HP 1: The Sniper's Awakening

My name is Kim Yu-hee.

I'm a guy.

College grad, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠part-time convenience store clerk.

Hunters are busting their asses out there, and the organizations are handling things pretty competently, so even though shit's hitting the fan, the world's still holding together.

Thanks to that, life goes on more or less like normal.

That's why I can afford to be a homebody.

"What the hell!"

And just like that, I awakened.

Along with the 'status message' that all Awakeners supposedly get.

A roaring rainbow light burst out from my body.

"What the heck, young man? What was that light just now? Awakening or whatever?"

"Y-yeah, I think so."

The old grandpa who came in for cigarettes stared in shock at the light pouring from my body.

"What? Rainbow?"

"Y-yeah... Must be an Awakening..."

I've never seen rainbow light before.

Green, yellow, blue, red.

Every Awakener in the world emits one of those four colors at the moment of Awakening, and that determines their rank.

Green = C Rank

Yellow = B Rank

Blue = A Rank

Red = S Rank

But mine's rainbow.

What the hell is rainbow light? It looks different just from seeing it.

They say lottery winners at least have good dreams beforehand, but I didn't get any warning. (Awakenings supposedly hit everyone out of nowhere like this.)

Anyway, does this mean I'm a Hunter now?

I never envied Awakeners or anything. As long as my body's safe and I don't have to worry about my next meal, I'm content being a regular Joe.

But now that Awakening hit me, my ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠heart was pounding like crazy. Did I secretly crave a special life all along...?

Thump. Thump.

Let's check it out.

With the excitement of confirming a first-prize lottery win, I immediately checked my Awakening details.

You can see your rank right away after Awakening.

I remembered the interview from Korea's rank 1 Hunter at his Awakening: The red light bursting from my body was familiar, but seeing the 'S' pop up right in front of my eyes made it real. Yeah, from now on, I've got something to accomplish.

So my rank should show up right away.

I tapped the still-floating [Player 'Kim Yu-hee' has joined the System.] message with my finger. That's how you're supposed to do it, and

A nice tactile buzz ran through my fingertip, and the next message appeared before my eyes.

Rainbow light, so either better than S Rank or some totally weird rank.

I tensed up for a second. An undiscovered color in the world... Even if rainbow has a positive vibe, anything could pop up at this point.

What rank is it gonna be!?

?

At least the S is still S.

Even if there's some weird shit tacked on the end.

I bullshitted the convenience store manager about some emergency, called in a friend to cover my shift, and rushed back to my one-room apartment.

A tiny 200-square-foot studio.

I shoved the scattered panties and socks into a corner, threw myself under my grimy blanket, and started reading the status message.

S(EX) Rank. Not easy to say.

But it's definitely a huge deal.

My heart was racing, cold sweat dripping down.

Has to be power beyond the world's strongest.

According to common knowledge,

Awakening for Players comes with two things.

1. A 'Job' is granted.

2. 'Traits' matching the job and rank are granted.

For an S(EX) Rank like me, it'll be something insane.

I tapped S(EX), and a brief explanation followed: Hidden Rank.

I tapped for more details, and

【Hidden】 - 【Sniper】

Sniper?

I figured a Hidden job would be something unique, but this one's surprisingly familiar.

As a Hidden job, no other Awakener has Sniper, as far as I know.

(Normal Awakeners get jobs like 'Mage', 'Warrior', 'Shaman', 'Cleric'—nothing too modern. Not always, but mostly.)

Anyway, that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠means I'm the only one in the Hunter world with this job.

Then the messages continued.

S(EX) trait fit for a Sniper—I gulped dryly without thinking,

"!!!"

I shot up from my seat without realizing.

This ability makes no sense. Attack power 100,000 times?

Sniper with 100,000x attack power?

Thump. Thump.

My heart went wild. As far as I knew, the Chinese Hunter called the "Martial God," ranked in the world top 10,

got an S Rank Awakening with the 'Wulin Fighter' job and 'Attack Power 1,000x' trait.

The world lost its shit back then. A historic DPS dealer appeared, solving China's damage shortage forever.

But 100,000x?

Even limited to sniper shots, this was transcendent.

Then,

"?"

"What the fuck?"

Of course. My life wouldn't go that smoothly.

Penalty applied.

100,000x attack power, but my HP is 1.

Fixed value. Meaning no matter what I do, no matter how hard I grind forever, HP stays at 1.

"Haaa. Damn it. What now?"

A sigh escaped with the cold sweat.

HP is the basic survival stat for Awakeners.

From the moment of Awakening, you're basically a 'character' bound to the System—HP hits 0, you die.

Top Hunters, especially tanks, have millions or tens of millions HP; the absolute elites hit billions. And I'm at 1.

"They're telling me to die."

One hit and I'm gone. Even a claw through the door crack kills me.

Godlike destructive power in exchange for a body as fragile as a curse.

That's the trade-off.

My status screen was a joke.

At first, everything looked great in my excitement, but now with the penalty, I felt like shit.

S(EX) Rank—what kind of name is that anyway?

Felt off from the start.

I tapped [Details],

Skill window: 'No content yet.'

A skill tree flashed open, but I couldn't focus on it now.

Inventory: 'No content yet.'

Makes sense, nothing owned.

Rest was inaccessible since I hadn't Hunter-ed yet. Looked normal for an 'Awakening.'

"Not a straight-up good Awakening. For real."

Fragile body that dies to a poke—what good's the attack power?

Just sit tight?

No way in hell.

That'd be the dumbest move. Awakening happened, willing or not.

Doing nothing means living with this 'HP 1' debuff forever.

Can't stomach that injustice.

From now on, I have to survive as a proper Hunter, no matter what.

Time to act. No room for hesitation.

Since it's come to this, my focus is one thing: safety.

A life where I never get hit.

Hide, never face enemies head-on.

Never take a single hit, snipe like a total bitch—how? Any way?

Stressed from the jump.

For now, HP 1 trumps 100,000x attack. Who knows later.

That's when it happened.

- Kuooooh!

"Ah... No way, bullshit."

Too flustered from Awakening to notice the Gate opening.

Hunters were already battling outside, and

Now an official Player, I even got a polite warning. Treating me like a Hunter already?

That wasn't the issue.

- Kuooooh!

One monster's roar stood out, extra loud.

I tapped the warning, and the Gate info popped up.

Advanced difficulty with a boss type?

Rare for Seoul these days. Doesn't happen often.

And Black Minotaur? The nightmare from the early Gate days in Hokkaido, Japan—4,000 dead.

- Kuooooh!

"This is bad."

Peeking outside, the Gate spawned dangerously close to my apartment.

A massive black Minotaur, bigger than a 30-story building, roaring away.

We're fucked.

Unless killed instantly, civilian casualties are guaranteed.

"But Korean Hunters at this level should handle it somehow—"

Oh shit!

Most of Korea's high-rankers are at the ultra-high Gangneung Gate. Imugi showed up there, I heard.

But Seoul's reserves won't be pushovers. Gotta be.

Hunter Management Bureau isn't that sloppy.

Please, Hunters. Hold the line.

Why talk like it's someone else's problem?

It is someone else's—for now.

Just hoping I don't get dragged in this time and die.

Me and that monstrous Minotaur? No connection.

No matter how insane my Awakening and attack power, HP 1, LV 1, skills unchecked,

No clue how to even approach.

Any fights in the next Gate.

Gates pop like crazy, unfortunately.

As I resolved that,

- Kuooooh!!

The Minotaur's roar hit, and

- Ding!

A status message only I could see appeared.

Hm... Tutorial's a 'kill.'

Means actually sniping a monster.

Shelter, shop... Rewards sound like my Sniper identity fully unlocks.

Okay, noted.

I'll give it my all. Later, though. Not now.

To clear the tutorial now, I'd have to snipe that max-level Minotaur.

Good thing no time limit.

Take your time learning.

So,

"I'm not going out. Hell no!"

HP 1 can't survive outside the blanket.

But then...

- Kuooooh!!

"Huh? Huh? What?"

The Minotaur's coming this way...

- Thud! Thud! Thud!

No way. It'll veer off.

I grabbed the sniper rifle that materialized for the tutorial. Just in case. HP 1 reflexes.

But

- Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

The Minotaur suddenly charged.

Bipedal sprint like an Olympian!

"???"

EBS documentary flashed in my mind.

Trampling buildings, mindless Black Cow rampage.

Hokkaido turned to rubble like that.

But,

"Why, why, why, WHY!!!"

Why this way? Coulda gone anywhere!

I rolled up in my blanket like a cocoon, face peeking out. Rifle in hand, just in case.

The long sniper barrel felt cold against my cheek.

System glitch? Or close-range high-difficulty Gate—Hunter comms broadcast to everyone.

Hunters behind the Minotaur unleashing skills desperately, but

Looked tough to drop quick.

That wasn't important.

"Wait, am I seriously dying right now? Please stop."

- KABOOM!

No chance. Minotaur's charge speed spiked.

The loitering Black Cow locked onto my apartment building's path,

- Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

"Eek!"

Its living quads and hamstrings exploding, like this was its last sprint, anaerobic maxed out.

This trajectory, my building gets stomped, and then I'm

"I wanna live!!!"

I burst from the blanket, cracked the window wider,

and raised the sniper rifle.