“It’s garbage.”

Senior Jin delivered his verdict with all the gravity of a judge. He was the supervisor of my goshiwon[1] boarding house and a civil service exam student in his thirties.

We were pretty close despite our three-year age gap, and since he always claimed to be an IT expert, I’d shown him the capsule I’d picked up, but…

“Is it really that bad?”

“Nah. I’m telling you, it’s garbage.”

Wow, not even a moment’s hesitation. Somehow, it stung my pride.

“You haven’t even looked at it properly.”

True to my words, he hadn’t even checked the inside.

He’d just given it a quick once-over before immediately declaring it garbage. For someone who’d been contemplating a decent resale price, this was quite the psychological blow.

“Tae-kyung. Tae-kyung. Jin Tae-kyung. You’re making a big misunderstanding here.”

“…?”

“Crap is crap. There’s no need to dig through it to confirm yesterday’s bean sprouts are in there. It’s obviously crap at first glance.”

“Ah.”

“Shh. Don’t say anything more. I’m not fishing for empty compliments between friends.”

“Senior (-sunbae)[2]…”

I wanna to kill him. When my fist trembled with the impulse, Senior Jin flinched. Unlike him, who’d spent his life behind a desk, I possessed quite an intimidating physique.

“Tae-kyung. Let’s recall Article 1, Section 12 of the Awakened Person Special Law. What you’re about to do constitutes assault by an awakened person against a civilian—”

“Didn’t you say F-rank hunters like me don’t even count as awakened?”

“Did I? When? Was I deadass drunk?”

Watching his exaggerated reaction, I could only sigh.

My fist lowered slowly.

“Right, good thinking. The hunter community is small enough as it is, and if rumors spread about civilian assault, you’d get fired from the guild and—”

“I’d already gotten fired.”

“Huh?”

“As soon as I got to work, the team leader told me. Said thanks for all my hard work up till now.”

I’d started the job at twenty. With my father gone, I had to become the breadwinner, and that’s why I chose to become a hunter.

F-rank. Though I was a bottom-tier hunter without any notable talent, I pride myself on having worked hard. With that money, I paid for my mother’s medical treatment and supported my only sister through school.

But now… it feels like the last seven years have vanished completely. My chest tightens as I recall the team leader’s impassive face from a few hours ago when he delivered the news of my termination.

“Oh, um.”

Senior Jin’s flustered expression makes me smile wryly.

“Feeling sorry?”

“Honestly? Yeah, a bit.”

This guy. Suddenly putting on an uncharacteristically serious face.

“Then buy me a drink. That’s what ‘seniors’ are supposed to do at times like this.”

“Listen to that attitude. Now you decide to treat me like a senior?”

Despite his words, he gestures for me to follow him. Judging by his expression, we’re in for some serious drinking tonight.

A Gate is the boundary of our world.

Outside the Gates lies the modern civilization we know, but step inside and you’ll find monsters beyond imagination crawling everywhere.

The most common among them are goblins, weak monsters that even F-rank hunters like me can handle.

Why am I bringing this up now? Because hurk, hurk.

How can a person even do that?

Is that a human or a monster?

Senior Jin’s figure, hunched over retching against a telephone pole, looks exactly like a goblin that’s taken a hard hit to the solar plexus.

“Look, Jin-sunbae. Mr. Seong Jin-ho. Please get it together.”

“Hurk?”

…Just carry on with what you were doing.

I told him to drink slowly.

From the first round, he’d been throwing them back like a madman, and now look at the result. Never mind that I paid the bill—my whole body is drenched from carrying his unconscious self back to the goshiwon.

Sweat is a given, and vomit comes as a bonus. The source of the latter is quite clear.

Using the intermittent sound of retching as background music, I gaze at the setting sun.

Getting fired was bad enough, but this…

The memories of today flash by like a panorama.

Talk about having the worst day ever.

“Ugh… urk… Where am I, Mr. Driver? Huh?”

And you’re the crown jewel of it all.

“It’s home, where else? We’re here, so try to pull yourself together.”

“Home? But my home is in Gangwon Province… Ah, Mom! Mom! I want Mom’s soybean paste stew!”

“Please, it’s the goshiwon, Senior.”

“Goshiwon? Hope Goshiwon?”

“Yeah, so please get it—”

“Hope… right, hope can’t be bought with money. Mom always said it’s in everyone’s heart. She makes the best soybean paste stew.”

I waited patiently before jabbing Senior Jin in the stomach at the soybean paste stew part.

Even while throwing up, he managed to mumble Article 1, Section 12 of the Awakened Person Special Law, proving he was indeed a civil service exam student.

“This is disgustingly uncomfortable.”

Despite spending thirty minutes in the gosiwon’s shower, I still feel like the smell of vomit is lingering in my nostrils.

Sniffing suspiciously, I returned to my room to find two unwanted items waiting for me.

“Hurk…”

One was the unconscious Senior Jin, and the other…

“Ah, I completely forgot about this.”

The capsule. In my roughly 100-square-foot room, the refrigerator-sized thing makes the space feel completely cramped. I retreat to my bed and start contemplating what to do with it.

Should I just throw it back where I found it?

Or I could sell it to a scrap dealer. What’s the going rate for scrap metal these days? This thing must weigh at least 110 pounds, so it should at least cover snack money.

I thought it might be something useful.

Crap, he says. Is it really that worthless?

Come to think of it, I haven’t even looked inside. 

Suddenly curious, I began examining the capsule.

“Well, the exterior is… not great.”

The capsule’s surface is stained yellow with what might be nicotine or something. Seems to be rusted in places too. Looking at it objectively now, I can understand Senior Jin’s assessment.

“Is this how you open it?”

Pressing the single protruding button, the lid opens to reveal the interior. I’d expected something impressive, but as expected, there isn’t much.

Just an ergonomically designed chair for extended play and a VR helmet that covers the entire head… huh?

“What’s this? A user manual?”

More precisely, it’s a small booklet labeled ‘Product User Manual’.

Who leaves a user manual with something they’re throwing away? Especially with junk like this?

Curious, I opened to the first page.

[msg]Product User Manual[/msg]

<lit>

Product Name: Virtual Reality Connection Device Model: Ark-2020 Manufacturer: H Soft Manufacturing Date: January 1, 2020

</lit>

My eyes, which had been skimming the text mindlessly, stopped at the manufacturing date.

January 1, 2020. Must be a printing error. Has to be.

What lunatic would be making gaming devices on that day, or even during that period?

That period refers to ‘The Great Change’.

January 1, 2015. What greeted humanity wasn’t just the New Year’s sunrise.

Gates, or dungeons as they’re called, appeared all over the world, and unimaginable monsters poured out through them.

Monsters and awakened ones, war and destruction…

The unreal invaded reality, and the greatest war in Earth’s history ended with the death of the Demon King Asmodeus, the lord of monsters.

That day was January 1, 2020. The so-called ‘Day of Victory’.

That’s why it makes no sense.

Clicking my tongue, I turned the page.

[wrn]Cautions[/wrn]

<lit>

• Players cannot log out at will.
• In case of death during play, there is no resurrection.

</lit>

Ah, I see. I nodded and lay down on the narrow mattress. There were a few pages left, but that’s none of my business.

“Time to sleep.”

Better to get some rest than read this psychotic user manual. I pushed Senior Jin into the corner and closed my eyes.

Hurk. Hurk.

Hurk. Hurk.

Did that capsule have soundproofing?

The chair was hard. Made in 2020, making it the same age as me. Chair, age 27. The cushioning had given out long ago.

Finding solace in the fact that it didn’t smell, I pulled the blanket up to my chin.

Hurk. Hurk.

…I even put on the VR helmet.

This will give me a stiff neck if I sleep with it on.

Such minor complaints vanished the moment I put on the helmet. A world of complete silence.

Perfect stillness descended, without even the smallest noise.

But what followed wasn’t drowsiness, but thoughts.

What am I gonna do from tomorrow?

While hunters certainly receive high salaries, that depends on their level.

F-rank hunters like me are a dime a dozen, and without guild affiliation, you have to be at the employment office at the crack of dawn.

Unaffiliated hunters have it rough. Government policies are never favorable to independent hunters, and the astronomical tax rates imposed on hunters are enough to take your breath away just hearing about them.

And now I’m one of them.

Unlike me, my mother and younger sister live in an apartment in the Safety Sector. It’s an extravagance beyond an F-rank hunter’s income, but my family’s safety was my top priority.

Until now, I’d barely managed to match the yearly renewal of the lease contract, but from now on, well…

Shit, I don’t know.

Suddenly, I thought of my late father.

My father, who was devoted to his family and socially respected, passed away the year I turned seven.

A monster attack through a Gate rupture. As an ordinary office worker, my father would have had no way to escape.

If he were still by my side, would he have been able to show his son which path to take?

Still, I’ve worked hard until now. Please believe that.

Maybe it was the alcohol from earlier kicking in, or maybe it was thinking about the past, but I found myself growing drowsy and my eyes closing.

Accepting the overwhelming sleepiness, I thought:

When I wake up, I hope things will be better—

Someone’s voice penetrated my ear, but now I didn’t care. I drifted off to sleep.

• Detecting player… Unregistered player detected. Would you like to register?
• No response for an extended period. Proceeding automatically.
• 1%… 27%… 94%… Complete.
• Player [Jin Tae-kyung] has been registered to the device.
• Proceeding to selection… Would you like to connect to [Murim]?
• No response for an extended period. Proceeding automatically.

May fortune be with you!