1 The System
In the year 2026, different kinds of monsters that are unknown to mankind came out of nowhere through what would seem like entrances that connects itself to dungeons in a different dimension. These bizarre dungeon entrances materialized all across the globe. Their sudden appearance caused constant chaos and turmoil to the whole world.
Humans are powerless againsts these walking abominations. Even heavy firearms and modern weapons are useless. The military stood no chance in fighting these monsters head on because if they did, demise is the only thing that awaits them.
In just a few weeks, almost already half of the population got slaughtered by these monsters. A majority of the lands have already been invaded by them. Civilizations easily perished one after another. The surviving humans are forced into hiding for them not to meet the same fate as the other half.
The world became a hellish place. It was completely different to how it was before the monster's invasion. Red skies covers the whole world and destruction is seen everywhere.
It seems that god still hasn't abandoned humankind as a few years later, humans that has awakened unique superhuman abilities began emerging at the depths of this hell of a world. These abilities granted them power to fight against the monsters.
They were able to push back the monsters and recover part of their destroyed civilization. Time passed, the humans began rising again. With the awakeners leading them, they restored the whole world back to it's former state.
The monsters no longer freely roam the lands but there are still several dungeon entrances appearing constantly in which still terrorizes the ordinary citizens. Approximately four hours after a dungeon's appearance, monsters would emerge and wreak havoc in the outside world.
Every government in every country took action to this problem and thus gave birth to the very first 'Hunters'.
Hunters are the awakened humans that exterminates monsters that came out of the portal to prevent casualties. Their main purpose is to keep the monsters at bay and prevent them from rampaging anywhere.
Since stopping monsters that came out of the dungeon entrances would still bring constant damage and casualties on the outside...the most efficient solution is to stop the monsters from the inside which has been given the name 'Raid'. Once the Hunters cleared the dungeon...it will dematerialize and return to normal after the Hunters got out.
Various guilds and associations have been created in accordance to this. There are not that many Hunters as very few selected humans can only awaken. Some of the awakeners does not even want to become Hunters since fatality rates in raids are a big percentage and they don't want to take the huge risk but to those who become well accomplished Hunters are guaranteed a life of luxury.
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It is now the present day year 2070. In a run down apartment, Yu Jin-Ho is now eating his overly healthy and nutritious breakfast of instant cup noodles while watching TV. Just as he expected, the channel is focused on Hunters yet again.
"Why is it always Hunters they put on screen?!"
Yu Jin-Ho is just another run-of-the-mill twenty-six year old guy with no proper plan in his life. He's quite in a bad mood today because just the other day he got fired from his only job as a cashier at a local convenience store. Now Jin-Ho is dirt poor and is on the verge of getting kicked out of his apartment.
He scratched his head violently as he shouted.
"Why the hell am I so unlucky! Somebody...give me some luck damn it..."
Just as soon as he said those words, Yu Jin-Ho got electrocuted by some unknown source which led him to lose consciousness due to shock.
He woke up with an aching head. Jin-Ho felt like his head was about to split in two. He gently massaged his forehead to ease the pain even for a little bit. As he was rubbing his forehead, a blue game like screen suddenly popped up in front of him. Jin-Ho lets out an embarrassingly high pitched scream.
"Kyaa!~"
He never thought in his life that his vocal chords could ever produce a sound like he did just now.
"What's this...some sort of System from novels or something?"
Jin-Ho noticed that there's something written on the screen.
[Congratulations! You have been chosen as the host of the 'System']
"I just had to jinx it."
[Do you want to link yourself to the 'System'?]
Upon encountering this 'System' for the first time...Jin-Ho was quite skeptical about this whole situation and squinted his eyes in doubt.
"Uhm...how about no?"
[System begin link with the host]
This made Yu Jin-Ho burst out in anger...
"Why even bother giving me an option if it's going to be denied anyway!?"
[Linking 50℅ until completion]
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[Linking successful]
It took just a few seconds for the link to finish.
"That's it?"
[Displaying host Yu Jin-Ho's stats]
Jin-Ho's stats came appearing in the screen. The excitement on his face faded away quickly as he looked at his own stats.
Host Name: Yu Jin-Ho
Class: None
Level: 1
HP: 255/255
MP: 0/0
Strength: 12
Agility: 6
Endurance: 10
Dexterity: 2
Title: None
Skills: None
Special Skill: |Error|
"System...how are my stats?"
[Weak]
Jin-Ho just had tears formed in his eyes...
"Thought so..."
While reminded of the fact of how pathetic he is...Yu Jin-Ho noticed the word 'Error' displayed on his Special Skill. He asked the System what the Error means.
[Negative: System cannot answer]
He didn't pursue the matter any longer as Jin-Ho regarded it as just some minor malfunction.
Right now...Jin-Ho is thinking of raising his stats and level. It got him thinking while touching his imaginary beard.
'If this so called 'System' is like those featured in the novels...then I can probably level up by killing monsters.'
He then asked the System if his theory is true.
[Yes...you can gain experience points by exterminating monsters]
Jin-Ho wants to increase his level by hunting monsters...but he can't since dungeons are prohibited for ordinary civilians to get close to, so he decided to get his very own Hunter's license.
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Jin-Ho right now is in front of the Hunter Association's building to get his very own Hunter's license. As he walked inside, cold sweats came dripping from his forehead due to nervousness.
He sauntered to the receptionist's area. The receptionist noticed Jin-Ho and asked him the reason of his presence.
"What can I do for you sir?"
"I want to register as a Hunter."
The receptionist then gave Jin-Ho a piece of paper that he needs to fill up in order to register .
"Here is the association's registration form. Just fill up the form and you're good to go."
Jin-Ho took the registration form and began filling it up. After a few minutes of answering...he gave it back to the receptionist. The receptionist then stamped his form and welcomed him as a new Hunter.
"I welcome you Mr. Yu Jin-Ho as a new Hunter on behalf of the Hunter's Association."
She then handed Jin-Ho a white crystal ball and requested Jin-Ho to put his hands on it. The receptionist instructed him on what to do.
"All you have to do is transfer a bit of your energy to the crystal. If the crystal lights up that means you are an Awakened."
This got Jin-Ho thinking...
'The System can be considered as me being awakened, right?'
Just as Jin-Ho guessed...the crystal did light up. This made him let out a sigh of relief.
'...Glad that worked out'
The receptionist then explained to Jin-Ho all he essential knowledge of being a hunter.
First is the most important of all, the association will not be responsible if the Hunter somehow dies while raiding a dungeon.
Hunters are ranked as follows, the lowest is E and rank goes up to A. There are exceptional Hunters out there that can reach up to the rank of S...though they are only a few.
A newly registered Hunter will be put in the lowest rank. In order to rank up, a Hunter needs to participate and clear raids. Raids will be updated in the association's lobby everyday so Hunters can choose and enter raids associated with their ranks.
Dungeons are also ranked from F up to S. Hunters are forbidden to participate in raids where the rank of the portal exceeds their own.
After a while of explaining, Jin-Ho understood most of the major information. The receptionist gave him his license as proof of being a registered Hunter.
The receptionist gave her final regards.
"Thank you once again...Hunter Yu Jin-Ho."
Jin-Ho walked out of the building while tightly holding his Hunter's license in his hand.
'Finally...I'm a Hunter...'
This a new beginning for Yu Jin-Ho. He is now ready to pursue his new career...as a Hunter.
