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01 - Awakened
The world was ruined. There were many events like Gates and World War III, but it all boiled down to one reason. There was no food. The star's energy was exhausted, and black lands spread across the world, making it impossible for vegetation to grow. If plants can't grow, animals can't grow either, and humans are no match. World War III, where nuclear weapons flew around, was caused not by ideology or thought, but by food. Even though civilization had advanced to the point of space travel, the reason for war had not changed at all from primitive times. The conventional nations collapse,d and the remaining humanity gathered in the few remaining cities to form city-states.
Seoul, which was once the capital of South Korea. But now it is called Seoul, a city-state located on the Korean Peninsula. That was the world Jin-woo lived in.
***
"Hey, Kang, take today's daily wage."
"Oh, thank you."
"You worked hard today, too. Young people have good strength. I will be counting on you next time, too."
After receiving his daily wage from the construction site, Jin-woo headed home. Jin-woo was on edge the entire way back because he had heard that robbers frequently appeared in this area. In these tough times, you have to protect your own life. Jin-woo hurriedly returned home, checking the feel of the white envelope in his pocket several times.
Jin-woo's home was a dilapidated house in a shantytown on the outskirts of Seoul. The outskirts of the city were surrounded by barriers that repelled monsters, and Jin-woo's house was precariously positioned on that barrier. To be precise, one room was exposed outside, and the rest was protected inside. That room was roughly used as a storage room for miscellaneous items, and the rest was Jin-woo's living space.
"Whew."
Jin-woo, who had safely returned home, simply washed himself with the water he had collected in the morning. The shantytown in this outer area doesn't even have a proper water supply. To be precise, it's not that no water comes out at all, but the water is quite dirty and needs to be purified before use. So water has to be fetched every morning from a communal area a little further inside. Naturally, it wasn't enough to take a bath or shower comfortably, so Jin-woo could only dampen a towel with water and wipe the sweat from his body.
"Let's see... How many blocks are left?"
Blocks are one of the cheapest foods of this era, containing condensed, minimal nutrients. In today's world, where much of the land where vegetation can grow has disappeared due to Gates and black lands, these block foods were the staple food for most people. Those who are middle-class can eat fake meat like synthetic meat using molecular data, but for extremely poor people like Jin-woo, it was a luxury. At most, he would buy a piece of synthetic meat on his birthday each year and celebrate alone.
"Ha, I really want to eat meat."
Jin-woo threw a bulgogi-flavored block into his mouth, chewed it, and let out a long sigh. Jin-woo's dream of living day to day wasn't grand at all. Not some wealth, glory, or luxury goods, but food. The joy of eating to one's fill was truly what Jin-woo desired.
"They say if you become a Hunter, you can eat meat to your heart's content."
Hunters are those who appeared at the same time when Gates and monsters appeared on Earth, referring to those who awakened special abilities. Their abilities were diverse, but there was one core ability. They could bring resources and food from the dimension beyond the periodically opening Gates. There were really few livestock raised on modern Earth itself. Even almost all livestock were monopolized by the wealthy, making them really hard to find in the general market. Most of the raw meat distributed in the general market was brought by Hunters from inside Gates. Of course, beyond the Gates, there were also resources like rare ores and magic stones held by monsters. These were also expensive and important resources, but what Jin-woo wanted wasn't such wealth and glory. Just days of eating meat every day. Such days were what Jin-woo wanted.
"Hunters aren't called Hunters for nothing."
What the first Awakened brought from beyond the Gate wasn't a magic stone or rare ore, but a large wild boar. Most of the early Awakened hunted beasts and gathered fruits rather than magic stones when they returned. So they were called Hunters, and the term Hunter has been established and used until now.
Crunch.
Jin-woo finished chewing the block. The bulgogi scent spreading in his mouth made Jin-woo even crazier. If just a little artificially made scent makes him salivate like this, how delicious would bulgogi made with real raw meat be? Although he sings about meat, what Jin-woo wants to eat isn't just meat. Fresh fruit is naturally precious food, and fresh vegetables are the same. In other words, Jin-woo wanted to eat fresh food anyway. Not these blocks, mass-produced in factories.
Then.
"Huh?"
His body felt itchy. His vision blurred and became clear repeatedly, and cold sweat flowed from his palms without him knowing.
'Did I catch some disease!?'
An urgent alarm rang in Jin-woo's head. Disease is not allowed. Disease is dangerous. If it's just a common cold, he'd just miss work for a day or two, but the world is full of diseases that aren't like that. If he catches an unknown disease, he'd have to go to the hospital for an examination and get medicine. In this Seoul, where medical insurance doesn't exist, going to the hospital meant expenses that would break his back.
'Disease is not allowed!'
While shouting that and somehow holding onto his consciousness.
[ A fragment of opportunity and a handful of luck. ]
[ Fragments of a past life will emerge. Either a new fate will triumph or be swallowed by the previous fate. ]
Seeing the message that appeared, Jin-woo's eyes trembled madly. It was his first time seeing it, but it was a message he had heard about many times. The awakening message.
'I've Awakened!'
Jin-woo had become a Hunter.
***
Jin-woo immediately headed to the Hunter Management Bureau and completed his new Hunter registration. The registration itself wasn't difficult and was completed quickly, but what came next took a little longer. Guided to an inner room of the Hunter Management Bureau, Jin-woo received all kinds of explanations and precautions from a civil servant who was the person in charge.
"A Hunter's ability is known to be that person's past life ability. You don't have any abilities right now, do you?"
"Yes."
"You'll be able to awaken your abilities one by one as you enter Gates and engage in activities. Don't worry too much."
A general explanation about Hunter's abilities. A Hunter's ability is basically that person's past life ability. Naturally, the more remarkable a person was in their past life, the more remarkable the ability that blooms, making them a strong Hunter. But be careful. No matter how strong a past life and strong abilities you have, if you're hit by a stray arrow, you'll inevitably die.
"Inevitably die..."
"You must always be careful. Gates are full of dangerous elements, so if you let your guard down even a little, you could die immediately! That's why there are quite a few people who don't become Hunters even after awakening and quietly live their daily lives."
It's dangerous. It's something he already knew. But Jin-woo couldn't contain his dreams and desires. About 80% of those dreams and desires were about appetite.
"Listen carefully. Novice Hunters should forget about magic stones and whatever else and just think about bringing out food. It's fortunate if you can catch even a rabbit, and fruits or mushrooms are fine too. You know how expensive fresh raw food is these days, right?"
"I know. I know very well."
"One wild boar is a jackpot, and if you catch a cow that's plump with fat? You'd easily get tens of millions of won. Rather than trying to dig up a few pieces of magic stone and getting attacked by monsters, hunting and gathering are the answer. Right?"
"Of course. I really relate to that."
Even though they met for the first time today, this civil servant has really good chemistry with him. Since Jin-woo listened well, the civil servant also more enthusiastically told him everything he was supposed to know.
"If you kill and put it in your inventory right away, it's preserved as is, so put it in as quickly as possible, and if you don't know a butcher, you can supply it to the Management Bureau, and they'll give you a fair price. However, the better the quality, the better it would be to entrust it to a private business. The same goes for not just meat, but fruits, mushrooms, and grains too."
In Jin-woo's mind, he was already picturing himself catching a big wild boar on his first Gate trip. Of course, they say most first hunts just involve picking up some fruit, but in these times, fruit is worth its weight in gold, so it's fine. He also heard about various other procedures and precautions. About the environment and terrain. About monsters. And above all.
"Other races."
About other races, the greatest variable and dangerous element inside the Gates.
"Beyond the Gates, there aren't just Earth's Hunters. You might encounter other races from other stars and other worlds."
The civil servant took out materials to show.
"Dwarves usually look like this. Their hostility decreases a bit if you show them minerals, so take this with you, and if you encounter them, put the minerals on the ground and slowly back away and run. Never fight."
He received some strangely shaped minerals that were given in advance. If he meets Dwarves, should he leave this and run away?
"Orcs won't chase you if their bellies are full. If you meet them, throw all the food you have and run to the opposite side like your life depends on it. Never stop."
"What if I don't have food to throw?"
"What do you mean if you don't have food? Hunters become the food."
"..."
Leaving the speechless Jin-woo alone, the civil servant continued the explanation.
"Elves are basically handsome men and beautiful women, but never be captivated by their appearance, and just run away without doing anything. You can't communicate with them, you can't lure them with objects, and they have no particular interest in food. When these guys encounter humans, they unconditionally try to kill them, so never, ever approach them. They're hopeless."
"Isn't there any other lure? Like they like jewels or something."
"There isn't. If you meet them, just run. Actually, Elves are also unreasonably fast, so there's no guarantee you'll survive by running either. Rather, you might have no choice but to just sit down and pray..."
"Hmm."
"These three races are the most numerous races. As for minority races..."
Jin-woo concentrated all his attention and absorbed all the precautions from the civil servant. He hadn't concentrated this much since the time he carried bricks on 40-story high steel beams. Eventually, all the explanations ended, and the civil servant drank a glass of water to moisten her throat. She expressed gratitude to Jin-woo.
"Thank you for listening attentively."
"It's related to life, so of course I had to listen attentively."
"There are many people who don't. And those people..."
The civil servant trailed off. Even without hearing the rest, he could fully imagine what would be said next.
"Thank you. I'll do my best."
"Be careful, and the next Gate is in 3 days, so prepare well and enter."
"Yes."
After thanking the enthusiastic civil servant, Jin-woo left the room. The civil servant, left alone, sighed ‘whew’ and gave a bitter smile. A fact she hadn't bothered to tell Jin-woo.
"Just because someone listened attentively doesn't mean they had a good ending."
Most of those who didn't listen attentively died. But most of those who listened attentively also died. In the end, it meant this was a world where those who will survive live and those who will die die.
***
After completing various preparations for 3 days, Jin-woo entered his first Gate.
[ 1st Floor: Primeval Forest ]
[ Find the blue portal. If you want to return. ]
Jin-woo, who had just regained consciousness, hid in nearby bushes rather than being moved by the scene before his eyes first. Looking around with a tense body, fortunately, no one was visible. Only then did Jin-woo have the leisure to look around carefully.
'Wow...'
Blue sky not covered by barriers. Unpolluted, moist earth. Fresh forests and trees. Even the breeze brushing his cheeks was warm, and just being in this space felt like the filth accumulated in his body was being washed away.
'There was a world like this...'
A world they had lost. A place that could no longer be found on Earth. It's said that Earth's wealthy also own private forests or gardens. But he could assert that this place was larger and more beautiful than any millionaire's forest. After having a moment of emotion, Jin-woo soon slapped his cheek and came to his senses.
'Let's move.'
Carefully passing through the forest, Jin-woo began cautiously yet urgently gathering all fruits and mushrooms.
'Fresh fruit!'
No matter how much he tried to stay calm, he couldn't help his heart racing. It was the first time in his life seeing so much fresh fruit. He picked all the moderately ripe ones and put them in his inventory. The subspace called inventory given upon awakening could preserve items inside as they were. Then he took the ripest one and roughly rubbed it with his sleeve. And opened his mouth wide at once.
Crunch-!
It's quite hard. A slightly sour taste is subtly felt, and other than that, it's purely sweet. Crisp flesh and refreshing juice that moistens the throat. With a subtle, young sour fragrance added, it felt like all five senses were awakening.
'I feel like I'm coming alive...'
Having eaten only block food every day or half-rotten, mushy fruit, eating something fresh made him incredibly happy. To think this is the real taste of fruit, what he had been eating until now was...? Just thinking about having to go back and eat block food again made him resent the world.
After tasting the fruit, Jin-woo licked his lips and looked for the next food. What caught his eye next was a fairly wide stream. Jin-woo put his hand in the freezing cold water and scooped up a mouthful to drink. Although he wasn't thirsty after eating fruit, the stream water still refreshed Jin-woo's entire body. He wanted to strip naked and jump in to scrub off the accumulated grime, but he restrained himself. He wasn't here to play around right now.
'Oh, fish!'
But he couldn't resist the fish. There were quite a lot of fish swimming in the stream. Most were smaller than his palm, but some among them were bigger than his palm. Jin-woo took out the net he had brought in advance and immediately started hunting.
'One fish!'
It's quite a big one. But this much definitely wouldn't fill his stomach. He threw the caught fish outside the stream and fixed his gaze on the stream water again. If he had been told to catch them with his hands, it would have been quite difficult, but bringing a net in advance made it very easy. Two fish, three fish, Jin-woo was completely absorbed in catching that precious fresh fish. How long had he been in such a trance-like state? Something reflected in the stream made Jin-woo snap back to his senses.
"...Huh?"
A person's figure reflected on the water's surface. Jin-woo looked up, and his eyes met with that person-like thing. Jin-woo's head and heart, which had been heated up until just now, became cold as if cold water had been poured on them.
Black hair sparkling like the night sky and white skin contrasting with it. Deep eyes that seemed to draw you in. Long ears proved it was human-like but not human. In its hand was a sword embedded with jewels.
—When these guys encounter humans, they unconditionally try to kill them...
The words the civil servant had emphasized several times flashed through his head.
"...!"
Without even having time to scream, Jin-woo ran away. Abandoning the net and all the fish he had worked so hard to catch, he just ran to survive.
[ Fragments of a past life emerge. Those feet shall become swift. ]