Me?
Why was I trying to become a Hunter?
I tried to come up with some plausible, cool-sounding line for a moment, but in the end, I just said whatever came to mind.
“My dad was a Hunter. For a while, he was pretty famous. Famous enough that everyone knew his name if you said it. But the year I turned thirteen, he suddenly disappeared. I haven’t heard a single thing from him since.”
“Really? Then maybe…”
“Yeah, he might be dead. But a long time ago, I received a note from someone. I don’t know who sent it.”
“A note?”
“Yeah. A note. I think… maybe Dad sent it.”
To be precise, I hadn’t received that note in this life yet.
The time I received it was ten years in the future.
When I went to the place written on that note, I obtained the [System Observer] Trait.
“Anyway, I became a Hunter to find my dad. He wasn’t the kind of person who would abandon his family and disappear for no reason. Something must have happened.”
“Then I’ll help you find your dad too!”
Lee Hasol suddenly raised his voice, and I turned toward the passenger seat without meaning to.
There he was, staring at me with shining eyes.
When I met those endlessly pure eyes, a surge of emotion welled up from deep in my chest.
And suddenly, I wanted to say again the words I had half-jokingly thrown out in front of the Hunter Association Chairman.
I didn’t care even if Lee Hasol pointed at me and made fun of me.
“And…”
“And?”
“I’m going to make my own Guild. And I’m going to become number one in the Awakened Rankings.”
“…”
“…”
The silence did not last long.
“Kim Daram, that’s amazing. Then I’ll be number two in the Rankings.”
Thank you, Lee Hasol.
That was the best answer.
“Yeah. If you become number two in the Rankings, I’ll make you vice guildmaster.”
“Nice! Vice guildmaster!”
For a little over an hour on the way to Goyang, we talked nonstop in the car.
Most of it was absurd and unrealistic, but somehow, I enjoyed that time very much.
*****
“Daram, he’s not known to the world yet, but he really is an incredible Awakened. You know, right? I recognized your mom at first sight.”
President Jung’s voice over the phone was bright, as always.
Hearing that voice for the first time in over ten years made my chest ache without warning.
He had always been especially fond of me ever since I was little.
From his perspective, I must have been nothing more than an extra burden attached to Joo Miyeon’s side.
Even so, with his innate kindness, he warmly looked after a fatherless kid like me.
He was someone I was truly grateful for.
And every time I realized one of these obvious truths, one by one, I couldn’t help wondering why the bastard I’d been in my previous life had looked at the world so crookedly.
I wanted to smack myself over the head.
Pathetic.
Really pathetic.
Of course, it wasn’t as if I had no excuses at all.
Dad’s sudden absence, followed by puberty.
Back then, I had decided on my own that I was nothing but a nuisance to my stepmother.
That emotional distortion had started there, then accumulated piece by piece as time passed, until it eventually grew beyond control.
There was never any need for that at all…
“Daram! Daram, are you listening?”
My brief self-reflection ended thanks to President Jung shouting through the phone.
“Yes. I’m listening. Please go on.”
“Right, so that place is that Awakened’s personal training center, but the equipment is good and the space is large. I already paid the usage fee in advance, so don’t feel awkward about using it. If anything happens, call me right away.”
“Yes. Thank you for taking care of this.”
President Jung’s voice sounded even more excited than usual.
It seemed he was secretly happy that Mom had started reacting positively to entering the Awakened industry.
But toward the end of the call, his voice grew somewhat heavier.
“Daram, you always have to be careful. You know your mom worries about you a lot, right?”
“Yes, sir. I’ll make sure not to worry her.”
I hung up and looked ahead.
In the middle of a detached residential neighborhood stood a building whose purpose was difficult to guess. It was only one story, but the ceiling looked fairly high.
Unlike ordinary private training centers for Awakened, there was no sign or marking anywhere on the exterior walls hinting that the building was a training center.
Just the fact that someone was using a building of this size entirely as a personal training center proved that, just as President Jung had said, this Hunter’s skill was at least beyond question.
I pressed the doorbell at the building entrance.
A moment later, a hoarse voice came from inside.
“Who… is it?”
“My name is Kim Daram. I came through an introduction from President Jung of JJ Entertainment. I’m here to use the training center for the day.”
“…”
Silence flowed over the intercom for a moment.
Then, instead of an answer, the locked door opened with a click.
The inside of the building matched the impression I had gotten from the exterior.
It was a single-story building, but the ceiling was as high as a gymnasium, and the interior was wide open without a single wall. A sparring ring sat in the center, and around the edges, heavy-duty weight machines and strength-training equipment for Awakened were packed closely together.
Along one wall, there was an office-like space partitioned off with translucent glass.
The door opened, and someone with a thick blanket pulled over them from head to toe poked their head out.
“Use whatever you want.”
It was the same voice I had heard through the intercom.
Hearing it in person, their throat sounded even more badly hoarse than I’d expected.
After saying that, the person ducked right back into the office.
Was that the Awakened President Jung had mentioned?
Or maybe just the manager of this place.
Either way, it was obvious that this person was in terrible physical condition.
I stopped worrying about him and took Lee Hasol around the training center.
Variable dumbbells and barbells made from otherworldly metal were neatly arranged.
Most of the weight machines were also set to heavy loads that easily went beyond the ton range.
It’s well maintained. The machines have clearly seen plenty of use too. Judging from the weights they’re set at, the owner here probably isn’t just high-level. There’s a high chance the Trait itself is Enhancement-type…
“So what do we do now?”
Lee Hasol asked beside me, his voice full of anticipation.
His eyes were sparkling so much that I decided to set aside my deductions about the Awakened President Jung had introduced.
I’ll find out once I meet them anyway.
Before we started training, I checked Lee Hasol’s Status Window.
【Lee Hasol】
【Level】: 15
【Traits】
┕ [Summon] Flame Summoner (LV 2)
┕ [Mutation] Gigantification (LV 1)
【Encroachment Rate】: 12%
【Ranking】: Requirements Not Met
【Performance Score】: 45,000
He said he Cleared Level 15, and sure enough, Hasol had apparently obtained a Trait Stone.
The new Trait he acquired was a mutation-type [Gigantification].
The only Trait Hasol was publicly known for was Flame Summoner.
In my previous life, I had never met Hasol directly, so I didn’t know what additional Traits he had possessed.
Either way, it was interesting.
Even more so when I thought about the potential of Traits in the [Gigantification] family.
But the training I had to focus on until the assembly date was not strengthening Traits. It was completely internalizing the physical abilities improved by leveling up.
There were individual differences between Awakened, but a certain standard had been established regarding physical enhancement from leveling.
If an ordinary person’s physical ability before Awakening was considered “1,” then Awakening through a Red Ticket doubled that value to “2.”
After that, it was simple enough to say that the number increased by 1 every time one’s Level rose by 10.
At Level 10, physical ability rose to three times what it had been as an ordinary person. At Level 20, it became four times. At Level 30, five times.
According to that standard, I, as a Level 20, had all my physical abilities enhanced to four times what they were before Awakening. Lee Hasol, as a Level 15, had risen to roughly three and a half times.
And from now on, we were going to measure the limits of those increased physical abilities and learn how to precisely control that power from 1 to 100.
I stood Hasol in front of a variable barbell and slowly taught him the deadlift stance first.
Soon, Lee Hasol started with a light weight of 30 kilograms and lifted up to 300 kilograms without any trouble.
As expected of Lee Hasol.
For a first attempt, it was a fairly impressive level.
If he kept training, he would probably be able to push his limits much higher.
After that, I took Lee Hasol around the training center, checking his performance one by one, from the lowest possible weights to the highest weights he could manage, targeting every part of his body.
The intensity would have exhausted an ordinary person long ago, but as Awakened with enhanced physical abilities, our recovery was excellent as well.
“It’s important to maintain this subtle sense. Since the spectrum of usable strength has widened, you have to repeatedly practice drawing out exactly as much power as each situation requires.”
In my previous life, I ultimately died as a B-grade Hunter without ever overcoming the wall of my Trait.
But when it came to the desire to climb higher, I was stronger than anyone.
That was why I eventually found a training method that could maximize an Awakened’s abilities outside of Traits.
Of course, it was no shortcut.
This training method was scientifically proven enough that papers had been published on it in America.
But most Awakened preferred a single flashy fireworks show over polishing ten thousand punches.
I understood that perfectly well.
Even if you endured pain and repeated miserable training like this, it didn’t mean you could overcome the gap between Traits.
That was probably why this training method had never been properly recognized and was treated as non-mainstream.
But I could say this with certainty.
Effort never betrayed you.
Instead of letting free time pass meaninglessly, sweating through training like this might one day save me in a desperate crisis.
Suddenly, I felt an unfamiliar gaze.
I turned around and saw the person covered from head to toe in a blanket standing in front of the office, silently watching us.
“Kid, you learned pretty properly.”
A badly hoarse voice came out.
It was the same person who had opened the door for us.
“May I ask who you are?”
I asked, secretly certain that this blanket person was the owner of the training center.
“Me? I’m Song Guseul.”
The person abruptly revealed their name.
Song Guseul?
That was a name I had never heard even in my previous life.
More concerning than that, however, was the condition of the person who had introduced himself as Song Guseul. Maybe he was ill, because the blanket wrapped around him was visibly trembling.
Wait.
Hold on.
Cracked voice, severe trembling, aversion to light.
Could those symptoms be…
I immediately checked his Status Window.
【Song Guseul】
【Level】: 62
【Traits】
┕ [Enhancement] Fighting Spirit (LV 7)
【Encroachment Rate】: 49%
【Ranking】: 321
【Performance Score】: 415,999
What the hell is this…
He was Level 62, and his Trait Level was a whopping 7.
On top of that, he was a top-300-range Ranking holder.
When I remembered that those Rankings were calculated across all Awakened on Earth, admiration came naturally.
When he said he recognized Mom at first sight, I thought it was just common nostalgia-filter exaggeration… Could President Jung actually have an extraordinary eye for talent?
An Awakened of this level was the kind of prospect that Korea’s leading Hunter management agencies and top-ranked Guilds would come running for with fire in their eyes.
But that wasn’t what shocked me.
【Encroachment Rate】: 49%
An Encroachment Rate of 49%? Is this person completely insane? What the hell is he planning, staying in that state?
This was dangerous.
At this rate, a powerhouse with a Performance Score over 400,000 might lose his reason and go berserk before long.
“Are you insane? You’re on the verge of encroachment right now, aren’t you? How could you wait until you got this bad? Non-edible-type fruits aren’t even hard to get, so what the hell are you doing? Eat a Red Fruit right now!”
“It’ll come soon… I just have to hold out a little longer.”
“It’ll come? What will?”
At that moment, as if answering my question, the doorbell rang.
Ding-dong!
Song Guseul rushed out of the building in a panic, then soon returned carrying a small cardboard box.
Seeing as there wasn’t even an invoice attached, it seemed he had urgently ordered it through a courier service.
Song Guseul opened the box with trembling hands.
Inside were five Purified Red Fruits.
He hurriedly picked up one of the fruits and brought it to his mouth.
No, he tried to.
But right before he put it in his mouth, he froze as if time had stopped.
Song Guseul collapsed on the spot.
“Ah…”
One Red Fruit slipped from his grasp, rolled over, and stopped in front of my foot.
I bent down and picked it up.
[Purified Red Fruit]
┕ Dead Battery Flavor.
┕ Encroachment Rate decreases upon consumption.
…Dead battery flavor? Don’t tell me this is what he was waiting for like his life depended on it.
No way.
Sure enough, Song Guseul’s scream erupted immediately afterward.
“Those sons of bitches! They clearly said it was fruit flavored! Battery flavor? How the hell am I supposed to eat thiiiiis?!”
It seemed our dear Ranking holder Song Guseul had been scammed.
Tsk, tsk.