Chapter 1
It has already been 20 years since Gates opened in the world and Awakeners appeared.
We are now in an era where the Hunter profession symbolizes the ultimate wealth and power, but that was just a distant story only seen on TV.
At least to me, it was.
Age 22, occupation unemployed, gender male.
Name Yu-Jin.
Ah. For reference, it’s a single-syllable given name, so the surname is Yu, and the given name is Jin.
Yu-Jin. These two syllables were the only inheritance I received from my parents.
When I was very young, a Gate Break occurred and both my parents passed away.
Miraculously rescued, I was immediately moved to an orphanage where I spent my childhood and adolescence.
Because orphans were literally mass-produced nationwide due to those damn Gates and monsters, support for the facilities ran short, and I was forced to become self-reliant as soon as I turned 18.
Fortunately, I was able to make a living working as a Dark Gamer, a so-called 'Play-to-Earn Gamer', based on a game I encountered at the orphanage.
But even that income was completely cut off as the game’s popularity waned.
So right now I am working hard to prepare for employment, but…
Where is it easy to get a good job in this day and age?
It wasn’t easy to find a position at a small or medium-sized company, let alone a large corporation.
I had an interview today too, but… when I saw the lukewarm reactions of the interviewers, it was obvious that I had failed miserably.
'Haa. It would be nice if I awakened even a D-rank Class.'
awakening happens with a small probability.
They say it usually happens from the early teens to as late as the mid-to-late twenties, so I still had a chance, but it was slim.
If I just became a D-rank Hunter, I wouldn’t have to worry about making a living for the rest of my life.
I looked at a community on my phone.
<Domestic Hunter Gallery>
Hunter Gallery is commonly known as Heon-gael.
It is one of the largest and hottest communities in Korea.
The name is Hunter Gallery, but it wasn’t just real Hunters; it was a place where various people gathered.
A post I found while scrolling down the popular posts board.
[Title: Did an A-rank Class awakening pop up?! Hahaha]
Poster: Life Reversal
(Photo of an A-rank Class Awakener Registration card)
It popped up so I’m posting it hahahahahahahahahahahaha
- Wow fuck… I’m so jealous.
- Hunter Wannabe) How much do you make with that?
ㄴ Active A-rank Hunter) Even as a starting salary, it definitely exceeds 20 million won a month yep yep
ㄴ Crazy 20 million a month shiver That’s my annual salary.
ㄴ Fact Bomber) 20 million a month isn’t the issue. With an A-rank Class, you get massive Guild support, and after debuting as a Hunter, you can easily pull in hundreds of millions just by running a few Gates.
I quietly watched the bragging post and the comments attached below it for a long time, then moved my finger.
- Buy me a hamburger
I left a single short reply and turned off my phone.
I felt really, well, down.
…Honestly speaking.
I can’t say that I truly did my best.
I also can’t say that I put in effort by risking my life or burning my soul.
Still.
I feel like I’ve lived reasonably hard by now. I feel like I’ve lived a much harder life compared to others.
Why is my life still nothing but darkness?
Why doesn’t that kind of luck come to me?
I want to live comfortably too, don’t I?
I want to not struggle every single day, don’t I?
Even if it’s not a bright light.
Hoping for just enough sunlight to shine into a mouse hole is okay, isn’t it?
Is that too much greed? I let out a bitter smile.
I craved alcohol.
I bought a cost-effective bundle of four beers for ten thousand won at the convenience store, sat on a bench, and emptied them all.
Originally, I was a lightweight whose limit was one can of beer, but for some reason, the alcohol tasted sweet today.
“Haa…”
Heavily intoxicated, I staggered and headed home.
I looked up at the sky while facing the cold night air.
At that moment, it was a pitch-black sky where not even a single star could be seen.
“It’s not easy.”
* * *
The next morning.
'Ugh… My head…'
I opened my eyes, feeling a headache as if my head were splitting.
Did I drink too much yesterday?
Ugh, I was crazy.
To think I lost my mind and did something this stupid just because I failed an interview and saw a bragging post on Heon-gael.
Since someone with a one-can limit drank four cans straight, it was only natural that the hangover would be severe.
A burning thirst.
The inside of my mouth was completely dried out.
'Mmm. Some water…'
It was the moment I muttered that and tried to raise my body from the bed.
“Haa - . This cursed thirst is endless.”
I heard the voice of some haughty and languid little girl.
'…?!'
At that sound, I almost screamed.
Because.
…That voice came from none other than my own mouth.
Furthermore, my body felt strange.
The hand that came out of the blanket was abnormally white, small, and soft.
My clothes also felt way too big for my body.
When I blankly reached a hand to my head, I felt profusely flowing silver hair.
And decisively -
Squish, squish.
Soft and squishy.
These unfamiliar, petite lumps of flesh I felt on my chest were…?
'A w-woman?!'
There was only one conclusion.
I went to sleep and woke up as a woman.
And with a very young physique at that.
'C-crazy!'
I freaked out, jumped up from the bed, and ran to the bathroom where the mirror was.
But the moment I turned on the bathroom light and stood in front of the mirror, I gasped at a second shock.
'…?!'
There was nothing in the mirror.
No, to be exact, my body wasn’t there, and only the baggy t-shirt and shorts I wore to sleep were floating in midair.
An invisible person?
Or did I die in my sleep after drinking and become a ghost?
As I was racking my confused brain, a single possibility suddenly flashed through my mind.
In today’s world, there is only one word to explain such a nonsensical, bizarre phenomenon.
'Could this be an Awakening?'
I gulped and shouted 'that word' with a trembling voice.
“S… Status window?”
Then - .
Ding!
[Name: Yu-Jin]
[Level: 1]
[Class: Monarch of Blood (EX)]
'Crazy, it’s a real awakening.'
A translucent blue window floating in midair.
While I was looking at it with bewildered eyes, what caught my eye was:
'EX-rank?'
It was the rank listed after the Class.
As far as I knew, a Hunter’s Class was like a job in an RPG game, granted as soon as you awakened.
I heard the ranks ranged from D-rank to A-rank, and the incredibly rare S-rank.
But what is an EX-rank?
I’ve never heard of it in my life.
Could it be something above S-rank…?
'The Class name is Monarch of Blood too.'
A totally badass name.
However, just looking at the Class, I couldn’t tell exactly what it was.
'They said you just need to look at the Class skills.'
I wasn’t an Awakener, but I had information I gained from browsing communities.
Unique skill.
The unique skills that only the class possesses.
The direction of one’s abilities is determined by them.
I lowered my gaze.
[Unique Skill: Exalted Dignity, Summon Retainer, Vampirism, Embrace]
'This is a unique skill. This is it.'
These were the unique skills of the EX-rank Class, Monarch of Blood.
But when I looked at the listed skill names, there was something that immediately came to mind.
Nobility, retainers, and Vampirism?
That’s a vampire.
There was some trivia I had heard somewhere.
They said there was a setting where a vampire doesn’t reflect in mirrors. Is that why I wasn’t reflecting in the mirror?
'Then, did I really become a vampire?'
True. I became a girl, so there was no reason I couldn’t become a vampire.
But wait a minute.
If I don’t look in a mirror… couldn’t I just look through a phone camera?
I hurriedly returned to my room and picked up my smartphone.
First, I wanted to check what my body looked like.
I tapped the screen to wake it up and stared at it as usual.
[Lock icon shakes]
[Face Does Not Match. Please try again.]
'…Ah, right.'
My body changed, so naturally my face changed too.
This insolent Apple phone can’t even recognize its master.
After pressing the password to unlock it, I urgently turned on the camera app and switched the screen to selfie mode.
'Oh! I can see it!'
My appearance, which truly didn’t reflect in the mirror, was captured on the phone.
However
That appearance was extraordinary.
Long, pure white silver hair hanging down.
A beautiful girl with doll-like features, bright red eyes, and slightly protruding fangs.
It was a small girl who looked incredibly captivating and aristocratic.
'Haa?'
This is me?
Squish.
I kneaded my white, soft cheeks.
Ah- I opened my mouth.
I touched the abnormally sharp fangs.
It was moving exactly the same on the screen.
It’s really me.
I roughly propped up the phone and walked back a bit to see my full-body appearance.
Was my height in the early 140cm range? I looked to be only about that tall.
My figure… I’m a total loli.
'Unbelievable.'
“This makes no sense.”
- is what I tried to spit out as a soliloquy.
“Haa, what in the world is this bizarre and preposterous occurrence!”
Again, this archaic tone of speech that you’d only see in a historical drama came out.
To find the cause of this bizarre speech correction, I summoned the status window once again.
[Exalted Dignity (Unique)]
You are a Noble Being.
You are completely immune to all Mental Attacks.
Your words and actions undergo Forced Correction to befit a 'Noble Being'.
'I guess it’s because of this skill.'
It seems like a penalty that forcibly changes my speech, but if it’s Mental Attack Immunity, isn’t this a really good skill?
I didn’t know much, but it seemed good.
Anyway, then shall I look at the next skill, Summon Retainer?
[Summon Retainer (Unique)]
It molds retainers with Great Blood.
-Cooldown 30 days
-The explanation for 'Uses 50 Blood Power' was a bit short.
It seemed to be roughly an underling summoning skill.
It was characteristic that the skill cooldown was incredibly long at 30 days.
But what is Blood Power again?
Just then, a red gauge floating in a corner of the status window caught my eye.
[Blood Power (Blood Power): 0/100]
As I quietly watched it, the value slowly rose to '1'.
Aha. It seems this Blood Power is a cost like mana.
I have to fill this up to use skills like [Summon Retainer], right?
Okay. Comprehension is complete.
By the way.
If I eat something, Blood Power might rise faster.
Grumble-.
…I’m also a little hungry.
I gently rubbed my soft, squishy belly.
I opened the refrigerator to see if there was anything to eat.
Surprisingly, inside was a pack of 1++ Hanwoo boasting a brilliant appearance.
Normally I would never have been able to buy it, but yesterday, in my drunken state, I saw the 50% off closing discount sticker, lost my mind, and bought it.
Anyway, even while I was out of my mind drunk, I still picked up discounted meat.
Good job, me.
'I need to eat something this precious quickly before it goes bad.'
I immediately heated the frying pan and placed the beef on it.
Sizzle-
Along with the ecstatic sound, the smell of meat spread.
Also, if you’re a Korean, you can’t leave out garlic when grilling meat.
I also piled on plenty of sliced garlic and roasted it to a golden brown.
I picked up a well-cooked piece of meat and roasted garlic with my chopsticks, and dipped it deeply into ssamjang.
'Hehe. Looks delicious. How long has it been since I had Hanwoo?'
I gulped down my saliva.
I immediately put it in my mouth and happily chewed a bite, but…
“…Urp?!!”
In an instant, goosebumps rose on my skin and I was overcome with dry heaves.
It tasted as disgusting as if I had eaten food waste!
“Ptoo ptoo!! W-what is this taste…!”
I spat out what I was chewing into the sink in horror.
Tears welled up in my eyes.
“Ugh…”
I hurriedly turned on the water and gargled to rinse out my mouth.
The identity of the disgusting taste was none other than garlic.
Why on earth does garlic taste like this?
Only after calming down did a belated realization strike the back of my head.
Right. There was a setting that a vampire was weak to garlic.
I looked through the entire status window, but there was no specific mention of it, so I overlooked it.
It’s a relief that it just tasted like garbage; what would I have done if it had acted like poison?
'Phew, let’s get a grip. I let my guard down.'
The moment I tried to touch my forehead while blaming myself internally…
“Hmph! This is not the fault of this body. It is entirely due to this barbaric ingredient!”
My arms crossed on their own, and a sharp, pathetic excuse popped out of my mouth.
'…'
It was the correction caused by the [Exalted Dignity] skill.
This kind of thing is words and actions 'befitting a Noble Being'?
At least it was a beautiful girl’s voice and not a gruff man’s voice, so it was bearable to listen to.
If I had done it in my original voice, ugh. I don’t even want to imagine it.
Feeling a sense of shame, I picked up my chopsticks to eat the remaining meat.
But, wait.
My chopsticks stopped dead in midair.
Garlic is a no-go?
…Doesn’t Korean food contain an enormous amount of garlic?
Stews, stir-fries, noodles, and even the base ingredients of delivery food - all of it.
'Ah?'
The names of the foods I usually loved the most flashed through my mind like a kaleidoscope.
Monarch of Blood, Yu-Jin.
Kimchi Jjigae, Ramen, Yangnyeom Chicken, Jeyuk Bokkeum, Gukbap, Sundae Bokkeum, Tteokbokki, Garlic Bossam, and so on and so forth.
…All of them are banned for life!
“T-this makes no sense - !!”
In the small studio apartment, the unfair scream of a Noble Being echoed.