Lee Kanghyun’s peaceful life fell apart when he was nineteen.
One day, gates suddenly opened all over the world. Monsters poured out through those gates, people died, and then some people awakened supernatural abilities, saved the world, and so on and so forth.
Before long, the government began calling those who wielded such supernatural powers Hunters. Thanks to the Hunters’ efforts, the world gradually began to stabilize.
It was an event that turned the entire world upside down, but none of it had anything to do with Lee Kanghyun. Gates, Hunters, and all that were things far removed from his own life. Lee Kanghyun’s greatest concern was the College Scholastic Ability Test he would be taking that year.
He was a high school senior, after all.
Several months passed after the first gate appeared. At last, there was only one month left until the CSAT.
He thought he would get into college without any trouble, serve in the military, find a job, and live an ordinary, boring life like that.
But everything changed overnight.
Something he had thought was someone else’s problem happened right in front of Lee Kanghyun’s house.
Monsters poured out of a gate into the world.
His parents died before his eyes, and the shock caused Lee Kanghyun to awaken.
It really was an incredibly dull and predictable backstory.
At least, that was what Lee Kanghyun himself thought.
***
The moment Lee Kanghyun awakened, he became a star.
He was none other than South Korea’s second S-rank Hunter.
People went wild over the appearance of such an exceptionally rare S-rank. They gave him the nickname “Second” and doted on him endlessly.
“The young hero who lost his parents before his very eyes.”
That was the title attached to Lee Kanghyun.
The entire nation pitied him while also admiring him. His handsome face and tall, striking build in particular made him instantly popular.
Then, little by little, public opinion began to change.
What people had expected was a righteous and devoted S-rank Hunter who had risen above tragedy.
But those expectations were shattered by a single live interview.
It was immediately after he successfully completed his first gate raid since awakening—and had cleared an A-rank gate entirely on his own.
Countless cameras and microphones were thrust toward Lee Kanghyun, who was drenched in blood from head to toe.
“Hunter Lee Kanghyun! How do you feel after risking your life to fight for the citizens?”
“Is it true that you awakened to avenge your parents?”
“What are your ambitions for the future?”
Blinding flashes.
A deafening barrage of questions.
It was January 1. Lee Kanghyun, who had turned twenty only a few minutes earlier, stared blankly at the cameras.
It was not even clear whether he was actually looking at them.
His eyes seemed to register nothing at all.
On the screen being broadcast live across the entire country, his mouth slowly opened.
“Ah, fuck… I wanna go home.”
Silence.
The reporters panicked and tried to salvage the situation, but Lee Kanghyun ignored them and simply walked away.
People were shocked at first, but soon began interpreting his behavior however they pleased.
“He lost his parents at such a young age and has been forced to carry too heavy a burden.”
“He must have been exhausted right after the battle.”
They eagerly defended Lee Kanghyun and sympathized with him.
But it did not take long for that sympathy to change.
S-rank Hunters were generally called both the guardians of the nation and walking small-to-medium-sized corporations.
That was because the income earned from byproducts obtained inside gates was enormous.
Not only in Korea but throughout the world, S-rank Hunters continuously cleared gates and worked tirelessly for the safety of civilians.
But Lee Kanghyun was different.
“February raid count: 1.”
Not one day.
One month.
What others could finish in a single day if they were fast, Lee Kanghyun dragged out across an entire month—and even then, he barely forced himself to do it.
At first, people worried about him.
“He’s still young. Maybe he hasn’t overcome the trauma yet.”
“Could he be sick?”
But no matter how much time passed, he did not budge.
Major guilds asked him for raid support—no response.
The Association summoned him—left on read.
He cleared only the bare minimum required to keep his income from being cut off, then disappeared straight back into his house.
People slowly began to get angry.
[LGH Is So Fucking Annoying]
Isn’t that bastard seriously hopeless? What, does he think everyone else risks their lives out there because they’re suckers?
This shit is depressing.
Some people bust their asses all month and barely make anything, while this guy probably works once a month and makes hundreds of millions just because he lucked into a good ability lol
Comments
[Still Don’t Get “Second”]
He was born with such an amazing ability, so why does he just hole up in his room and never come out…?
Is he too young to know any better?
If you’re S-rank, clearing gates isn’t a choice, it’s an obligation…ㅠㅠ
Comments
What poured fuel on the fire was his attitude.
One day in August, reporters swarmed Lee Kanghyun like bees the moment he emerged from a gate.
“Hunter Lee Kanghyun! There has been criticism over your poor performance this month!”
“Why aren’t you as active as the other Hunters?”
“The public is anxious! Please say a few words!”
Microphones were shoved right up in front of his face.
Normally, someone would have said, “I’m sorry. I’ll try harder,” or at the very least gotten angry and told them to move.
Instead, he pulled the hood of his sweatshirt low over his head and put in his earphones.
Then he treated the reporters as though they were invisible and simply walked straight through them.
He slipped leisurely between them as though avoiding obstacles, then used the absurd physical capabilities characteristic of an S-rank Hunter to sprint away and vanish.
When the footage aired on the news, public opinion turned ice-cold.
Arrogant.
He treats the public like dirt.
He’s gotten too comfortable.
Criticism poured in from every direction.
The few comments defending Lee Kanghyun were bombarded with downvotes and reports until they disappeared.
Then came the final blow.
It started with an anonymous post written by someone claiming to be an Association employee.
[That Bastard Is Actually Fucking Insane]
(Photo of a fine payment notice)
See that amount? 10 billion won.
Wanna know why he paid it?
Because he ignored the Association’s summons and didn’t clear any gates lol.
And this fucker didn’t even apply for installments. He paid the whole thing at once.
Pretty sure he has way more money than anyone realizes.
He doesn’t clear gates because he literally has nothing to lose.
What a fucking bastard.
The post was deleted at the speed of light, but screenshots spread across the internet almost instantly.
No name had been written, but everyone knew who “that bastard” was.
People were stunned.
Ten billion won.
A sum of money ordinary people might never even see in their entire lives.
Lee Kanghyun was simply handing that amount over to the Association because he did not feel like working.
Naturally, public opinion exploded.
[Seeing LGH Pay a 10 Billion Won Fine Gave Me an Existential Crisis]
I work at some shitty small company and take home 2.3 million won a month.
Even if I spent absolutely nothing and did nothing but breathe and save every cent, it would take me 360 years to save that much lololol.
But this bastard just threw it away on a fine because he couldn’t be bothered to work.
We can grind ourselves down our entire lives and still not be able to buy one house, but to him, 10 billion won is just an amount he can casually pay so he can keep fucking around and doing nothing?
What kind of country is this?
Comments
[The Association Is Fucking Trash Too, They Just Took His Money and Shut Up lol]
The Association assholes go around saying they work for public safety, but behind the scenes they’re happily sucking down fines from Lee Kanghyun.
Sure, Lee Kanghyun is an asshole, but the Association taking his money and leaving him alone is even worse.
Bet they blew it all on some huge staff dinner.
Comments
Every once in a while, someone would post that Lee Kanghyun was still only twenty and had not lost his parents very long ago, so people should ease up on the criticism.
Those posts were immediately cursed out and buried.
The title “Tragic Young Hero” was thrown straight into the trash.
In its place came nicknames like “S-rank with a Rotten Personality,” “Public Enemy,” and “Psychopath.”
But Lee Kanghyun did not care.
If anything, as though deliberately rubbing it in everyone’s faces, he hid himself away even more thoroughly and stopped going out altogether.
His bizarre behavior did not end there.
Article 3 of the Republic of Korea Hunter Act.
“Hunters must belong to and be managed by a state-designated guild.”
Lee Kanghyun openly ignored it.
He refused to join a guild.
Because of that, he had to hand over roughly half of his monthly income in fines, but he still refused to join one.
And so, he became the only unaffiliated S-rank Hunter in South Korea.
His gate-raiding methods were another spectacle altogether.
Even for an A-rank gate, the standard approach was to enter with a party consisting of around two A-rank Hunters and three B- to C-rank Hunters.
Lee Kanghyun, however, went into A-rank gates alone and smashed his way through them.
And he came back out completely fine, without so much as a scratch.
Because he insisted on solo clears, no one had ever seen Lee Kanghyun use his abilities.
As a result, not only the public but even the Association had no idea what kind of ability or skills he possessed.
Everyone simply had the vague impression that Lee Kanghyun was ridiculously strong.
The only question was why he insisted on letting such an incredible ability go to waste.
Five years passed like that.
By then, unlike in the beginning, people no longer went out of their way to insult Lee Kanghyun.
There were plenty of other excellent S-rank and A-rank Hunters doing more than enough and dedicating themselves to the country.
There was no reason to waste emotional energy on some idle bum like him.
Occasionally, a post would still appear asking what that rude bastard was doing these days, but people no longer tore into Lee Kanghyun with the same enthusiasm as before.
So what had Lee Kanghyun been doing all that time?
He never went to college.
Because he was S-rank, he was exempt from military service.
He had no job.
He simply holed up at home and wasted five entire years doing absolutely nothing.
He stayed shut inside, staring blankly into space and throwing away his youth without accomplishing anything meaningful.
And Lee Kanghyun absolutely loved it.
He did not care what anyone else said.
South Korea ran perfectly well without him anyway.
Lee Kanghyun wanted to live like this for the rest of his life.
He had absolutely no intention of ever changing the way he lived.
He was happy now.
***
[Hunter Registration Information]
Name: Lee Kanghyun
Sex: Male
Date of Birth: October 19
Height: 184 cm
Affiliated Guild: None
(Has refused more than 130 invitations to join a guild; currently refusing Association management)
Hunter Rank: S
Class, Ability, Possessed Skills: Unknown
(Information gathering failed due to his insistence on solo raids)
Total Clears Over 5 Years: 42
(Lowest performance record among high-ranking Hunters)
Solo Clear Rate: 100%
Only raids high-risk gates ranked A or above.
When summoned to gates ranked B or below, unauthorized absences and the resulting fines are routine.