001- He had awakened

The world was ruined.

There had been Gates, a Third World War, and many other things, but it all came down to one reason.

There was no food.

The star’s energy was exhausted, and black earth spread across the world, increasing the amount of land where no vegetation could grow.

If plants couldn't grow, animals couldn't survive, and neither could humans.

The Third World War, a conflict of nuclear weapons, was not fought over ideology or philosophy, but over food.

Even though civilization had advanced to the point of space travel, the reason for war hadn't changed at all from primitive times.

Traditional nations were dismantled, and the remaining pockets of humanity gathered in the few surviving cities to form city-states.

Seoul, once the capital of the Republic of Korea.

Now, however, it was called the city-state of Seoul, located on the Korean peninsula.

This was the world Jinwoo lived in.

---

"Hey, Mr. Kang, come get your day's pay."

"Ah, thank you."

"Good work today. You're strong for a young guy. We'll be counting on you next time."

After receiving his day's wages from the construction site, Jinwoo headed home.

On his way back, Jinwoo's nerves were constantly on edge. He had heard that robberies were frequent in this area.

In a world as harsh as this, you had to protect your own life.

Checking the feel of the white envelope in his pocket several times, Jinwoo hurried home.

Home for Jinwoo was a dilapidated house in the shantytown on the absolute outskirts of Seoul.

A barrier that repelled monsters surrounded the city's outer perimeter, and Jinwoo's house was precariously situated right on its edge.

To be precise, one room was exposed to the outside, while the rest of the house was protected within the barrier.

That room was used as a storage space, crammed with junk, while the rest was Jinwoo’s living area.

"Whew."

Having returned home safely, Jinwoo gave himself a simple wash with water he had collected in the morning.

The shantytowns in this outer district didn't even have proper running water.

It wasn't that it was completely unavailable, but the water that came out was so dirty it had to be purified before use.

So, every morning, he would go to a communal area a little further inside the city to fetch water.

Naturally, there was never enough for a bath or a refreshing shower. The best Jinwoo could do was dampen a towel and wipe the sweat from his body.

“Let’s see… how many Blocks are left?”

Blocks were one of the cheapest food sources of this era—a foodstuff that condensed the minimum required nutrients into a cube. In a world where the land available for growing vegetation had drastically decreased due to Gates and the black earth, these Block foods were the staple for most people.

Those in the middle class might eat things like substitute meat made from molecular data, but for the extremely poor like Jinwoo, that was a luxury.

The best he could do was buy a single lump of substitute meat around his birthday each year to celebrate alone.

"Haah, I want to eat real meat."

Jinwoo tossed a bulgogi-flavored Block into his mouth and sighed deeply as he chewed.

Jinwoo, who lived day to day, never had grand dreams.

It wasn't wealth, glory, or luxury goods. It was food.

The joy of feasting was the dream Jinwoo truly desired.

"They say if you become a Hunter, you can eat all the meat you want."

Hunters were individuals who appeared at the same time as the Gates and monsters, people who had awakened special abilities.

Their abilities were diverse, but their most crucial ability was singular.

They could bring back resources and food from the dimensions beyond the periodically opening Gates.

Very few livestock were raised on modern Earth.

Worse, nearly all of them were monopolized by the wealthy, making them incredibly hard to find in the general market.

Most of the fresh meat distributed in the regular markets was brought back by Hunters from inside Gates.

Of course, the dimensions beyond the Gates also held resources like rare minerals and the magic stones found within monsters.

These were also expensive and important resources, but that wasn't the kind of wealth Jinwoo wanted.

Just days where he could eat meat every day.

Those were the days Jinwoo longed for.

"There's a reason they're called 'Hunters,' after all."

The first thing the first Awakened brought back from beyond a Gate wasn't a magic stone or a rare mineral, but a large wild boar.

In the early days, most Awakened hunted beasts and gathered fruit rather than mining magic stones.

For that reason, they were called hunters, and the name "Hunter" had stuck to this day.

Crunch.

Jinwoo finished chewing the Block. The bulgogi scent spreading in his mouth drove him even crazier.

If a little artificially created scent could make him salivate this much, how delicious would bulgogi made from real, fresh meat be?

He sang praises of meat, but it wasn't the only thing Jinwoo wanted to eat.

Fresh fruit was, of course, an incredibly rare food, as were crisp vegetables.

In short, Jinwoo wanted to eat fresh food, period.

Not these Blocks churned out of a factory.

Just then.

"Huh?"

His body began to itch.

His vision blurred and sharpened repeatedly, and a cold sweat broke out on his palms without him realizing.

'Did I get sick!?'

An urgent alarm bell rang in Jinwoo's head.

Not sickness. Sickness is dangerous.

A common cold might just mean missing a day or two of work, but the world was full of diseases that weren't so simple.

If he caught some unknown illness, he'd have to go to a hospital for a diagnosis and get medicine.

In this Seoul, where medical insurance didn't exist, going to a hospital meant an expense that could break his back.

'I can't get sick!'

As he shouted inwardly, trying to hold onto his consciousness.

[A sliver of opportunity and a handful of luck.]
[A Fragment of a Past Life shall arise. A new destiny will triumph, or be swallowed by the old one.]

Seeing the message that appeared, Jinwoo's eyes trembled uncontrollably.

It was the first time he'd seen it, but it was a message he had heard about many times through the grapevine.

The message of Awakening.

'I've awakened.'

Jinwoo had become a Hunter.

---

Jinwoo immediately headed to the Hunter Management Bureau and completed his registration as a new Hunter.

The registration itself was simple and done quickly, but what came next was a bit long.

Guided to a room in the back of the Hunter Management Bureau, Jinwoo received all sorts of explanations and warnings from an official who introduced herself as his handler.

"A Hunter's abilities are known to be the abilities of their past life. You don't have any abilities right now, do you?"

"No."

"As you start working inside Gates, you'll be able to awaken your abilities one by one. So don't worry too much."

A general explanation of Hunter abilities.

A Hunter's power was fundamentally the power of their past life.

Naturally, it was said that the greater one was in a past life, the greater the abilities that blossomed, and the stronger a Hunter they would become.

But there was a warning.

No matter how strong your past life or powerful your abilities, you could still die if hit by a stray arrow.

"Still die…"

"You must always be careful. Gates are full of dangers, and if you let your guard down for even a moment, you can die instantly! That's why there are quite a few people who awaken but choose to live quiet, normal lives instead of becoming Hunters."

It was dangerous.

He knew that much. But Jinwoo couldn't suppress his dream and desire.

Even if about 80% of that dream and desire was just his appetite.

"Listen carefully. A novice Hunter should forget about magic stones and all that. Just focus on bringing back food. You'll be lucky if you can even catch a rabbit. Fruits or mushrooms are fine too. You know how expensive fresh food is these days, right?"

"I know. I know all too well."

"A single wild boar is a huge jackpot, and if you manage to catch a plump cow? That'll fetch you tens of millions of won, easy. It's much better to hunt and gather than to pick a fight with a monster just to dig out a few magic stone fragments. Right?"

"Of course. That really resonates with me."

Though they had just met, this was an official he really clicked with.

Since Jinwoo was listening so attentively, the official became even more enthusiastic, telling him everything she knew.

"If you kill it and put it in your inventory right away, it'll be preserved as is, so get it in there as quickly as possible. If you don't know any butchers, you can sell it to the Bureau for a decent price. However, the better the quality, the better off you'll be taking it to a private dealer. The same goes for not just meat, but fruits, mushrooms, and grains."

In Jinwoo's mind, he could already picture himself catching a massive wild boar on his first trip to a Gate.

Of course, he knew that most people just picked up some fruit on their first hunt, but in this day and age, even fruit was worth its weight in gold, so that was fine.

He heard about various other procedures and precautions.

About the environment and terrain. About monsters. And most importantly.

"Other species."

About the other species, the greatest variable and danger within the Gates.

"It's not just Earth's Hunters beyond the Gates. You might also encounter other species from different stars, different worlds."

The official pulled out some documents to show him.

"Dwarves usually look like this. Their hostility tends to decrease if you show them minerals, so keep this with you. If you encounter one, place the mineral on the ground and slowly back away. Never fight them."

As if it were standard issue, he was given a few strangely shaped minerals. So if I meet a Dwarf, I leave this and run?

"Orcs won't chase you if they're full. If you meet one, throw all the food you have and run for your life in the opposite direction. Don't ever stop."

"What if I don't have any food to throw?"

"What do you think? You become the food."

"..."

Leaving the speechless Jinwoo, the official continued her explanation.

"Elves are fundamentally beautiful, but never be mesmerized by their appearance. Don't do anything, just run. They don't speak our language, can't be baited with items, and have little interest in food. The moment they encounter a human, they will try to kill them unconditionally, so never, ever approach them. They're a lost cause."

"Are there no other lures? Like, do they like jewels or something?"

"Nope. If you meet one, just run. To be honest, Elves are also unnaturally fast, so there's no guarantee you'll survive even if you run. It might be better to just sit down and pray…"

"Hmm."

"For now, these three are the most populous species. As for other minor species…"

Jinwoo focused with all his might, engraving every one of the official's warnings into his mind.

He didn't think he had ever concentrated this hard since the time he'd had to carry bricks on a steel beam 40 stories up.

Finally, the explanation was over. The official took a sip of water to wet her throat.

She expressed her thanks to Jinwoo.

"Thank you for listening so diligently."

"It's about my life. Of course I have to listen diligently."

"There are many who don't, you know. And those people..."

The official's voice trailed off.

He didn't need to hear the rest to imagine what she was going to say.

"Thank you. I'll do my best."

"Be careful. The next Gate opens in three days, so prepare well before you go in."

"Yes."

After thanking the enthusiastic official, Jinwoo left the room.

Left alone, the official let out a sigh and a bitter smile. There was something she hadn't bothered to tell Jinwoo.

"It's not like things ended well for those who listened diligently, either."

Most of those who didn't listen died.

But most of those who did listen also died.

In the end, it was a world where those who were meant to survive, survived, and those who were meant to die, died.

---

After spending three days making various preparations, Jinwoo entered his first Gate.

[1st Floor: Primeval Forest]
[Find the blue portal. If you wish to return.]

As he came to his senses, Jinwoo's first instinct wasn't to marvel at the sight before him, but to dive into the nearby bushes and hide.

He scanned his surroundings with a tense body, but thankfully, no one was in sight.

Only then did Jinwoo allow himself the luxury of slowly taking in his surroundings.

'This is…'

A blue sky, not covered by a barrier. Moist, uncontaminated earth. Lush forests and trees.

Even the breeze that tickled his cheek was warm, and just being in this space felt like it was washing away the grime accumulated on his body.

So a world like this existed…

A world his people had lost. A place that was now hard to find on Earth.

He'd heard that the wealthy on Earth owned private forests or gardens.

But he could declare with certainty that this place was larger and more beautiful than any rich man's forest.

After a brief moment of awe, Jinwoo slapped his cheeks to snap himself back to reality.

'Time to move.'

Moving cautiously through the forest, Jinwoo began to carefully but quickly gather everything he could—fruits, mushrooms, all of it.

'Fresh fruit!'

No matter how hard he tried to stay calm, he couldn't stop his heart from pounding.

It was the first time in his life he had seen so many fresh fruits.

He picked all the suitably ripe ones and put them in his inventory. The subspace called an inventory, given upon Awakening, could preserve items exactly as they were.

Then, he picked up the ripest-looking one and gave it a quick wipe on his sleeve.

And in one motion, he opened his mouth wide.

CRUNCH!

It was quite hard.

A slight tartness was subtly present, but otherwise, it was just pure sweetness.

The crisp flesh and the refreshing juice that quenched his throat.

Combined with the faint, tangy aroma, it felt like all five of his senses were being awakened.

'I feel alive…'

After always eating Blocks or fruit that was half-rotten, eating something this fresh was pure bliss.

So this is the real taste of fruit. What on earth have I been eating all this time?

The thought that he would have to go back to eating Blocks after this made him resent the world.

Having had a taste of the fruit, Jinwoo licked his lips and searched for his next food item.

---

The next thing that caught his eye was a fairly wide stream.

Jinwoo dipped his hand into the freezing cold water and scooped some up for a drink.

He wasn't thirsty after eating the fruit, but the stream water nevertheless refreshed his entire body.

He wanted to strip down and jump in to wash away all his old grime, but he held back.

He wasn't here to play.

'Oh, fish!'

But he couldn't resist the fish.

Quite a few fish were swimming in the stream.

Most were smaller than his palm, but a few were larger.

Jinwoo took out the hand net he had packed and immediately started hunting.

'One!'

It was a pretty big one. But this much would never fill his stomach.

He tossed the captured fish onto the bank and fixed his gaze back on the water.

It would have been quite difficult to catch them by hand, but bringing a net beforehand made it incredibly easy.

Two, three… Jinwoo was completely lost in the act of catching the precious raw fish.

How long had he been in that trance-like state?

Something reflected in the stream snapped Jinwoo back to his senses.

"…Huh?"

The reflection of a person in the water's surface.

As Jinwoo looked up, his eyes met with that person-like thing.

Jinwoo’s head and heart, which had been racing with excitement just moments ago, turned ice-cold as if doused with frigid water.

Black hair that shimmered like the night sky, and skin as white as snow in contrast.

Deep-set eyes that seemed to pull you in.

Long ears that proved it was human-like, but not human.

In its hand was a single sword, embedded with a jewel.

The moment they encounter a human, they will try to kill them unconditionally…

The words the official had emphasized over and over again flashed through his mind.

"......!"

Without even time to scream, Jinwoo fled.

He abandoned the net, abandoned the fish he had worked so hard to catch, and simply ran for his life.

[A Fragment of a Past Life arises. Your feet shall become faster.]