Chapter 3
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[Title: One Burger, First Come, First Served—]
[Anonymous]
─Offering one person the chance to answer a question post, yeah yeah
(A flower resembling a hamburger found in a gate)
Found a flower that looks like a burger while exploring a gate
Anyone know what this burger flower is?
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[Comments]
[You damn bait poster]
↳[If you think about it, is it really wrong?]
↳[??? : Hunter Gal user, I'm not giving you a burger. I'm giving you a 'chance' to answer a burger-related question, okay?]
↳[Lmao, it's infuriating, but there's nothing false in the post itself]
↳[It's even more infuriating when you say it's not a lie]
[But seriously, what kind of flower is it? I've never seen one before]
↳[The color combination does kind of make you think of a hamburger]
↳[I dunno, so why not try eating it?]
↳[Hey, hey, how do you know what grew in a gate? Don't just eat it!]
↳[Don't do that. Lots of people have died after putting unknown stuff from a gate in their mouths.]
↳[People die from eating random mushrooms in the mountains, and you wanna eat a plant from a gate?]
↳[Either you're an idiot or a complete piece of shit trying to get someone killed]
↳[S-sorry… I was just joking…]
↳[You think someone's life is a joke???]
↳[(Trash must be eliminated emote)]
[That's obviously an AI-generated image]
↳[No! I don't think it's AI-generated! My botanist's intuition tells me that flower is real!]
↳[OP! Which gate did you find it in? If possible, please share the gate! I really want to see it for myself!]
↳[Whoa, why are you so serious?]
↳[Are you a Hunter, by any chance?]
↳[There aren't many Hunters who specialize in plants, though…]
↳[Hey, if you try to identify them, you might disappear without a trace, you know?]
↳[(Hunter Gal user hurriedly running away emote)]
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"So nobody knows after all…."
Kang Yul, who'd been browsing the gallery, put his phone away with a disappointed mutter.
Right after finding the flower that looked like a hamburger in the gate, he'd continued exploring, but hadn't found anything else of note.
He'd come out of the gate for a short break and posted a question to find out about the flower, but hadn't gotten anything useful.
He'd also skimmed through the information compilation posts, but hadn't seen anything about a plant that looked like a hamburger.
'Should I really try eating it?'
Of course, he wasn't planning to just eat it recklessly.
As the comments had just pointed out, Kang Yul was well aware of how dangerous it was to eat an unidentified plant.
Even so, there was a simple reason he'd considered eating it.
Kang Yul had awakened as a Hunter through a first-come, first-served hamburger post.
So he thought that if the burger flower was also related to that supernatural phenomenon, then surely it would give him something he could 'eat like a hamburger,' at least.
Of course, it was just a guess, so he'd intended to leave that as a last resort and look for a better option first.
But with no clues at all, Kang Yul was left with just two choices: 'eat the flower' or 'gather it and ask someone to appraise it.'
And the problem was that eating it seemed more likely to work.
Kang Yul imagined what would happen if he gathered it and had it appraised.
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"So, Hunter, which gate did you gather this plant from?"
"Ah, I gathered it from a personal gate I own."
"Oh my! Such a valuable slave… I mean, talent! We must take excellent care of you~!"
"Huh? What are you talking about… Mmph…! Who are you people…!"
[Oh! Kang Yul was kidnapped by a Hunter organization!]
[Kang Yul's vision went black….]
[Bad Ending: Gate Slave Kang Yul]
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'…Even imagining it is horrifying.'
Kang Yul rubbed the goosebumps on his arm as he thought.
This definitely wasn't the way to go. He still couldn't let other people know about the gate's existence.
And it wasn't just because of the gate's value.
If researchers found out there was a Hunter who could summon gates themselves, Kang Yul's future would be nothing but bleak.
'They'd put me through every horrific experiment imaginable….''
So, after going around in circles, the only choice left was to 'eat the flower.'
'…Could I just leave it alone?'
A thought suddenly crossed his mind.
If there were no good options right now, then 'just leaving it alone' could be an option, too.
'I was going to focus on exploring for a while anyway.'
There was nothing inside the cavern that looked like it could make him money right away.
So he planned to continue exploring by breaking through a wall to find a way outside, removing some of the bones exposed in the walls to sell, or looking for minerals buried somewhere.
The flower wasn't going to grow legs and run away, so he had nothing to lose by waiting. Maybe another way would turn up in the meantime.
'I'll leave it alone for now.'
Having made up his mind, Kang Yul put on the equipment he'd taken off and stepped back into the gate.
In one hand, he held the Hunter Market mining pickaxe he'd bought to break down the cavern wall.
But no sooner had he entered the gate than…
'What the hell, why does it look so limp…?'
Kang Yul's resolve lasted less than a minute.
And that was because…
'Is it wilting…?'
The flower, the only thing in the depths of the cavern that had still been full of life, was wilting so quickly that he could see it at a glance.
It was as if it were urging Kang Yul to choose: eat it, or leave it as it was.
'What the….''
Kang Yul was so startled by the sudden turn of events that his thoughts stopped, but his body didn't.
Before he knew it, he was sprinting toward the flower.
Even though his mind couldn't make sense of what was happening, it was as if his body already knew the answer.
By the time he'd run there in a daze, Kang Yul had reached the wilting flower.
Even then, all he could think was 'Why…?'—but his body reached for the flower without hesitation.
And a moment later.
Plop…
The instant Kang Yul's hand touched it, the hamburger-shaped flower bud drooped and fell off.
"Ah!"
Only then did Kang Yul come to his senses and reflexively catch the falling flower bud.
Looking at the flower wilting rapidly in his hand, he thought…
'Ah… It'd be a shame to throw it away like this….''
A second, then two, then five seconds passed.
Kang Yul made up his mind.
'…I'll eat it.'
Kang Yul tossed the flower into his mouth and chewed it with a crunch. He could die, but he didn't hesitate.
If you wanted to gain something big, you had to be prepared to take a risk to match.
That was the basic mindset of a Hunter Kang Yul had always admired.
Besides, it wasn't some reckless gamble with a chance of success that approached zero.
There was certainly a good chance he'd survive.
'Please, don't let me die…!'
Of course, knowing that didn't mean he wasn't afraid.
As he chewed the flower, he couldn't taste or feel its texture at all, only moving his mouth like a machine.
How long had he been chewing the flower in terror?
Ding!
[You have acquired the class skill 'Gate Gallery'.]
As if rewarding Kang Yul for his efforts, a familiar sound rang out and a notification window appeared before his eyes.
But rather than rejoice, Kang Yul collapsed onto the spot and stared blankly at the notification window.
The fact that he'd just been teetering on the edge of death had drained all the strength from his body. He didn't even have the energy to stand properly.
"Ha… haha…."
It was his third day as a Hunter.
"…I actually survived."
Kang Yul had successfully explored a gate for the first time, taking his first step as a Hunter.
#####
The next morning.
After waking up, Kang Yul finished a simple meal and got ready to enter the gate again.
Normally, he should've started mining the day before and checked out the new skill he'd obtained, but whether it was the aftereffects of his life-or-death gamble or his brain melting from all the dopamine, he wasn't sure.
The moment he'd left the gate, he'd fallen asleep as if he'd passed out, and a lot of time had been lost.
'I'd love to take a whole day off, but….''
The fact that he had only 921 won left in his bank account was enough to get Kang Yul out of bed.
He couldn't afford to rest until he'd earned enough to pay this month's rent and put food on the table.
'…I have to live responsibly.'
He steeled himself once again and entered the gate.
He looked around with his headlamp, but nothing seemed to have changed, so he decided to check his skill first.
Ding!
[Skill]: Gate Gallery
You can use the Gallery inside a gate.
A Gallery ◈ icon will appear at the edge of your vision.
You can use the Gallery by touching the icon or focusing your awareness on it.
※ Posts written by beings from other dimensions are marked with a * icon before the title.
'It really is a skill related to the Gallery….''
He'd guessed as much from the skill's name, but seeing the explanation confirm that it was that very Gallery made him feel oddly unsettled.
Even though Kang Yul used the Gallery a lot, he hadn't wanted to get a skill related to it, too.
But that thought didn't last long.
'No, maybe this is only natural…?'
Kang Yul had awakened as a Hunter through the Gallery.
He'd gotten the burger flower thanks to a Gallery comment, too.
What were the odds of finding a flower that looked like a hamburger the moment he entered a gate?
That flower was sure to be closely related to the supernatural phenomenon as well.
So if it was another result of the same phenomenon, then maybe it was only natural that eating the flower had given him a Gallery-related skill.
'This might be better than a skill I can't use at all.'
So Kang Yul decided to look on the bright side.
Being able to access the Gallery inside a gate might not sound like much, but in other words, he'd gained a skill that let him communicate with the outside world in real time.
It meant Hunters could overcome the limitation of being unable to communicate with the outside world after entering a gate.
'Depending on the situation, this might be another skill people would go to great lengths to kidnap me for.'
Hunters working for the Hunter Management Bureau or corporations usually operated in teams, so those organizations would be all the more eager to have a Hunter with this kind of skill.
If gate exploration didn't pay off later, considering a career in that direction wouldn't be a bad idea.
With that in mind…
'Was I supposed to touch this…?'
Kang Yul touched the ◈ icon that had appeared at the edge of his vision to try out his new skill.
A small amount of mana seemed to drain away, and the familiar Gallery window appeared before his eyes.
Ding!
<Hunter Gallery>
[Title: A Gate Has Appeared Near Nowon Station. Please Be Careful.]
[Title: Hunter Gal user checking in after a workout~!]
*[Title: Buying Anything—Rare Minerals or Supernatural Byproducts. Bartering OK]
[Title: Fuck, do zombies ever sleep???]
[Title: Hunter Gal user who wants to awaken as a Hunter, day 300 of posting consistently]
[Title: Hanyul Pharmaceuticals, you bastards, when are you making a hair-loss cure?!]
'This really is Hunter Gal…?'
It really was the Hunter Gallery Kang Yul knew.
The usual Gallery, with silly posts that weren't much help, informational posts that were somewhat useful, and even the buy posts for supernatural byproducts that had been going up for years.
It was the same old Hunter Gallery he'd always seen… but the moment Kang Yul noticed something, he couldn't help getting goosebumps all over.
*[Title: Buying Anything—Rare Minerals or Supernatural Byproducts. Bartering OK]
When he spotted the * icon in front of a title where there hadn't been one before, Kang Yul turned his head and checked the skill description beside the Gallery once more.
※ Posts written by beings from other dimensions are marked with a * icon before the title.
'…Wasn't that post already there when I first saw it three years ago?'
He remembered it because it was the first post he'd seen when he joined Hunter Gal.
And that meant…
'Something supernatural pretending to be human had been living among us for at least three years…?'
Maybe supernatural phenomena had been closer to us than he'd thought.