Rift Alert
“Asking something like that there will get you suspected. Well, it’s not like there aren’t any outsiders around, so suspicion wouldn’t be entirely baseless.”
The combat support unit, the woman explained, consisted of reserve personnel who handled cleanup after combat units, performed routine chores, or worked outside the base.
“Or, like this kid here, they act as spotters. Basically tagalongs. They tag along on hunts now and then hoping to leech some experience points.”
So the youngest one also dreamed of awakening as a Hunter. Kang Tae-sung gave a slight nod, then pulled a gold coin from inside his waistband and handed it to the female archer.
“Oh. I thought you’d forgotten.”
Seeing that he had kept his word from the previous night, the woman glanced around before accepting the coin and tucking it away.
“Then I guess we’re done here. Sorry I couldn’t tell you more.”
“It was satisfactory enough.”
Handing over information so readily without suspicion could be called foolish. Yet whether she was truly foolish or not, thanks to her he had learned what had happened over the past five years without difficulty, so two gold coins were a fair price.
In truth, he had expected to return naked, so the fact that the pouch the King had given him had come along was an unexpected bonus; he did not mind parting with a little of its contents. The amount of gold still inside was far from depleted enough to notice two coins missing.
Even after their business was concluded, the female archer lingered, glancing at Kang Tae-sung while fidgeting as though she had something on her mind.
“I’m Myeong-hui. Kim Myeong-hui. This is Jo Yun-jeong.”
“I see.”
“If you ever feel like going on a hunt… even if it’s just odd jobs, call us anytime. You can reach us through Headquarters.”
The woman who finally offered their names had not been able to erase the events of that night from her mind. Yet after years of watching people’s reactions, she had grown skilled at reading others.
She judged that Kang Tae-sung was not the type to be swayed by pleading or clinging.
He seemed to lack nothing, and the way he looked at her showed no particular interest in women.
Even so, letting him go felt like too great a loss.
He was, without a doubt, the strongest man she had ever seen.
None of the Hunters she had encountered could smash a wolf’s head open with their bare hands.
Let alone five of them, all by himself.
Without even having awakened…
While Kim Myeong-hui stood lost in thought, recalling the previous night, Jo Yun-jeong watched her nervously from the side. As Kang Tae-sung began to turn away, the girl bowed deeply at the waist.
“Thank you!”
“Live. No matter what it takes. If you do that, most things will work out eventually.”
Meeting the girl’s gaze that seemed to seek advice, Kang Tae-sung offered the best counsel he could give, then turned and walked away at a steady pace.
*
*
*
The sun’s up.
It was a full morning.
Kang Tae-sung felt a quiet gladness at experiencing his first morning back in his hometown.
He knew the address where his youngest sibling lived, but even if he did not yet know exactly where that place was… houses did not run away. He would find it if he walked around.
Why are you the only one left?
The personal records database had been compiled gradually after Headquarters was established here, using refugees as its source. So if the youngest was listed, the rest of the family should have been there as well…
Don’t jump to conclusions.
Once he met his youngest sibling, he would get his answers. There was no need to waste mental energy worrying ahead of time.
-[Situation One at the 3rd District Supply Warehouse!]
-[All available personnel, nearest teams respond immediately.]
At that moment, urgent voices burst from speakers and loudspeakers positioned throughout the city center.
He did not know exactly how the forces were organized, but the way several people who had been stretching and preparing for the day suddenly grew tense made it clear that “Situation One” was nothing good.
The 3rd District.
His youngest sibling’s residence was in the 4th District.
The city appeared to be divided into several sectors along major roads. The 3rd District would therefore be adjacent to the 4th—above, below, or beside it.
Without realizing it, Kang Tae-sung’s steps had quickened.
“Hey.”
He did not grab the young man rushing past him. Instead, he matched the man’s pace and spoke while jogging alongside.
“Heading to the 3rd District?”
“…Yeah, why?”
The stranger seemed uncomfortable being addressed by someone he had never met, yet something about Kang Tae-sung made him instinctively raise his tone a little in reply.
“What does Situation One mean?”
“A rift appeared.”
“A rift?”
“…Did you just crawl out of some hospital bed?”
The man’s tone turned curt, as if warning him not to joke around, but Kang Tae-sung’s expression remained as serious as ever.
“…If you’re curious, come along.”
Unable to think of a proper explanation, the man frowned and said that. He increased his speed, yet Kang Tae-sung stayed right beside him without falling behind.
The young man, who had prided himself on being the fastest runner among ordinary people, shot Kang Tae-sung another glance. Wondering if the man might be an Awakened, a complicated mix of envy, jealousy, wariness, and respect crossed his face.
“Give us a ride!”
The man waved and shouted toward a roofless van that was just pulling away nearby—whether the roof had been removed on purpose or simply missing was unclear.
Three or four people were already inside. Crude weapons jutted upward from their positions.
Spears, huh.
Kang Tae-sung thought of the wolf-bone spear he had tucked into his pocket before entering City Hall, but he had no intention of taking it out.
It simply struck him as odd to see people carrying such outdated weapons in an era of guns and missiles, yet still traveling by vehicle.
The occupants, however, looked deadly serious. Without checking identities, the van accepted them both and sped down the open road.
With no traffic jams or traffic lights to stop them, the scenery passed smoothly despite the modest speed.
Kang Tae-sung compared the translucent minimap in the upper right of his vision—active since last night—with the passing landscape.
“Which team are you with?”
Someone sitting in the front finally asked. The young man glanced at the silent Kang Tae-sung, then named a team—apparently teams were identified by their leader’s name.
The man who had asked seemed to assume Kang Tae-sung belonged to the same team and nodded, fiddling with his spear.
“……”
Kang Tae-sung paid no attention. The minimap was not merely a display of the surrounding area. Every place he had passed through was being added in translucent layers.
The system description called the function “Mapping.” It was a feature that allowed him to create maps himself.
Does that mean I have to walk the entire country to complete the map of this land?
Checking the related menu, he saw that he could also spend points to download maps of other regions uploaded by fellow Hunters.
However, the area one person could upload was limited, and duplicate uploads were not allowed. In large cities, countless Hunters competed fiercely to be the first to upload unmapped sections.
It was not only the first uploader who could sell; the list refreshed every week, so people raced to upload during that window.
After all, when someone purchased a map, fifty percent of the points went to the uploader. A well-timed map could earn money while sitting still—though only for a week.
Each map covered a 100-meter square area, and the price was set by the uploader. If someone listed it at 100 or 1,000 points, buyers either paid or gave up.
Therefore, unless the area was far away, walking and mapping it yourself was far more practical.
The maps that sold well were those of complex alleyways easy to get lost in, or places where earthquakes or rift aftereffects had altered the terrain and required new mapping.
Kang Tae-sung also learned that the range he could map—roughly a 50-meter radius from himself—greatly exceeded the average.
Average is about 10 meters, apparently.
Five times the distance.
His mapping range was five times that of ordinary Level 1 Hunters. The difference in actual area was even more dramatic.
It probably had something to do with his ability to sense mana flow. The range matched his mana perception almost perfectly. Did that mean his body, different from ordinary humans, could still exert its abilities in this world as well?
He had already crushed five wolves with his fists, yet the reality had not fully sunk in. Now the suspicion was growing stronger.
Screech.
At that moment, the van reached its destination and stopped.
He jumped out with the others. Several other vehicles and groups of people had already gathered nearby. They clustered in small groups or gradually merged, apparently moving as teams.
So Headquarters coordinated these teams rather than maintaining a strict military chain of command. It seemed the hierarchy had not been fully established.
Roughly several dozen people had assembled.
More arrived by the minute, but the total would not be very large. Even at a glance, ordinary people far outnumbered the Hunters.
Most teams of five to ten members had only one Hunter—the apparent leader—and occasionally one or two more.
Although no one wore signs declaring their status, it was true that Awakened individuals could roughly distinguish each other from ordinary people by sight.
When the crowd exceeded a hundred, Kang Tae-sung looked toward the shimmering distortion in the air beside the large warehouse.