#2
High-rise buildings burning in flames. Roads cracked in places, their forms barely recognizable. Debris collapsed everywhere. And now, in this desolate wasteland where not even human screams could be heard anymore, Ha-seong lay collapsed. His breathing continued to grow labored, and he felt something wet flowing from various parts of his body. When he realized that at some point he could no longer even feel pain, Ha-seong knew.
‘I guess I’m really going to die now.’
Squeezing out what little strength remained, he looked around and saw fellow hunters who had fallen and weren’t even moving. The desolate sound of wind and the ear-splitting roars of monsters. Other than that, there wasn’t a single trace or sound made by humans. The fact that he was the only one left alive in this place—no, in this entire country—could be felt directly on his skin without even having to think about it.
And now, Ha-seong, who had survived alone, was also on the verge of death. Now it was truly the end—complete destruction itself. This world was finished. With his death, the destruction of this world would be completely established. Honestly, he didn’t feel regretful or have any lingering attachments. Living as a hunter, he had vaguely thought that such a day might come someday.
Now that he couldn’t even feel the pain of his wounds, he wasn’t sad at all. However, there was just one thing—just one thing that Ha-seong found regrettable.
‘Damn, I’m dying without even getting to spend all the money I saved. If I’d known it would turn out like this, I should have spent it freely instead of keeping it locked away in a safe.’
He hadn’t finished playing the limited edition game he’d struggled to obtain, and he hadn’t read all the manga he’d bought either. Ah, I’m dying like this without even seeing how that series ends. He’d wanted to go to Japan to eat ramen and visit Hawaii to lie on the sandy beach watching the sunset over the horizon—that kind of life filled with freedom, romance, and financial comfort had been his dream.
To think that the result of answering the nation’s call and working like crazy as an S-rank hunter would be this.
“Fuck, in my next life I’m definitely going to be born as an unemployed bum. A rich unemployed bum at that.”
Ha-seong muttered quietly. He thought his voice wouldn’t come out in this situation where the flame of life was almost extinguished, but that wish was so desperate that it came out of his mouth clearly.
But… would there really be such a thing as a next life? As Ha-seong slowly closed his eyes with such thoughts, he saw some kind of black space opening through his fading vision, and that’s how he lost consciousness.
* * *
“Excuse me, excuse me!”
At the sensation of someone shaking his body back and forth, Ha-seong slowly opened his eyes.
“…Huh.”
Startled, Ha-seong saw the figure standing in front of him and in his surprise instantly pulled his body backward. It was a natural reflex speed for someone who always had to be wary of monster ambushes.
Ha-seong immediately took an attack stance.
“Ah, please calm down. I’m a police officer. We received a report that there was a drunk person collapsed here, so we came out. Are you feeling a bit more alert now?”
Police? Drunk? Report? Ha-seong slowly looked around. People who seemed to be out for a walk were passing by, whispering as they looked at Ha-seong.
‘What’s this, why are there people… I was definitely the only one left…’
Ha-seong grabbed his throbbing head. He had definitely been the last one breathing in that destroyed world. But why…
“Excuse me.”
“Yes.”
“Where is this place?”
“Where? This is Olympic Park.”
Olympic Park? Then this would be Seoul… But that couldn’t be right. The place where he had confronted monsters and finally collapsed and was dying was also Seoul. There was no way it could be this intact.
“What’s today’s date?”
“Are you still not sober? It’s January 9th.”
The police officer sighed and responded in a soulless tone, as if accustomed to this kind of repertoire. But right now, the police officer’s attitude was completely unimportant to Ha-seong. The date when the dungeon break had occurred and should have been his death day was definitely January 8th. If what that police officer said was true, that was just yesterday.
Ha-seong came to his senses again and slowly looked around. This was reality. Not someone using an illusion skill, not a dream—this was reality itself.
“Where do you live? We’ll take you there…”
“No. I’m fine.”
“Ah, wait a moment…!”
Ha-seong fled from that spot as if running away. The police officer sighed as he watched the drunk person disappear in an instant.
“What kind of person is that fast? He’s not even a hunter…”
That day, January 9th. It was the day Ha-seong dropped into a world of another dimension.
A parallel world.
It took quite a long time to realize and accept the fact that he had fallen into such a place. Had he not died that day? For what reason, why had only he survived and fallen to this place? Such questions didn’t disappear easily.
‘In my next life I’m definitely going to be born as an unemployed bum. A rich unemployed bum at that.’
Ha-seong recalled the kind of last words he had uttered before dying. No way, had someone actually listened to that desperate cry? Who exactly? Why?
No, but if they were going to listen, they should have done it properly. What he had wanted was a ‘next life’—meaning he had wanted reincarnation, not to drop into an unknown world with this same body. He’d asked to be made into a rich unemployed bum, but how was he supposed to accept a life that started as a pathetic drunk?
The fortunate thing was that this was a parallel world, and it was the Republic of Korea where Ha-seong had lived. What would have happened if he’d fallen into an unknown world with different culture and language? He definitely didn’t have the confidence to live with aliens. Still, just in case, Ha-seong investigated this ‘Republic of Korea’ he was now in.
It was the right Republic of Korea—a country in Asia surrounded by water on three sides with Seoul as its capital, where the ‘people of speed’ lived, the ones who wore out only the close buttons in every elevator.
But there were some differences…
“Hey, look at this. X-Tube’s real-time popular videos. It’s hilarious.”
The sight he saw while wandering the streets like a madman was truly surprising.
Ha-seong was amazed to see students in school uniforms looking at phones bigger than their palms, watching some kind of videos. In the Korea he had lived in, there weren’t such large phones, and to watch videos you had to go to a place where the signal worked well.
“I called a taxi through an app. It’ll be here soon.”
That wasn’t all. The fact that you could easily call transportation through an app, and also…
“Hey, we’re late. Let’s rent an electric bike and go.”
The fact that you could easily rent and ride bicycles neatly lined up on the street with just a phone—it was full of amazing things. It was definitely true that this place was a much more advanced world than where he had lived. But there was an event that would make Ha-seong fall backward even more than that.
“Excuse me. Could you please vote for us once?”
“Pardon?”
Ha-seong was startled by the sudden cry from a woman who had stopped him.
“We’re conducting a vote for ‘Hunter Appearance Ranking – Male Edition’ right now, so please vote once. The voting rate among men is low.”
Before he knew it, he was led to where she was going, and there was a large tablet with several windows open.
<Hunters, Who’s Really the Most Handsome?>
With a title that made him doubt his eyes, the faces of unknown men filled the screen.
These people are hunters? But what? Who’s the most handsome among hunters? Ha-seong couldn’t understand it at all. With the woman next to him constantly urging him, he just voted for the person who seemed to have received the most votes and fled as if escaping.
“Huff… huff… What the hell is this bullshit?”
Weren’t hunters supposed to be dogs protecting the country, a kind of soldier? But what was this ridiculous survey asking who’s the most handsome being conducted on the street? This definitely wasn’t reality. Ha-seong immediately activated his illusion dispel skill.
[You are not currently in an illusion state. Skill cannot be used.]
“Hey, what do you know?”
Ha-seong pointed his finger at the innocent system window.
It was then.
<Here’s the next news.>
“Fuck, what a shock.”
Startled by the loud sound, he looked up to see news flowing from a large screen on the central street.
<The number one guild ‘Nameless’ handled the S-rank dungeon that suddenly opened last night and completely eliminated the gate energy, which has been officially recognized by the Hunter Management Bureau. Is this true?>
<Yes, that’s correct. It really is an incredible achievement. Nameless cleared the dungeon in just a few hours and…>
The screen showed two people who appeared to be a reporter and an announcer having a conversation. People walking on the street slowly stopped and focused on the news on the billboard.
<Yes, thanks to the help of hunters, through their sacrifice, we were able to be safe from yet another danger. We express our gratitude today as well to the hunters of all guilds including Nameless guild, and with that we conclude the news.>
Words of gratitude? Ha-seong’s face grew increasingly distorted.
“I must definitely be under an illusion.”
[You are not currently in an illusion state.]
“Just shut up.”
Ha-seong grabbed his head. What the hell is this? Why is the news talking about hunter activities, praising their achievements and help, and even expressing gratitude?
“Hey, Nameless is really cool.”
“That’s what I’m saying. That’s why I just voted for Cha Do-hyeok in that street poll.”
As the news ended, people began moving again as if a play button had been pressed, talking about the news content as they passed by Ha-seong.
Now he had to acknowledge it. This place was the same as the world he had lived in, yet different. This was…
A world where hunters were properly treated.
In other words, it might really be possible here. A rich unemployed life—a second life.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
