003. Auto
‘What? Auto? What the hell is that supposed to be?’
Navi explained.
― Auto is a weapon that manipulates a mass of fluid-shaped mithril bound to nanomachines, performing both offense and defense. Its operational range is approximately 100 kilometers centered around the user. If you set it to automatic mode, it becomes a small bodyguard that acts on its own.
‘……?’
I had no idea what it was babbling about.
Still, the most important part was clear enough.
‘So it attacks and defends on its own?’
― Correct. Shall I activate it?
I quickly checked the situation around me again.
Jang Seulbi’s frightened eyes, clenched with fear yet desperately summoning courage.
The flaming sphere she had launched, now frozen in place.
And I also noticed something else—at some point, Go Homin had pulled out a jet-black tactical knife, its blade nearly 20 cm long.
The sharp edge was clearly perfect for cutting through human flesh.
The thought of that blade touching Seulbi’s body was something I never wanted to see, not even in a nightmare.
I spoke to Navi.
‘Do it. Activate it, whatever it is—hurry!’
― Aye aye, sir. Activating code name: Auto!
Kki-ru-ru-ru-ruuk──.
A strange sound, like gears grinding out of place, rang in my ears.
And then, the frozen moment began to move forward once again.
‘No!’
The instant Jang Seulbi saw Ji Woojun’s right wrist shatter under the assault of A-rank Hunter Go Homin, her mind went blank.
Hunters, especially those of high rank, were superhuman without exception.
Even if their powers weren’t related to physical enhancement, just by working as hunters and absorbing the ether of beasts, their basic physical stats naturally improved.
Durability, agility, strength, stamina, even recovery speed.
In every aspect, their bodies leapt beyond what ordinary humans could ever reach.
And now, her childhood friend, an ordinary person, Ji Woojun, stood on the brink of death against such transcendent power.
‘Woojun……!’
They had known each other since early elementary school. By coincidence, they had ended up in the same class several years in a row. In sixth grade, when she was bullied for her small size, it was Woojun who had stepped in to help.
Because of that, the two of them suffered nearly half a year of ostracism together—but it was thanks to each other that they endured it.
A boy who seemed indifferent on the outside, but was actually kind and steadfast within.
But he had changed, six years ago.
Ji Woojun’s older brother, Ji Yejun, had been killed by a beast.
Their mother had followed soon after, dying of cancer.
Only his father, a civil servant, remained.
Woojun had stayed the same kind friend, but his eyes had dried up. He no longer shared what he was thinking.
Barely managing to attend university by working two or three part-time jobs, he suddenly applied for a leave of absence right after completing his military service. Out of nowhere, he declared he was going to become a hunter.
By then, Jang Seulbi had already risen to a B-rank hunter. Her name was becoming known, and her life was finally comfortable.
She knew all too well what kind of miserable life awaited an unawakened hunter.
Unawakened hunters, so-called “porters,” were flat-out a lousy profession.
They couldn’t fight beasts directly, yet they faced life-threatening danger. The work was grueling, and because they constantly worked alongside awakened hunters, they were scornfully dismissed as “vanillas.”
And the pay? Not worth the risk. Better than a regular part-time job, sure, but considering the dangers of entering a gate, you couldn’t help but ask, why would anyone do this?
That’s why most people who chose the path of an unawakened hunter either carried deep resentment toward beasts—or were fanatics of some gate-related cult.
‘Woojun…… he must be the former.’
He never once spoke about Yejun’s death.
But it was clear that the loss of his family had driven him onto this path.
Seulbi couldn’t stop him.
The best she could do was try to help him with her own power.
So she began asking around—was there a gate that wasn’t dangerous, yet still had plenty of loot to pick up?
Naturally, such “honey pots” were rare.
Either dangerous, barren, or already stripped clean.
In the end, Seulbi left an ether crystal she had acquired inside an already-cleared gate, then took Woojun there to “find” it.
Because if she handed him money or crystals directly, he would refuse.
But Woojun had apparently caught on to her tricks. She could see it in his complicated expression whenever he looked at her.
And then, just when she thought she’d found a gate that fit the conditions—
They fell into the trap of an A-rank villain, and now things had come to this.
‘It’s my fault. I dragged him here for nothing…… if Woojun dies because of me……!’
Her chest felt like it was being crushed just thinking about it.
Seulbi screamed, unleashing the most powerful flame of her life.
“Hyaaaahh!”
But before the fire even touched him, Go Homin crouched low and charged toward her.
In his hand gleamed a black military dagger.
If it came to close combat, Seulbi stood no chance.
Not only was his rank higher, but the gap in years of experience was vast.
A shorter career meant less ether absorbed.
And Go Homin was someone who had slaughtered countless people under the pretext of “absorbing ether.”
He had clearly fought other awakened before.
Allowing him into close range meant her defeat was already sealed.
But that didn’t mean she would go quietly.
Clenching her teeth, Seulbi pulled the flow of flames down on him.
‘Burn to ashes……!’
Ssshhkkk!
Go Homin’s body split into afterimages.
His movements befitted his nickname, “Specter.”
Seulbi’s vision faltered.
‘Where…… left? No…… oh?’
In that instant, a reverse-gripped knife appeared from the right.
The black blade aimed straight for her side.
‘Ah……!!’
She was wrong.
Her flames couldn’t block it now.
It was too late to dodge.
If that blade pierced her stomach, she wouldn’t be able to use her ability.
The searing pain would shatter her focus.
The fight would be over, just like that.
‘Woojun…… at least you……!’
As she thought this, glancing past Go Homin’s shoulder—
She saw determination burning on Woojun’s face.
‘Idiot! Why aren’t you running……!’
Then, a dull, piercing sound.
Puhk.
For a moment, Seulbi thought she’d been stabbed. But she felt nothing in her body.
“…….”
Go Homin, in disbelief, stared down at his own chest.
From it, something like a flexible silver blade jutted out.
“Huh?”
Seulbi let out a stunned gasp.
Go Homin’s face twisted like a demon’s as he turned.
“You…… sh-shit…… you weren’t…… just a vanilla…….”
His voice was choked with rage.
But the silver blade didn’t let him finish.
It pulled free from his chest, then sliced and stabbed him at blinding speed.
Thwack!
Slish!
Crunch!
Kkrrsshh!
The gruesome sounds of bone cracking and flesh being torn rang out again and again.
“……ghh, khhh, khhk.”
Blood spilled from Go Homin’s mouth as he coughed.
Then his body collapsed.
The strong A-rank awakened’s physique had been savaged by the shapeshifting silver weapon.
Having finished its task, the silver mass gave a soft metallic hum, circled once in the air, and perched lightly on Woojun’s shoulder.
Like a pet parrot—or perhaps a fairy.
Seulbi stared blankly.
“What the…… what just happened? Woojun, you’re awakened?”
Woojun gave a wry smile.
“I didn’t hide it. I literally just awakened.”
Her nerves giving way all at once, Seulbi sank to the ground.
“Uwaaaah…… I thought I was really gonna die…….”
The moment Go Homin’s life ended, I almost stopped breathing.
An indescribable, euphoric sensation seeped through my entire body.
“……!!”
What was this?
Frozen in place, I heard Navi’s voice.
― You absorbed the ether of the deceased. It’s your first time, isn’t it?
It was.
So this was the feeling of absorbing ether, something only the awakened could experience.
I’d heard it was good, but I never imagined it would feel this incredible.
And since my opponent had been an A-rank, the amount of ether absorbed must have been huge.
This was how awakened grew stronger—absorbing ether from enemies until they had bodies capable of fighting beasts head-on.
Of course, many died before reaching that point, or, like Go Homin, succumbed to the temptations of crime.
That my first ether absorption came from a human was unsettling, but still—
I couldn’t deny it felt like hitting the jackpot.
It took Seulbi a while to calm down. Understandable, since she’d nearly died.
Once steady, she fussed over me, splinting my broken wrist with clumsy emergency care.
Then she turned to Go Homin’s bloody corpse and started bombarding me with questions.
“What’s the name of your ability? Do you see a status window? What rank do you think you are? You killed an A-rank in one hit. Damn, that’s insane! Maybe you’re S-rank? Omg, I have an S-rank friend now?”
Her flushed, excited face was so bright that it almost made me want to boast, to spill everything about my new powers.
The only reason I didn’t was because of the nagging voice in my head—my AI supporter, Navi.
― Master, revealing your ability must be done with utmost caution. Pretend that what you just showed, ‘Auto,’ is the entirety of your power.
Great. Now I had one girl outside and another “girl” inside my head both talking at me nonstop. I was losing my mind.
― The potential of ‘Factory’ is far greater than what you’ve just witnessed. Please, calm yourself and find a quiet place. I’ll explain it all properly.
“Yeah, yeah, let’s do that when we get home.”
“Huh? What did you just say?”
Seulbi blinked at me with wide eyes.
I quickly waved my hand.
“Not to you.”
“……? Then who are you talking to?”
“Uh, my head’s just a mess right now. Talking to myself, that’s all.”
I thought I could almost see a question mark floating over her head, but I forced the topic elsewhere.
“Anyway, what do we do about this? I killed a man.”
We both stared at Go Homin’s corpse.
Definitely dead.
After thinking a moment, Seulbi pulled thin gloves from her pocket and slipped them on with a determined look.
“What are you doing?”
“Looting.”
Looting—normally it meant rifling through enemy corpses in an RPG to collect money and items.
As a porter, it was literally my job with beasts.
Doing it to a human seemed like a serious crime—but Seulbi didn’t bat an eye.
Given that our opponent was a notorious criminal, and that both of us had nearly died, I couldn’t muster any guilt either.
She grunted as she rolled Go Homin’s body over and searched through his clothes.
‘She’s got a strong stomach.’
I could handle beast corpses, but thinking of this as a person made the smell of blood alone turn my stomach.
“No cash. Cards are useless…… ah, here’s his phone.”
“Why the phone?”
“There might be evidence of his crimes. We should keep it.”
“Good point.”
A moment later, Seulbi let out a cry of delight.
“Woojun! Look at this!”
My eyes went wide.
In her hand was a black leather pouch bag, brimming with sparkling ether crystals.
“These are really high purity. They only drop in B-rank gates. Each one’s worth at least a hundred.”
A hundred per crystal?
There had to be over twenty.
That meant this one pouch contained several tens of millions of won worth of ether crystals.
Seulbi shoved the pouch toward me.
“Here. Yours.”
“What?”
“Why? You killed him. The spoils are yours.”
“……Is it really okay to take it?”
“Yup. I’ll burn the body anyway. Unless you want me to toss this in the fire too?”
“N-no.”
Awkwardly, I accepted the pouch worth tens of millions.
An amount I couldn’t have earned even after working over a year had suddenly landed in my hands.
