Login in to Alandal

“Grwuahhh!” With a roar, the Half-Ogre swung its arm. Jaejun Lee saw an invisible something getting flung away by the monster’s unbelievable strength.

’N-No… You can’t land a critical hit without a Rare-Grade weapon…’ Watching the ogre pull out the mysterious owner’s dagger, Jaejun Lee trembled. 

That person had used the element of surprise to shove the blade in the monster’s throat, but it hadn’t done as much damage as expected. Even the minimal amount of injury the dagger had inflicted was quickly regenerated. 

“Grrrrggh.”

“Y... You there! Are you all right?!” Coming back to his senses a moment later, Jaejun Lee shouted at the other person, putting some distance between him and the Half-Ogre. 

Stealth was a B-Rank skill, but B-Rank skills were not enough to handle this monster. “Take cover! Normal attacks do not work on... Argh!” Perhaps because the prey it lost had its spirits rekindled, the Half-Ogre threw the dagger it was holding at Jaejun Lee.

Pshwk. He rushed to create another barrier, but it had already lost most of its strength from the several previous cancellations. The dagger that pierced through the barrier dug into his shoulder. By the time Jaejun raised his head, letting out a low groan, the Half-Ogre had already closed in on him with its fist raised.

Snatch. Someone pulled him back by his collar.

‘I’m… I’m aliv—’ Smash! Without even the chance to celebrate his survival, the Half-Ogre roared in anger over its missed attack and charged into Jaejun Lee.

Sna-p-p-p! His bones shattered, and the pain of his intestines getting pushed out of place followed. “Cough... cough…” Having been tossed like a ragdoll, Jaejun Lee coughed up blood. 

‘Damn... it…’ He cursed once more under his dying consciousness. He hadn’t lowered his guard once, but the Half-Ogre’s physical abilities had been on a completely different scale compared to a B-Rank magic-type like him.

‘Is this... Where I die…?’ He must have wounded his head, as blood was soaking his eyes. His body refused to move, and his vision blurred. This really was the end.

“Excuse me.” With a polite apology, someone began rummaging through his clothes.

“Cough... Run... away…” Jaejun Lee squeezed out the words using the last bit of strength in him. However, the hands scouring him only hastened their pace as though they took no regard to what he had just said.

A moment later.

Shssssws. Someone appeared next to Jaejun Lee. 

Taehyun deactivated his Stealth skill. “Ah, here it is.” Finally finding what he had been looking for, Taehyun let out a sigh of relief. 

Jeajun Lee, who had fallen unconscious, had not seen any of this.

***

“Grrrgh... Human... Kill…” Spotting Taehyun, the Half-Ogre stomped towards him with a cautious attitude, keeping some distance as it was conscious of the attack from earlier. The monster had identified Taehyun as a threat. 

Yet, Taehyun showed no regard for the Half-Ogre’s attitude and downed the second bottle of potions he obtained. “Hah... Nice. Potions really are the best for recovering fatigue.” Checking that he had recovered his fatigue and mana, Taehyun used his skills once more.

Stone Skin. 

Stealth.

Using two skills concurrently drained his mana at a much faster rate, but… ‘It would be risky if I didn’t take these measures.’ Despite using Stone Skin, the arm he used for guarding earlier felt like it broke. It wasn’t unusual that the B-Rank Players had been knocked out cold after a single hit.

Normally, he would be running for his life. But there was the saying, high risk, high return. Taehyun wasn’t the type of person who’d let prey escape right in front of his eyes.

‘What rewards will I be given for hunting you down?’ Those hopes had made him activate his third skill.

[Unique Skill Devour has been used.]

“Human... Kill!” Finding a circle of mana surrounding him, the Half-Ogre let out a sinister aura. However, that hadn’t been enough to make Taehyun deactivate Stealth.

“Eat it all up.”

Crunch. Crunccch. A new bone-chilling sound echoed through the area.

***

[The Associate’s Rookie, Lightsaber Hyunsoo Ahn, Singlehandedly Blocks an A-Rank Giant Ogre.]

[First Gate Break in 10 Years. The Fate of the World is Doom?]

[Joint Funeral for Players Killed in Line of Duty. Buried in Hyeonchunggwan Hall.]

[Tragedy of Gwangjin-gu. Brutal Massacres by Yvelians Amidst Chaos. Testimonies of Eyewitnesses Claim the Appearance of a Named Yvelian.]

[Testimony of Gungook High School Student: Teacher Kidnapped by a Yvelian.]

[Survivor Interview: Not One, But Two A-Rank Monsters. Yet Another Monster’s Appearance.]

[Associate’s Rising Hope, Jaejun Lee; User of the Barrier skill.]

[Shocking Confession From Jaejun Lee: “I am not a hero, but a survivor saved by a healing potion.”]

[Citizens’ Anxiety Rises Rapidly Due to Government’s Delayed Response. President Approval Ratings Reach an All-Time Low.]

[Hot Topic: Where is the Corpse of the A-Rank Half-Ogre?]

[New Korea Player Association Reveals Intentions to Find New Talent. License Exam Moved Forward.]

[Player License Exam Age Restriction: Possible Reduction to High Schoolers? Human Rights Organizations Say Otherwise.]

Countless news articles poured out onto the media. After skimming through them for a brief moment, he closed the website. Not only was it the hottest topic on social media platforms, but even newspapers were talking about this single event: the first gate break in 10 years that had caused countless casualties and created a hero.

Of course, Taehyun’s name was nowhere to be found.

“Well, that’s probably a good thing.” Getting up from his chair, Taehyun surrendered himself to his bed mattress.

The A Rank gate break had only been a painful memory to him in the past, as it was the cause of Nayeong Choi’s death. But it was different this time. He not only prevented her death, but also yielded an unexpected amount of goods.

Taehyun opened his status page.

[Name]: Taehyun Kim

[Age]: 19

[Rank]: D

[Fatigue]: 5%

[Mana]: 40/40

[Stats]

– Strength: 15  

– Stamina: 20  

– Speed: 15  

– Mana: 40

[Skills]

– Devour (50%): Devour a selected target. (Required Mana: 10)

– Stone Skin (D): Harden your body. (Required Mana: 3)

– Stealth (D): Hide your body. (Required Mana: 5)

The continuous hand-to-hand combat he had initiated while using Stone Skin must have worked to his benefit. After plenty of rest, he found that his Strength and Stamina stats had increased. More importantly… ’My Mana stat increased.’ 

Although he had more mana to work with now, it still didn’t seem enough since he now owned three skills; skills that others could barely manage one of.

‘Potions or a mana recovery skill. One of those two will be essential.’ Recalling his fight with the Half-Ogre, Taehyun shook his head. Associate Players and members of large guilds mandatorily carried potions during missions. 

They prepared a fatigue recovery potion, which reduces skill cooldowns, a mana recovery potion, and a healing potion. Those three potions were an essential set for Abyss explorations. If it hadn’t been for the help of those potions, even Taehyun wouldn’t have been able to defeat the Half-Ogre.

‘Well, I’d already thought that part through before charging in. Anyway, this skill is too fickle.’ He could only consume corpses from monsters and skills from Players? There were too many unanswered questions for that simple answer to be true. 

Although Taehyun was the user, there were times when he almost thought the skill had a mind of its own. ‘It couldn’t possibly be alive, could it?’ Just as he had been thinking of the impossible… 

Knock knock. 

“Hyung, it’s me.” He heard Jaeyoung’s voice from beyond the door.

“Come in.” Closing his status page, Taehyun found Jaeyoung standing sheepishly in front of him. “What is it?”

“Uh... Well, I mean... I was just... wondering what you were doing…” Jaeyoung’s voice trailed off as if he were embarrassed, his gaze avoiding Taehyun’s.

‘Cute kiddo.’ The current Jaeyoung he was looking at right now was just an ordinary teenage boy. In his past life, this boy had walked down the wrong path and turned the household into a warzone. In this life though, they’d returned to the peaceful environment of the old days.

“So?”

“I… Well… Since I’m not going to school, either... I was wondering if I could help with anything again.” All of the schools in the Gwangjin-gu area had been temporarily closed due to the gate break incident; after all, the significant amount of casualties included the schools’ students and staff members. Unlike Taehyun, who hadn’t been very shocked by this turn of events, the entire Gwangjin-gu was in a state of panic.

“Something to help with, you say…” Taehyun trailed off and peered at Jaeyoung’s face. His eyes were sparkling expectantly; satisfaction oozing from him because of the feeling that he was useful and was needed by someone. 

It was the same expression Taehyun once had in his past life. Perhaps it was because he better than anyone what it felt like, he didn’t want to keep Jaeyoung at bay. “Go and rest for now. And stay away from bad company.”

“Ah, all right. I’ll be staying home most of the time, so call me whenever you need me.” After hearing his response, Taehyun shooed Jaeyoung out of his room.

‘I really need to move out soon.’ Taehyun’s goal was to become a Player and reach the highest of peaks possible. There were definitely going to be dangers along the way, so before he left this place, he wanted to make sure that his aunt, uncle, and Jaeyoung would be in a safe environment. 

And the quickest way to do so… ‘Is probably clearing dungeons, isn’t it?’ However, he needed a Player License to traverse dungeons and the Abyss. 

To the public, Taehyun was a mere high-schooler who hadn’t even awakened his powers, much less owned a license. But the current Taehyun retained the memories of his past life, so this would not be a problem for him.

***

New Korea Player Association, Yeouido, Seoul.

Chairman Jinhee Ji puffed out a cloud of cigarette smoke inside his office. There was a heap of paperwork that he needed to sign on his desk.

It had been the first gate break, and an A-Rank at that, to happen in New Korea in ten years. Fortunately, they had been able to prevent it from becoming a dungeon, but the damage was considerable.

“This is tiring.” Just as Jinhee Ji was sucking in another puff, the interphone rang.

“Mr. Chairman, the Nightwalker Guildmaster has arrived.”

“Let them in.”

A moment later, a woman wearing sunglasses and a sky-blue dress entered the room. “It’s been a while, Mr. Chairman.”

“Miss Ayeong. Apologies for calling you during your busy schedule. Come, have a seat.” Jinhee Ji put out his cigarette and gazed at the woman sitting across from him. Her youthful face made it hard to believe that she was in her mid-thirties, but Jinhee Ji knew the true identity of the woman, so he was not tricked by her outer appearance.

Alongside the Association, the Four Great Guilds held their positions as supporting pillars of New Korea. Magicians; consisting of magic-type Awakened. Nightwalker; specializing in the collection of information. Onsaemiro; consisting of combat-type Players. Alchemist; potion makers and holders of specialty skills.

The woman in front of him was the head of Nightwalker, Ayeong Yoo.

“It’s quite unfortunate that such an incident occurred when all of us had been absent,” Ayeong Yoo mentioned the gate break that had recently happened.

“Sigh. It’s all right, it is all in the past now. I have called you here for a different matter.”

“The Scorn Guild; their movements are suspicious, I assume?”

“As expected of an information guild. Have you learned to read minds?”

“I’d have to close my business if I couldn’t do that.” Answering confidently, Ayeong Yoo handed over a file she’d brought with her. It was the highest quality of information obtainable, containing not only the Scorn Guild’s recent course of actions but also the Players they had targeted.

“Do you need anything else?”

“I am thinking of recruiting new Players.”

“It’s not your style to grant licenses to those who are unqualified… You plan to lower the age restriction.” When Jinhee Ji expressed that he had nothing else to add, Ayeong Yoo continued, “And so, you want us to select children with potential so that the human rights organizations can’t cause a fuss?”

“Indeed. Are there any children, perhaps, that you wish to recommend?” Well aware of Ayeong Yoo’s keen eye, Jinhee Ji attempted to feel her out under the excuse that he wanted some recommendations.

‘Recommendations, you say…’ Two high schoolers popped into Ayeong Yoo’s mind.