#59
There might be people in worse situations than Seo Yi-young. But so what? Their existence doesn’t improve his situation. It would be easier to accept this as his life, but he couldn’t easily do so. He only noticed people in better situations than himself.
What’s different about them? Why only me? Why is it just me?
Such thoughts accumulated day by day like sediment. But there was nothing he could do about it. Things wouldn’t change no matter how much he struggled. He endured, thinking that if he studied hard and got into a good university, he might get a decent job, but even that had its limits.
Seo Yi-young turned his head and saw the TV at his part-time workplace. Coincidentally, Choi Do-jun’s face filled the screen. Choi Do-jun. The hunter who lost his parents when Korea’s first dungeon appeared, but awakened an S-Class ability in exchange.
Lucky bastard.
Regardless of everything, he was living well now, wasn’t he? He probably wasn’t worrying about whether he could afford rice. In modern society, money is almost synonymous with human dignity. That young kid must have amassed an enormous fortune, raking in money since dungeons first appeared. If you risk your life conquering dungeons, isn’t that only fair? If you can earn that much money, you should naturally accept the corresponding risks. The whining about dungeons being dangerous is merely the complaints of those burdened by their blessings. If they dislike it so much, he’d like to switch places with them. Seo Yi-young was certain they would refuse.
Choi Do-jun, who awakened during the initial dungeon outbreak, was summoned whenever dungeons appeared in Korea. So the dungeon that appeared near Seo Yi-young and his parents, who lived in a sparsely populated area, was pushed down the priority list. Choi Do-jun only showed up after a dungeon break, when monsters escaped and attacked people.
If that bastard had cleared another dungeon quickly and arrived sooner, Seo Yi-young’s parents would still be alive, and he wouldn’t be living like this. …Or at least if he had awakened like Choi Do-jun back then. His heart burned with a thought he’d had hundreds of times.
Seo Yi-young turned his gaze away from the screen.
Good luck is always for other people. Seo Yi-young, who couldn’t awaken even after watching his parents die in a monster attack, was unlucky. This included being part of the generation that had their support funds cut for three years due to the overwhelming number of places needing assistance after dungeon outbreaks, funds that were usually provided to institutional children as they reached adulthood. Moreover, the age at which they had to leave the institution and become independent was pushed forward by two years for generations whose support was cut. The reason given was that there were too many victims and not enough budget to support everyone. All of this happened to Seo Yi-young not because he did anything wrong, but simply because he was unlucky.
This is Seo Yi-young’s fate.
The weight of life eats away at people and makes them hard. Seo Yi-young couldn’t escape that either.
Then came a certain day. According to his original schedule, he should have gone to work at the bar, but he’d received a call that the place was closing for the day due to some urgent matter. While thinking of going home to rest, Seo Yi-young was stopped on the street by a broadcasting station staff member. They explained that a previously scheduled audience member couldn’t make it due to personal reasons, and asked if he would fill in. Thinking he’d get paid for a day’s work, he agreed.
But the guest on that show was none other than the director of the Awakening Counseling Center, Jo Tae-su.
‘Director Jo Tae-su. Could you awaken someone during today’s broadcast?’
The man called Jo Tae-su smiled at the host’s words. Was this planned beforehand? Perhaps the forms they had asked him to fill out before entering the studio were for this reason.
Good things like this were always meant for others. Even now, they would probably select someone who had been arranged in advance. Aren’t broadcasts all scripted anyway? Sitting skeptically in his chair, Seo Yi-young’s eyes met Jo Tae-su’s.
Huh…?
He looked at Seo Yi-young with a kind smile.
‘That person sitting there. Would that be okay?’
He was clearly pointing at Seo Yi-young. But the host froze with a surprised smile. He could see them exchanging glances with the staff.
‘You don’t have to force yourself. If you’re not willing, it’s fine. Another person…’
He could tell they were about to call someone other than Seo Yi-young. It seemed there was indeed someone pre-arranged. He couldn’t miss this opportunity. Even if he got a trivial ability, having any ability versus none makes a world of difference when job hunting.
‘No. I’ll do it. I will.’
Seo Yi-young immediately answered and left his seat. He only came for a studio audience part-time job, yet such luck had rolled his way. Perhaps all his past luck had converged here.
Jo Tae-su extended his hand to Seo Yi-young after a brief self-introduction. Seo Yi-young carefully took his hand. His heart was pounding. Anxious might be a better description. He worried that his bad luck would manifest here and he’d get an F-Class ability.
Please… Please.
Seo Yi-young pleaded desperately.
Shortly after, a warm energy began flowing from the hand he was holding with Jo Tae-su. At first it felt warm, but soon it became hot. Just as he thought his insides were boiling, the sensation stopped.
‘There, it’s done.’
‘……’
‘Shall we check your status window?’
Even hearing Jo Tae-su’s words, it didn’t feel real. Had he really awakened?
‘Status window.’
As he uttered those words in a small voice, something appeared before his eyes. His momentary amazement at seeing the legendary status window was short-lived.
[Name: Seo Yi-young
Class: S
Ability: Recovery
Skill Name: Everything Back to Normal]
He stared in disbelief at the clearly engraved ‘S’ letter. His mouth fell open involuntarily.
‘Well, can you tell us what you got?’
The host addressed Seo Yi-young.
‘…S.’
‘Pardon?’
‘S-Class. I, I got S-Class recovery.’
At Seo Yi-young’s words, the venue fell silent before erupting in a wave of murmurs.
Though he hadn’t awakened immediately after his parents were attacked like Choi Do-jun, this was his destiny all along. A fierce euphoria washed over him.
Jo Tae-su, meeting his eyes, smiled.
*
Seo Yi-young opened his eyes.
Choi Do-jun was watching with suspicious eyes as Seo Yi-young startled awake. Seo Yi-young wondered if the status window he saw in his dream was correct.
It was clearly different from his current status window.
[Name: Seo Yi-young
Class: S
Ability: Special
Skill Name: Turn Back Time]
Having opened his status window to confirm, Seo Yi-young firmly closed his mouth.
Different. The original Seo Yi-young’s ability in this dimension was different from his current ability. If this dream wasn’t just a simple dream but showed the original Seo Yi-young’s memories? Both their skill names and ability classifications had changed.
Why?
Whether the feeling from the dream was still lingering or not, his heart was beating ominously.
“Seo Yi-young? Are you okay?”
Noticing something wrong with the frozen Seo Yi-young, Choi Do-jun called his name. Barely regaining his composure, Seo Yi-young blinked and answered.
“Yeah… Yeah. No, I’m fine. It’s, nothing.”
The changed skill name.
What this meant, Seo Yi-young couldn’t even guess.
*
A week had already passed since returning from America. When Seo Yi-young arrived back in Korea, it was truly a commotion. The top news reported that South Korea’s S-Class healer Seo Yi-young had successfully contributed to conquering an SS-Class scale dungeon on American soil. Seo Yi-young was still not accustomed to being on TV.
Fortunately, the fact that Choi Do-jun had entered the American dungeon unauthorized was treated as classified information, kept from the general public. For this reason, it seemed Choi Do-jun had waited on the plane for quite some time after Seo Yi-young disembarked. Some people expressed doubts, but since it wasn’t something they could discover through investigation, it was dismissed as a rumor.
However, Seo Yi-young couldn’t stop laughing when he imagined Choi Do-jun sitting alone on the plane. Whether with that deadpan face or with his eyes closed, either way it was funny.
Since their meeting on the plane, he hadn’t seen Choi Do-jun. But knowing the reason, he couldn’t express any particular complaint. After all, he knew that Choi Do-jun, no less than Seo Yi-young, had his days packed with all sorts of schedules.
After the dream on the private jet, Seo Yi-young’s confusion hadn’t easily subsided. To confirm whether it was something that really happened or just his delusion manifesting in a dream, he looked up information about his awakening. The content from the dream was true. It was even uploaded as a clip on YouTube. Seo Yi-young was 20 years old at the time.
Then the status window he saw in the dream must also be real. But why was it different from his current status window? This fact remained ultimately unknowable.
It wasn’t something he could consult with anyone else. He didn’t know what might happen if he spoke rashly. Confirming hunters’ classes isn’t done through a separate device but by actually using their abilities and measuring them based on previously accumulated data.
There’s no point in inflating one’s class; if you deliberately claim a higher class, you might end up entering a dungeon beyond your capabilities and possibly die. If you die, everything becomes meaningless. That’s why almost everyone honestly reports their abilities.
What could it be? It’s not a completely different ability, since Seo Yi-young had been using recovery abilities in dungeons. But there must be a clear difference between the two abilities. That’s why both the skill name and ability classification are different. Unless he could use both abilities alternately to compare, he had no clue at all right now.
Seo Yi-young was lost in thought as he moved according to his schedule to visit the Awakening Counseling Center.
Though he wanted to go home if possible, today he had a scheduled meeting with hunters who had been determined for dungeon deployment among normal awakeners whom Jo Tae-su had awakened. It was said to be to boost the morale of new normal hunters, but to Seo Yi-young, it seemed like nothing more than showing off that they ‘possessed an S-Class healer.’
And also to bring attention to the fact that no S-Class had appeared since Seo Yi-young. It’s like advertising that there’s a great product here and you too could become like this. Despite knowing all this, Seo Yi-young followed without complaint. He didn’t mind meeting hunters scheduled for dungeon deployment.
“Hello, Hunter Seo Yi-young! I’m Ju Woo-in!”
Seo Yi-young smiled at Ju Woo-in, who greeted him with sparkling eyes. With a strong voice and upright posture, he was the type you couldn’t help but like just by looking at him.
“Hello. Congratulations on your awakening.”
“Not at all. This is all thanks to Hunter Seo Yi-young.”
“Oh. Really?”
“It’s true.”
He had thought it was just the usual courtesy, but it seemed otherwise. Ju Woo-in’s face was immediately filled with sincerity.
“Do you remember this by any chance?”
Ju Woo-in pulled something from his chest. It was a paper. With Seo Yi-young’s signature.
“My aunt got this for me when you were filming a public service announcement.”
Public service announcement.
Seo Yi-young searched his memory. Something clicked.
[Excuse me, if it’s okay, could I ask for your autograph later? I thought I might awaken a good ability by receiving some of Hunter Seo Yi-young’s energy.]
“…Ah. That stylist from back then.”
Seeing that Seo Yi-young seemed to remember, Ju Woo-in excitedly continued.
“Wow. You really do remember. Yes, yes, that’s right. That person. That person was my aunt. The reason my awakening class turned out well today is all because Hunter Seo Yi-young gave me this autograph.”
Though it might be just a courtesy, hearing such things was still embarrassing and made him feel ticklish inside.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
