Clatter.
Lee Chae-ho picked up the lukewarm canned coffee that had dropped from the vending machine.
Chae-ho sank heavily into an old synthetic leather sofa placed in the corner of the Hunter Association branch's rest area. On a weekend afternoon, the Association branch was packed like a marketplace with Hunters who had just returned after finishing dungeon raids.
The air was heated by exaggerated tales of bravery and loud laughter coming from all directions.
"No, I'm telling you, that orc suddenly started spinning its axe like a whirlwind! If I hadn't blocked it with my shield, you'd already be lying in a VIP hospital room!"
"Hey, are you seriously trying to make me pay for dinner just because you blocked that one attack once?"
Ignoring the conversation of another party chatting at the table across from him, Chae-ho opened the can.
The lukewarm, stale sweetness flowed into his mouth.
At his feet, a cheap shin guard covered in scratches and a blunt-edged iron dagger rolled around, sticking out from his bag. They were traces of the fierce struggle he had endured moments ago, covered in mud and monster blood while guarding the rear of a Grade C dungeon.
Bzzzt— Bzzzt—.
A vibration sounded from his pocket.
When Chae-ho checked the caller's name on the screen, his previously expressionless face softened immediately.
"Yes, Mother."
— Son. Did you eat? Your voice sounds a little tired.
His mother's voice coming through the phone was as warm as always, but underneath it was filled with an unmistakable amount of worry.
"I just finished a raid and came to the Association. I'm going to eat now. There weren't many monsters today, and the dungeon closed early, so it was really easy."
— You didn't get hurt, right? I saw on the news lately that monsters keep popping out from gates in the middle of Seoul and things like that. My heart has been sinking all day. Work is important, but what's the point if you get hurt?
"I'm telling you, the places I go aren't that dangerous. Everyone there is an experienced Hunter, so they go ahead and wipe out all the monsters, and I just safely carry the luggage from behind. It's really easy and safe. I don't even get out of breath."
Chae-ho smoothly spun out the practiced lies.
The rear guard position in a Grade C dungeon was never as safe as he made it sound. It was a harsh environment where half-crazed monsters thrown back from the front lines could rush at him at any moment with his life on the line.
A world where even looking away for a moment or taking one wrong step could lead to serious injuries.
But there was no need to burden his parents with that reality and make them worry.
— Yes, your body comes before money. You know that, right? Don't push yourself trying to stand in front of others. Work carefully. Your father's old truck repair isn't urgent, so get yourself better armor first. Understand?
"Don't worry. The party settlement this month was pretty good, so I'm going straight to the equipment market tomorrow. I'll send the money for Father's truck repairs this evening, so please make sure he goes to the repair shop."
— Oh, you. Don't just eat something quick. Buy yourself some meat and eat properly.
After hanging up, Chae-ho stared blankly at the blackened smartphone screen.
His reflection on the screen looked especially worn out.
In front of his parents, he had acted confident and boasted as if everything was fine, but the reality of Hunter Lee Chae-ho was brutally cold. Even without opening his banking app, he already knew exactly how much was in his account.
After subtracting next week's hospital bills, monthly living expenses, and the truck repair costs, he would have barely a hundred thousand won left.
Buying new mana-resistant armor worth several million won or a sharp new weapon was nothing more than a dream. For a profession where he never knew when his neck might be cut off, his income was painfully insufficient.
And even that disappeared today.
'A party expulsion.'
Chae-ho leaned deeply against the backrest and let out a short sigh.
He did not resent Sang-min's decision even by the width of a single strand of hair. If anything, he was only grateful that Sang-min had used him as the dedicated porter of an elite Grade C party despite him being a Grade D Hunter without a single proper combat skill.
The party was preparing to seriously enter Grade B dungeons.
For a Grade D Hunter with ordinary physical abilities to linger in the rear while handling porter duties was practically suicide. In an environment where area magic exploded everywhere and boss monsters launched surprise attacks, even Chae-ho himself would be unable to survive.
But the other party members could not destroy their own formation just to protect a porter who contributed nothing to their combat power.
'I'm the one who fell behind because of my lack of skill. Who am I supposed to blame?'
If he had failed to understand his own position, stubbornly begged them to take him along just one more time, and forced the issue, they would have only ended up embarrassing themselves and each other.
Chae-ho understood his own limits more objectively and coldly than anyone.
However, that did not mean he planned to quit being a Hunter and return to an ordinary job.
A regular office worker's salary could not support his parents' retirement or their steadily increasing medical expenses. Even if he risked his life every day, the only place where he could reliably earn a large sum of money was still the dungeon field.
If he had simply been rejected because his abilities were insufficient, the answer was simple.
He only needed to find a porter position in a Grade D party that matched his level again. From there, he could work desperately, fill every gap, take on the dirty jobs other Hunters disliked, and build experience. There were still plenty of ways to make a living.
After firmly steeling his resolve, Chae-ho pulled the large bag he had placed on the floor closer.
He opened the zipper and pushed his hand between bloodstained pieces of cloth and miscellaneous items. His fingertips touched something rough and dry.
What he carefully pulled out was a thin booklet bound with old parchment.
The severance pay Oh Sang-min had secretly handed him with an apologetic expression.
A one-use random skill book that had not yet gone through the Association's appraisal.
"I hope something useful comes out."
Chae-ho muttered while running his thumb over the worn cover of the parchment book.
He did not expect an amazing ability to come from such an inexpensive random skill book. With good luck, it would probably only be some common support skill around Grade E or Grade D.
A slight increase in basic stamina.
Extending vision about two meters in darkness.
A passive skill that made carried weight feel 5 percent lighter.
Tracking traces by identifying monster footprints.
Even one of those small and insignificant utility skills would become an excellent line on his resume when searching for a new porter position.
Maybe his luck would be terribly bad, and he would receive a debuff skill that spread a foul smell within a one-meter radius, or a negative skill that made him snore violently whenever he slept.
But Chae-ho was not in a position to be picky.
When he was already at rock bottom, even the smallest help was desperately needed.
Chae-ho placed the empty coffee can at the corner of the table and firmly wrapped both hands around the skill book.
The surrounding noise seemed to drift away for a moment.
He closed his eyes and slowly drew up a tiny amount of mana from his core. The faint blue mana flowing through his veins began seeping through his fingertips and into the old parchment.
Flash.
In an instant, the entire booklet emitted a dazzling white light so bright he could barely keep his eyes open.
"Huh?"
It was the moment Chae-ho frowned in confusion and tried to pull his hand back.
The skill book lost its shape and shattered into tens of thousands of points of light, scattering into the air.
Then the beautiful particles of light changed direction as if they were living creatures and poured straight toward Chae-ho's chest.
The light passed through his clothes and seeped directly into his skin.
Along with a heavy sensation pressing down on the center of his chest, a wave of heat violently swept across his heart once.
Ding.
As a cheerful mechanical sound struck his ears, a translucent system window appeared across his field of vision.
Chae-ho flinched, raised his head, and looked around.
Neither the Hunters still talking at the opposite table nor the passing Association employees noticed the glowing window floating before his eyes.
It was a message visible only on the retina of the person who had absorbed the skill book.
Chae-ho swallowed once and slowly read the text displayed before him.
[The one-use random skill book has been used.]
[Analyzing the user's mana wavelength and mental image data to randomly extract a skill.]
[......Extraction complete.]
Chae-ho clenched his fist.
He desperately hoped that something practical would appear, even if it was only a common Grade D strength enhancement skill.
But the sentence that appeared next took on a bizarre form unlike anything Chae-ho had ever imagined.
[A condition with a 0.000000000001% appearance probability has been fulfilled.]
[Applying system exception regulations.]
[Skill awakening begins.]
Chae-ho stared blankly at the number filling his vision.
He tried to count the endless string of '0's after the decimal point, but before his eyes could follow them, another system window covered his sight.
[You have acquired a new skill.]
[Skill Name: Time Deceleration]
[Grade: EX]
[The skill permanently settles into the user's soul and body.]
Chae-ho's lips parted slightly.
His breath caught.
His heartbeat thundered abnormally loud in his ears.
"EX Grade......?"
The two letters turned his mind blank as if he had been struck in the head with a blunt weapon.
The official grading system of current Hunters in South Korea, no, Hunters around the entire world, ended at Grade S.
The EX Grade above that existed only in system theory or as an unknown realm discussed as drinking-table gossip.
A fantasy grade that no major guild or high-ranking Association official had ever even witnessed.
And such an abnormal skill had pierced into the chest of a Grade D Hunter who had barely been scraping by with ordinary stats, overcoming an absurdly impossible probability.
Moreover, the very name written in the text, 'Time Deceleration,' was unusual.
It was a concept on an entirely different level from simple physical attacks such as releasing energy from a sword or shooting fireballs.
As for what principle controlling time actually followed, or what kind of performance it would show in actual combat, Chae-ho's current knowledge could not even begin to grasp it.
It was simply an unknown, absolute imprint.
The letters 'EX,' flashing ominously yet brilliantly in red text floating in the air, were clearly reflected in Chae-ho's trembling eyes.
Without realizing it, Chae-ho stepped back, and his elbow struck the corner of the table.
The empty coffee can crumpled with a noise and rolled onto the floor, but he could not even think about bending down to pick it up.
Chae-ho stared blankly at the translucent system window floating in the air and breathed out in disbelief.
"What...... what the hell is this?"