Found It: Yeongwon High School
Han Yujin had no intention of using his ability again right away, of course.
He was curious whether he could open a gate to an even earlier period in that Post-Apocalyptic Earth world—in other words, something like Earth right before the apocalypse—but after an experience like that, he wasn’t about to dive back in immediately.
When that final wave of hair had sliced him apart and killed him, it had been genuinely terrifying. He was lucky that it had happened so instantly there was no pain, but still…
I thought I was going to piss myself.
He might have actually done it. He simply couldn’t tell because he had been cut into pieces.
Anyway, no matter that he was a Restorer, he was still only at the Initiation Stage, and those ghosts had been overwhelmingly powerful. Just remembering their presence still sent chills across his skin and raised goosebumps.
So it was only natural that he needed some mental rest.
As he wondered what to do with his time, he suddenly thought of Park Heewon, his college friend—the one who had first told him about the Xianxia genre.
The reply that came back was similar to last time. After they set a specific time and he spent a while browsing around the internet, the hours flew by.
This time they met in front of a kimchi stew place that was good for lunch. Even though Han Yujin greeted him as soon as he saw his friend walking from afar, Park Heewon looked slightly puzzled, which in turn made Han Yujin puzzled as well.
“Uh… what the hell, man?”
Only after coming closer and finally recognizing him properly did Park Heewon speak, his tone flustered.
“What?”
“What do you mean, what?”
“I’m asking what the hell happened to you, you bastard.”
“Did you get some kind of makeup done? Your skin looks completely different.”
“Ah.”
Han Yujin couldn’t hold back the laughter that rose naturally.
“I awakened. Turns out awakening comes with a beauty buff.”
“Bullshit.”
“No, I’m serious.”
“…For real? You? That doesn’t make any sense.”
“I’m buying.”
Han Yujin chuckled as he stepped into the kimchi stew restaurant.
“Hey, you bastard. You awakened and all you’re treating me to is kimchi stew? This has to be a lie, right?”
Of course Park Heewon grumbled as he followed him inside.
They sat at a suitable table, placed their order, and while the side dishes were coming out, Park Heewon—who had asked several times if it was really true—offered his congratulations with clear envy on his face.
“Congrats, seriously. Wow… I never imagined an awakener would appear among my friends. And at this age, too.”
“I did awaken pretty late, yeah.”
“How did it happen? What did you do?”
“How I awakened, huh…”
A thought suddenly came to him and Han Yujin let out a wry laugh.
“It was a few days ago. I had just lain down in bed to sleep, but I was bored so I opened my messenger and saw that one of my middle-school classmates had become a successful hunter.”
“Yeah.”
“And on top of that, the guy was dating my middle-school crush.”
Originally he had seen the crush’s messenger profile first, so the explanation was slightly altered in the details, but overall it was accurate.
“So I fell asleep feeling jealous, and when I woke up I had awakened.”
“…Being a pathetic loser was the trigger?”
The pitying look in Park Heewon’s eyes from across the table only made Han Yujin laugh harder.
Han Yujin wasn’t particularly ashamed of that pathetic side of himself. He believed every person had that aspect—like the shading that was absolutely necessary in any portrait.
What mattered was how large a portion it occupied and whether one could control it properly according to time and place.
“You should take a page from my book. Who knows? If you’re even more pathetic than me, you might awaken as an S-rank hunter.”
At those words Park Heewon suddenly began laughing dryly. Far from dying down, the laughter only grew louder. For some reason Han Yujin ended up laughing along with him.
“Why are you laughing, dude? Was it that funny?”
“No, it’s just that the current trend in web novels is the shut-in underdog protagonist, so it reminded me of that. If that’s the case, do I get to awaken too? I’m pretty confident in that department.”
“What do you mean the trend is shut-in underdogs?”
It really was amazing.
After chatting a little more on the subject, the ordered kimchi stew arrived and they began to eat.
“You know, if.”
Since he was meeting his friend anyway, Han Yujin casually brought up the dilemma he had been pondering.
“If your ability took the form of knowledge that you could share with others, would you do it?”
“So that’s what your awakening ability is?”
“Yeah. Explaining it in detail would take too long… so let’s just assume I learned a Xianxia cultivation method.”
“Huh?”
Park Heewon, who had been about to lift his spoon, looked at him with an odd expression.
“For real?”
“Let’s say it’s something like that. Knowledge with that level of impact.”
“……”
With a rather mysterious look on his face, the guy scooped some food and stayed silent for a long while, apparently thinking it over quite seriously.
“That’s a seriously heavy question, you know?”
That was what came out after the silence.
“With your family… ah, sorry.”
“It’s fine.”
“Hmm…”
Park Heewon, who knew Han Yujin’s family circumstances, apologized quickly and resumed thinking.
“Is there any reason you have to share it? There’s nothing to gain besides money, and now that you’re a hunter you can earn as much money as you want anyway.”
“What if sharing it lets me become stronger faster and more powerfully?”
“Then… yeah, there would be a reason to share it.”
It was a rather obvious conclusion, so Han Yujin nodded. Still, he asked again.
“Even if it’s something like a Xianxia cultivation method? I’m telling you the impact is no joke.”
“If you’re worried, just adjust it yourself. The standard rule is to control things so no one stronger than you appears, right?”
“Hmm, I suppose so.”
“But even then, if it’s a real Xianxia cultivation method I’d still be worried. Wouldn’t it overturn society if you mess up?”
“That part does concern me a bit.”
“No…”
Park Heewon set his spoon down completely.
“Is it really knowledge on that level?”
“Right after I awakened I tested my ability and received A-rank.”
“……”
This time the guy looked genuinely shocked. Since he was well-versed in hunter-related information, he clearly understood the weight an A-rank carried.
“You’re not lying, right?”
“I’m not.”
“Holy shit… First, tell me some of that knowledge. I’ll review it properly and give you my judgment.”
The atmosphere that had grown heavy loosened with the joke. While Han Yujin let out a wry laugh, Park Heewon—who had been serious—soon spoke again.
“Just release it little by little and watch the reaction. That would be the safest way, right?”
“If I want to play it safe, that would be best, but…”
As Han Yujin trailed off, the Post-Apocalyptic Earth world rose in his mind.
“What if the world is going to be destroyed in ten years?”
“This is a lie, right? You’re just throwing it out there?”
“Of course, dumbass. Do I look like Nostradamus?”
“It’d be better if you were that guy. He ended up being wrong anyway.”
Further heavy discussion seemed inappropriate, so Han Yujin roughly glossed over it with a laugh.
Just organizing his thoughts through conversation with his friend had been surprisingly helpful.
“If it’s real Xianxia stuff, teach me some too. I want to live a long life as well.”
“What if you don’t have spiritual roots?”
“Then I’d just do a reset marathon by the Han River. In a Xianxia world, a character without roots has no reason to live.”
“Crazy bastard.”
“Reset marathon” was short for the “reset marathon” used among gamers—in other words, a joke about reincarnating repeatedly until one obtained good roots.
“Hyung will get you one later when I have some leeway. A spiritual root.”
“For real? Then I’ll treat you as my true big brother. But…”
“But?”
“Since you’re getting it for me anyway, don’t get some trash one. Get me something cool like the Yin-Yang Five Elements Heavenly Spiritual Root.”
“Just hearing the name sounds insane.”
After that, casual chatter continued.
At one point Han Yujin asked whether he believed in the existence of ghosts, but the only answer that came back was the general principle that since rifts and supernatural abilities existed, something similar had to exist somewhere in the world.
Everyone probably thinks the same.
No one thought seriously about ghosts. Even though they had accepted the existence of rifts and abilities, ghosts seemed to belong to a different category altogether.
Perhaps because they were such eerie beings, and since they had never been proven, people preferred to leave them as mere superstition.
“Hey.”
As the meal was roughly coming to an end.
“As befitting an A-rank hunter, upload lots of photos of you eating well and living well to your profile. That way I can get jealous and awaken too.”
That was what Park Heewon said.
It was his own form of congratulations and encouragement, knowing that once Han Yujin began full-fledged hunter activities, they wouldn’t be able to meet as easily or often as now.
“Got it.”
Han Yujin answered without dragging it out and finished the meal.
When he returned home, Han Yujin didn’t browse the internet for random things and instead searched for information about ghosts.
As expected, there wasn’t much of a harvest. Most of it was about movies, and even the so-called real experience stories almost all felt fabricated.
They’ve probably never seen a real ghost, yet they say ignorance is courage.
If they had witnessed even once the sight of a person being sliced into cube steak by a wave of hair, they wouldn’t be able to fabricate such stories again.
After pondering something for a moment, he opened a map linked to a famous portal site.
He randomly searched for high schools and began checking every school photo that appeared in the Seoul region one by one. Not for any other reason, but because the overwhelming pressure he had felt from the ghost named Wonhee had been that immense.
It was an existence that could by no means be called a mere evil spirit, so there had to be something special about that school or about Wonhee herself. And the only subject he could easily search right now was the school.
It would have been good if I had checked the school name.
Unfortunately, beneath the terrifying pressure of the suited ghost he had been too busy running away to have the leisure to confirm such details.
There were so many high schools in Seoul that even with the body and mind of a Restorer, Han Yujin felt a slight fatigue while checking them one by one. It wasn’t real exhaustion but boredom.
It might be better to just read the sorcery book…
However, because that horrific experience had happened less than a day ago, he didn’t want to stop this boring search. He felt he wouldn’t feel satisfied until he confirmed that high school.
How much time had passed like that?
Before he knew it the sun had set outside the window, darkening the room. Although becoming a Restorer meant he no longer had to worry about his eyesight, habit made him turn on the indoor light before continuing the search a little longer.
“Uh…”
Han Yujin suddenly straightened his posture and brought his face close to the monitor.
Found it.
His worry that he might not recognize it had been completely unnecessary. The moment he saw it, he knew instantly that this was the one.
Yeongwon High School
He clicked the link and entered the official homepage. Looking around in detail, he learned that “Yeongwon” really did mean “eternal.” It felt a little strange as a high school name.
Aside from that, however, the homepage looked perfectly ordinary. The principal’s greeting, educational objectives, staff introductions, notice board with announcements—everything appeared normal.
It gave off the impression of a very ordinary, standard high school.
That Wonhee… must be less than ten years old right now.
Thinking that, Han Yujin left the homepage and began searching for more information about Yeongwon High School.
Then he found a rather interesting piece of information. It was a post on a small community site claiming that the foundation backing Yeongwon High School was a cult.
Religion and ghosts. The connection was impossible to ignore.
He felt quite excited, as if he had solved one small puzzle of the Ghost Apocalypse. In his mind he wanted to visit the high school tomorrow immediately and search every corner for anything strange.
The characteristics of that cult meshing with whatever trait forms and nurtures ghosts to create something on the level of that Wonhee…
Just as he was thinking that, the smartphone he had left beside the keyboard suddenly lit up and began ringing, startling Han Yujin.
It was a good thing he was alone; it was quite embarrassing that a Restorer like himself had been startled by something so minor.
“Hello?”
He answered thinking it was probably an unknown number trying to sell him something, but the person on the other end was a woman who sounded quite young.
“Is this Han Yujin?”
“Yes, who is this?”
“Hello, I’m Kang Minah, a public official from the Ability Management Bureau. I tried to contact you sooner… Is it all right to talk now?”
It was the responsible official the administrator had said he would assign.
Suddenly Han Yujin wondered whether he could request information about Yeongwon High School from this official.