Chapter 1
What exactly is talent?
Many people say talent is like a flower.
If you diligently nurture it with fertilizer and water, it will bloom beautifully someday.
That no matter what, it will bloom when the time is right.
But what if…
What if the flower doesn’t bloom when I expect it to?
How long am I supposed to wait for it to finally blossom?
Who’s going to whisper to me when that elusive moment will arrive?
Now, I’m starting to doubt.
Was the seed of talent even planted in me in the first place?
Even now, in this very moment, I haven’t awakened a single shred of talent.
ROOOAAARRRR!
“Arghhh!”
Right in front of me stands a monster named Balrog.
It’s slaughtering the nation’s strongest S-rank Awakened with ease inside this dungeon.
“This is insane!”
I realized it instinctively.
If I stay here, I’m going to die.
The Temple of Balrog.
A dungeon entrance appeared near the Han River.
This dungeon was set up to film a promotional video featuring the country’s top hunters. It was supposed to be an A-rank dungeon, but it turned out to be an unclassified one—at least S-rank or higher.
We were promised safety, but safety my ass. I’m about to die right now.
‘So, a dungeon break happened… which means all the S-rank hunters who went in are dead?’
The spot I was assigned to—the so-called “prime location” for interviewing hunters after they cleared the dungeon—has now turned into a perfect graveyard since they’re all dead.
‘Goddamn it, Manager Hwang, you bastard!’
He kept nagging me about this being a big scoop, practically forcing me to come here.
I should’ve just gone to cover some promising rookie hunters instead.
I’ve seen enough S-rank hunters to last a lifetime. Why the hell did I even bother coming here for them?
‘No way. I can’t die. Not like this.’
I can’t die in a place like this.
I didn’t claw my way through life just to die so pathetically.
At that moment, a rock came flying from somewhere and struck my head.
“Gah!”
A sharp pain shot through the back of my skull, and my vision wavered.
A sticky liquid flowed down from my head, obscuring my sight.
My instincts were screaming.
Death was staring me in the face.
‘Is this really it? Is this really the end?’
I’m angry. I’m pissed off.
I worked so hard.
I gave it my all, and this is the result I get?
I spent my days lugging around a camera as a reporter, getting cursed out as a “trash journalist,” sleeping on the streets when I had to.
‘They said I had S-rank talent…’
Every aptitude test I took told me I had “S-rank talent.”
I endured this filthy, disgusting reporter life clinging to those words. But…
“Hey, Baek Kang-hyun, how long are you going to live in a fantasy?”
“What, you think your talent’s going to awaken when you’re half-dead?”
“Just give up on being a hunter and live your damn life, man.”
The reality I was given? A “talentless nobody.”
The people who approached me warmly, saying I was destined for S-rank greatness, sneered when my talent never awakened.
They mocked me, saying I strutted around like I was S-rank but ended up as nothing.
‘If it was gonna turn out like this, I wish the tests never said I had S-rank potential!’
I believed my whole life that my time would come.
That if I could just awaken my ability, I could do anything.
That I could become a top-tier hunter the world would look up to.
That I could make all those who hyped me up and then abandoned me eat their words.
I held onto that one belief like a lifeline, surviving day by day.
But even now, with death staring me down…
‘Damn it, damn it, damn it!’
All I can do is run.
The talent I waited for still hasn’t awakened.
Even in my final moments, I’m not allowed even the smallest struggle.
This is the reality I’ve been given.
‘Why is it only me who has to deal with this crap?! I worked so hard!’
I worked hard. Really, truly hard—so hard that anyone would agree.
I wanted to be a hunter, so I trained relentlessly, even when others laughed at me.
Even as a reporter, I obsessively gathered every scrap of information, thinking of the future.
I prepared for that “what if” moment, training my body and mind.
…
‘They said I could do it! They said I had talent!’
All my life, I was told countless times that I had “S-rank talent” hidden within me.
But now, in my late twenties, not a single spark of that talent has awakened.
Every time, I thought to myself:
It’s just that the time hasn’t come yet.
If I wait a little longer, my unique talent will surely appear.
So I worked on myself, tirelessly.
I built my strength, my knowledge, my mind, my experience.
I researched countless pieces of information and studied every kind of talent, preparing myself to handle whatever ability might come my way.
I waited, fully prepared, hoping that at any moment my talent would awaken.
But…
ROOOAAARRRR!
Even now, I haven’t awakened a single shred of talent.
“Ha, haha, this is insane.”
The Balrog spotted me fleeing and spread its wings in my direction.
Of all the people to get caught, it just had to be me…
How can someone’s luck be this bad?
WHOOSH!
The flames spewed by the Balrog incinerated the surrounding area in an instant.
‘Haha, am I really going to die?’
My breath was ragged, my body at its limit.
The places I could see in the distance had already turned to ash. One more flap of the Balrog’s wings, and it would catch me.
My legs were giving out, and the scorching heat of the flames was burning my body.
I could feel it—death was coming.
‘…My talent.’
I worked so hard. If nothing else, I wished my talent would awaken in this final moment.
But even now, with death staring me in the face, there was nothing but silence.
In the end, even until the very last second, no talent awakened.
‘Is this really it? Really?’
I haven’t shown the world that mocked my efforts a single thing.
Am I really going to end my life staring up at the sky, never reaching it? Really?
‘Don’t screw with me!’
I can’t end like this.
I absolutely won’t let it end like this.
I poured my entire life into this—there’s no way I’ll let it end here.
At that moment—
WHOOM!
A massive yellow circle appeared before me.
‘A… a warp gate?’
There was no mistaking it—I’d seen that shape countless times before. A warp gate.
Yes, at the very least, I can’t let my story end in such a pathetic way.
‘That’s right. I absolutely won’t die like this.’
I sprinted toward the warp gate with every ounce of strength I had.
No, I ran like I was ready to die trying.
ROOOAAARRRR!
A deafening roar echoed behind me, accompanied by a searing heat at my back.
I was going to die here anyway.
I didn’t know what lay beyond that warp gate or what was waiting for me.
But it had to be better than dying right now.
‘Fine! Whatever happens, happens!’
There was no need to think anymore.
With all my strength, I threw myself into the warp gate.
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