1 Fourth Time's the Charm

I failed to stop it.

That was what was in Ray Park's mind as he stared at the hundreds of thousands of lizard-like creatures that were exiting from the enormous portal which had opened in the sky, and he let out a helpless sigh.

I've failed once again.

Those were the words that Ray had wished he would never have to utter again in his life. But alas, the result had disappointed him yet again.

"This world has turned into a mess, Ray. Too much of a mess, in my opinion, that I don't think a single miracle is going to save it."

His hyung had once said that when they were out drinking, and then let out a long sigh. Ray didn't pay too much attention to his words the first time he heard it, but it had certainly caught his attention by the third time.

Maybe it really was true. Ray thought to himself as the sky turned red in front of his eyes. Maybe there really was no hope for humanity. Perhaps this really was how it's supposed to end.

GRAAA!

A loud roar interrupted his thoughts, and Ray Park responded with a frown on his face before turning around to stare in the direction of the roar. A giant bug-like monster was rushing towards him with incredible speed, its motion being so fast that a normal human wouldn't have been able to keep track of it.

But Ray Park was no ordinary human.

Whoosh!

With a calm expression on his face, Ray Park leapt into the air right before the bug monster smashed against his body, flipping right above the creature, which was desperately trying to locate its target that was right in front of it until a second ago.

As the clueless monster attempted to figure out where its prey had vanished to, Ray, who was now positioned upside-down in the air, right above the creature's head, pointed his hand in the direction of the creature as a bright blue light burst out of both his hand and his feet.

WHAM!

A millisecond later, Ray shot downwards with a speed that was equal to the motion of the bug monster a second ago, perhaps even quicker, and the bright light manifested into a large sword in his hand, which pierced into the skull of the bug monster with ease.

BAM!

Ray landed right on top of the monster after his sword pierced its head, crushing its body with his weight and speed as he landed on the ground.

"Fuck you guys. And fuck these dungeons."

Ray grit his teeth and stabbed his sword on the floor as he swore loudly. It was all because of these damn dungeons.

25 years ago, strange portals suddenly started to appear in the world, and these portals connected the human world with a different world, named dungeons by the media, which was inhabited by beastly creatures. Terrifying monsters that only knew how to hunt and kill.

At first, it was a bloodbath. These monsters suddenly started exiting out of these portals, wreaking havoc all over the world, and people began losing all hope.

That is, until the awakenings.

No one knew for certain what the reason was for the awakenings. Some said that it was because of the portals, which were affecting the earth's atmosphere. Others said that it was the work of god, referencing mythologies and legends where certain people are bestowed with inhuman abilities in order to save the world.

Regardless of the reasons, the awakening process certainly helped humanity fight back against the beastly creatures, and even ventured into the dungeons in order to gain more experience and strength. These awakened figures were called 'Hunters' by the media and the general public, and they had the duty to protect the world and fight against these monsters who threaten the safety and peaceful life of the normal people.

That was how the world changed.

Hunters soon began appearing more and more, and like any profession, a hierarchy began to form amongst them. Classifications based on strength and abilities divided the hunters into different ranks, which affected their wages and accessibility of dungeons.

This was the difference between the higher ranked hunters and the lower ranked hunters.

The higher ranked hunters monopolized the larger and higher ranked dungeons, where most valuable artifacts and jewels could be found, and became extremely wealthy, while the lower ranked ones ended up suffering in poverty.

Of course, the general public didn't care too much about the discrimination faced by the lower ranked hunters. As long as their peaceful lives were kept safe, they were fine with the unfair treatment of the lower ranked hunters.

But their peaceful lives only lasted for a few more years.

15 years, to be exact.

The happy-go-lucky attitude of the hunters due to there being a lot less life-threatening dungeons resulted in them not quickly realizing that the monsters they were facing were gradually increasing both in strength and numbers.

This late realization led to the now infamous Neo-Washington dungeon disaster, where a total of 32 hunters lost their lives to Hell-Horde, a gigantic 30 ft tall monster that looked like it was a mix between a dragon and a hippopotamus.

The Neo-Washington dungeon disaster shocked the world, as it had been years that such a large number of hunters had lost their lives in a single expedition. Of course, this was only the start, as dungeons which were previously considered to be lower ranked and easy to conquer soon became more and more difficult as time went on.

Within five years, the situation had turned even more disastrous, as the dungeon monsters began multiplying at an alarming rate, far quicker than before, and the number of hunters that were losing their lives only increased in number every year.

However, the rapidly increasing difficulty within the dungeons did help improve a few of the top ranked hunters, who increased their strength and abilities along with the self-upgrading dungeons and molded themselves into warriors who soon came to be known as the 'Protectors of the World'.

It took them five more years, but in the end, they finally triumphed over the final top ranked dungeon that was left to be conquered in the world by defeating the Dark Aurous, a 70ft tall monster that was pitch black in colour with the head of a buffalo and the body of a dragon.

But conquering the final dungeon didn't change anything like most had hoped it would. Instead, it only resulted in another portal being opened, this time in the sky, causing hundreds of thousands of these monsters to come pouring down all at once.

"Phew…" Ray let out a long breath before wiping his face with his hand.

Ray then pressed his hand against his abdomen, and he winced in pain. His teeth dug into his lips, bringing the sour taste of blood into his mouth.

"... I'm such a fool. Can't even save the world with a cheat.."

His comrades had already died a few minutes ago. They tried to stop the monsters from exiting the portal, but there were just too many of them to deal with, and there were only six of them.

Ray coughed out loud before falling down onto his knees. He seemed exhausted and weak. Blood began to drip down from the wounds on his chest and abdomen, and he let out another long sigh.

He knew that his death was coming soon. He was already injured and poisoned, and he could already spot multiple monsters heading his way. There was no way he could deal with all of them and get away alive.

"Shit… I guess this is it…" Ray chucked with a helpless expression on his face. He then reached into his pocket and took out a small spherical object, which he held close to his face.

"I sure hope next time, it's different…." He murmured under his breath before pressing the small button on the spherical object and closed his eyes.

BOOM!

The loud noise of an explosion echoed in his ear, followed by a bright white light enveloping him, and soon, everything turned to black.

--------------------------

"... Ray…."

Ray could hear a faraway voice calling his name, and he slowly began opening his eyes.

"...Ray!"

The faraway voice now sounded closer, more louder, and Ray groaned as his vision became clear. He looked around, realizing that he was lying on a bed, and a girl was standing in the doorway, staring at him with an annoyed look on her face. "Ray! Mom says to get ready quickly! Don't you have your awakening exam today?"

The girl then stormed out of the room, and Ray scratched his head and clicked his tongue before murmuring under his breath, "I guess I'm back."