Chapter 1

People crave what they lack.

It is a fundamental desire to fill the void within.

That is the drive for self-improvement.

Even after the world underwent a massive transformation, this drive remained unchanged.

In a world where rifts and magic beasts threaten humanity.

The need for self-improvement could only grow stronger.

And as luck would have it, there was even a tool to measure this very drive.

Awakening. And Skills.

These two became the new tools to divide the social hierarchy.

Awakening was something that rarely occurred.

Even if one acquired a skill through Awakening, growing it was no easy task.

To reiterate, these two were the perfect tools for dividing the classes.

Simply Awakening and properly mastering a single skill was enough to make a living.

Mastering three skills to their limits earned one the treatment of a veteran.

Reaching the limit with ten skills made one a remarkable ranker.

Amidst all this, an exception emerged that bordered on being an Irregular^[1].

A hunter who wielded a more diverse and abundant array of skills more powerfully than anyone else.

Lee Siyoon.

A skill that no one had ever possessed.

And one that no one would ever possess in the future—an unprecedented and unparalleled skill.

The sole owner of the ‘Enhancement’ skill.

A ranker who transcended all other rankers.

His story, however, had humble beginnings.

* * *

Dimensional Rift.

A cataclysmic event that completely upended modern Earth 50 years ago.

Unseen magic beasts poured out from the rifts.

Pushed to the brink, humanity one by one Awakened to new powers.

That was the System.

The power to hunt magic beasts using ‘Mana’ and ‘Skills’.

After Awakening to the System, humanity slowly reclaimed the lands they had lost to the magic beasts.

During this process, awakeners came to be known as ‘Hunters’.

As the saying goes, perceptions change with the times.

Unlike in the past, when the inherent danger made people shun it.

Modern people all wanted to become hunters.

It ranked first in average earnings.

On top of that, the government went out of its way to protect hunters.

Since the number of hunters greatly influenced national power.

The state implemented various policies to cultivate them.

However.

Siyoon truly had no idea.

Ttiring!

[ Congratulations! ]

[ You have been chosen by the System! ]

“…Huh?”

That he would ever Awaken.

Ttuk.

He was so shocked that he dropped the wooden chopsticks he was holding.

His grip had simply gone slack at the sudden situation.

He barely managed to pick them up and straightened his back.

The blue message was still blinking brightly in his field of vision.

It was the exact same window one supposedly saw when Awakening to the System.

“…Is this real?”

Seeing the message, Siyoon was skeptical.

Naturally.

He had never once in his life considered the possibility of Awakening to the System.

Awakening usually came when one’s life was threatened.

But 50 years had passed since the rifts first appeared.

Encountering a magic beast in the city was a rare occurrence.

And Siyoon was a young man who was the epitome of ordinariness.

He was not the type to go out of his way to seek adventure just to Awaken.

“Ow.”

Disbelieving, he pinched his cheek, but all he felt was a sharp sting of pain.

“Well, it hurts, so it’s not a dream…”

Siyoon quickly accepted reality.

At the same time, he pondered.

“What should I do about this?”

Awakening.

Even though he had achieved what others only dreamed of, it was too early to celebrate.

Of course, it wasn’t a bad thing.

Hunters made a lot of money.

Even the F-Rank hunter made at least 3 million won^[2] a month.

Some might call them mere pack mules, but honestly, even reaching F-Rank meant you had some ability.

Awakeners were already a scarce commodity.

Society was busy utilizing them.

But this was income earned from fighting magic beasts.

In other words, it could be called ‘hazard pay’.

[ You have been chosen by the System! ]

“…Hmm.”

Siyoon stared at the message.

“Right, this is also an opportunity.”

Hunter was currently the most coveted profession among people.

And it wasn’t simply because of the high earnings.

The unlocking of ‘Skills’ and ‘Mana’ through System Awakening.

This kept the body healthy and slowed down aging.

Immortality was another human dream.

While Awakening couldn’t fulfill it perfectly, it satisfied a significant portion of that desire.

Truthfully, he wasn’t hoping for eternal life or anything.

But since he had to live anyway, wasn’t it better to at least live healthily?

And if he could make money on top of that, it would be the icing on the cake.

Wasn’t it too much of a waste to just let this slip by? “First, let’s check the skill.”

Awakening to the System also granted a skill.

Commonly referred to as an ‘Awakening Skill’, this was the core of a hunter.

Because the skill granted at the start determined one’s specialization.

Kkyuk.

With a pounding heart, Siyoon pressed the message.

[ Congratulations! ]

[ You have acquired a Singular-Rank skill! ]

“……What?”

Siyoon’s brain ground to a halt.

What did it just say?

“Unique…?”

At this point, even Siyoon, who prided himself on his calm demeanor, couldn’t help but be shocked.

There were five skill ranks in total.

Normal, Rare, Epic, Unique, and Legendary.

They ranged from Normal to Legendary.

Awakening even a Rare-Rank skill meant one could smoothly become a C-Rank hunter over time.

Considering that skills granted later as one grew were of a higher-rank than the initial Awakening skill, the first skill was of paramount importance.

But a Singular-Rank skill here?

This wasn’t just at the level of an ordinary skill; it practically guaranteed a bright future.

Siyoon swallowed hard and checked the message.

Ttiring!

[ Confirming Singular-Rank skill classification… ]

[ Confirmation complete. ]

[ Congratulations, Mr. ‘Lee Siyoon’! ]

[ The skill you have acquired is ‘Enhancement’! ]

“Enhancement?”

Siyoon blankly read along with the message.

Enhancement.

It was an unheard-of skill that gave him absolutely no clue how to use.

* * *

“Hmm…”

Enhancement.

Raising an item’s rank or making a character stronger.

That was the extent of what Siyoon knew about enhancement.

“Going by the nuance alone, it seems like a support-type skill.”

Hunters’ skills were incredibly diverse.

The most representative was ‘Magic’. Or combat types like ‘Close Combat’ and ‘Archery’.

Next were the recovery types.

And lastly, the support types.

This included all sorts of buff skills, as well as crafting, blacksmithing, and alchemy.

“Whatever. It’ll show up if I check it directly, so there’s no need to give myself a headache guessing.”

Hunters could view the details of their skills through the System.

Siyoon muttered softly, just as he had seen a hunter do on a broadcast.

“Skill Window.”

Ttiring!

[ Displaying skill window. ]

Simultaneously, the System window popped up with a ppapat.

+

「Enhancement」

Rank: Unique

Level: 1

Classification: Special

▶ Enhances a designated target.

+

Just as expected.

“They said it was unhelpfully vague, and they weren’t kidding.”

True to its intuitive name, the ability itself was also intuitive.

In fact, it was too intuitive, which was the problem.

He couldn’t easily grasp how to use it.

“Enhances a designated target, huh… There’s no separate explanation, so human experimentation is out of the question. Let’s try experimenting on an object first.”

Siyoon looked around for a suitable object.

That was when a BB gun caught his eye.

It was a BB gun he had bought a few years ago with the money from his first part-time job.

Call it a sort of instinct.

He had spent a small fortune to buy something that wasn’t even a real gun.

It was an out-of-character purchase.

He had kept it in storage as a reminder to reflect on his actions, and it had served no practical purpose since.

But now, a use for it had suddenly emerged.

“This should be just right.”

Siyoon immediately picked up the BB gun.

Since it was an ordinary object, it would be easy to observe any changes brought about by ‘Enhancement’.

“Enhancement.”

Ttiring!

[ Using ‘Skill: Enhancement’ to enhance the ‘BB Gun’! ]

[ The ‘BB Gun’ is being enhanced to ‘BB Gun +1’! ]

The moment the skill was applied was brief.

A faint halo of light enveloped the entire barrel before being absorbed into it.

Afterward, the gun became sleeker and turned a deep black.

‘Was it just his imagination, or did it feel like it had an aura?’

Nothing else happened after that.

Siyoon examined the intact BB gun from various angles.

“Did the enhancement succeed? It doesn’t look like there’s any change on the outside.”

Indeed, the gun in his hand only showed a subtle difference before and after ‘Enhancement’ was applied.

This was a problem.

“Item Information.”

To check properly, Siyoon opened the information window.

[ Activating the item information window for ‘BB Gun +1’. ]

+

【 BB Gun +1 】

Rank: Normal

▶ The power of the fired BB bullets increases.

+

Just like the skill description, the item information was also intuitive.

Item ranks were divided in the exact same way as skills.

Normal, Rare, Epic, Unique, and Legendary.

Perhaps because he had enhanced an ordinary BB gun, its rank was Normal.

“It seems the enhancement succeeded, but I have no idea how much it was enhanced.”

One additional trait per enhancement.

Since the BB gun was now +1, it had gained one line of traits.

But it was still hard to understand.

“Exactly how much does the bullet’s power increase?”

It was intuitive, but too much so.

Without any detailed information, he couldn’t tell how much or to what extent the power had increased.

It just so happened he had nothing else to do.

Siyoon grabbed the BB gun and briefly stepped outside near his house.

Then, he aimed at a tree right in front of him.

“Well… it should be fine to shoot it, right?”

Even if it was enhanced, how much of a difference could it really make?

It was just a BB gun, after all.

Thinking nothing of it, Siyoon pulled the trigger.

Taang!

And he was startled.

This was not the BB gun he had imagined.

From the strong recoil that pushed his body backward to the sound it made.

Suuuu…

“Whoa.”

The power was even more formidable.

The BB bullet, which should have been nothing more than a pellet, not only pierced through the tree but completely obliterated it.

The dead center of the tree was blown open in a crater shape, as if he had blasted it with a shotgun.

The bullet had even flown far ahead, piercing through another tree before finally dropping to the ground.

“Enhancement… this is way more incredible than I thought?”

At this level, it was practically live ammunition.

To think it could elevate a BB gun to the level of a shotgun.

It truly lived up to a Singular-Rank skill that defied all standard classifications.

* * *

Having confirmed the skill’s power, Siyoon immediately hurried back home.

He moved quickly, glancing around in case anyone had seen him.

Kwang!

He shut the front door hard.

And pressed down on his pounding chest.

“…This is insane.”

Insane.

There was no other way to express it.

It was a level of destructive power that could fluster even someone as calm as Siyoon.

“So it’s not a Singular-Rank for nothing.”

Unique was an Irregular that broke the mold of existing ranks.

A skill rank above ‘Legendary’.

He had expected it to be strong, but not to this extent.

“…Haa. To think I’d end up considering becoming a hunter.”

The reason Siyoon hadn’t considered becoming a hunter was simple.

It was dangerous.

No matter how much money he made, the perception that it was essentially hazard pay was strong.

That was why some awakeners chose to give up on becoming hunters.

Siyoon would have done the same if he had acquired a useless skill.

But the Enhancement skill was too precious to simply throw away.

A Singular-Rank, with an unheard-of ‘Special’ classification.

It had two options that would make powerful figures scramble to recruit him—and even one alone would have been enough.

Kkulkyuk.

He swallowed hard involuntarily.

At this point, even Siyoon was getting greedy.

“At this level… wouldn’t it really be worth a try?”

Siyoon looked down at the BB gun in his hand.

‘Enhancement’, which had pumped an ordinary object up to an irregular level.

Considering it was only level 1, it was an astonishing level of ability.

“I should test it one last time.”

Siyoon thought calmly.

It was a remarkable skill, but he still needed to prepare.

Right now, all Siyoon had was a single weapon.

He needed defensive gear to protect his body.

And after he created that…

“I’ll go conduct a performance test.”

No matter how well the Hunter Association managed things.

Blind spots still existed within the city.

Weak magic beasts often inhabited such areas.

Those creatures were exactly Siyoon’s targets.

Because there were no better subjects for a test than them.

“Alright, let’s give this a try.”

Siyoon clenched his fist tightly.

It was time to start enhancing.