“Sujin?”
“...Sujin?”
How could I ever forget? My one and only family, the little sister I'd worried about nonstop even after being dragged to that goddamn otherworld.
“...Oppa!”
Sujin's eyes welled up with tears as she threw herself into my arms.
“Uh, uh...”
The warm sensation and the nostalgic voice from twenty years ago, buried deep in my memories—it was unmistakably my little sister.
“Sujin.”
'If Sujin's here...'
I was definitely dead. And if my little sister was in this world after my death, that meant she'd ended up the same way.
“I'm sorry, Sujin.”
“Sob! Do you have any idea how much I missed you? I thought you were dead and lived like that...”
“...Huh?”
Something didn't add up. Thought I was dead? But I was dead.
“Sujin. Aren't you dead too?”
“...Huh? What are you talking about?”
“...What?”
2003. Gates began appearing all over the world.
At first, they were just purple cracks hanging in the air, but soon things started pouring out of them.
Monsters straight out of a fantasy novel, grotesque and horrifying. Before humanity could even react, they massacred people indiscriminately and destroyed everything in sight.
Humanity's weapons couldn't compete with their overwhelming physical strength. Low-grade ones took some damage from firearms, but it wasn't nearly enough. They regenerated in seconds, and anything stronger just shrugged off the hits.
The world was half-doomed at that point. About a tenth of humanity died that year alone, so yeah, that tracks.
Just as the survivors were sinking into despair, the 1st gen awakeners returned.
Each one had formed a mana core—something ordinary humans couldn't possess—and used their powers to slaughter the monsters.
They even taught regular humans how to create mana cores. As more awakeners emerged, humanity started pushing back. They became a pillar of resistance.
Hunters. A name that embodied humanity's vow: no longer prey, but predators.
Twenty years later, in 2023, I came back.
And there were a few shocking facts waiting for me.
“1st gen awakener?”
“Yeah. People summoned to otherworlds, like you, Oppa.”
“I wasn't the only one?”
Apparently, they made up about 0.1% of the global population. Guess I was just cursed with bad luck.
What made my luck even worse? Every other 1st gen awakener returned after just a week.
One week. I'd spent a full twenty years clawing my way back.
“Why was I the only one...”
To survive the abyss, I'd fought through hell. After escaping, I scoured for hidden tomes and hunted down anyone with summoning abilities. In desperation, I targeted the Demon King for revenge.
After all that bullshit, I finally made it back—only to learn the others got home in a week!
I wanted to grab any 1st gen awakener I saw and demand to know their secret.
But even that seemed impossible.
“They don't remember anything?”
“Yeah. The 1st gen folks say they were just 'taken somewhere' and taught how to use mana cores by 'someone.' That's all, though.”
Sujin frowned as she said it, a hint of hostility toward the 1st gen awakeners creeping into her voice.
“...I see.”
“What about you, Oppa? Do you remember?”
“Yeah.”
Now it was my turn. I calmly recounted the twenty years: abandoned by the demons, losing comrades, finally slaying Demon King Gerhart in mutual destruction.
Sujin clenched her fists when she heard I'd been abandoned, and her eyes teared up at the losses. Only when I reached the end did she relax her grip.
“All that happened...”
Her reaction suggested it was all news to her. What the hell had the other 1st gen awakeners been up to? And was the otherworld I'd gone to even the same one?
My head spun, and my stomach churned.
“Urk...”
“W-What's wrong, Oppa? You okay?”
“Just... my stomach's a bit upset.”
“Your stomach? Want some water?”
“Yeah...”
Sujin handed me a glass with a worried look. Barley tea, faintly brown and aromatic. The savory scent cleared my head a little.
Even this simple pleasure had been impossible in the otherworld—anything plant-based rotted on contact with my demon body.
I sipped slowly, savoring the fragrance after twenty years, and listened to Sujin.
“I haven't lived here long either. Moved in last month.”
“Hmm. I see.”
“Yeah. I was in Seoul before—close to work.”
“Better to keep home and work far apart.”
“Pfft... What if I told you it's Yukang Group?”
“Yukang Group? I know it.”
I'd worked for one of their third-tier subcontractors before getting dragged away. Sub-sub-subcontractor hell.
For my sister to work at a massive corp like that...
“For real? My little sis made it big!”
“Heh. What do you think I do there?”
“Dunno... but big corp means good pay, right? Even a servant's better off in a rich house.”
“Large Monster Operations Department.”
She swung the barley tea bottle casually. The name said it all.
“So you're...”
“Yup, a hunter. Already made deputy chief.”
Sujin rolled up her sleeve and flexed. Lean but muscled—clearly proud of it. But it tugged at my heart.
She'd been fifteen when I vanished. Twenty years surviving a monster-ravaged world... I could picture it too vividly.
“Don't worry too much. I switched from field ops to management, so I could afford this place.”
“Hmm.”
“Anyway, enough gloom! Anything else you're curious about?”
Sujin shrugged, forcing a topic change. She was grown now—no point telling her to quit dangerous work, especially when I had no power to back it up.
“Alright, one question.”
“Shoot!”
“...What's a mana core?”
It'd bugged me since earlier. From context, it sounded a lot like the demons' horns—a source of mana only they could use.
“...You really got summoned to another world, huh?”
“Seems like it.”
“Hmm.”
Sujin crossed her arms thoughtfully, then raised her index finger.
Whoosh!
A fist-sized fireball appeared above it.
“Whoa.”
“This is mana core power. It absorbs, stores, and manifests mana however you want—like a tunnel in your body.”
'Just like horns.'
She pointed below her navel.
“Right here. Feel anything, Oppa?”
“Nope.”
“Weird.”
“...”
“So how'd you use power there?”
“Needed horns for mana. Similar principle...”
“Hmm. Kinda odd. You're in your forties now, right?”
“Yeah...”
“But you look exactly like you did when you vanished. See?”
She handed me a family photo from the table. Mom, Dad, me, and Sujin in her school uniform—all smiling brightly.
Tears pricked my eyes seeing my parents after twenty years. They'd died in 2002, a year before I was taken—car accident on black ice. No one to blame.
At least they hadn't suffered. The photo was pristine; Sujin had cherished it.
She pointed between the photo and me.
“No mana core means no eternal youth—unless you had some fancy skincare.”
“Really?”
I checked my reflection in the barley tea pitcher. Minus the horn, same as before.
“Hmm.”
Okay, me aside—but Sujin had stayed on Earth. She'd been fifteen; now thirty-five. Taller, but otherwise unchanged. That's how I'd recognized her instantly.
Mana core perk?
“So you're young-looking for your age too...”
“...What about my age?”
Her cheerful face hardened. I regretted it and sipped the dregs.
“...Slurp.”
Embarrassed, I rubbed my forehead. Smooth skin—no issues.
Hunters drew power from mana cores; demons from horns. Single-horned ones were outcasts, and without mine, all my power was gone. Maybe even my unique ability.
'Unique abilities weren't demon-exclusive, though.'
I hesitated to test it—didn't know my body's state; could backfire.
I focused on my index finger experimentally.
“...”
It twitched, but no skill activated. I'd rarely used it, but losing it felt hollow.
“Doesn't work.”
“It's fine! You've got me, Oppa.”
Sujin patted my shoulder, pitying my slump. Grateful, but humbling from my ten-years-younger sister.
And one more thing: no mana core, but I could feel it. Some non-mana power lingered in my body.
“But Sujin...”
“No! Don't worry about it. One more mouth to feed is nothing. Just enjoy being home.”
Sweet, but...
“Thanks, but...”
“Tsk! Keep it up? No need to feel bad.”
“I...”
“Hmph! Do it again and I'll get mad.”
Before I could respond, Sujin jumped up and opened the terrace door. A small veggie patch burst with lettuce, perilla leaves—fresh and plentiful. Enough for a while.
“See that back mountain?”
She pointed beyond the wide terrace window. Spacious for a "back" mountain; I'd gotten lost there half a day once.
“Yeah. We picked plums there at night.”
She grinned, remembering.
“It's mine.”
“...Huh?”
“From this house to the whole back mountain.”
“...”
“Yukang pays well.”
“...Wow.”
“Bought it, but it's a lot to handle. Perfect if you help. What do you say?”
Screw the other power. Time to mooch for a bit.