World Rank Zero
"...What the hell?"
What is this? Goosebumps prickled across her entire body. Seoya froze in place.
The worldview's strongest. The one who would shake the roots of the world. And the one who would return.
The System was whispering to her. That she was the strongest in this world. That there was nothing to worry about. That nothing in this world could harm her. And that she would return to her original world.
Name: Seoya
Grade:Unmeasurable
Ranking: World Rank 0th
Achievements:Worldview's Strongest, The One Who Shakes the Roots of the World, And the One Who Will Return, Master of Hunters, Ruler of Humans
Skills: —
Seoya slowly raised her hand and touched the translucent window floating in the air. Her hand passed right through it.
She'd occasionally overheard Baek Yena muttering something at thin air. So Seoya decided to mimic what hunters did.
"Close."
The translucent window vanished from in front of her eyes.
"System."
This time, it reappeared. Seoya read the text on the System straight again, but nothing changed.
"0th?"
Being the strongest in a world was the most familiar proposition to Seoya.
'Hold on, does that mean I've awakened as a hunter?'
She'd heard that these System windows only appeared after becoming a hunter.
At that moment, another translucent window popped up in front of Seoya. She instinctively took a step back before reading the text properly.
Please enter the country to affiliate with: —
Seoya figured she couldn't belong to any country in this world, but for now, she was in South Korea.
"South Korea."
The window changed slightly.
Name: Seoya
Grade:Unmeasurable
Ranking: World Rank 0th / South Korea Rank 0th (Affiliation changeable)
Achievements:Worldview's Strongest, The One Who Shakes the Roots of the World, And the One Who Will Return, Ruler of Hunters, Master of the World
Skills: —
All hunters cannot harm you.
All humans cannot harm you.
This world is safe for you.
"Ha...."
This world was safe for her, the System said.
"I knew that already."
It felt like the System was trying to reassure her. She'd already guessed that Go Heejae, World Rank 1st, was weaker than her when they met. But today, she got official confirmation from the System.
Seoya stared at the System window floating in front of her, then suddenly felt something off. She'd seen other hunters' System windows before, and hers looked a bit different.
'No grade, no skills. And 0th place is weird too.'
Her awakening felt strange from the start. Normally, awakening as a hunter came with a grade. That grade determined stats like MP, HP, mental strength, and the level of skills granted—vastly different for each person. Rankings were assigned based on those abilities.
But Seoya had none of that. No skills, no grade. No stats like HP, MP, or mental strength visible.
'What criteria decides Rank 0th?'
How do you rank someone with no skills or grade? She'd thought entering the dungeon would reveal something, but awakening only made her more confused.
1 │ S │ Go Heejae: Don't come.
1 │ S │ Go Heejae: This isn't a dungeon humans can clear.
Go Heejae, who had sent those messages to warn everyone in the chat, ducked behind a massive boulder.
"Go Heejae, be honest. Any hope?"
Huge rocks stood like tombstones along the beach. Another man hiding behind one asked Go Heejae.
Brown hair, neat features that didn't fit the dusty dungeon at all—South Korea Rank 2nd, guild master of WithYou, Na Seonghyeon.
Of course, Na Seonghyeon wasn't really asking for an answer. It was already obvious.
South Korea Rank 1st and 2nd had entered the Gangdong District dungeon together. Just that fact made hunters think they could clear it... but.
'Impossible.'
The moment they entered and faced the humanoid monsters head-on, they had no time for strategies or attacks—they just ran. High-rank hunters knew when to flee.
They couldn't kill those monsters. Even if they did, they'd have exhausted their mental strength and gone mad by then.
Go Heejae had tried to fight, but Na Seonghyeon stopped him and led the other hunters away fast. They'd run so hard their breaths still burned in their throats.
"No survivors, right? No place to hide."
"Agreed."
The Gangdong District dungeon's backdrop was the sea. They'd fled to the beach and hidden behind rocks, but objectively, all civilians were surely dead.
"Go Heejae, your mental strength recovered?"
"...Enough."
"Ah, such bravado~ We all saw you half-dead earlier~."
When they first encountered the monsters and Go Heejae used a powerful skill, he'd nearly drained his mental strength dry. Anyone else using a skill that big would already be insane from exhaustion.
It managed to half-kill one monster, but plenty remained.
"If everyone fights with their lives on the line, we can clear it."
Go Heejae spoke in a voice that almost sounded solemn. But Na Seonghyeon just gave him a disapproving look.
"Our lives...? Why should I risk mine...?"
"Obviously. Becoming a hunter means embracing the duty to protect the people..."
"Nah, I became a hunter for the money."
Na Seonghyeon said it with a straight face. Even with S-rank monsters threatening their lives, Go Heejae and Na Seonghyeon held polar opposite views.
Go Heejae: Risk everything, unite and fight.
Na Seonghyeon: Crazy talk. Wait for reinforcements under mandatory summons. Share the mental damage burden.
South Korea's top two ranks couldn't be more different. They probably could never understand each other. Born in different worlds, raised seeing different things.
Go Heejae, born into chaebol wealth, living luxuriously, practicing noblesse oblige, never tolerating threats to this precarious world—Rank 1st.
Na Seonghyeon: Money makes the world go round. Die for money, live for money! A corporate drone turned hunter, capitalism's monster, aka "Self-Born Freak."
When Na Corporation started its guild and sought a guild master, candidate "Na Manhyeon" changed his name to "Na Seonghyeon," declared, "I was born for Na Corporation!" and went full psycho—landing him WithYou's top spot. Everyone knew the story. His rivals quit, terrified by his money obsession.
"Gotta survive first to earn or spend. No need to die here."
"I entered risking my life."
"Argh, frustrating! No normal thinkers in this hunter world!"
Na Seonghyeon slammed the ground, wailing. Actually, even if Rank 1st Go Heejae pushed to fight now, control lay with Na Seonghyeon, not him.
Na Seonghyeon, guild master of South Korea's largest mega-guild WithYou. Backed by Na Corporation, it was systematic, most populous, rigidly hierarchical. He was more experienced in group fights than solo Go Heejae, so decisions were his.
"Let's check what the other hunters are doing first."
Na Seonghyeon sighed deeply, rubbed his forehead, and opened the chat.
"Chat."
He'd find the Rank 1-10 chat; Neverending hunters should be inside too...
"Ah."
He accidentally swiped to the hunter rankings page. Trying to switch back to chat—
"...What the hell?"
The rankings had changed.
"Go Heejae."
"What."
"Check... the rankings..."
"What the—"
Go Heejae frowned slightly, checked the rankings, and stiffened too.
Na Seonghyeon asked in a panicked voice.
"What does 0th mean? And why no grade? This wasn't here before, right?"
"No idea. But..."
"Seoya? Who's Seoya? Alias or real name?"
"World rankings too? What the hell is going on?"
"I know that name."
"What?"
"I know who this kid is."
The strange girl from that day, with the weird alert window. It had to be her.
That tiny little girl... the strongest in this world?