Three Fatal Mistakes
I committed three mistakes on the day I awakened.
The first was not leaving the team that dared to tackle a B-rank Dungeon even though I was just a D-rank pack mule. The second was not running away when a hidden room was discovered after conquering the B-rank Dungeon. And the third was...
KABOOM!!!
"Gah, argh! It's too strong!"
"We need to deploy the barrier...! Kyaaak!"
"Urk?! T-Team Leader! Get down!"
Whoosh!
"This fucking...!"
I threw myself in front of the black flames the Grim Reaper hurled at our team leader, who was gathering her power.
My body moved on its own...! Nope, nothing that clichéd.
It wasn't some bullshit heroic sacrifice either.
I just figured I could tank one hit, so I leaped in.
Because I was wearing an artifact that didn't suit a worthless D-rank hauler like me: the Protective Necklace (Hero-grade).
A ridiculously expensive one-time-use artifact that saves you from death's door exactly once when your life is in danger. My buddy gave it to me so I wouldn't die on some dumb job, and I trusted it completely as I dove in.
Why waste such a pricey artifact here, you ask?
If our team leader—who handles lugging the logs—dies, we're all fucked.
Thanks to this necklace, I can survive one attack. She's our team's only path to victory right now. Look, she's charging up to take down the Grim Reaper. If that gets interrupted, we're all dead meat.
So my decision to play meat shield for the team leader was totally rational.
That's what I thought, anyway.
Shhhk—
"...Huh?"
Right up until I saw the black flames seep into my chest without leaving a single impact.
This is bad. This is really fucking bad.
"...Thank you, always."
Just as I realized we were screwed because nothing had happened, a gentle voice brushed past my ear.
It was our team leader's voice, having gathered the power to fell the Grim Reaper.
Fwaaah!
The brilliant sword qi gleaming along her straight-thrust blade lit up the chamber darkened by the Grim Reaper's deathly aura.
【SKREEEEEE!!!】
Even before it fully bloomed, the sword qi scattered its deathly energy, and the alarmed Grim Reaper threw open its skeletal jaw with a howl.
KABOOM!
"Argh!"
"What the hell?!"
"Kyaaak!"
The team members marking it got swept away by the shockwave it unleashed.
With the nuisances gone, the Grim Reaper finally faced off one-on-one with its sole threat: our team leader.
But...
"Everyone, you held out great. I'll finish this."
It was already too late.
Slash—
Geom-hwa (Sword Flower).
The single stroke from A-rank hunter Yoo Seo-ah—one of the supernovas dominating the era—bisected the Grim Reaper's body.
【Grrrk—】
But as an ethereal monster, being split in two didn't kill it. Ominous black energy began leaking from its severed sections.
Leave it alone, and it'd regenerate. Then swing that massive scythe again, scattering death aura everywhere.
To an outsider, it looked insanely dangerous.
But no one here was anxious about the Grim Reaper trying to regen.
We knew exactly what Geom-hwa's sword was.
Fwwoooosh!!!
The sword of Geom-hwa was one of full bloom.
Along the path of the blade, sword qi petals bloomed in profusion.
Each embroidered petal carried a lethal intent to shred the enemy.
Scraaaape!!!
Following their master's will, the petals ground the Grim Reaper to pieces.
Its body shredded, all that remained was a grotesque skull.
Clatter—
Too mangled to maintain form, the Grim Reaper dropped its skull limply to the floor.
Whoosh—
Then, the blue glow that froze us solid just by meeting our eyes dispersed.
The entity was gone.
We'd taken down a Grim Reaper—one of the top-tier beasts from the hardest A-rank Dungeons—in a mere B-rank one.
"W-We won..."
"We did it! We really did it!"
"I knew you could do it, Team Leader!!!"
"Haa, haa... Thanks to everyone buying time. This is our victory—all of ours!"
The team members, who had felt death the moment we encountered the unimaginable Grim Reaper in this B-rank Dungeon, were now basking in triumph.
It was nothing short of a miracle.
If our team leader wasn't Geom-hwa Yoo Seo-ah, we'd have despaired on sight and never even fought properly.
But luckily, she was that supernova Yoo Seo-ah.
That's why we fought with hope—and won.
Grab the loot from this hidden room, and our team would level up another notch.
Especially our amazing team leader—she'd climb even higher from this.
Great news.
Yeah, definitely great.
But I couldn't celebrate the victory right now.
"...Jinseong-ssi?"
"Cough."
Drip—Splat—
I wasn't in a position to feel joy.
A sharp pain deep in my chest. Something crucial inside me had snapped.
Fuck, this is fucked...
Thud.
With the heart-wrenching pain confirming it, I collapsed, blood pouring from my eyes, nose, and mouth.
"J-Jinseong-ssi!"
My team leader's frantic voice grew fainter as she rushed to me.
She's running toward me, but her voice is fading? That's weird.
Snip—
Blackout.
※ Suddenly, old memories surfaced.
"Awakening at 15? That's incredibly early!"
Around age 15, the memory of awakening to mana.
Average awakening age for Awakeners is 17, so yeah, mine was fast.
Early awakening meant gaining power and experience ahead of others.
For an orphan like me, who'd lost my parents to a Dungeon Break as a kid and grown up in an orphanage, it was a golden chance to escape my shitty life.
That's what I thought, anyway.
"Hm? But... you have no unique ability."
Right before the examiner said that.
"What's the point of awakening early without manifesting a unique ability? Tsk. What a waste."
My hopeful dreams of changing my fate ended with his pitying words.
An Awakener without a unique ability was half-baked at best.
While others fought in sturdy armor with guns and swords, I'd be thrown naked into a Dungeon.
"Half-baked" might even be generous.
But I didn't give up.
Even with D-rank as my growth limit, hard work paid big in the hunter world.
Risk your life, get fat stacks.
And I got lucky.
Geom-hwa Yoo Seo-ah—now our team leader—was fresh out of Hunter Academy at 20, her talents not yet bloomed, when we teamed up.
Unlike newbie Yoo Seo-ah with zero field experience, I was a veteran D-rank hunter who'd roamed sites since awakening.
With 6 years under my belt since 15, I hauled logs for her team and became a core member.
Of course, while no-ability D-rank frozen-growth half-ass hunter Kang Jinseong lasted only half a year as core...
The others shot up fast. Yoo Seo-ah in two months, the rest in half a year to my level.
After a year, all C-rank. By year four, all B-rank—except Yoo Seo-ah, who hit A-rank.
Me? Still D-rank. No longer core, not even supporting—just the hauler.
Got shit on by teammates as standard, took all kinds of crap. Subtle hints to GTFO.
Even when they pulled every dirty trick to boot me from Yoo Seo-ah's team, I gritted my teeth and stayed.
Just the scraps here beat any D-rank pay times over.
But endurance has limits. I stayed D-rank while they kept climbing.
Chasing them felt impossible when our team first challenged a B-rank Dungeon.
A death trap no D-rank hauler should enter.
But the pay was insane, so I forced my way in.
Result?
"It's the Shattering Curse. Your mana circuit is shattered. You can no longer work as a hunter."
"...Pardon?"
I became unfit for hunting.
The black flames the Grim Reaper aimed at Yoo Seo-ah—which I took—weren't magic, but a curse.
No impact, so the Protective Necklace didn't trigger.
The blood from my face? Backlash from the curse bursting my mana circuit.
Orphaned young, no one to lean on, a pathetic life.
I busted my ass to make it badass, and this is the payoff?
Only skills: housework and hunting. Now no hunting?
Future looks bleak.
Should've been tear-jerking bullshit, but the shock was too much—no tears.
"Hah..."
Just disbelieving laughter.
Doctor told me to leave as I sat there blank-headed.
Yeah, don't bother the busy doc. Back to my room without disrupting next patient, and Yoo Seo-ah was waiting.
"Team Leader."
I threw myself to protect this woman.
And my mana circuit shattered, cutting my lifeline.
Thought I'd be pissed seeing her face, but surprisingly, no.
Actually, relieved.
If I hadn't jumped, the curse would've hit her.
Shattering Curse seeping into her heart would've wrecked her mana circuit.
No blooming sword flower, no Grim Reaper kill—we'd all be dead.
"Jinseong-ssi, what did the doctor say...?"
Yoo Seo-ah asked tensely, worried sick about my condition.
Me, getting concern from her? Lived a good life, Kang Jinseong.
"It's fine. No threat to my life."
"R-Really? Phew..."
She sighed in relief, hand on chest.
"You suddenly bled from your eyes, nose, and mouth and collapsed—I thought something horrible happened..."
Recalling the scene shook her visibly. Traumatic for her too.
"But you're okay—such a relief. As team leader, I'll be waiting for your discharge."
Her eyes sparkled with promise of our future together.
Words most Korean hunters dream of, but I couldn't nod.
"N-No need to wait, Team Leader."
"Huh?"
"Body's okay, but... my mana circuit's totally shattered."
"...Pardon?"
I couldn't team with her anymore.
She looked stunned, brain frozen from the shock.
Makes sense. If a subordinate says post-accident, "Can't work anymore," anyone'd blank.
I empathized, then explained clearly.
"What hit me was the Shattering Curse. Effect wrecked my mana circuit completely. Can't hunter anymore."
"..."
"It's fine. Better than all dying, right? If I hadn't jumped, it'd hit you, shatter your mana circuit. No killing the Grim Reaper—we'd wipe."
"..."
"Thinking back, damn good call. Saved everyone's lives, nabbed a badass Grim Reaper. History books: 'D-rank hunter Kang Jinseong tanks curse, pivotal in Grim Reaper subjugation!' Epic as fuck."
"..."
"So don't make that face. No regrets."
"S-Sob..."
"Hey, why cry?! Embarrassing! Stop, drip drip—cut it out!"
I'm the one who should cry, but she's bawling.
Whatever. I'd realized after forcing into that B-rank: gap too wide to chase her back anymore.
Planned to leave post-raid, but shit happened.
End result same, though.
My hunter retirement? Grand, with 30 minutes of Yoo Seo-ah's sobs.
※ Post-retirement, no more bullshit luck—actually, fucking great stuff.
Yoo Seo-ah sent massive compensation: her full share from the raid.
Fuck yeah! This is the life! Overwhelmed by her generosity, I busted out the chaebol money dance.
Dong-do-tot dong-do-tot! Shake that ass hard!
First buy with her cash? A house.
Homeownership—every normie's dream. Mine too, top bucket list.
Orphanage kid, always craved my own space.
No change after leaving. Paying rent in a moldy half-basement with leaking ceiling only made it burn brighter.
A month after Grim Reaper day, dropped 2/3 of her money on a prime single-family home.
Dream achieved.
Remodeled inside, cleaned, furnished. My tastes, my dreams—my house.
Pure bliss seeing it; worries of "what now for cash?" vanished.
Trembling, hung nameplate "Kang Jinseong" by the gate.
My House Acquired!
Conditions Met!
Unique Ability Awakened - Safe House (EX-rank)