Shit Show

A world filled with monsters and creatures of unimaginable horrors, civilisation has been cornered into gated cities and civilisations. However, amongst the rubble of fallen countries rise humanity's final hope. A band of elite warriors and fighters emerge in the face of darkness, Hunters!

Hunters utilise their god-given power of their system, utilising special skills that were given to them randomly before the age of 25. At the age of 25, the human brain stops developing and can no longer expand the system's capacity for new skills. 

These hunters fight and hunt down monsters in exchange for cash to live in these ever gated cities as prices keep increasing due to overpopulation. However, this lucrative job of a hunter is still adored by the masses, many aspiring to become a hunter, simply for the benefits that come with the job. Cha Eun is just like the others.

"Beep! Beep!" The alarm clock blares into Cha Eun's ears, forcing him awake. His eyes shoot open as his entire body jolts upwards.

[Good Morning: <Cha_Eun_987 >] 

"Morning." He greets the system panel that floats above his head. His eyes were like slits, barely able to open as he resisted the urge to fall back asleep. "System, what time is it?" He said in a groggy and tired voice.

[8:45] The panel fizzles out to the right and another panel appears on the right, this time showing an infographic of the sun rising above the clouds as the time appears.

"Ugh, screw work." Cha Eun slaps his hands on his face, dragging them down and smearing his eyelids and lips down to make a face of exhaustion. He swings his feet to the side, throwing his covers across the room and onto the floor. He lived in a small, miniscule even, apartment. Fitted with a bed, half broken TV, and a bathroom fit for a dwarf, it was all he could ask for.

Cha Eun opens his profile and clicks on [Inventory]. 

[Balance: $26.48]

[Outstanding Charges: Rent: $2830 (Due in 8 days)]

"Ugh, screw work." Or at least, it was all he could afford. 

He stumbles around his tiny apartment, lifting his window into the view of the hustling and bustling city life. He grabs the remote off the nightstand next to his bed and turns the TV on, throwing the remote onto his bed. 

'This just in: SSS Class Hunter Jae-Neung, also known as the 'Prince of Light', is reportedly missing after a 4-hour-long rescue mission.' The news reporter speaks objectively and clearly, paper in hand. A small box in the top right of the screen shows an entire train station on fire, spreading to the buildings that surround it. "Upon being tasked with clearing out an infested train station, an explosion took place at 5:46 am on Saturday, killing 21 bystanders." 

"Jesus, that's a bit heavy for the morning." Cha Eun takes out his uniform from his closet. It's a light blue jumpsuit that's covered in all sorts of stains of all sorts of colors. The source of said stains? No one knows. These were hand-me-downs from the previous guy who worked the job. "Today's the 31st of October." He looks over to his calendar on the dark green wall. "Tomorrow is my 25th birthday."

ECha Eun looks over to the TV and sees the gruesome sight of an entire city caught on fire. "Maybe it's not so bad if I don't become a hunter." 

"I want to be a hunter so badly." Cha Eun stabs his mop into his bucket, sloshing water all over the floor. He wipes a pile of mysterious liquid on the train station floor, mixing it with the soapy water. He thrusts the mop back and forth, trying to remove all noticeable stains. 

He looks around and there's not a single soul in the dilapidated train station. "Oi, what you looking at? Get back to work!" An older gentleman shouts across the train station, calling out Cha Eun. "These floors don't scrub themselves, rookie."

Cha Eun sighs as he brings his mop up, sloshing it around back into his bucket. "Hey, why aren't they people today?"

"I don't pay you to talk. Move your hands." The old man shuts down his attempt at a conversation, instead opting to chow down on his sandwich which was overflowing with filling. His stomach rolled off his belt, spilling onto his pants. He had a deep black beard filled with all sorts of condiments and ingredients from the sandwich, the light reflecting off the top of his shiny head. 

"Ugh." Cha Eun sighs even louder. 

"Sigh one more time boy and that mop is going to turn brown!" The old man puts down his phone and reprimands Cha Eun. "If this station isn't spotless by the time the next train comes, you're fired! You hear me, boy?" 

"Tch." Cha Eun thrusts the mop back into the bucket with much more force, causing water to overflow and spill onto the floor, seeping towards the tracks.

As Cha Eun continues to mop the ground, the sound of something loud slowly creeps up on them. His mopping gets slower and slower as he slowly lifts his head up, towards the source of the incoming noise. 

From the abyss of the train station emerged two headlights that shine the dark path infront of it. Cha Eun looks on like a deer in headlights, distracted by the unscheduled trains arrival.

"What's a train doing here? This station isn't open today." The old man puts down his sandwich, standing up as the entire bench rocks with him. He has a walkie-talkie strapped to his shoulder. "Hey, command center, what train is that?" 

Cha Eun drops the mop on the floor as he sticks an ear out to listen to the radio. However, only static could be heard from the walkie talkie, a mix of white noise and faint sounds of breathing. "Hey, command center!" The old man screams into the walkie-talkie, bits of his sandwich landing on his shoulder.

"Run!" The walkie-talkie blares out a blood curdling scream as the train whizzes past them. The sheer speed at which the train enters the station causes the bucket of water on the ground to fall over and onto the train tracks. 

The wheels of the train slide over the slick rails and causes it to derail, sending the back half of the train over the platform and into the main standing area.

Cha Eun jumps away in the opposite direction, tripping over his mouth and landing on his side. A giant fireball explodes over the top half of the station, causing all of the lights on the ceiling to shatter and explode. Glass shards fall from the sky as they impale Cha Eun's side, embedding themselves deep in his skin. 

The train stops abruptly as the situation calms down. The entire train station was on fire, from the train itself to the lights on the ceiling. 

"Agh!" Cha Eun screams in agony as he could feel individual glass shards move around inside of his as the blazing heat of the flames melt the very clothes that he wore. He opened his eyes and through the wavy films of air was the burning body of the old man. Within an instant, the derailed cart had caused his body to flatten like a pancake and the flames to eat him up.

"Welcome To Gyeongsae Station." The voice read over the announcement system. The train comes to a full stop as a moment of silence occurs. The only thing that could be heard through the entire station were the sounds of fire seeping into every gap of the station.

The train doors open, revealing a ray of light that shines onto the floor of the station from the ceiling light of the train. A light silhouette stands in the train entrance. 

Cha Eun looks on with squinted eyes, afraid of the unknown but curious. He could make the faint outline of a human, but it wasn't entirely humanoid.

"I used to live here." The silhouette speaks in a tired and fed-up tone. A metallic object drops from the clasps of his hands, falling onto the ground as it rattles. "This place is one hell of a shit show now." The silhouette looks around as he's slowly being burned by the flames that encapsulate his body. From head to toe, he's a walking fireball. 

His clothes were half melted and the side of his face had been turned cleanly into bone. His right hand was missing and a gaping wound on his side. He was being cremated alive. "System, how much mana do I have left?"

A green panel appears.

[0]

He lets out a sigh as his legs give out and he falls to his knees, the soft skin and meat on his legs splattering onto the hard concrete ground.

However, even as half of his face had been melted clean off, Cha Eun seemingly recognizes the dead man standing in front of him.

"Jae-Neung?"