Episode 01
Breaking News
[Breaking News!]
Clang!
A pot slipped from my hands and smashed to the floor, spewing its contents.
Ramen broth, hot as molten lava, splashed over my bare foot, searing flesh.
[A hunter once considered Korea’s first S-rank candidate—Hunter Seo—has died today inside a Gate.]
[Government agencies and all major guilds have entered a state of emergency…]
It was an ordinary day in 202X.
“…H-hyung.”
Inside a B-rank Abyss Gate, my greatest pride was killed.
It should have been impossible.
I quit my job.
Before the company could notify me that my contract had expired, I resigned first.
Then I jumped straight into the hunter industry.
“Isn’t that guy Hunter Seo’s little brother?”
I possessed the bare minimum qualification to be a hunter—an awakened ability.
“Looking at him now, he kind of does resemble him.”
And I had the shadow of my half-brother—the strongest hunter in Korea—looming over me.
[B–R–E–A–K–I–N–G N–E–W–S!]
Overnight, I became a minor celebrity in the industry.
And, as it turned out, I did have talent.
“…Th-this doesn’t make sense.”
Enough talent to rattle even a veteran employee who had seen countless hunters.
“F—no, E-rank…?”
The gazes around me changed in an instant.
“What? Isn’t he Hunter Seo’s brother?”
“…Yes. That’s why we ran the tests multiple times, but…”
A glance.
“Could his awakened ability be Blessing, like Hunter Seo’s?”
Blessing.
An ability that stood one tier above ordinary awakened powers.
“We can’t identify it yet… but even so, his ability rank is impossibly low.”
E-rank.
The lowest of the low—branded with the derogatory label of F-rank.
From that day on, the amount of attention I had received flipped into disdain.
“Tsk. What a waste of bloodline. He’s Hunter Seo’s brother, my ass.”
“What do you expect? He’s not even a full brother. Guess the genes all went to the older one.”
Sneers and mockery followed me everywhere.
I endured it all for a single purpose.
I had to uncover the truth behind my brother’s death.
I was stubborn.
If nothing else, I had grit.
So for ten years, I was ground down on the front lines like gravel beneath boots.
Perhaps my desperation looked pitiful.
At thirty-four, a man who claimed to be my brother’s closest friend bought me a drink.
An A-rank hunter—busy beyond belief—calling me out personally felt… strange.
“You keep this up, but your brother won’t come back. It’s time to wake up and rejoin society.”
My glass froze halfway to my lips.
“You know he wouldn’t die like that.”
“I know. Better than anyone. But Wonseok— even monkeys fall from trees sometimes, right?”
“My brother wasn’t a monkey.”
He was my pride.
There was no way he’d die in a mere B-rank Gate.
He was cautious. His instincts were flawless. His crisis response was perfect.
“Both brothers… damned lives.”
His gaze was unreadable.
Then he left, trailing cold air behind him.
* * *
Two years passed.
I met that so-called best friend again.
Not at a bar this time.
Inside an Abyss Dungeon.
A B-rank one.
That alone proved how desperately I’d clawed my way upward, despite being a perpetual E-rank.
There was more that had changed.
He was now Korea’s first official S-rank hunter.
And decisively—
I had become his enemy.
My vision dimmed.
A blade was lodged deep in my abdomen.
“…Seriously. Both you and your brother—so damn upright. It’s annoying.”
Cough!
Blood slid down his cheek from my lips.
Crack!
“What did you think you were doing, getting cocky? Your amazing brother? The one who got stabbed by me and died?”
Predictable. Not even surprising.
But what followed wasn’t.
“You know this? You really think I could’ve taken down your brother alone?”
“…What?”
“That guy was more of a monster than you think. Coming from the one who killed him, sure—but damn, the way he went out was beautiful.”
He sneered.
“Idiot. The government agencies and guilds that blasted his death all over the news? They were in on it together. I just had a tiny personal grudge. I wasn’t even planning to kill him.”
What?
“I’m just a knife, see. In this business, the higher you climb, the more you need to dirty your hands. But your half-brother was too straight.”
He picked up a branch and bent it between his hands.
“You gotta be flexible.”
Snap.
“When you’re too rigid… you break.”
“…Ha.”
A hollow laugh escaped me.
“Figures.”
“What figures?”
“That my brother wouldn’t lose to a hack like you.”
“…Hack?”
Whoosh!
I threw my fist like lightning.
It didn’t reach him.
Still, I straightened my middle finger with all my strength.
“Go choke on it.”
Amused by my crude defiance, he swung back.
I let it hit.
My neck twisted with a sickening crack.
It was fine.
Give flesh to take bone.
Crunch!
I lunged forward and bit into his neck, tearing flesh like a textbook vampire ambush.
“Gaaaah!”
He struggled to tear me off.
“Let go! Let go, you bastard!”
Finally, he ripped his upper body free.
A chunk of flesh came with it.
Panicking, he poured potion after potion onto the wound.
“Shit—haa… insane bastard.”
“A-rank really is something, huh… using potions worth thousands like water.”
“Fuck! Fuck! Why won’t the bleeding stop?!”
His face drained of color.
Even I found it strange.
That much potion—yet the blood kept flowing.
Was my unidentified awakened ability doing this?
“You fucking cursed brothers!”
Enraged, he yanked out the curved blade from my stomach like pulling a radish.
A butcher’s weapon more than a hunter’s.
Blood streamed from his neck, yet he still tried to act composed.
“Don’t leave last words… like your brother.”
No.
“I’ll be higher-ranked than you in hell. I’ll work you like a slave.”
The blade flashed—
And my vision went black.
No pain.
Just darkness.
So this is how it ends.
Then—
A crimson thread writhed in the void.
It extended from my index finger.
〈Final Trial of True Awakening: Death Achieved〉
A voice clung to my eardrums.
〈O Great One. Lead the mortal world with blood.〉
Tick. Tick.
The sound of interlocking gears echoed.
“&%^%.”
What… is it saying?
My consciousness drifted.
“Wonseok! Seo Wonseok!”
A groan escaped me.
Damn… my head hurts.
Did that bastard coat his blade in poison?
“Wake up!”
Thump. Thump.
“Cough—!”
He pounded my back so hard my heart nearly burst out.
I slowly leaned back.
Bright lights stabbed my eyes.
“Where… am I?”
“Tch. I should’ve known when a lightweight like you poured liquor into a beer glass.”
The blurry man handed me a cup of water.
Ah.
I’m alive.
My vision cleared.
My eyes widened.
“…Hyung?”
“What? Why are you staring like that?”
What is this?
My temples throbbed.
The pain was real.
Too real to be a dream.
“Hyung.”
“Stop calling me like that. It’s creepy.”
“Can you… punch me?”
“What?”
“Just once.”
“So sudden?”
“Yeah.”
I needed to know if this was real.
“I can help you sober up.”
He flexed his fist.
“Don’t forget—I can’t control my strength. One slip and you’re dead.”
A known fact.
My brother was Korea’s strongest hunter.
Even pulling punches, he could shatter an orc’s skull.
“Yeah, no. Even if it’s a dream.”
“This isn’t a dream. Drink some more water. I’m heading out.”
He slipped cash from his wallet and tucked it under the fish cake bowl.
His phone rang.
“Ah—your sister-in-law’s nagging me again. Your nephew’s fourth birthday is tomorrow, and I’m out drinking. You know how she is.”
“…Fourth birthday.”
Reality snapped into focus.
The street stall.
The last place I saw him before his death made the news.
Don’t tell me—
Did I regress?
Everything clicked.
“I’m going.”
“Hyung.”
He turned.
“What now?”
I hesitated, then forced the words out.
“Can I come… to the birthday?”
My nephew.
Family complications had kept us distant.
After my brother died, I couldn’t face them.
“What kind of question is that?”
As expected.
“Of course you’re coming. Just bring a present. I’m really going.”
He disappeared.
I stood there alone.
It still didn’t feel real.
My phone vibrated.
A message from him.
───〈Seo Boseok〉───
Transfer Sent
₩1,000,000 has been sent.
You can cancel before it’s accepted.
Accept Transfer
────────────────
Ding.
───〈Seo Boseok〉───
Hyung: Take a taxi home
Hyung: Use what’s left to buy your nephew a gift
Hyung: And stop whining about contracts. You can do better
Hyung: Anyway, later
────────────────
Drip.
A drop of liquid fell onto my phone.
Then another.
My reflection stared back from the dark screen—smiling and crying at the same time.
“Who sends a million won for taxi fare, you idiot…”
A family at a nearby table whispered.
“Mom, that guy’s crying and smiling! He’s handsome but scary!”
“Shh. If you don’t study, you’ll end up like that.”
“I see!”
I ignored them and stepped out.
Looked up at the sky.
I was back.
I could fix it.
I would fix everything—no matter what.
