← The Last Disciple of a Fallen Sect# The Boundary of the City
The boundary of the city was clear.
Where the forest ended and concrete began. Myeongwoo stopped there. He straightened his clothes. The torn parts couldn't be helped. Two days since descending from Cheongun Mountain. Exactly 36 hours since falling off the cliff.
The fact that he hadn't fallen still felt strange.
When the system activated the third option, reality reversed. Just before the gray wolf's claws touched the nape of Myeongwoo's neck, the world flashed white, and then there was nothing. It wasn't that his memory cut off—time itself had jumped. The moment he opened his eyes, Myeongwoo was already in the valley below the mountain. Submerged in water.
[Recovery in progress... 71%]
That's what the system status window showed now. Myeongwoo's forearm still bore the wolf's bite marks. Five lines. Varying depths. The deepest one seemed to have touched bone.
The path into the city. Myeongwoo clenched his jaw.
"Huh?"
A voice came from behind.
"Hyung, those clothes... where did you go hunting?"
Myeongwoo turned around. His gaze stopped. A man. Early twenties. Wearing athletic clothes. But more striking than that was the weapon on his back. More precisely, something that looked like a weapon. A transparent, sword-like object was fixed to his back.
"This?"
The man followed Myeongwoo's gaze. He looked at his own back and laughed.
"Oh, this? It's a senior hunter badge. I'm Ji-hoon Lee. I've been with the Cheongun Hunter Association for 3 years. And you are?"
Myeongwoo didn't answer. Instead, he called up the system.
[Senior hunter?]
The interface appeared. Or rather, only partially.
[Insufficient information]
Ji-hoon Lee continued talking.
"Are you perhaps an unregistered hunter? Or did you come from another region? Anyway, those clothes look like... you've been on the mountain for too long. If your system score is low, it could be dangerous even inside the city."
"System score?"
Myeongwoo opened his mouth for the first time. His voice was rough. He realized that not speaking to people for three years did this to your voice.
"Huh? You don't know?"
Ji-hoon's eyes widened.
"You really are unregistered. Well, to put it simply... here, strength is economic power, and economic power is safety. When you sell monster materials obtained from hunting, the price varies depending on the score the system determines. If your score is high, you can enter higher-tier hunting grounds, and the materials you get there are naturally more expensive."
Ji-hoon pointed to the wound on Myeongwoo's forearm.
"But that wound... could it be from a gray wolf?"
Myeongwoo didn't answer.
"That's insane. Gray wolves are mid-tier monsters, and in that condition, even a senior hunter would be in danger. Did you handle it alone? Or..."
"Where do you register with the system?"
Myeongwoo cut him off.
Ji-hoon pointed with his finger toward the city.
"That tall building you see in the center? It's the Cheongun Association headquarters. If you go there, you'll be examined and given a rank. But one piece of advice—get that wound treated first. You'll regret it if a scar forms."
Myeongwoo entered the city. Ji-hoon followed.
"Do you have any interest in forming a team? Our team is short one person."
"No."
"You must be busy."
Ji-hoon gave up quickly. Instead, he guided Myeongwoo through the city.
The streets were different from what he expected. The 'city three years later' that Myeongwoo had imagined seemed like it would be more peaceful. But this was different.
The way people walked was different. Everyone was tense. Their eyes were sharp. And the distinction between ordinary people and hunters was clear. Hunters occupied space differently. Ordinary people automatically made way.
And transactions were happening everywhere.
"See those street vendors? They're all hunters. Monster material trading posts."
At one stall, people were haggling over transparent crystals. At another place, someone was wearing what looked like metal armor. Myeongwoo's gaze went there.
[Unknown Equipment - Insufficient information]
"That's armor made from monster hide. The price is insane. That person must be at least an advanced hunter..."
Ji-hoon's explanation continued.
But Myeongwoo stopped listening.
Something caught his eye. Inside an alley. Eight men in black suits. Surrounding one person. That person was wearing clothes caked with dirt. Poorly armed.
"Please... just give me one more week..."
The voice was trembling.
"A deadline is a deadline."
The leader-like man in the black suit snapped his finger. At that moment, the air around him shook. Myeongwoo's survival instinct screamed. A danger signal.
Something sharp formed behind that man. Something like wind. Or rather, precisely—
[System Skill Detected - Insufficient information]
That wind grazed the dirt-caked man. His arm was sliced off. Instead of a scream, a cry came out. Like a whimper.
"By next Friday. If you can't bring it..."
The man in the black suit laughed.
"I'll show you what happens."
They disappeared. Deeper into the alley.
"Huh?"
Ji-hoon was looking at Myeongwoo.
"Hyung, why are you trying to move..."
Myeongwoo's movement was instinct. His feet headed toward the alley. To follow that man.
"No, wait!"
Ji-hoon grabbed his arm.
"That's a credit recovery unit. If you get caught by them, whether you're a hunter or not, it's all over. At your level, it's even more dangerous."
Myeongwoo stopped.
"Credit recovery unit?"
"Yes, well... when hunters can't pay back borrowed money, they come and collect it. The higher your system score, the more you can borrow, and if you can't pay back... well, you saw that guy's arm."
Myeongwoo looked at the spot where the dirt-caked man had collapsed. No one helped him. Ordinary people walked around that place.
"So this is natural here."
Myeongwoo muttered.
"What?"
"Nothing."
Myeongwoo walked again. Toward the association headquarters.
Ji-hoon followed and continued explaining. Hunter ranks. The importance of scores. The credit system. And the danger levels of hunting grounds.
Myeongwoo pretended to listen. But his mind was elsewhere.
The reason he hadn't fallen off the cliff.
The identity of the gray wolf.
And the system's third option.
What he had learned and lost over three years.
The fact that this world had changed this much in three years.
Myeongwoo's gaze turned back toward the alley. To where the credit recovery unit had disappeared.
Another system was operating there.
Completely different from the system Myeongwoo had first felt.
# The Hunter's Guild
The guild headquarters was more shabby than expected.
Gray concrete walls, rusted iron doors, and a sign reading "Hunter's Guild" in red letters above the entrance. The end of the sign had broken off. It seemed like no one had bothered to repair it in quite some time.
"This is the official registration office. If I introduce you, the process will be faster. The registration fee is paid in system points."
Ji-hoon pushed open the door and walked in. Myeong-woo followed behind him.
The interior was dark and cramped. A single fluorescent light flickered, and a middle-aged man sitting behind a desk was smoking. The cigarette smoke drifted near the ceiling before being sucked into a ventilation duct.
"Oh, Ji-hoon. Bringing another newbie?"
The man spoke with a cigarette dangling from his lips. His eyes swept past Myeong-woo and moved on. It wasn't an evaluating gaze. Just mechanical eyes collecting information necessary for the registration process.
"Yes. This person just arrived in the city and wants to register with the guild."
Ji-hoon introduced Myeong-woo. Myeong-woo recalled the information he had prepared.
"Name?"
"Seo Myeong-woo."
"Age?"
"Twenty-eight."
Myeong-woo lied. Knowing his true age would be suicide. He couldn't know how three years had passed or how many years he'd aged in that time. The same went for the thirty-six hours between the moment he fell from the cliff and the moment he woke up in the valley.
That's why he chose twenty-eight. An age that was neither too young nor too old. Old enough to appear experienced, but young enough to pass as a newbie just starting to hunt.
"ID?"
"I don't have one."
Myeong-woo answered calmly.
The cigarette-smoking man paused. His eyes turned back to Myeong-woo.
"You don't?"
"I'm an orphan."
This was also a lie. But this lie carried a deep truth. Everyone from the Cheongun faction was dead. In every sense, Myeong-woo was as good as an orphan.
The cigarette man looked at Ji-hoon.
"Where did you pick this guy up?"
"Met him on the street. He had a weapon and looked to be in good physical condition."
"A weapon?"
The man looked at Myeong-woo again. Myeong-woo revealed the sword on his back. The scabbard was worn, but the blade gleamed. He had polished it before falling from the cliff.
"Hmm... that'll do."
The cigarette man accessed the system. His fingers moved through the air. Myeong-woo assumed, like Ji-hoon had done, that there was something in front of his hands. An augmented reality interface. Another tool provided by the system.
"Seo Myeong-woo. Orphan. Age twenty-eight. No ID. Basic sword equipment. No skill test."
The man muttered.
"Is it okay to skip the test?"
Myeong-woo asked.
"It's fine since a high-ranking hunter brought you. Ji-hoon takes responsibility for you."
Ji-hoon nodded.
"Registration fee is 100 points. Monthly maintenance fee is 10 points. If you don't have points, you can pay in cash, but..."
The man looked at Myeong-woo.
"Do you have cash?"
"No."
Myeong-woo answered.
The cigarette man accessed the system again. Something appeared in front of Myeong-woo. This time, Myeong-woo could see it too. A transparent screen. Words written on it.
【 New Hunter Registration 】
Name: Seo Myeong-woo
Age: 28
Status: Unregistered
Rank: Grade 1 (Beginner)
System Points: 0
【 Registration Fee: 100 Points Required 】
【 Current Points: 0 】
"What if I don't have points?"
"You go into debt. The guild extends you 100 points on credit, and you pay it back while you work. If you can't pay it back..."
The man didn't say anything more. But Myeong-woo understood. It meant the credit collection squad would come. Like the mud-covered man.
Myeong-woo thought for a moment. Taking guild credit meant incurring another debt. It was an unavoidable process to move within this city's system.
"I'll register."
Myeong-woo answered.
The cigarette man flicked his fingers. The system responded.
【 Guild Credit 100 Points Granted 】
【 Current Points: 100 】
【 Hunter Registration Complete 】
The screen disappeared. At the same time, something appeared on Myeong-woo's arm. It looked like a bracelet. Made of black metal. Numbers were displayed on its surface.
100
"That's your credit score. You trade everything with that, and your hunter rank is determined by it. The higher your points, the better hunting grounds you can access, and the higher-ranked monsters you can hunt."
The man explained.
"But the speed at which it decreases is what matters."
Ji-hoon added.
"What do you mean?"
Myeong-woo asked.
"Registration fee 100 points. Monthly maintenance fee 10 points. The points you can earn from hunting... a Grade 1 hunter makes about 5 points per monster. Up to 10 points if it's a good hunting ground, but that requires experience."
Ji-hoon explained.
"So?"
"So most newbies can't pay back their debt. The debt increases before they can earn enough points."
Myeong-woo swallowed. It was a calculated trap.
Registration fee 100 - Maintenance fee 10 (monthly) = 90 points remaining.
He needed to earn 50 points a month to break even. That meant a Grade 1 hunter had to hunt 10 monsters.
About one per day seemed possible.
But there was the danger level of the hunting grounds. Inexperienced newbies had to start from safe hunting grounds. The rewards there were meager.
"Where should I hunt first?"
Myeong-woo asked.
"Beginner hunting ground. The eastern district is the safest. You can get a map here."
The cigarette man handed over a paper map. It looked hand-drawn. Not accurate, but sufficient.
Myeong-woo took the map.
"Thank you."
"Thank Ji-hoon. Without this guy, you'd already be a target for the credit collection squad."
The cigarette man lit another cigarette.
Myeong-woo and Ji-hoon left the guild headquarters.
Sunlight stabbed at Myeong-woo's eyes. The system bracelet reflected the sunlight. The number 100 engraved on the black metal gleamed.
"Now it really begins."
Ji-hoon said.
Myeong-woo unfolded the map. The eastern district was marked. Near the city boundary. A beginner hunting ground.
He felt like he would understand something there.
The true nature of the system. And what this city really was.
Myeong-woo folded the map again.
"Let's go."
It was the clearest thing he'd said since falling from the cliff.