Chapter 1 : Towards the Light

The Uncovering

It felt like I had been transported into a Soulslike game.

Now, I wasn’t so sure.
Whether it was possession, reincarnation, or if my previous life even existed at all.

It was just a game I briefly enjoyed the day before Elden Ring came out.

I wonder if it even got released.
Enough time has passed for DLCs and sequels to come out.

Hmm.

No.
It must have been some kind of bewitching anomaly.
There’s no way that could have come out.

“Hah.”

Seeing light for the first time in a while sure brings strange thoughts.

Still, I couldn’t help it.
How long had it been since I saw something shine so brightly?
This world, ruined by the plague, was maddening enough just staring blankly at the gloomy sky.

Ah.
Right.

Other living beings might rush towards this light, so I first lightly covered the entire royal castle with my shadow.

Seeing a few monsters already charging towards the light, others would surely do the same.

It would be annoying to run into them.

Yes, that’s all it was.

***

Korea Meteorological Administration.

Han Sol, a Grade 5 civil servant at the Gate Forecast Center, frowned upon receiving the report.

“An A-rank Gate? Really?”

“Yes. Based on the measured mana readings.”

Hearing this, Han Sol let out a deep sigh.

“Haaah. Looks like overtime again. Alright, first contact the Hunter Association… and the report to the Deputy Director. Hmm, it’s probably already been submitted.”

The subordinate hesitated for a moment before adding another word.

“Ah. And they said you should go too, Mr. Han Sol. Since, well, you used to work as a Hunter.”

“…I was wondering when that would come up. Fine, I’ll grab some gear and be there in five minutes.”

Since she always carried a weapon for self-defense, the five minutes was just an expression.

The world had gone topsy-turvy.

The Meteorological Administration, which used to only forecast rain or typhoons, was now predicting Gates from which monsters poured out, and a Grade 5 civil servant was doing fieldwork.

She knew this might happen when she joined the KMA after working as a Hunter, but still, it felt a bit much.
He thought his connections from Yonsei University would protect him.

Ten years.
It was enough time for a prestigious university student to transform into a seasoned, battle-hardened Hunter.

Well.
In this half-ruined world, this was considered living quite well.

“Alright. It’ll be nice to see old colleagues again after so long. Though that’s only if the field subjugation fails.”

She had a good feeling.
No, should she call it a bad feeling?

She sensed that this Gate wasn’t ordinary.

Thus, the former A-rank Hunter, Han Sol, headed towards the Gate.

***

A world destroyed by plague.

The game description only mentioned that, but naturally, the world wasn’t destroyed by the plague alone.

Humans weren’t so weak as to be wiped out by a mere disease.

The decisive factor that brought down humanity and other intelligent races was, as always, internal strife.

No.
Actually, even that wasn’t enough.
The world unleashed all sorts of disasters at once, as if determined to exterminate intelligent life somehow.

The sky darkened, and the kingdom’s walls crumbled.
The World Tree of the elves burned, and the king of dragons happened to reach the end of his lifespan right then.

And… the Musketeer, driven mad by the loss of his younger sibling, started shooting everyone in sight, possibly even those who could have been the world’s hope.

The Musketeer, regaining his senses before his sibling’s grave, tried to rebuild the kingdom somehow…

The Musketeer.

No, I.

I guess I wasn’t cut out to be king.

I recalled dispassionately.
Regret, thick and dried with ash, settled down the back of my neck.

‘I should have saved the prince and the priestess somehow.’

Then the kingdom might have maintained some form.
Even if the already corrupted king was beyond saving, the prince could have been saved, should have been saved.

The subject keeps changing, but the regret is always the same.
Someone should have been saved; that person shouldn’t have died so meaninglessly.

And so, the heroes who could have led the era died off one by one.

Leaving behind only a blockhead like me, strong but stupid.

A long, long time ago, when I thought this world was just a game, they called the character modeled after me ‘The Flaw’, didn’t they?

It was because, despite not being an important character, I was unnecessarily strong and had many unfair patterns.

The Flaw.

The name suited me.
My younger sibling should have lived, not me.

At the very least, the Unblessed One, the protagonist of the game, should have lived.

-Thud.

Not me.
They should have lived.

-Thud.

Why.
Why do I live on so miserably, prolonging this existence?

-Thud.

Ah.
Enhen, my kind younger sister.
I miss you.

-Tap.

“…”

Walking while lost in endless self-deprecation, I eventually saw the light.

“…Light. It’s warm.”
A nostalgic sensation.
Although my body, close to that of a Dark Spirit, burns under sunlight, I am not weak enough to be harmed by mere sunlight, so it feels rather welcome.

Pain is proof of being alive, after all.

Light.

Perhaps you all, who died, could have seen this light again too.

“…”

If we had joined forces, we might have saved the world.

Now, it’s nothing but a fleeting dream.

***

Many things had happened since mana appeared on Earth.

Awakened beings emerged, the world order was reshaped, and all sorts of strange phenomena occurred.

Etc, etc.

But the most impressive phenomenon was, representatively, the Gate phenomenon.

Otherworlds created from people’s subconsciousness.
Gates connected to those bizarre worlds constantly spewed out monsters and strange things.

At first, there were suspicions that these might be real, existing worlds.

However, after it was revealed that Gates did not exist beyond outer space and various incidents occurred, the general view now is that humanity’s collective unconscious creates the Gates.

*(TL Note: The novel establishes that Gates are products of human minds/imagination, not portals to physically existing separate universes.)*

“Ha. Sh*t. What kind of rotten luck is this?”

C-rank Hunter Baek Yiryeong held a cigarette in his mouth, gazing beyond the grey Gate.

It was presumed to be A-rank, but what could he do?
It would still take time for the A-rank Hunters to arrive.

Sighing at the fact that he was the highest-ranked Hunter currently stationed here, he stood guard.

Hunter ranks and Gate ranks usually correspond one-to-one for intuitiveness.
An A-rank Hunter is theoretically capable of soloing an A-rank Gate.

It’s similar to saying an ordinary person can defeat a tiger with a spear.
It’s merely possible.

Anyway, looking at Korea alone, it was the first A-rank Gate in almost a year.
There were enough reserve forces, so he just needed to keep watch and report properly…

Surely, a Monster Wave wouldn’t emerge from that desolate land.

Just as he thought that.

-Flinch.

Baek Yiryeong, peering inside the Gate and scanning the surroundings, discovered a huge royal palace.

“What the. What is this doing here?”

Was he inside the castle grounds from the start?

Everything was broken, overgrown with weeds, and the world was covered in grey, so he must have mistaken it.

But this castle, it looked familiar…

It probably wasn’t a delusion.
Gates based on everything from myths and legends to all sorts of creative works had poured out before.

Humanity’s collective unconscious was vast and complex beyond measure, so the probability was low, but…

They might find a strategy, so he had to wrack his brain for anything that could help the Hunters arriving later.

‘Something. I definitely saw something like this before.’

Baek Yiryeong strained, trying to recall memories from years ago, then flinched back in surprise upon spotting a monster approaching in the distance.

It looked like a cow exposed to radiation, run through an image generation AI five times.
It also had various appendages here and there that seemed useless other than harming human eye health.

Enemy.

Monster.

As soon as that thought struck, Baek Yiryeong jumped back outside the Gate and yelled.

“Prepare for battle!! Type is Amorphous! Number is five!”

He didn’t think they would win just because their side had more people.

Didn’t they look dangerous at first glance?

A royal castle.
And an A-rank Gate.

But… he had to fight.

What choice did he have?

That’s what being a Hunter was all about.

-Shing.

He drew the axe from his waist.
Eyes wide, he coordinated with his colleagues, fixing his gaze on the five monsters.

C-rank Hunter Baek Yiryeong prepared for battle.

***

-Maintain formation! Ugh. Kuaaack!

-Hey! You punk! Baek Yiryeong!

A clamor of voices arose.
It was an unfamiliar language, difficult to understand.

“…”

Other people?

I thought I had covered the area with shadows so the light wouldn’t leak out, but I guess I was a little late.

Monsters commonly seen in the ruined castle were surrounding and attacking several people.

.
.
.

Yes.
People.

My pupils trembled.
My stomach churned as if it had been violently shaken.

I bit my lip hard enough to draw blood.
Instead of blood, darkness dripped and flowed down.

There were people.

“People. Why. How.”

Why only now?

“Ah. No. First. I have to save them…”

Those people there might be all that’s left, but I have to save whoever remains.

I barely raised my trembling hand to grip the gun.
Then I fired five shots in rapid succession, haphazardly.

-Bang!

The sound of consecutive shots overlapped and stretched out long.

I fired randomly, but I didn’t think I would miss or hit a person.

Because that was my ability.

“Kkeeeewek!”

A monstrous shriek echoed.
The contaminated beasts writhed in pain for a moment, then disintegrated into dust.

One shot, one kill.
Anyone who knew the tenacious vitality of contaminated beasts would be speechless with admiration, but the audience to applaud was all dead and gone.

All that remained here was a Ruler without subjects.

Just that.

I ran towards the light.

It was the first time I had run in a very long time.