The Taste of the Mortal World
It felt like my brain was bubbling over. A surge of annoyance rose up inside me.
Just from holding hands once, why the hell are you already thinking about kids?
That inner voice trying to calm me down. This damn bastard—do you have any idea how I feel?
“Haa.”
Right when it seemed like a mountain of misunderstandings was about to bury us, Lee Yu-jin returned after finishing her report. She let out a heavy sigh, clearly exhausted.
“...What exactly are you two doing right now?”
After spotting me and Lee Yu-ra, she shot us a frigid glare.
Was it me? This girl started it.
“She asked why we went into an F-rank gate. I was just explaining.”
Lee Yu-ra answered in a perfectly casual tone.
What do you mean, our son.
“Don’t make such ridiculous jokes on a first meeting.” “Got it, don’t worry.”
Who the hell is supposed to punish the serious crime of toying with someone’s heart?
“And these are the documents you requested, Mr. Gong Yul.”
She really did seem competent from the moment I first saw her. I knocked back the coffee in one gulp, took the papers, and dropped them onto my lap.
“First, I should apologize. I reviewed the contents while processing your return, Mr. Gong Yul.”
Couldn’t be helped. I only had one arm.
“...Would you like me to read them for you?”
I turned her down. She clearly hadn’t expected that. Who are you calling an idiot?
The moment I flipped the first page, I found exactly what I’d been looking for.
Name: Gong Yul
Age: 20
Status: Deceased
Missing during the 1st Great Cataclysm in 201X. Never discovered despite the passage of time, therefore processed as deceased.
Special Notes: Orphanage origin
How the hell did the guy I possessed have the same name? It wasn’t exactly common.
The rest of the file wasn’t particularly special. Stuff like getting accepted into university and living in a goshiwon. Everything matched my own life except for one thing.
He didn’t have an arm to begin with.
A genuinely tragic fact.
“No need to read any further. Why is the information so pathetic?”
There was no real reason to dig deep into some orphan’s background, but this was still too sloppy. I swept the papers off my lap and stood up.
Why even bother apologizing for something like this?
“So, are you issuing me a new ID or what?” “The process is expected to take about a week.” “Why?”
Weren’t quick paperwork the only redeeming quality of civil servants?
“To explain…” “Most people who went missing in the 1st Great Cataclysm turned out to be monsters.” “Yu-ra!”
Aha. So I wasn’t the only one. Good to know I’m not the sole freak getting that label.
“You can’t phrase it like that! How do you think Mr. Gong Yul will take it!” “…Mmph.”
Her method of disciplining her little sister was certainly unique. Lee Yu-jin had stretched Lee Yu-ra’s cheeks out like taffy while keeping a stern expression.
I simply watched the two of them.
“...This isn’t really the place to discuss it. It would be better if we continued over a meal.”
She finally seemed to remember I existed. Lee Yu-jin, face slightly flushed, suggested we move.
Perfect timing. I was starving anyway.
Stepping out of the association building for the meal made it sink in.
This is Seoul?
I’d been shocked the first time I visited Seoul to sign the goshiwon contract, but this was on an entirely different level.
Every building around the association was a towering skyscraper, each one sporting massive electronic billboards.
They all proudly declared their guild was the strongest, complete with giant photos of what I assumed were their star hunters.
It was like they were desperately trying to sell themselves.
This is just a damn marketplace.
Exactly like merchants screaming to unload the goods they dragged in that day at rock-bottom prices.
“Mr. Gong Yul! Over here!”
While I stood there blankly staring at the buildings, Lee Yu-ra called out from beside the waiting car.
A vehicle sporting one of those emblems that practically screamed do not approach.
...Was someone like me even allowed to ride in a car like that?
The massive wealth gap between us hit me all over again.
“You can sit in the back.”
Lee Yu-jin, who had called the car herself, claimed the front seat, so I ended up winning the back-seat lottery. I climbed in quickly before she could change her mind. The waiting driver started the engine immediately.
With zero explanation, it honestly felt like I was being kidnapped.
Lee Yu-ra must have been exhausted—she was already asleep, leaning against the window. I couldn’t even see Lee Yu-jin’s face in the rearview mirror.
So I naturally turned my gaze outside.
The scenery hadn’t changed much, but a few things still caught my eye.
What the hell is that grotesque building?
A bizarre, twisted structure shooting into the sky. Yeah… you could call it a tower, I guess.
Tower?
The Tower of Trials got mixed into this world. What a fucking mess.
The more I learned about this setting, the more I thought the same thing. Why did it have to be a place I’d never even seen before?
Was I possessed just because the names happened to match?
...The world really does run on convenience.
At least there was no heavy baggage attached.
“Do you have any questions?”
While I was staring blankly out the window, Lee Yu-jin’s tired voice reached me.
“What’s that tower?” “Ah. This must be your first time seeing it, Mr. Gong Yul.”
You wanna try getting trapped for ten years with nothing but training?
“It’s the Tower of Trials. It appeared alongside the 1st Great Cataclysm.”
I’d only asked what it was, but Lee Yu-jin kindly gave me the full rundown.
Climb the tower. Get stronger. Earn money.
It was a flavor I already knew well.
“Hmm. Then why bother with rifts?”
If climbing the tower gave you everything, why the hell did people still have to run around clearing rifts?
“...To put it simply, they’re like group projects.”
Aha. That thing I’d never experienced in my life.
“The association assigns them to each guild.”
If rifts were group projects, then the association was the professor.
“Still, leaving one alone for ten years seems a bit much.”
No matter how annoying it was, it was only F-rank. One person could just sacrifice a little time and clear it.
At my words, Lee Yu-jin turned around in her seat with a surprisingly serious expression, as if that wasn’t the case at all.
“Rifts become completely inaccessible the moment they register that someone has entered. That’s why the rift you were in remained untouched for ten years.”
First come, first served. No one else could get in after that.
“Then how did you two get in?” “While climbing the Tower of Trials, you occasionally receive items that let you force your way into a rift. It’s almost like the system is telling you to do exactly that.”
Maybe I’d absorbed too much information at once. My head was starting to hurt.
Just swinging a sword was way simpler and more comfortable.
With the situation growing rapidly more complicated, I simply closed my eyes. They’d wake me when we arrived.
“...Mr. Gong Yul. We’ve arrived. You need to get off.”
But the moment I closed my eyes, she told me to get out. If we were already there, she could have said something sooner.
The restaurant Lee Yu-jin brought me to was far too luxurious for a pathetic orphan to even dream about. The entrance alone was on another level, and exquisite delicacies kept coming out one after another.
Before we went in, I changed into the decent clothes Lee Yu-jin had given me. After that, there was no time to talk—I was too busy eating.
Crazy! This is incredible.
Every dish was packed with ingredients I’d only ever heard about by name. Each bite sent a jolt of pure ecstasy through me.
Maybe because I was devouring them so quickly, it felt like the food was arriving faster and faster.
“You must have been really hungry.”
What was so fascinating about watching someone eat? Lee Yu-ra had her chin propped on her hand, leaning on the table as she observed me like I was a zoo exhibit.
I really don’t want to go back to the days of just swinging a sword.
What? You liked the sword-swinging days? A time-reversal ability? Is that even important right now?
You stupid bastard. Of course you’d say that—you never got to taste anything like this.
While I kept stuffing my face, Lee Yu-ra watched with amusement. In contrast, Lee Yu-jin gave me a rough explanation of how the world currently worked.
The Tower of Trials that appeared with the 1st Great Cataclysm, the emergence of Awakened, the appearance of rifts—it was all typical hunter-novel stuff, so I didn’t pay much attention.
High-rank Awakened received excellent treatment while low-rank ones were looked down on. Same old story.
There were apparently educational facilities too, but that had nothing to do with me.
Who the hell would teach me?
If someone tried, I’d just ask them what rank their swordsmanship was.
On top of that, survivors of the 1st Great Cataclysm were called monsters. In that case, it was simply a measure of strength.
The ten strongest people in the world.
All ten of the 10 Giants were survivors of the Cataclysm, apparently.
That was what really pissed me off.
Why was I the only one locked up for ten years?
The latest among the 10 Giants had been missing for two years. The fastest was three months.
Most other survivors had been gone for one to two weeks. They were all high-rank as well.
...The more I learned, the more miserable I felt.
“Sis, when is Mr. Gong Yul getting his examination?”
That was what Lee Yu-ra said after staring at me for a long time.
In the early days, Awakened ranks had apparently been measured simply by whatever abilities people claimed to have.
But after conquering the Tower of Trials and advancing technology, proper testing standards had been developed.
Even if the world goes to hell, the scammer bastards still live well.
Thanks to the new system, a ton of people who had lied their way into B- or A-rank were exposed. When a crisis hit, instead of uniting for humanity, they just looked for their own escape routes. What a wonderful species.
“Uhh? Ah uh eh uh ae?”
I’d been so curious about the rank examination that I hadn’t even thought about swallowing what was in my mouth. Seeing this, Lee Yu-ra turned her head, still smiling.
That was understandable.
“...High-rank examinations require certain procedures, so you should receive a call tomorrow.”
Lee Yu-jin set down her fork as she brought a thinly sliced piece of steak toward her mouth.
Aren’t you going to eat that? It was delicious.
“Since the topic has come up, there’s something I need to say, Mr. Gong Yul.”
Both of them had been shocked by my table manners, so I probably needed to fix that. I slightly raised my chin while still chewing.
It meant go ahead.
“...I know I shouldn’t say this.”
Whether she was separating personal and professional matters or not, Lee Yu-jin spoke in a firm voice that didn’t match her helpless expression.
“Even though you’re our benefactor, we can’t fully trust you yet, Mr. Gong Yul.”
She was right. We’d only met today. Trusting me immediately would be abnormal.
“What happened earlier today.”
There were more than one or two things that still bothered me.
“You definitely destroyed the rift, correct?”
There had been too many eyes earlier, so we’d glossed over it. But now we were in a private room. No one else was here.
“Yeah. It was my first time, but I cut it apart.” “How? Rifts only close on their own unless…”
From the way she phrased it, it seemed internal changes weren’t visible from the outside.
“I swung my sword. That’s it.”
It was a simple answer, but it was the truth. What else could I say?
“...It’s impossible by common sense, so I find it hard to believe.” “You saw it yourself. So isn’t that enough? Why give yourself a headache worrying about it?” “It’s that important to us—!”
I couldn’t listen to any more of this back-and-forth.
“Have you ever been trapped for ten years, relying only on a sword to survive?”
I’d thought about dying more times than I could count.
I’d endured it because it was me. If it had been anyone else, they probably would have held a soul wedding with that skeleton bastard right beside him.
“Suddenly unable to see. Unable to smell. Unable to hear anything. Unable to taste anything. Unable to feel any pain.”
The things I’d experienced after being suddenly possessed and thrown into that cave were horrifying just to remember. If I had to do it again, I’d break for real this time.
“Have you experienced it?”
If not, then shut up.