Chapter 1: The Awakened System (1)
It was hard to say when the dimensional gates had opened on Earth. All over the planet, gates had suddenly opened, and monsters had poured out of them.
The governments of each country had been taken aback by the sudden attack from out of nowhere by unidentified monsters; however, that did not last for long, as they immediately took defensive measures according to their standard military defense manuals to protect their respective countries against the monsters.
Unfortunately, the monsters had barriers surrounding their bodies that repelled the bullets widely used by soldiers, and they would not die even after hundreds of rounds rained down on them. Smaller monsters died when they were fired upon with missiles or artillery shells; however, larger monsters, unique monsters, and named monsters either withstood the attacks through their incredibly high resistances, or avoided the attacks using unbelievably fast speed that defied logic.
Additionally, some of the monsters possessed special abilities, and were not affected by Earth’s firearms at all. In fact, nuclear missiles, which were known to man as the pinnacle of modern warfare when it came to destructiveness, were useless against monsters with special abilities. That made it seem as if it were pointless to try to fight against, or rather resist, the monsters.
That was how countless human lives were massacred by monsters. It seemed as if there was no longer any hope for humanity.
However, whether the dimensional gates were a miracle or a curse, the monsters were not the only ones to emerge from them.
[Transdimensional Space Association]
Earth was not the only place in the universe that housed living beings. The universe consisted of numerous planets, galaxies, and dimensions that also had human-like beings living in them, and it was those beings from a distant galaxy who taught the humans a way to fight back against the monsters.
To that end, they taught the humans how to ‘Awaken’ and kill the monsters, and how to use monsters’ remains to develop a new civilization. They provided numerous skills, technologies, and fighting styles that could be used against the monsters.
In return, they asked Earth to join the Transdimensional Space Association, and there was only one condition Earth had to honor— to guarantee that trade could flourish between the dimensions.
That was all the aliens wanted. However, taking into account that Earth was a new applicant to the alliance, they decided that trade barriers would be in place for thirty years. The specific details of what would happen after that would be discussed when the thirty-year treaty expired.
Then, the aliens went back to their own dimensions after leaving humanity with newfound ‘powers’. Humanity evolved after that fateful encounter, using their new powers to fight fiercely against the monsters and push them back.
That was how ten years had passed since the war against the monsters first started; most of the metropolitan cities of the world were left in ruins. However, humanity succeeded in pushing back the monsters from their cities and into specific regions, which signaled the start of an entirely new era of human civilization.
***
Rumble... Rumble...
Sparks flew as countless bullets flew across the battlefield toward a monster. The bullets accurately hit the monster’s body, but they failed to deal any significant damage to the monster’s barrier.
“Gruuuuuu!”
In fact, the gunfire seemed to only make the monster more agitated, as it seemed to find the bullets annoying.
“Everyone! Snap out of it!” The manager scolded the Porters as they sprayed bullets all over the place, scared out of their wits.
The monster’s aggro would be pulled toward them if they hit the monster’s eyes, head, or any other weak spots by accident, and it would end up causing the monster to attack the Porters instead of the Hunters that were currently facing the monster.
“Concentrate, you lot! You should never be a hindrance to the Hunters while they’re fighting!” the manager shouted.
‘Tsk... Alright, alright,’?a Porter grumbled inwardly.
The Porter had a lot of frustration pent up against the hierarchy, but he did not have the balls to actually speak up against it. He needed money, but he had no skills, and there were no companies willing to hire someone like him who had graduated from a small country college. The only companies that were willing to hire him would only pay him 1.3 million won; they would find all sorts of nonsensical excuses to deduct even more from that measly amount, on top of that.
This job as a Porter was the only way he was going to be able to sustain having a roof over his head and putting food on the table.
“Fire Charging!”
Kablam!
A man who was in a DPS role put his hands together and charged a spell. Then, a powerful flame shot out of his hands and hit the silver monster they were fighting against.
Fwooosh!
However, the lizard monster’s sturdy silver scales only seemed to sustain a negligible amount of damage. In fact, the monster did not seem to have been hurt or even staggered in the slightest, thus rendering the so-called ‘magic’ attack null and void.
‘Tsk... Stupid. The Silver Lizard is a monster that has high resistance against fire, and even the Monster Encyclopedia says that a fire-attribute magic attack used against it has to be cast in tandem with a magic-amplifying spell to make it work!’?the young Porter grumbled inwardly.
Han-Yeol had been working as a Porter for over three years, and this was going to be his fourth year. The job was definitely dangerous, but the pay was very lucrative. Additionally, he was working as a Porter in hopes of Awakening one day.
So far, however, he could forget about Awakening and all that. All he had experienced working as a Porter was frustration, as he watched stupid Hunters make silly mistakes that were obvious even to him.
‘I mean... How can these Hunters who have worked for two years already make such stupid and frustrating mistakes...?’?Han-Yeol grumbled once more.
Han-Yeol had been diligently studying everything there was to know about the Hunters and the monsters in hopes of one day becoming a Hunter himself. How were these Hunters so ignorant of simple things that even he, someone who was not a Hunter but rather a lowly Porter, knew about? Han-Yeol could not help but click his tongue at the stupid Hunters’ ignorance and stubbornness.
“Damn it. This guy isn’t a joke!”
“Hey, Tank! Try and buy us some time!”
“Fuck! Can’t you see I’m doing my best right now?!”
Even the happy-go-lucky, leisurely atmosphere they had previously had turned sour the instant the monster hunt did not go as easily as they had expected. They cursed at one another, and the Tank’s vitality and item durability slowly started being chipped away by the monster.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
The Silver Lizard’s attacks continuously pounded against the Tank’s barrier.
“Keuheuk...!?Damn it!” the Tank cursed.
‘Hey... Isn’t this getting dangerous...?’?Han-Yeol thought. It seemed he was not the only one who had sensed the danger in the air; the other two Porters glanced backward, as they already appeared to be planning their escape.
It was then that the manager suddenly shouted, “Now! Let’s help the Hunters out!”
Ratatatatatata!
The manager’s gun spat a firestorm of bullets toward the monster. The remaining Porters did not really seem to want to engage the monster, but they had no choice but to fire as well, as the one in charge of them had opened fire first. They had to shoot at the monster alongside their manager if they wanted to stay in this line of work.
The same could be said for Han-Yeol. He fired his gun at the silver monster while exclaiming inwardly, ‘Die! Die you monster!’
Han-Yeol’s marksmanship was quite good, and he aimed precisely for the Silver Lizard’s legs, making it difficult for the monster to move around freely while cautiously avoiding any of its weak spots.
It was then that all of a sudden...
Ratatatata!
“Grrrr...!”?The monster growled.
“Which bastard was it?!” the manager screamed and cursed.
“D-Damn it...!” one of the Porters cried out. He was a newbie Porter, and he had accidentally shot the Silver Lizard’s reverse scale, which was the monster’s biggest weak spot. He had become extremely nervous and failed to control his gun’s recoil.
A Hunter fell on his rear as his legs gave way.
Thud...!
The guns the Porters were using possessed stronger firepower than normal guns, as they had been made by a crafting-class Hunter. However, that did not mean their attacks had been able to inflict any kind of significant damage to the Silver Lizard; the monster did not show any signs of the damage bothering it.
The problem was the fact that the aggro was now directed toward the newbie Porter.
“Run!” the manager shouted.
Tremble... Tremble...
“Euaaaaaaaah!”? the newbie Porter screamed, realizing that he could have just made a fatal mistake. He had learned during his Porter training that such mistakes could actually cost him his life.
He threw away his gun and tried to run away.
Tak!
However...
Thud...!
He was only able to run about ten meters before tripping on a rock and falling.
‘That son of a bitch... What a shitshow...’?Han-Yeol cursed inwardly.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud...!”
“Eh...?”
“What the? The aggro shifted?”
The Hunters only realized that the Porters had screwed up when the Silver Lizard ignored them and walked away all of a sudden. It was normal for the Hunters to scream and curse at the Porters under such circumstances, but this time, they seemed to be quite relaxed instead.
“Phew...! We can finally catch a breather,” one of the Hunters said.
The Hunters had also been in a pinch against the Silver Lizard previously. They decided to use the time ‘bought’ by the Porter to reorganize and rearm themselves, giving up on drawing the monster’s aggro toward them.
“I feel sorry for that dude, but it’s not that strange for a Porter to die while working. Besides, we would have been in danger if the fight dragged on, so... That bastard ended up sacrificing himself to save us Hunters, eh?” one of the Hunters said nonchalantly with a shrug.
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