchus from inside. In that brief moment, I wracked my brain. The first question that came to mind was:
‘What the hell is a Hunter Education Division?’
Given that we were speaking Korean and he had a Korean name, this had to be Korea. But something was fundamentally different.
Choi Soo-hyun sat down in front of me again and began to grumble.
“Kids these days just don’t know when to stop. Honestly. Here, your phone and your stuff. The screen’s cracked, though, you’ll need to get it replaced.”
He tossed a brown backpack and a phone onto the bed.
The smartphone, which didn’t seem to be the latest model, had a crack running right down the middle of the screen.
More than the bag, I was happy to see a smartphone after so long.
If this was the modern era I knew, getting information wouldn't be difficult with a smartphone.
‘No matter how I look at it, it feels like I’ve possessed someone else’s body.’
I had an instinctual feeling that this body wasn't mine. Besides, this world was far too different from the modern era I remembered.
Even after all this time, I was certain that things like ‘Hunters’ or a ‘Hunter Education Division’ didn’t exist in my reality.
I put the smartphone in my pocket and bowed my head slightly.
“Thank you.”
Putting together the words ‘Hunter Education Division,’ Choi Soo-hyun’s complaints, and my current situation, it wasn't hard to guess that I’d been in some kind of accident during training.
In short, I was a trainee, and he was a manager.
It seemed best to play along for now.
‘It’s better than saying something ridiculous like, ‘What was my name again? I think I hit my head so hard I got amnesia.’’
As if to confirm my judgment was correct, Choi Soo-hyun stood with his hands in his pants pockets, staring at me quietly.
Though the way he looked at me, like I was a small animal released into the jungle, was a little unsettling.
Right on cue, the phone in Choi Soo-hyun’s pocket vibrated.
Unlike my old, cracked phone, his was a flashy new model with a glittering case.
“Hello? Yeah, he just woke up. His condition? Seems fine. What? Hey! I told you not to cause any trouble. Dammit, why does he live like that? I’ll be there in ten minutes, so handle it as best you can. I’m hanging up.”
Choi Soo-hyun unilaterally ended the call.
I could hear someone calling his name from the other end, but he paid it no mind.
After hanging up, Choi Soo-hyun let out a blatant sigh.
Seeing the dark circles under his eyes and how his hair, which must have been styled this morning, was already a mess before evening, I could guess he was somewhere between a senior and a mid-level manager.
Like in any organization, it was the stage where you get the least reward for the most work.
Or maybe not?
Whatever.
“Sorry about this. It’s my fault for not managing things better, so I wanted to take care of you a bit more. This is my business card. Just skip today’s training and go home early. It’s not an important lesson anyway, and even if it were, nothing would stick in your head in this state, right?”
“That doesn’t sound like something an instructor should say.”
“What are you going to do with the history of dungeons, anyway? We only teach it because our superiors tell us to, but you can find it all online. I gave those troublemakers a stern talking-to, but if anything happens, give me a call. And you forgot your ID card last time, didn't you? Make sure you pick it up. Take care.”
After rattling off his words like a rapper, Choi Soo-hyun turned his back and immediately made another call.
I could hear his voice on the phone as he walked down the hallway.
‘What a strange person.’
Having neatly summarized my thoughts on the man named Choi Soo-hyun, I grabbed the bag and got off the bed.
A few words from his speech stuck in my mind.
‘Dungeons? Do dungeons exist here?’
The continent of Arbelicia, unlike the reality I had lived in, was a world where all the typical fantasy elements existed—monsters, magic, gods, mercenaries—things even someone who had never encountered novels or popular genres would recognize.
Naturally, that included what were called dungeons. That is, if the dungeons I knew and the dungeons Choi Soo-hyun mentioned were the same thing.
As I was about to leave, I noticed a wall-mounted mirror inside. I walked over to it.
“I knew it.”
I wasn’t particularly shocked, as I had a vague sense that even my voice was different while talking to Choi Soo-hyun.
In the mirror stood a young man wearing a navy hoodie, sweatpants, and a backpack.
At most, he looked to be in his early twenties; if I were being generous, I could even believe he was a teenager, his face was that youthful.
His clothes were shabby, but he was quite tall and rather handsome.
Though not as handsome as my original face, of course.
“First, the ID card.”
The time for admiring the possessed boy’s face was over.
The fact that Choi Soo-hyun had told me to get an ID card was somewhat reassuring.
Having an ID meant that, at the very least, I was a person with a clear identity.
I walked out into the hallway and calmly set a goal.
Set a goal, no matter how small, and achieve it.
It was a method I had used to study before being summoned to the other world, and it was also a survival rule I had utilized to stay alive there.
‘Grasp the situation.’
My ultimate goal was to take revenge on the gods who had ruined my life.
That was a long way off. For now, as always, the goal was to survive.
I had already seen with my own two eyes, thanks to the gods, that many dimensions existed besides my own and the one I was summoned to.
It wouldn't be too surprising if, among those countless dimensions, there was one where a modern world and dungeons coexisted.
At the end of the hallway, a large lobby came into view.
I needed to get this ID card, but I had no idea where to go.
“Excuse me. Do you know where I can get an ID card?”
I stopped someone who looked like an employee or staff member and asked.
The woman looked me up and down before pointing to the end of the hallway.
“Turn left and go in there.”
“Ah, thank you.”
Following her directions, I turned left and found a single counter, like at a bank.
‘What on earth is this place?’
I took a number and sat down on a sofa in the corner.
A moment later, the number [073] appeared on a large monitor.
“How can I help you?”
“I’m here for my ID card.”
“Please place your hand on the scanner in front of you.”
As instructed, I placed my palm on the tablet screen on the desk. After it scanned my fingerprint and iris, the employee handed me an ID card and a piece of paper.
I had been expecting something like a resident registration card, so I looked at the blue card with curiosity.
“Please try to carry it with you. This paper has a QR code with your ID on it. You can dispose of it after you’ve registered.”
“An ID QR code? What’s the ID for?”
“The Hunter Association ID, of course.”
The employee tilted her head as if wondering why I was asking such an obvious question.
After receiving the ID, I stepped aside and checked the name.
「Korea Hunter Association
20981124-49926658
Kang Han-gyeol
D-Rank Independent Hunter」
My name was written next to a photo.
Kang Han-gyeol. A completely different name from the one I remembered as mine.
Since I already knew my face was different from the moment I left that infirmary-like room, I wasn't particularly surprised by the unfamiliar name.
“But what does ‘Independent’ mean?”
Contrary to my expectation that getting an ID would solve something, it seemed there was a mountain of things I still needed to learn.
After leaving the building, I took out my phone.
“[Breaking] Raon Guild Clears 10th ‘SS-Rank Dungeon’.”
“According to a report by Dungeonologist Kim Eui-tae to the Association, the global rate of dungeon outbreaks has been ‘increasing annually’ over the last decade. It is projected that in ten years, the number of dungeons will surpass the number of Hunters.”
“S-Rank Hunter Min Seok-joon of Cheonhan Guild Transfers to『Luce』.”
“What is all this?”
The news was completely different from the world I knew.