Chapter 1

Chapter 1

On a certain day of a certain month in the year 2***.

Mysterious structures suddenly spawned all over the world.

These structures, which appeared out of the blue like a bolt from the sky, all differed in appearance and formation time, but they shared one clear commonality.

That commonality was that inside them lurked monstrous lifeforms that were completely different in form, nature, and life characteristics, and were extremely hostile to humans.

Leaders around the world responded to the sudden appearance of these structures in their own ways. Some countries closed off the areas near the structures, while others sent armed soldiers to conduct searches.

While each country was dealing with the sudden structures in its own way, “it” suddenly appeared.

“Hello, Earthlings! Have you all been having fun so far?”

A woman with unkempt brown hair sticking out in all directions, wearing old horn-rimmed glasses perched on the bridge of her nose. She smiled brightly from a hologram that had suddenly appeared all over the world.

“Of course you’ve been having fun, right? You must all be thriving. I mean, monsters didn’t run rampant and turn Earth’s main civilization into theirs, a mysterious plague didn’t wipe out 70 percent of humanity, and a nuclear war didn’t contaminate 80 percent of the world’s land, right? Ah, what a great place to live, huh?”

A hologram had materialized out of nowhere in a place with no infrastructure, and now this scrawny woman in the hologram was spouting nonsense.

Naturally, some people jeered at her, while others eyed her with cold suspicion. But regardless of what people did, the woman just smiled brightly and raised her index finger.

“So, I’m going to raise the difficulty a little.”

At her words, explosions and screams began to erupt from all over the world. Before people could even panic at the sudden turn of events, the woman continued speaking with that same bright face.

“Alright, the beginner tutorial difficulty is over. From now on, it’s real-time mode. Of course, I know you’ve been living in a human paradise where there’s hardly any natural enemy of mankind, so I won’t go too hard on you from the start. Let’s start light—with a dungeon monster parade, shall we?”

And then.

There was a time of tragedy.

* * *

20**/**/**

<Title> Hey, have you guys heard the rumor about the Ruler?

<Author> DalgonaCoffee

<Content>

Title says it all.

<Comments>

Ratatouille: Are there still people who believe that?

└DalgonaCoffee: I don’t believe it, but the story keeps coming up, so it’s a bit suspicious, you know?

└Ratatouille: Lol if that were true, then the rumor that the rank 1 bastard’s hobby is actually handicrafts would also be true, fuck.

JjonJjonSa: Are those hunter bastards the kind to bow their heads? Lol, even if a president-level person came, those guys would still hold their heads high.

└DalgonaCoffee: That’s true.

LouisIsMyMom: Honestly, just hearing the rumors, isn’t it more like a behind-the-scenes power player than a ruler? Lol, wow, as expected, behind-the-scenes power players in the hunter world, following the dynamic Korean political world?

└DalgonaCoffee: Fuck, calling it a behind-the-scenes power player makes it sound so lame lol.

└L.BForever: Hey, where did you get that Louis picture in your profile?

└LouisIsMyMom: Link ☞ https://*****.*******……

└L.BForever: Oh, thanks!

C.Q: Doesn’t the answer come out just by thinking rationally?

It’s a well-known fact to the whole nation that most hunters are stubborn, so the idea that there’s someone secretly ruling over them, and even that the rank 1 is loyal to them, just doesn’t make sense no matter how you think about it.

Honestly, a self-insert Mary Sue novel written by a middle schooler would be more believable. Frankly, if the rank 1 and the other hunters who are the subjects of these rumors heard this, they’d be pissed and wouldn’t even have anything to say.

Most of the people involved in the rumors are top-tier figures, so of course they’d feel bad hearing that they’re loyal to someone or being willingly dominated, right?

└RashGuard: That’s totally true, but laying it all out like that makes it sound really funny, suspicious, and weird.

└NorthCall: Be honest, you’re a loner, right?

└DalgonaCoffee: You’re right, but when they were interviewed about this rumor, didn’t they either say nothing or just laugh it off? Honestly, with their temperaments, the fact that they said nothing and just let it slide is exactly why people keep talking about it.

└C.Q: That’s probably because they don’t think it’s worth dealing with. Honestly, it’s not even a rumor worth addressing, is it?

└DalgonaCoffee: Dude, you’re getting all serious and jumping in to deny it, that makes it look even more suspicious lol. Got anything you know about the rumor?

* * *

With the sudden appearance of dungeons and monsters, followed by the tyranny of the so-called “Administrator,” the entire world was forcibly thrust into rapid change.

“Awakened” individuals emerged, triggered by combat situations with monsters or other circumstances.

A “System” usable by any Awakened person appeared, along with a new profession dedicated to monster extermination: “Hunters.”

New government departments were established to manage these Hunters and Awakened, and various organizations sprang up to support them.

Faced with this sudden threat to humanity, those who adapted survived, while those who didn’t died or were left behind. And fortunately, among the world’s nations, South Korea was one of the survivors.

True to its reputation as the +82 country, South Korea managed to adapt and change appropriately in the face of sudden threats and upheaval, ultimately becoming the nation with the fewest casualties during the first Monster Parade.

And the nations and factions that survived or successfully adapted—whether from dungeon creation, monster attacks, or sudden Monster Parades—established a pan-national organization prioritizing monster extermination and dungeon management. Through this organization, Hunters were managed and supported, giving rise to the specialized profession of “Hunter” on Earth.

And roughly five years later, now.

At this point, with the dungeon management system and the profession of “Hunter”—professional monster slayers—safely integrated into society, a bizarre rumor was circulating in South Korea’s Hunter industry, which had settled into a state of social stability.

* * *

The life of Yoon Seohee, a C-Rank Hunter in South Korea, was very busy.

When people think of a Hunter, they usually picture someone who goes into dungeons, beats up monsters, sells rare drop items and various precious materials, and strikes it rich overnight—but that’s the story for high-ranking A-Rank and above Hunters. For a C-Rank like me, it’s different.

“Your performance seems a bit low this time. Got some family issues lately, Seohee?”

“…I’m sorry.”

“Saying sorry doesn’t solve anything. You need to improve your performance, your performance. Even for a C-Rank Hunter, this is pathetic. Do you think you can take company money with this?”

Unlike A- to S-Rank Hunters, who either join teams only when needed as freelancers or form their own teams or guilds to tackle dungeons, B-Rank and below Hunters usually work for small guilds or dungeon brokerage firms.

And naturally, the dungeons these small guilds tackle are low-difficulty ones, and the profits from low-difficulty dungeons aren’t rare drop items from strong monsters, but various “harvestable materials” found in any dungeon.

In other words, a C-Rank Hunter’s job is essentially gathering in places slightly more dangerous than fields or mountains.

“Should I be honest with you? Even if it’s not you, Yoon Seohee, there are plenty of people lining up to work here. Anyway, there are too many people who think they’re something just because they awakened. Right now, there are already over a million C-Rank Awakened, a million. Do you know what that means? It means one out of every fifty people in this country is an Awakened.”

As if anyone didn’t know that.

Honestly, the time when Awakened were treated as special lasted at most a year after the Cataclysm. It might be different for B-Rank and above Awakened, but for C-Rank Awakened, as the Middle Manager in front of me said, there were nearly a million substitutes available.

Of course, considering that many of that million chose to keep their original jobs rather than live as Hunters, saying “a million” outright is a bit misleading.

So, as the Middle Manager said, it was only natural that a C-Rank Hunter who couldn’t meet their assigned performance quota would be treated like the “leech” I was right now.

“Get your act together. If you keep this up, just hand in your resignation. I don’t want to keep nagging you endlessly either.”

“Yes, I’m sorry.”

In the end, all I could say was “I’m sorry.” I bowed deeply, apologized to the Middle Manager again, and quickly left the reception room as he irritably gestured for me to get out.

As soon as I stepped out of the reception room, a fellow Hunter who had been waiting by the door rushed over to me.

“Seohee! Are, are you okay? What did the manager say? Was it harsh?”

“I’m fine. As a C-Rank Hunter who didn’t meet her quota, I had to expect this much.”

“Th-that wasn’t your fault, Seohee! I-In fact, it’s because of me that you…”

“Even including that issue, it’s something I have to take responsibility for. More importantly, is your sibling’s hospital bill okay, Jimin? Did you manage to cover it?”

“Y-yes, th-thankfully… No, that’s not the point, Seohee. You gave me your gathered materials last time, so…”

“I told you, it’s fine. Oh, more importantly, I’m hungry. Let’s go eat lunch quickly. I was working all morning and then got scolded by the manager, so I’m starving.”