episode_0001

Dark night, the house was ablaze.

It was my friend’s house.

In my childhood, I ran towards the flames, oblivious to the fear despite the firefighters trying to hold me back.

“What’s over there?!”

“My friend is in there! They haven’t gotten out yet!”

Oh, quite the bold one.

And insane. Back then, I didn’t understand the fear of fire, just the fear of smoke.

Not even grasping the simple fact that inhaling smoke could be fatal, that child ran towards the flames like a moth to a flame.

I felt something was wrong at that moment.

Because it hurt.

My throat burned. Tears kept flowing as if I had sprayed insecticide in my eyes. In the midst of that pain, reaching out blindly, I failed to realize that the melted doorknob burned my palm. I was in too much agony to even recognize it as pain. In that state, I continued running into the burning house and grabbed my friend who was hiding in a corner.

“What are you doing there?! Let’s get out quickly!”

“I’m scared!!”

“Don’t cry! We can get out now! Come on, quickly!”

My friend cried.

Their tears were not for the fear of fire but because my hand holding theirs was scalding.

But the situation was urgent, leaving no room for realization. How could I have been so sharp as to open a nearby plastic bottle and pour it over my friend’s head but fail to notice their burnt hand? Was I expecting too much from a child? Probably.

Anyway, my friend was safe.

Drenched in water, they hugged me as I ran forward. Even when the flames caught onto my clothes, I felt no pain. The thought that I could survive if I got out drove me forward, and by the time we escaped, I was in a terrible state.

Our usually stern parents cried for the first time.

Covered in burns.

I don’t remember what happened next. I was taken straight to the hospital.

But I remembered the voice my friend desperately called out before I lost consciousness.

“Chang-gi! Chang-gi….”

“Thank you!”

“Thank you so much!”

“Hey, Chang-gi?”

“Chang-gi!”

And… what happened next?

After I was hospitalized for a few days, our parents and my friend’s parents fought in front of us. A sordid story where adults shouldn’t intervene. I only wanted to save my friend for the sake of our friendship, but the adults disregarded it, blaming each other for trivial matters.

It was annoying. When those two parents came to the hospital and faced each other, I buried my face in the pillow and ignored them. The only time I felt happy was when the friend I saved came to visit without forgetting the favor.

That didn’t last long either.

Due to some accident, the house burned down, and they moved away.

I have no memory of what happened after that.

*BEEP BEEP BEEP.*

I woke up to an irritating sensation, as if someone was poking my ear with a chopstick. The slightly worn ceiling and the stench of a bachelor pad greeted me in the cozy one-room apartment.

“I dream such damn weird dreams from morning till night…”

Sigh.

Rubbing my eyes to remove the stubborn eye boogers, I groped around my head with my other hand.

For some reason, a bottle of alcohol was rolling around, so I tossed it aside and turned off the phone alarm.

Yet, the noise didn’t stop. The usual background hum mixed with the TV sound left on before bed.

“Behold, everyone! The holy hunter who conquered the Bronze Tower brings peace!”

“A new hero to shine in South Korea has appeared once again!”

“Age 27. Known as ‘Adult.’ The current guild leader of ‘Chomok’ and a figure advocating world peace, right?”

“Yes, that’s correct. The savior who rescued Africa. Isn’t he the one who recently signed a peace treaty through the North-South talks?”

“Just a young person in their mid-20s. Quite remarkable.”

“Even though it’s a newly formed guild, it’s quite impressive. Lately, this guild has been skyrocketing in popularity, hasn’t it?”

“They sent all the Republic of Korea Army soldiers to the reserves. The support for that side is tremendous as well…”

“Oh, Song Seong-yeon is such an amazing person.”

“I have no idea where such a person came from.”

“Thanks to our son, he avoided the military service. Truly grateful.”

“Look at the letters sent from Africa. Everyone is so thankful…!”

“Why is someone performing so well but still ranked that low?! It’s strange!”

“Song Seong-yeon! It’s been quite a while since conquering the Hwangdong Tower! Where is the next destination after ‘Chomok’?”

“The Baekun Tower has already been conquered! What’s next~?”

“—The Golden Tower.”

…Hmm.

There was a buzz about the top hunter since morning.

The story of Song Seong-yeon, the guild leader of ‘Chomok,’ who made a name for himself as a hunter a few years ago.

Rumors abound about how he prevented a war, conquered the Hwangdong Tower, and had a significant impact on global affairs, even publicly announcing his next target tower.

Despite not appearing in any interviews directly, only showcasing photos or old videos, the chatter continued.

“What a remarkable individual. He’s my age at 27. How can such a young lad go around holding talks with various countries, saving nations and whatnot?”

I brushed my teeth while glancing at the TV screen.

For years, or more accurately, since before I joined the military, I had seen that face around, but today, I took a closer look.

“Familiar name… But, is it a man or a woman?”

Apart from the short hair and white bridge, he was both handsome and beautiful. It’s hard to say if that’s androgynous, but that’s how he looked. With fox-like eyes, he seemed capable of charming women. I searched on my phone while scratching my teeth, but most information, including gender, was managed according to the Hunter Information Management Act.

“Isn’t age a sensitive issue in the media?”

Damn, they do as they please.

I tried to determine the gender by checking full-body pictures, but it wasn’t clear. If there were breasts, one would assume it’s a woman, but even in light clothing, there was no hint of femininity in those pictures. Hence, within the hunter community, apart from some anonymous comments like “Obviously a man,” occasionally “That person is a woman!” the consensus leaned towards him being a man.

What I could gather from the search was that he was the guild leader of ‘Chomok’ and known as ‘Seongin.’ He conquered the Hwangdong Tower and was considered a remarkable figure. Despite various achievements, his hunter ranking remained at 9th place, which was quite mediocre.

“Song Seong-yeon. That lad has the same name as me. No wonder I dreamt of him the other day; they keep mentioning him on TV.”

Perhaps it influenced my dreams because we share the same name. For some reason, I found myself more interested today.

Of all names, it had to be the same as my old friend’s.

“Sigh!”

I spat out the toothpaste and glanced at the mirror after a quick shower.

A man covered in burns.

Like a hyena, spots of burns all over his body. Compared to other burn victims, the small scattered marks were a minor consolation.

Today, the burns seemed more pronounced. Was it because of that dream I had after a long time?

“…What kind of skills does such a person possess? He must be incredibly skilled. Is there a skill to heal my burns?”

I thought volunteering might be his specialty, and perhaps he might help.

When Yeon appears, maybe I’ll ask for a favor, I thought, then chuckled dishearteningly, realizing it was a shameless idea.

-Rank 9.

Ambiguous, but considering the number of hunters, it’s an unbelievably high rank. Moreover, he leads the guild. Now that he’s set to challenge the Golden Tower, there won’t be time to deal with such mediocre hunters.

Name: Hong Chang-gi”

Name: 【Scavenger】

Hunter Ranking: –

Hunter Grade: D

Affiliated Guild: –

Age: 27 years old

“……….”

Someone’s a high-ranker at the same age, while someone’s a D.

Although everyone can’t excel to that extent, they pretend to adapt to reality. But honestly, I was a bit envious.

Especially about skills.

Just like luck and talent divide the value of a hunter.

Have I earned the Tower’s resentment?

[Nectar (Νέκταρ) (E~?)]

[You will gain the power to attract females with your semen.]

[Has a slight cosmetic effect.]

“What is this supposed to mean?”

Why does a topic with such a grand name involve semen?

And what about the cosmetic effect?

Every time I saw this damn skill, my eyes and forehead twitched.

“I started climbing the Tower at 20… barely got a skill, was so happy that I called my parents… but then this…”

For the past year, almost every day, drowning in alcohol was for this reason.

From 20 to 27, even considering the brief hiatus due to military service, it was quite a long journey, and this was the reward.

Just when I thought I was finally breaking free from that miserable feeling of training alone while others were flaunting their skills, I received this kind of skill.

“Damn it. Why would they give me such a skill when I have nowhere to f*** around with it?”

It’s been a while since I received it. In terms of years, it’s been over a year.

I experimented here and there, and because the skill description confidently stated, “[You will gain the power to attract females with your semen],” being a man, I had some expectations at first.

…………

Let’s cut to the chase.

This skill was nothing but trash befitting its grade, [Grade: E].