Chapter 2
It took a few seconds for Saebyeok to grasp the situation, but soon she was swept away by overwhelming emotions.
“Saejin…!”
She hugged her younger brother tightly.
But Han Saejin was startled.
“Why… why are you like this?! Are you crazy?!”
Panicked, he tried to push her away. Yet the sister who had flitted around in his hands just yesterday didn’t budge an inch.
“I’m sorry, Saejin…”
Her voice, muttered so quietly, sounded strangely heavy, and Saejin’s face crumpled further.
He wriggled his arms through her to escape from her embrace.
“Why are you acting so gross?! Did something happen? Do you need money?”
“Saejin…”
“Don’t call me that—it’s creepy!”
Saejin glared at her seriously.
“How big of a mess did you make to be like this?”
No matter how he pressed, Saebyeok said nothing and just stared at him. Saejin’s eyes narrowed little by little.
“Ah, I told you not to play these kinds of pranks! They’re so boring!”
He assumed she was being difficult because he had woken her up and snapped in annoyance.
“Geez, that scared me.”
Saejin rubbed his goosebump-covered arms and returned to the table.
He shivered again, holding his chopsticks midair, clearly still shocked by Saebyeok’s actions.
Saebyeok couldn’t take her eyes off him.
Her bleached yellow hair, the unsuitable piercings, and the scar above her eyebrow from falling off a childhood horizontal bar—all of it was exactly as it had been.
Then she looked down at her own hands.
The hands that had once been covered with scars and calluses were gone, replaced by thin, soft, and smooth hands.
“She’s really back.”
To confirm she wasn’t dreaming, her phone buzzed.
It was the same phone from ten years ago, which she had destroyed with her bare hands immediately after awakening, unable to control her strength.
March 27
18:21
As she checked the date, system notifications filled her vision.
!! Alert !!
<Skill: Time of Protection (EX)> has been successfully activated.
<Skill: Time of Protection (EX)> is now inactive.
!! Alert !!
Multiple issues occurred due to forced loading while lacking proper permissions. (▼Expand)
The notifications confirmed she wasn’t dreaming.
‘So the maximum admin privileges meant the day I awakened.’
Out of habit, Saebyeok first checked the status window.
<Status Window>
Name: Han Saebyeok
Rank: n/a
Server: Earth (S3-EH)
Affiliation: None
Title: Lancer of the Dawn (S), Server Administrator (EX)
Her eyes first landed on the “Affiliation.”
‘…It’s gone.’
The spot that once said <Korean Awakened Association> was now empty.
It felt like a sharp wind had scraped across her heart.
‘That’s right, it shouldn’t be there.’
It had been strange that any affiliation remained in a world where the nation and everything else had disappeared.
Every time she saw the words <Korean Awakened Association>, it reminded her of comrades she couldn’t protect, which was painful—but it also gave her some comfort that the connection wasn’t completely severed…
Now that the words of both love and hate were gone, she felt strange. Truly, she was back.
Pushing aside complex emotions, she checked the changes.
Next to the familiar <Lancer of the Dawn> title was a new one: <Server Administrator>.
‘So this counts as a re-awakening.’
All hunters receive a rank upon awakening.
Sometimes they appear stronger over time, but that is due to skill mastery, not a change in rank.
Occasionally, growth-type titles appear, but these are extremely rare and have a clear limit.
Yet some break that limit and change ranks.
That is what is called a “re-awakening.”
The original title is added to a new one, raising the rank.
‘This is EX-level too.’
It was the first EX-level title alongside the skill.
Perhaps the world’s first—or maybe even the only one.
‘Rank N/A… well, it’ll show properly when I get it measured at the Association.’
She didn’t worry much about the N/A rank.
Even when she first awakened, the final rank wouldn’t appear until measured by the Association.
Re-awakening was new to her, but she assumed it wouldn’t be anything extraordinary.
It could be naturally resolved when she went to register as a hunter.
‘What’s important now is this.’
Her gaze moved to the persistent notification window after her return.
!! Alert !!
Multiple issues occurred due to forced loading while lacking proper permissions. (▼Expand)
It was clearly urging her to expand it, so she tapped carefully.
!! Alert !!
Multiple issues occurred due to forced loading while lacking proper permissions. (△ Collapse)
-
Temporary compression of abilities for permission stabilization (▶Details)
-
Occurrence of untransferred unique permissions (▶Details)
-
Worsening of hardware damage (▶Details)
-
?? ??? ? (▶Details)
Warnings she had seen before collapsing were neatly organized.
‘I’ve never seen a system this broken…’
She checked the last item, which caught her eye, but the details weren’t much different.
4. ?? ??? ? (▽Details)
└ ??—?—???. ??—?—?.
Just as she frowned at this phenomenon, never before seen:
“Not eating?”
Han Saejin, who had already finished his bowl, interrupted her focus.
“If you don’t eat, I’ll eat your portion too.”
“No! How long has it been since your kimchi stew!”
Seeing him reach for her bowl, Saebyeok hurriedly sat down at the table.
“How long? You’ve been eating the same thing for a week.”
As Han Saejin snorted and scooped fresh rice, both their phones buzzed simultaneously.
It was a disaster alert.
“Whoa, what the hell. What now?”
Saejin brushed his chest and glanced at his phone.
“Ah, it’s gone off again. Why is it happening so often these days?”
He clicked his tongue and picked up his spoon again.
“Black Dragon Zone? What’s going on? Unlike the Glory Guild, they’re serious about managing this zone… Hey? Hey, where are you going?!”
Saejin’s eyes widened as his sister threw down her spoon and suddenly dashed outside.
“What’s wrong with her today…?”
She disappeared so fast he could only stare dumbfounded at the firmly closed gate.
Outside the building, Saebyeok leapt forward.
“Ugh, what’s wrong with my body?”
She landed safely on the rooftop but wobbled slightly.
‘Side effect of regression?’
Her body had returned to what it was ten years ago, so it made sense.
“Damn, this is troublesome.”
She clicked her tongue, infused magic into her muscles, and wrapped it around her skin.
Not the recommended method, but it temporarily strengthened her physical power and also improved defense—something she had used in her past life.
But at that moment, she felt the magic vanish abruptly, sending chills down her spine.
“What… what is this?”
Panicked, she checked her body and then quickly opened the notifications she hadn’t had time to fully read while protecting the stew.
1. Temporary compression of abilities for permission stabilization (▽Details)
└ Due to rapid system changes, the stabilization of <Server Administrator> permissions is delayed. Part of the magic has been forcibly allocated to the title update, temporarily compressing other stats.
“Insane… this can’t be.”
Her magic had been halved. Without a set time limit.
She frowned, about to check other issues, when—
Boom!
A massive explosion occurred in the direction of Seoul Station.
‘No time for this!’
System or not, there was no time to waste.
Saebyeok closed the system window and leapt across rooftops, heading as quickly as possible to the center of the incident.
The reason she ran toward the gate break zone without even fully checking her body was one:
“A Gate (D) Break has occurred near Seoul Station. Residents indoors, please refrain from going out. Citizens outdoors, please follow the Association’s instructions and evacuate to a safe zone.”
A disaster alert had just arrived.
‘I have to save them…!’
March 27, 25th year—Seoul Station Break.
The day she awakened coincidentally marked the day her last comrade, Kang Suho, would lose his only younger sibling.
“Hyung… what do we… what do we do?”
“It’s okay. Calm down.”
Kang Suho patted his six-year-old sibling, trembling in his arms. But despite his words, his face was pale.
A few minutes ago, chaos erupted with sudden screams.
In a hidden alley, hundreds of monsters poured out like a raging river, destroying and devouring everything in sight.
“Kyahh!”
“Skrr, skrr!”
“Save me!”
“Ahhh!”
Crunch. Crunch.
Humans were just prey to them.
Soon, sirens sounded, announcing that the Association was dispatching.
Hunters nearby immediately engaged, and basic monster barrier systems activated.
But it wasn’t enough. There were simply too many monsters.
Kang Suho clutched his sibling and pressed against a large pillar, trying to stay out of the monsters’ line of sight.
It was useless.
They had no blind spots.
“Kirrk? Kirrk!”
“Hyung…!”
“Damn it.”
Their hiding spot had been discovered.
