“Oppa! Where are you? Se-hoon oppa!”
Kim Se-jeong frantically searched for her missing brother, bustling around the house.
Even though it was just a small 18-pyeong (about 60 square meters) two-room rental apartment, Kim Se-hoon hid so well that finding him was never easy when he disappeared like this.
“Ugh, where is he? Oh, wait. No way?”
Kim Se-jeong went to the master bedroom and looked under the bed just in case. Sure enough, this troublemaker was sleeping under the bed, snoring peacefully.
“Oh, you idiot!”
Kim Se-jeong grabbed her immature oppa’s ear and dragged him out from under the bed.
Woken up abruptly by her, Kim Se-hoon whined about the pain.
“Ow, ow! Se-jeong, it hurts. Oppa’s in a lot of pain. Hey, let go of my ear.”
Kim Se-jeong let out a deep sigh and let go of his ear.
“Oppa! Why are you always sleeping under there? Wouldn’t it be so much better to sleep on the bed? It’s way more comfortable! no?”
Kim Se-hoon flashed a good-natured, sheepish smile and mumbled.
“Well, no. If it’s too comfortable… I can’t sleep. And when you sleep on the bed, it’s all open around you. Doesn’t that feel unsecured? Under the bed, it’s super safe. It’s hard to find, dark, and cozy. Under the bed is the best!”
Unable to comprehend her brother’s bizarre mindset, Kim Se-jeong smacked his back hard and shouted.
“Oppaa! Stop talking nonsense and go eat! Ugh, I shouldn’t even bother.”
Whack!
Despite getting a solid hit on his back, Kim Se-hoon grinned as if it didn’t hurt and sat down at the dining table.
Stir-fried Vienna sausages, beef seaweed soup, and even stir-fried kimchi. The table was set with all his favorite foods in the world.
“Wow, what a feast.”
Perhaps it was her son’s childish yet innocent expression that warmed her heart? Park Jeong-sook placed a heaping bowl of rice in front of him and patted his head.
“Yes, eat a lot, my son~”
“Yes, Mother. Thank you for the meal.”
Watching Kim Se-hoon take a big bite of his heaping rice, stuffing his mouth like a chipmunk and eating the sausages and kimchi with a fork, Kim Se-jeong let out a deep sigh.
Her brother, who returned home after ten years. It had been so long that she could barely remember his face.
Then out of nowhere, her brother who was thought to be missing and dead returned with a police escort. It had already been a month since.
At first, Kim Se-jeong had jumped for joy at her brother’s return. But as time passed, the dependable figure from her memories was nowhere to be found, no matter how hard she looked. Instead, only his flaws stood out, growing clearer by the day and carving themselves into her mind.
He didn’t know how to use a computer and broke the mouse and monitor. They scraped money to buy him an expensive smartphone, only for him to shatter the screen because he couldn’t control the touch strength.
He was nothing short of a complete troublemaker and a nuisance.
In the end, she had become a true younger sister, constantly nagging and picking on her burdensome brother. The warm promise she once made to herself, to treat him kindly if he ever came back, had long been tossed aside like a piece of candy.
Above all, his peculiarities were more than just a few. His strange habit of not being able to sleep properly unless under the bed or in a closet was one thing, but forgetting how to use chopsticks and using a fork and knife more skillfully than a Westerner was suspicious beyond measure.
Yet, when asked about his past, all he gave were half-hearted answers like “I don’t remember,” leaving Se-jeong with no choice but to wear a disheartened expression.
“Tch, Mom always favors Oppa. Don’t you see your daughter? Where’s my food~?”
“You brat, serve yourself.”
“Hmph, so unfair. You only always treat oppa like a prince.”
“Enough, get ready for work!”
Pouting at Park Jeong-sook’s scolding but serving herself rice, Se-jeong reached for the side dishes, only for her chopsticks to freeze in midair with nowhere to go.
In that short moment, the Vienna sausages were reduced to just onions and bell peppers, and the beef seaweed soup in the pot had lost all its meat and broth, leaving only seaweed stems, practically turning into stir-fried seaweed.
And the culprit behind the side dish annihilation, Kim Se-hoon, had cheeks so puffed up they were about to burst like a balloon, causing three veins to pop on Se-jeong’s forehead.
“Hey, you jerk! I like meat and sausages too!!!”
Kim Se-jeong finally screamed at the dining table and Park Jeong-sook who smacked her daughter’s forehead with a ladle, calling her lazy.
“And Kim Se-hoon, with his potbelly sticking out, lay on the floor grinning, savoring his fullness, completely ignoring his sister getting hit beside him.”
It was an ordinary but warm daily life.
After finishing the meal and cleaning up, Kim Se-jeong changed into a miniskirt suit and put on black stockings. Watching her, Kim Se-hoon muttered as if he couldn’t get used to it.
“She was a tiny little kid back then.”
The 12-year-old boy-like girl with tanned skin who loved playing outside had grown up in the blink of an eye, now boasting the fresh beauty of a woman in her early twenties.
Long, jet-black hair like dark silk and an S-line figure with all the right curves. Her eyes were a bit small, perhaps a family trait, but with eyeliner, they became sharp and intelligent, adding to her charm.
And with the suit on, she exuded an aura that could rival any career woman fresh off Gangnam Station.
“Hmph, you say ‘I don’t remember’ or ‘It’s annoying’ whenever I ask something, but you seem to remember your little sister’s old self just fine?”
At her jab, Se-hoon flashed his signature crescent-eyed smile and grinned.
“I tried hard.”
“Huh? Tried what hard?”
“Tried hard not to forget. Even as time passed and memories faded like dust, there were precious things I absolutely couldn’t let myself forget.”
Touched by his words and scratching the tip of her nose, Kim Se-jeong felt awkward in the tender atmosphere and turned her head, only to gasp when she saw her wristwatch.
“Oh no! I’m late! Ugh!”
About to rush out, Kim Se-jeong sensed something odd and turned around. There stood her 32-year-old unemployed brother, dressed in sweatpants and triple-striped slippers, grinning cheekily.
“Oppa, what are you doing?”
As Kim Se-jeong glared at him with narrowed eyes, Kim Se-hoon answered with his hands stuffed in his pockets.
“What else? I’m gonna walk my little sister to work.”
“Oh, please, that’s pointless. Oppa? Staying put is helping. I beg you, please just stay holed up at home.”
“Tch, but what if my little sister gets into danger… Well, I guess you’ll manage. Alright, I’ll stay.”
Seeing Se-jeong’s eyes shooting lasers and her clenched fists trembling, Kim Se-hoon nonchalantly spoke, kicked off his slippers, and darted back into the house, sensing the smell of violence.
Having dealt with the troublemaker, Kim Se-jeong hurried off to work.
“Let’s hurry. If I catch the train on time, I might just be on time.”
Wearing high heels, Kim Se-jeong ran. She barely made it onto the train and lucky for her, she found a seat in the corner.
Nodding off like a cuckoo clock, she jolted awake with shaman-like instincts when the train reached her station and leaped out.
8:50 AM. She had narrowly avoided being late.
It was a seven-story building where Kim Sejong headed from the station. Although its exterior was old, it was a clean clan building with its interior remodeled.
“Se-jeong, you’re not late today? You’ve been late a few times lately unlike your normal self. Hohoho-”
The cleaning lady greeted her warmly as soon as she entered. Bowing slightly, Se-jeong replied.
“Yeah, I’ve been all over the place since my brother came back. By the way, has the clan master arrived?”
“Not yet.”
“Phew, thank goodness.”
Relieved, Kim Se-jeong went to the basement training room locker, changed into training clothes, and swapped her shoes for sneakers.
She wished she could just come in comfortable clothes, but since she had to head straight to her part-time job after training, she had no choice.
“Huh, why is no one here?”
Kim Se-jeong was an intern at HaZard, a small-to-medium-sized clan. Clan was an organization of hunters that collected artifacts, mana stones, and various monster materials from cleared dungeons.
Ten years ago, the world underwent a major upheaval. Dungeons began appearing worldwide.
No one knew why these dungeons started appearing, but lots of things changed afterward.
Along with the dungeons, a supernatural energy called mana began spreading across the Earth.
This mana had a mysterious effect on the human body, awakening certain individuals with potential. These awakened people could wield extraordinary powers, like breathing fire or freezing objects, powers that wouldn’t be out of place for a superhuman.
At first, these powers were a societal headache. The few who gained special abilities were hard to control, and some used their powers for crime which caused chaos.
But it didn’t take long for the headache to become a goldmine. Dungeons, where modern weapons were useless and dangerous monsters swarmed like clouds, were once considered wastelands.
This was because awakened individuals didn’t lose their powers in dungeons.
The United States, the first to recognize this, elevated the social status of awakened individuals and offered various benefits to recruit them.
They gathered these awakened individuals to clear the dungeons.
This was the first raid and the first clear.
Realizing the value of the resources and artifacts from dungeons, the U.S. cleared dungeons with awakened individuals, researched survival methods, and trained them based on the gathered information.
The U.S. named these fully trained awakened individuals “hunters” and established the Hunter Association, a national organization.
The association protected the rights and welfare of awakened individuals, trained them as hunters, and created the clan system to complete the structure.
Ten years later, with numerous hunter support policies in place, hunters surpassed veterinarians and celebrities to become the top dream job in society. Ten of the world’s top 100 richest individuals were hunters which was a remarkable achievement.
It was truly the era of hunters, with their status in modern society being extraordinary.
“Huh? Se-jeong, what are you doing here? Isn’t today theory training? Shouldn’t you be on the third floor?”
At the words of a clan staff member checking the facilities, Se-jeong’s face turned pale.
Watching Kim Se-jeong hurriedly dash off, the staff member clicked their tongue and shook their head.
“Tch, she’s still getting left out, huh? Why does N0ma keep trying to be a hunter? It’d be easier if she just lived within her means.”
