Chapter 1

The world flipped upside down in an instant.
Or maybe I’d gone insane.

It had to be one of the two—otherwise, there was no way to explain what was happening.
If not, then how could I, who had been staking out with my partner Detective Kim to catch the drug boss Kim Deokpal, suddenly be here of all places?

“Mom, I love you…”
“If I’d known this would happen, I wouldn’t have argued with you this morning…”
“Everyone, don’t lose hope! Recovery Hunters have already been dispatched, and rescue teams are on their way to the shelters!”

Strange words echoed around me.

Recovery Hunters? Shelters? What the hell are they talking about?

I had no idea what a “Recovery Hunter” was, and “shelters” made no sense either.

“Oh Lord, if this trial is truly Yours… why me, of all people—damn it, God!”

Some people clutched their hands together, praying through sobs, while others cursed in despair as though the world had ended.

What the hell is going on?

Confused, I looked around.
Through the crowd, I spotted a massive TV screen.

On it played a grotesque scene I had never witnessed in my life—long-tentacled monsters devouring fleeing humans.

If it had been a movie, I might have laughed it off, but the bold words Breaking News stamped across the screen made it horrifyingly real.

Then, below that terrifying footage, a red banner appeared:

[Monster Wave in Seohyeon-dong, Buyeon City / Noeul Guild en route]

Monster Wave? Guild?

Words you’d never hear in reality—but not words that were entirely unfamiliar either.

No way… it can’t be…

An absurd possibility flashed in my mind.

“Haha, impossible. This must be a dream. Just a dream.”

I tried to deny it, widening my already-open eyes until they hurt.
I slapped my cheeks. Pinched the back of my hand.
But the nightmare didn’t fade.

Then… is this really Cradle of Despair?

I shoved my hand into my pocket.
I needed to call my partner Detective Kim and confirm what was happening.

But instead of my battered, seven-year-old phone covered in scratches, what I pulled out was a brand-new model I’d never seen before.

“What the… whose phone is this? Why’s it in my pocket?”

I dug through my pockets again.
No old phone. Instead, I found a sleek car key, an unfamiliar set of house keys, and a luxury-brand wallet that screamed money.

“…This isn’t mine.”

I tried unlocking the strange phone, but even the lock screen pattern refused me.

In the end, I had to ask a nearby bystander for a phone.
I dialed Detective Kim’s number by muscle memory.

—“The number you have dialed does not exist. Please check and try again…”

“What?”

I rechecked the number. It was perfect. I’d called it just before falling asleep last night.
But now it didn’t exist.

“No way…”

Panicked, I dialed every number I knew—my senior officer, my team leader, even the precinct office itself.
All of them were “nonexistent numbers.”

Frustration made me slap my cheek harder.

“…Damn, that really hurts.”

The sting in my face lingered, but the nightmare world around me remained unchanged.

Unknown scenery. Unknown monsters. And none of my contacts exist anymore.

“No. Kim Hae-ah, get it together. Pain exists in dreams too. Yeah… yeah, I just need to lie down here and sleep. When I wake up, I’ll be back.”

I didn’t want to admit it. Couldn’t admit it.

Just then, my finger brushed the phone screen, opening the camera.
The reflection staring back at me wasn’t my face.

“…What the hell?”

It wasn’t me.
Sharp features. Brown hair. A tear mole beneath the right eye.
And mismatched orange-and-purple eyes.

I froze. I’d scoffed at that exact description just a few days ago, saying, “What kind of idiot author gives a character heterochromia like that?”

“No way. This can’t be…”

But the traits were undeniable.

This was Seo Gowoon.

The good-for-nothing bastard from that fantasy novel I binge-read during vacation: Cradle of Despair.

A scumbag who smashed a security guard’s nose for no reason. Who blew an entire year’s guild budget in one night at a department store. Who picked fights with random strangers and got beaten up for it daily.

He survived only because of one thing—
His younger brother.

Seo Taeju.

Vice Guild Master of Noeul Guild. One of the nation’s top five guilds. An SS-rank Hunter.
Adopted into Seo Gowoon’s family, Taeju endured abuse, beatings, and humiliation at Gowoon’s hands, all because he wanted to honor his adoptive parents’ last wish: “Please take care of our son.”

Even after awakening as a powerhouse, Taeju still bore the burden of his worthless older brother.

And now, I was inhabiting that worthless brother.

Why did I even read that novel?

Because I’d caught a nationally wanted criminal, got a promotion, and was forced on a vacation.
Detective Kim had handed me the book, saying, “I rented this but never read it. You finish it for me.”

I’d cursed at the garbage plot while forcing myself through, only so I wouldn’t waste the rental fee.

And now, here I was.
Not as the protagonist, but as the deadweight supporting character who dies pathetically in a shelter collapse during a monster wave.

“…Goddammit.”

I slumped against the wall.

So that was it? My fate here was to die in this shelter collapse?

“No. No way. Kim Hae-ah doesn’t die like that.”

I clenched my fists.

If this was fate, then I’d twist it.
If Seo Gowoon was destined to die, then I would survive.

I forced myself to remember the details of the book.

I had perfect memory—every scene, every word I’d read remained intact in my mind.

Seo Gowoon dies in the shelter during this very wave.
But I also remembered that the wave only ended when Seo Taeju arrived and destroyed the Gateway.

That meant one thing.

“I need to destroy it before I die here.”

Running away alone wasn’t an option.
Not when hundreds of terrified civilians were here with me. Not when I was still a cop.

There was only one choice.

I’ll end the wave myself.

I searched my pockets again.

“…Figures. Nothing useful.”

Just keys, wallet, phone. No weapons.

Unlike other hunter novels, Cradle of Despair didn’t have inventory systems. Hunters used “Bottomless Pouches,” but Seo Gowoon was such a pretentious fashionista he refused to carry one.

Of course. He’d probably spent the money on designer clothes instead.

But then it hit me.

“Wait. Seo Gowoon’s a Hunter too.”

Right.
This bastard had a hidden skill—a one-of-a-kind ability in the world.

Alchemy.

Even as a lowly D-rank, he could kill A-rank monsters with it.
In the novel, he died before using it properly, but…

“If I can use it, then maybe—”

I took a deep breath.

“Yeah. Better to try and fail than sit here waiting to be crushed.”

I shouted to the others:

“Everyone! Get out while you can! Staying here is suicide!”

Then I ran out of the shelter.