Chapter 3
‘No way.’
A woman with short black hair—Hunter Baek Yena, ranked 4th in the country—held her breath.
After taking care of a C-rank monster wave and chasing the last one that fled into the mountains, she found a girl collapsed on the ground with a serious injury.
She looked so badly hurt that it was a wonder she was still alive. Still, Baek Yena brushed the girl’s messy hair aside to check her condition.
‘A fairy?’
Her face was more youthful than expected, with round eyes that drooped slightly. Her icy navy-blue eyes gave a cold, dreamy impression, and her dark lashes stood out every time she blinked. Her soft-looking cheeks had turned red from the winter wind. Altogether, her appearance seemed harmless.
And yet… there was something otherworldly about her.
Familiar, yet strange—strangely comforting and oddly likable.
‘She really looks like she’s from another world.’
Baek Yena gently placed her hand on the girl’s cold cheek. She couldn’t believe this being was from the same planet as her.
As Yena stared at the beautiful creature, she felt her protective instincts spike.
‘She… she needs to be protected. I don’t know why she’s alone out here like this, but anyone who sees her and walks away has to be a psychopath.’
So when the girl later told her that she’d fallen from another world—
“Oh, I knew it! You looked like it!”
—it was honestly harder not to believe her.
*
‘Are people in this world always this kind to folks from other worlds? Do people fall through dimensions often here?’
Seya thought as she followed Baek Yena—who introduced herself as human—down the mountain, hand in hand.
Baek Yena, who claimed to be a 23-year-old “Hunter,” seemed excited on her own, not really concerned with Seya’s confused expressions.
“By the way, are you serious about letting me stay with you?”
“Call me Yena unni.”
“…Okay, Yena unni. But still…”
She was offering shelter and food, which Seya couldn’t help but welcome, but—
“You really mean it?”
“Yeah. I’ve got a spare room.”
Seya, think first. You always think before acting. Always think.
Suddenly, Ebin’s familiar voice echoed in her mind.
‘Okay. Let’s think about it.’
So, what if a stranger suddenly offered help?
‘I say thank you.’
No, besides that… there had to be something more appropriate for this situation. Ah!
“Unni.”
“Yeah?”
“Can you explain what kind of world this is?”
First, understand the environment!
“Well, this is the only world I know, so that’s kind of hard….”
“What is a Hunter?”
“…A few years ago, this world underwent a major change. If you’re asking what Earth is like, I should probably start there.”
Unbothered by Seya’s odd question, Baek Yena made a strange expression, then muttered as if recalling old memories.
“One day, the same message appeared all over the Earth.”
She took out a rectangular device—called a phone—and typed something, then showed it to Seya.
On the screen was written:
⌜Hello, World!⌟
One day, the same message appeared all across the planet.
It took on a strange form—intangible, semi-transparent floating windows in the air.
『Hello, World!』
A month later, disaster struck.
In the first month, “dungeons” started appearing all over the world.
Strange spaces that seemed to connect to other dimensions—“gates”—opened in midair, each labeled “A-rank Dungeon,” “B-rank Dungeon,” and so on.
People were sucked into these dungeons, but no one came back. No one on the outside could figure out what was inside.
In the second month came the “Monster Waves.”
The dungeons remained open, and new gates started spewing monsters into the world.
Countless people died.
The only way to survive was to avoid monsters at all costs and stay inside. Even soldiers with guns were helpless. Everyone believed the end of the world was near.
Then, in the third month, “Hunters” appeared—and everything changed.
People awakened randomly and gained mysterious powers called “skills” that defied scientific explanation. They used those skills to fight monsters.
Some volunteered to enter the dungeons, and they discovered that “clearing” a dungeon would free the trapped people and close the gate. Unfortunately, by then, most of those originally taken had already died.
Once Hunters appeared, things were resolved quickly.
Within just half a year, life resumed. Hunters formed “guilds” to pursue their own interests, and governments started regulating them.
The Hunter system included “rankings.” High-ranking Hunters earned wealth and fame from dungeon rewards and rose as the new global elite.
“…and that’s the situation on Earth right now.”
After Baek Yena’s explanation, Seya thought carefully. According to her translation magic, the word “Hunter” meant…
“What does ‘Hunter’ mean, exactly?”
“It’s English. It means someone who hunts.”
So Seya’s translation magic wasn’t wrong.
‘In this world, people with strange powers are called Hunters?’
In Seya’s world, people like her with magical abilities were called “Pioneers.”
Hunters… that term was also used as another way to refer to Pioneers.
She’d been exiled randomly to another world, but it just so happened that it was inhabited, technologically advanced, and called its empowered individuals “Hunters.”
‘Could I really have ended up here just by coincidence?’
Seya suddenly had doubts.
“System.”
『Name: Baek Yena
Rank: S
World Rank: 97th / Korea Rank: 4th
MP: 137 / 142
HP: 114 / 120
Mental Strength: 141 / 143
Achievements: <Path Opener>, <White Brooch>, <Unyielding Heart>, <Impenetrable Shield>, <One Who Stands in Light>, <One Who Walks the Light’s Path>, <One Who Shines the Light>…』
Seya stared blankly at the translucent window that had suddenly appeared.
As soon as Baek Yena said “System,” this strange display popped up.
‘Is this how their power works?’
“Chat.”
『Chat List
▶ Korea Rank 1–10
▶ Party: Monitoring the Troublemakers
Lee Ga-yeon
Park Hae-jun……』
“Party.”
『▶ Party: Monitoring the Troublemakers
4 │ S │ Baek Yena: Got the hydrochloric-tailed bear that escaped
27 │ A │ Lee Ga-yeon: Got it. I’ll wait in the car.
4 │ S │ Baek Yena: But you know
4 │ S │ Baek Yena: Doesn’t our guild have enough resources to raise a kid?
27 │ A │ Lee Ga-yeon: What are you even saying?
4 │ S │ Baek Yena: I found a girl in the mountains
4 │ S │ Baek Yena: And I think it’s my duty to protect her
27 │ A │ Lee Ga-yeon: What kind of nonsense—
4 │ S │ Baek Yena: But she’s so adorable…ㅠ
4 │ S │ Baek Yena: I can’t help it, Captain. I have to protect her
27 │ A │ Lee Ga-yeon: What’s the logic here?
27 │ A │ Lee Ga-yeon: Why did you pick up a random kid? How old is she? Take her to the police.
4 │ S │ Baek Yena: Good point? How old are you?』
“Seventeen.”
“What?”
Baek Yena jolted in surprise and looked at Seya.
“I’m seventeen. Weren’t you wondering?”
She wasn’t sure if the way this country counted age matched her own world’s system, but still.
“Wait… you can see this window?”
Baek Yena pointed at the floating screen, her finger trembling.
“Of course I can.”
“What… what did you say?”
It was right in front of her—how could she not see it?
“Normally, your system window should only be visible to yourself…”
“But I definitely see it.”
Still unable to find a cause, Baek Yena looked flustered but continued chatting.
『▶ Party: Monitoring the Troublemakers
4 │ S │ Baek Yena: 17
27 │ A │ Lee Ga-yeon: That’s not even a kid then;;
27 │ A │ Lee Ga-yeon: Doesn’t she have a family?
27 │ A │ Lee Ga-yeon: Shouldn’t she have a home or something?
4 │ S │ Baek Yena: She says she’s from another world
27 │ A │ Lee Ga-yeon: How does that make any sense?
27 │ A │ Lee Ga-yeon: Did you hit your head or something?
27 │ A │ Lee Ga-yeon: Just come here. I need to check if you’re mentally stable.
4 │ S │ Baek Yena: No, seriously;;;; it’s not like that
4 │ S │ Baek Yena: I’m bringing her. See for yourself』
“Get in.”
Baek Yena opened the door to a red car parked at the foot of the mountain.
It was the smallest car Seya had ever seen. She’d only seen huge military vehicles before. Now it truly hit her—this was another world.
“Yena, are you seriously saying that nonsense—?”
As soon as she got in, the woman in the driver’s seat—with her hair tied up high—started scolding Yena in disbelief.
As she turned toward the back seat, she locked eyes with Seya. Seya didn’t avoid the gaze and blinked her navy eyes calmly.
The woman stared at her face for a moment, then turned to Yena and said seriously:
“Oh. That actually makes total sense. Of course you have a duty to protect her.”
So her face was the logic, apparently.
