“Bwahahaha. I’m telling you, I got an incredible Skill Page from that Special Anomaly I entered last time.”
“There you go talking bullshit again. Just drink your damn liquor.”
“You really don’t believe me? Huh? Want me to show you?”
“Cut the bullshit. Just drink.”
The bar was filled with dim lighting and thick cigarette smoke.
Loud music played, but even it was nearly drowned out by the shouts of the people gathered inside.
Kang Hyeon-woo sharply scanned his surroundings before slowly taking a seat at the bar counter. The bartender approached him with a bright expression.
“Would you like a menu?”
“Single malt. A shot.”
“Pardon? Single malt? What is that?”
The bartender paused and stared at Kang Hyeon-woo.
“Single malt in a world like this? Are you some rich family’s young master?”
The large-built man sitting on the stool beside him spoke to Kang Hyeon-woo.
“None of your business.”
“A bar like this only has cheap synthetic liquor.”
The bartender’s eyes widened as she looked at the large man.
“Cheap? All of our liquor is officially distributed by Shinhwa Group!”
“That is exactly why it is cheap synthetic liquor, miss. Do you even know what single malt is?”
“What is it?”
“It is real liquor aged for a long time in barrels made of wood. Only rich bastards can even get the chance to drink it.”
“Then have you tried it?”
“Me? Heh heh heh. Of course. Only once, though.”
“Did someone buy it for you?”
“It was never something you could buy in the first place. An Awakened even bigger than me shared a glass with me once.”
Twitch.
Kang Hyeon-woo’s gaze turned cold. He took two devices from his clothes, placed them side by side, and manipulated them.
[Trace of target found.]
Beyond the hologram floating above the devices, the large-built man beside him was marked as the tracking target.
“Wow....... You really are something. Is that the old-model Combat Support System I have only heard about?”
“Let me ask you something.”
Without answering the man, Kang Hyeon-woo rose from his seat.
“The large man you met. Was he completely unable to use Mana?”
“Oh, how did you know? That’s right. He couldn’t use skills at all. But even so, he was incredible.”
“What? An Awakened who cannot use skills? That is strange. Tell us more.”
The bartender placed a glass of liquor in front of the man, her face full of curiosity.
“Was it a month ago? I got a request. I was passing near Castle Crimtain at the time. They said a group of Scavengers had joined forces with the Resistance, developed a Mana Neutralizer, and hidden it away.”
“Ohhh, and then?”
“What do you mean, then? I eventually found the Scavengers, but that guy had gotten there first and killed them all. He could not use Mana at all, so I figured he must have taken a hit.”
He had no intention of fighting the large man. The request was already finished by the time he arrived. It was like blowing his nose without even using his hands.
“With the request completed for free, I was in a good mood and tried to help him. Then the guy suddenly started gulping down the Mana Neutralizer that was evidence. I thought he really was a lunatic. But after we talked for a while, well, men who live by their strength have a way of understanding each other.”
The large man had eaten with him and been treated to a glass of liquor.
“Single malt.”
“Yeah. Bwahahaha. I had never tasted liquor that smooth in my life.”
“Do you know his code name?”
“Beast. He said that was his code name.”
“What? Beast? Humanity’s traitor?”
***
The bartender cried out in shock almost like a scream, but even her startled voice melted into the dimly lit bar beneath all the noise.
“Miss, you are not Awakened, so you would not know. Any number of people can use the same code name.”
“Hmph. I’ve gone to take the Awakening Test before, so I know, okay?”
“Then why are you working here?”
“I got marked for a retest. I guess I was just a little short. Sigh....... Maybe I should get a procedure done?”
“Uh...... you should not do that. It is an illegal procedure. You know you could get into serious trouble, right?”
“Still, Awakened and ordinary people are treated completely differently.”
Awakened.
They were people whose Mana Sensitivity was superior to that of ordinary people, allowing them to use the System.
Back when Kang Hyeon-woo had still been active, everything surrounding awakening—who awakened, why they awakened, and how they gained such abilities—had been shrouded in mystery.
But things were different now.
Through research, Shinhwa had uncovered the secret of awakening. It had reached the point where they could identify people likely to possess high Mana Sensitivity in advance and cultivate them into Awakened.
They could enter dungeons—in other words, Anomalies—learn skills, and fight monsters to protect humanity.
Even those who were judged to be Awakened and merely made F Grade received special treatment.
But they were exceedingly rare.
No exact ratio had ever been established, but the probability of actually being judged F-Grade was said to be one in a million.
The estimated population of the ruined world was approximately one billion.
Among them were roughly a thousand Awakened.
That was only an approximate figure that included unregistered Awakened.
Even accounting for their vastly superior survival rates, there were not many Awakened.
While the bartender and the large man bickered, Kang Hyeon-woo sank into thought.
‘Park Seong-jun......’
Kang Hyeon-woo had wandered the entire world for many long years searching for him, but finding Park Seong-jun had been nearly impossible.
In ninety years of wandering, this was the first time he had ever tracked him this closely.
“What did that bastard give you?”
Kang Hyeon-woo cut into the conversation between the bartender and the large man.
“Oh, how did you know? He said I looked weak and gave me this.”
The man took a small vial from his clothes and set it down.
“Bwahahaha. That was the first time anyone had ever told me I looked weak, so it was refreshing. Well, when I Identified it, it was just a recovery potion.”
Kang Hyeon-woo silently cast a spell in his mind.
‘Identify.’
[S-Grade Magic Skill (Identify) used]
[Type: Buff Potion]
[Manufacturer: Shinhwa Chemical]
[New cells are generated.]
[Vigor is enhanced.]
[Life Force is continuously restored.]
‘So this is how he stayed alive.’
A hundred years had passed since the Outbreak.
During that time, Kang Hyeon-woo himself had remained alive through Mana.
It seemed Park Seong-jun had likewise extended his lifespan by drinking items like this.
“Where did you say you saw him? Castle Crimtain?”
“Yeah.”
“Where is that?”
“You do not know Castle Crimtain?”
“Tell me its old name.”
“Its old name......? What was it.......”
“Cheongju. It was Cheongju.”
The bartender eagerly jumped into the conversation between Kang Hyeon-woo and the large man.
“Oh. How do you know that, miss?”
“I memorized it because I thought it might come in handy after I Awakened. The major cities, their old names, and history.”
“Wow. It is a waste for you to rot away as a bartender.”
“What good does that do me? I cannot even pass the Awakening Test......”
‘What the hell is he doing?’
A hundred years had already passed since they last met, but considering Park Seong-jun’s personality, none of it made sense.
He had been more steadfast than anyone and always thought of everyone else.
The greatest tank, always standing at the front.
It was difficult to understand how a man like that could have betrayed humanity and brought about its destruction.
‘If he knew the skill was still active, he definitely would’ve looked for me.’
Decades of tracking had made one thing certain.
Park Seong-jun was running away from Kang Hyeon-woo.
Then it happened.
BOOM—!
“Aaaah!”
The entrance to the bar suddenly exploded.
“What the hell? What happened?”
“It is the road in front of the bar! An Anomaly Outbreak!”
“What......? Shinhwa should have been blocking the Mana flow through the city. How......?”
“Who gives a damn about that? Get outside now!”
“Call the Defense Force!”
“Damn it......!”
The bar descended into chaos amid screams and shouting.
“Did the Resistance use a Mana Neutralizer? This should be interesting.”
The large man stood and loosened up his body.
“Hey, Single Malt. Want to take them down together?”
“None of my business.”
“There is only one reason the Defense Force has not rushed out almost immediately like they normally would. They have all gone off to catch the Resistance.”
Kang Hyeon-woo no longer cared about things like this.
For decades, all he had seen were monsters appearing in the same endless cycle as a squirrel running in its wheel, and people dying.
“Hey, Single Malt. You look like a veteran. Come on, let’s give it a shot. Bwahahaha. If it goes well, the Mercenary Administration might even promote you.”
“I said I’m not interested.”
“I stopped an Outbreak like this in another city before, and the rewards were damn good. Cores, items, skills......”
Explosions and screams continued outside.
Kang Hyeon-woo was about to turn and leave when the large man continued.
“......and I racked up a mountain of star ratings and reviews on my Awakened Satisfaction Rating. Bwahahaha.”
“I’ll do it.”
“......If you can, we should give it a...... Huh? You will?”
“We won’t need a separate contract.”
If an unspecified number of people could give satisfaction ratings, there was no need to go to the trouble of using contracts to kindly guide them through leaving stars and writing reviews.
“Bwahahaha! Good. Let’s go!”
The large man laughed heartily as he equipped the massive gear lying at his feet.
***
Beasts. Monsters. Whatever people called them, they were all referring to the same things.
Beings from some other world that had invaded Earth.
Some resembled giant insects, while others looked like reptiles. Their appearances varied wildly, and they were both fast and brutal.
Inside dungeons, there were not only reptilian monsters but also creatures that walked on two legs or appeared to possess some form of primitive civilization.
Humanity, drawing on its own knowledge and imagination, had given the different types names such as orcs and ogres.
Long ago, some researchers had argued that a being possessing an advanced civilization must have been behind everything, citing the predefined Skill Pages and items that appeared inside dungeons as evidence.
Others had attempted to communicate with the monsters through various means and tried to discover the being that had sent them.
Every attempt failed.
Without ever learning the reason, everyone simply fought to survive.
SKREEEEEE—!
BOOM—! BOOM—!
“Aaaaaaargh!”
“Please save me......!”
Dozens of monsters had poured into the streets and were slaughtering people.
Kang Hyeon-woo took out one of the old-model energy capsules he had received from the old man.
He tightened his grip, crushed it, and poured the powder into his mouth.
[500 Mana restored.]
[Direct core consumption has low recovery efficiency.]
[Use refined cores or a Recovery Station.]
[Fatal Error......]
The notification messages from the old-model Combat Support System were engraved into Kang Hyeon-woo’s mind.
“Hey! Single Malt. You obviously do not look like the type who fights with brute strength, so you must be in the damage-dealer role, right? I’ll draw them out one at a time, so watch for an opening and......”
“You have one job. Save the people.”
“What? Of course we have to save the people. But first we need to kill the monsters......”
Before the large man could even finish speaking, Kang Hyeon-woo slowly walked toward the monsters.
“H-Hey......! Single Malt! Why are you trying to kill yourself?!”
‘Phase Intervention.’
THOOM—!
A translucent, spherical membrane of energy spread around Kang Hyeon-woo.
The round barrier continued expanding until it had grown large enough to encompass every monster that had appeared on the street.
‘Classification.’
BZZZZZT.
“......What the hell is this......?”
The large man, who had been charging toward the monsters, looked around in shock.
The monsters inside the translucent sphere had begun to glow.
‘Mesmerize.’
FLASH.
THUD—!
As though they had all agreed beforehand, every monster collapsed where it stood.
“What the hell? What happened to them......?”
“They’re asleep. What are you doing? I told you to save the people.”
“Huh......? Oh. Got it.”
The large man put down his equipment and ran around, carrying the people who were still alive outside the sphere.
Most had already been killed by the monsters, so there were only a few people left for him to move.
“But you said they’re asleep?”
After evacuating the survivors, the large man approached Kang Hyeon-woo.
“Mesmerize.”
“......Mesmer...... what? What is that?”
“Magic.”
“Magic......? You mean a magic skill?”
“Strictly speaking, magic and skills are different. Well, you wouldn’t understand.”
“What......? I suppose every Awakened mercenary has at least one move of their own. But you said they’re asleep, right? If we go over there and kill them, won’t they wake up?”
“You’re asking whether they’ll get back up after you kill them. Remarkable intelligence.”
“Ghh......! No! Why did you put them to sleep in the first place?!”
“It’d be better to hand them over alive to the Defense Force. And there happen to be plenty of people around, do there not?”
“What is better about that?”
“Reputation. Star ratings. Reviews.”
“......Huh?”
The large man’s eyes filled with confusion.