By Zephyria ‘Recycling, just remember this!’
Whirr. The faded, taped-on coating paper fluttered in the cold wind. A thick figure, like a bagworm, squatted in the alley, moving busily.
A thick padding, Toad Apron, rubber gloves, training pants, and three-line slippers. Eui-jae was peacefully sorting recyclables in his winter neighborhood outfit. Eui-jae, peeling off a plastic bottle label, muttered like a complaint.
“How can there be so much trash, no matter how much I throw away…”
He collected the labels and threw them away in a plastic bag, crushed the plastic bottles to let the air out, and then lifted a sack full of soju bottles.
Bang!
At that moment, a firecracker suddenly exploded in the air. Thinking it was a bolt from the blue, Cha Eui-jae quickly raised his head and faced a familiar white System Window.
[Congratulations, J!]
[You are the new number one in ‘Region: South Korea’.]
“…What?”
Thud. The heavy sack fell to the ground. Empty soju bottles rolled out of the sack and tumbled across the asphalt.
‘Why is this crazy brat telling me I’m number one while I’m sorting recyclables?’
Eui-jae didn’t even think about pointing out how ridiculous the System’s announcement was because it was so absurd.
Number one? Me? Eui-jae wanted to grab anyone by the collar and ask. He couldn’t understand why this news suddenly intruded on a day that could have ended normally.
Instead of asking the System for information, Eui-jae hurriedly turned on the internet app on his phone. Fortunately or unfortunately, breaking news related to Hunter rankings was swarming at the top of the portal site’s main screen.
「[Breaking] South Korea’s Rank 1, J」
「[Breaking] Immovable Rank 1 Lee Sa-young, pushed to Rank 2 by J.」
「[Breaking] Awakened Management Bureau, “Same Hunter name cannot exist, not a namesake”」
「[Breaking] Awakened Management Bureau, “Possibility of System error exists, verifying facts.”」
「[Breaking] Jung-bin, helicopter boarding scene captured… Heading to Incheon」
Even as he refreshed, the articles increased one by one. The System even kindly displayed a new ranking window as if to refer to it.
[1. J
Lee Sa-young
▼1
Matthew
▼1
Jung-bin
▼1
Gyu-Gyu
▼1
Honeybee
▼1
Doctor
▼1
The Artisan
▼1
Ham Seok-jeong
▼1
Song Jo-heon
▼1
Shield Guy
▼1
]
A blue down arrow was attached next to every name except J. It was a destructive visual just to look at.
“Shit.”
Eui-jae unconsciously recalled a photo he had seen in an internet post sometime ago.
Let’s find out about actions that should not be done at a funeral That is
(Emoticon with a hand raised high)
Resurrection
It would be embarrassing for each other if you suddenly came back to life, right?
Then see you next time
That’s right. Cha Eui-jae unintentionally… committed an act that should never be done.
J. It’s a little embarrassing to say it himself, but he is a famous figure who saved many people while working as a Hunter and even appears as a hero who sacrificed himself with the Rift in learning comics for children.
Such a person resurrected after 8 years? Even reclaiming first place as soon as he reappeared?
‘Of course, they’ll be bloodshot trying to find me even if they have to search the whole country.’
The sound of a quiet life slowly moving away from him could be heard. Eui-jae then realized. Ah, right. The firecracker sound he heard earlier was not something else.
It was the sound of his small, precious, and quiet daily life exploding….
As he mechanically refreshed the screen to deny reality, anger filled his heart as much as the number of updates increased in the corner. Kwadeuk, he took out an empty soju bottle from the sack, grabbed the neck, and began to point at the System Window.
“Hey, what did I do to be number one.”
Being number one in the past was possible. J was strong and constantly slicing through all kinds of Monsters. He could be proud that he was second to none in terms of ability and achievements.
But what about Cha Eui-jae? What Cha Eui-jae did after escaping from the Rift was cleaning, sorting recyclables, washing dishes, making Hangover Soup, taking care of discount coupons, grocery shopping, taking care of Ha-eun, donating to the Incheon Rift Foundation, and occasionally catching Monsters that popped out on the street and reporting them to the Rift Management Bureau while pretending to be a normal person. That was about it.
If he became number one for doing just this, then any dog or cow could become number one.
[Reward for Rank 1 privilege is given.]
[▶Receive]
‘Give me a reject button.’
Eui-jae looked for the reject button that must be somewhere. But there was no reject button, not even a small X mark. The System, on the contrary, began to emphasize the word ‘Receive’ in red.
Do you think I’ll press it just because you do that? Never. Eui-jae intentionally turned his gaze away from the System. His intention was to keep ignoring it and make it give up on its own.
But the System opened a new window wherever he turned his gaze, and this time, it displayed other options instead of receiving.
[■■■ Some of the deleted permissions will be restored.]
[Restoring permissions…]
[Regeneration of access rights to South Korea Channel 1 completed.]
[Would you like to access South Korea Channel 1?]
[▶Yes]
[▷Yes]
The number of options seemed to have increased as if reflecting his opinion. The problem was that nothing had actually changed.
The Hunter Channel is a group messenger created by the System. A group messenger where you can share information, have conversations, and make announcements. Of course, Eui-jae thought that the Hunter bastards were only doing individual plays, so they must have been forced into it.
Anyway, there was an access standard to the channel to match the users’ level, and Channel 1 was only given access to those ranked 1st to 50th.
In other words, Jung-bin, Honeybee, and Bae Won-woo were firmly holding their ground in Channel 1.
Of course, Lee Sa-young too.
‘Why would I go in there if I’m crazy.’
He was trying to live quietly, but the world wouldn’t leave him alone. Eui-jae picked up the soju bottle that had rolled far away and separated the cap from the glass bottle.
“I’m never going in, so get rid of the window.”
[……]
The System did not answer.
‘It’s finally quiet.’
Just as Eui-jae was about to breathe a sigh of relief and tidy up the sack and empty bottles that had fallen to the ground.
[!!Error!!]
[Selection time has expired.]
[Automatically connecting to Channel 1.]
“What?”
Eui-jae was shocked. What is this rude System saying now?
+82 [CH.1] 《J has entered.》
‘I’m screwed.’
How old-fashioned is this damn System that it doesn’t even have a nickname change function! Cha Eui-jae, who was suddenly resurrected with his old name J and even connected to Channel 1, lost his will in an instant.
He was so dumbfounded that he could only let out a weak laugh.
“Ha, haha.”
Whether it knew his heart or not, the chat, which had been frozen for a while, began to rise at a crazy speed with a flood of messages.
:
:
[50] Romantic Opener: wtf
[50] Romantic Opener: wow
[11] Shield Guy: holy
[6] Honeybee: ?
[6] Honeybee: real?
[34] Very Small Miracle Mingi Seo: Isn’t this a System error?
[50] Romantic Opener: no wow
[50] Romantic Opener: seriously legendary continuous update lol [8] The Artisan: Nah lol
[8] The Artisan: Hidden camera lol
[8] The Artisan: Trying to see our reaction lol Cheating with the System lol
[8] The Artisan: Broadcasting on TV lol
[8] The Artisan: Observation entertainment lol ok ok I understand
[6] Honeybee: Reality escape crazy
[4] Jung-bin: Hong Ye-seong^^
[4] Jung-bin: I’ll cut off the Artisan Village Wi-Fi for a moment.
[4] Jung-bin: Please be careful not to leak words, everyone else.
[8] The Artisan: (crying emoticon)
[29] Mana Stone Selling Boy: Didn’t someone else take the name?
[43] Ddun: The real J wouldn’t be, right?;;
[4] Jung-bin: As you all know ^^; Hunter name duplication is impossible.
[4] Jung-bin: I think everyone is very confused.
[4] Jung-bin: Please wait while we check. ^^
[29] Mana Stone Selling Boy: In online games, nicknames of long-term inactive users
[29] Mana Stone Selling Boy: are periodically released…
[15] IHaveNoNickname: This isn’t a game.
[3] Matthew: Jung-bin.
[3] Matthew: Is there a possibility that the Rift has reopened……
With Matthew’s cautious question, the chat window, which had been so chaotic that it was impossible to read, froze. Eui-jae also stopped breathing for a moment. If the Incheon Rift had reopened, Eui-jae would have to go there.
He had to go back to that hell, go back and find what he had left behind, he had committed a sin so he had to repay the karma, that was what the survivors had to pay Clang!
Eui-jae blinked. The soju bottle he was holding in his hand was shattered to pieces. The back of his neck suddenly felt cold. He must have broken out in a cold sweat without realizing it. Whew, Eui-jae took a long breath and tried to clear the annoying System Window, but…
[2] Lee Sa-young: X
Lee Sa-young’s message was visible. Eui-jae slowly blinked.
[11] Shield Guy: Um J?
[11] Shield Guy: hoxy… Could you type just once?
And even in this situation, Bae Won-woo was consistently clueless.
‘Would you type if you were me.’
Somehow, the tension was completely relieved. The confused mind also seemed to calm down little by little. Eui-jae, squatting on the floor, decided to borrow the power of artificial intelligence as a last resort.
“Hi Nexby, find a way to leave the Hunter Channel.”
―Searching for a way to leave the Hunter Channel.
―No search results.
Damn it.
“Huh? Why is this not working?”
In the Hanover Soup Restaurant, still crowded with Hunters, one Hunter wandered around the TV, pressing the remote control buttons wildly. But no matter how much he pressed, the TV showed no sign of turning on. He scratched his head and called Eui-jae.
“Why is this TV like this? Is it broken?”
Eui-jae replied, filling a tray with empty bowls.
“Yes. I saw it this morning and it was broken. I’m going to call a repairman tomorrow.”
Of course, it was a blatant lie. The TV was perfectly fine. Except that the cord was unplugged.
“Tsk, I was going to eat while watching the 110-Minute Debate.”
As the man muttered with a disappointed look, other Hunters next to him began to join in one by one.
“Is today the day for that? Should we send a rescue team or not.”
“Ah, I want to see that too.”
“We’ll have to watch it on our phones.”
“Can’t we call a repairman now?”
“They won’t come in the evening.”
Disappointed voices came from everywhere. But Eui-jae pretended not to hear everything. All of this was to prevent the great disaster of watching this week’s 「110-Minute Debate」 together, which they so desperately wanted to see.
One week after J’s name was listed in the Hunter rankings, the subtitle of the 「110-Minute Debate」, which was being broadcast live as a special, was as follows.
‘J’s Return—Should a Rescue Team Be Deployed to the Incheon Rift?’
Since the opinion of the resurrected person was not included in any of this flow, not even as much as a single eyelash, Eui-jae unplugged the TV cord as soon as he woke up. Eui-jae clenched his fist tightly.
‘I will never let them see it.’