← The Last Survivor of the S-Rank GateThe training room on the third basement level. Fluorescent lights in a row poured white light from the ceiling. Junhyeok stood at the corner of the wall.
"Hey, you see that E-rank?"
Someone's voice was heard. Junhyeok didn't turn his eyes. He looked ahead. It wasn't quite right to say he was looking at the wall. He just looked at where his gaze was resting.
"What's his applied position? Recorder?"
Laughter burst out. It wasn't a small laugh. It wasn't just one or two people. About ten new recruits gathered nearby laughed in unison. It wasn't laughter coming from the throat, but from the nose—laughter that looked down on something.
Junhyeok's shoulders hunched. His shirt felt like it was clinging to his body.
"What does a recorder do? Film the fights for us?"
"ㅋㅋㅋ This is hilarious. What's an E-rank doing here?"
There was nowhere left to turn his gaze. Junhyeok looked at his shoes. Gray sneakers. He'd bought them a month ago. The left toe area was already starting to peel.
'I shouldn't have applied.'
Regret was a feeling he knew too well. Junhyeok felt it settling heavily in his chest. His breathing became shallow.
"Didn't you hear? You're E-rank, right?"
The voice came closer. Junhyeok still looked at his shoes.
"Huh? Ignoring me. When someone talks to an E-rank, you're supposed to answer."
It was Kang Tae-o.
He knew just from the voice. Kang Tae-o's distinctive voice, resonating from above his nose. Whenever that voice came out, someone always got hurt. Junhyeok slowly inhaled.
"I heard you, Lee Junhyeok."
Kang Tae-o called Junhyeok's name. The name sounded like a curse.
Junhyeok lifted his head. Kang Tae-o was a B-rank hunter. That rank wasn't necessary for newbie training. The fact that Kang Tae-o was here meant he hadn't come as an investigator or supervisor. He just came. He just decided to be here.
"Yeah, that's me."
Junhyeok's voice was small. But it didn't tremble. He couldn't afford to let his voice tremble. If he did, it would be over. Then they'd bite harder.
Kang Tae-o's lips curled up. "A recorder? Is that really your applied position?"
"Yes."
"What do you do? Really."
Junhyeok answered. Like reciting a memorized line, precise and cold.
"It's an occupation that records all incidents and phenomena that occur upon dungeon entry. It's necessary for post-analysis and strategy planning."
"Wow, what is this. This E-rank even memorized the association manual."
Laughter burst out again. This time, louder.
Kang Tae-o stepped closer. Junhyeok could see Kang Tae-o's necklace. A steel necklace made of S-rank materials. Thick enough to be the width of a finger. Kang Tae-o wore it to flaunt his B-rank status.
"But you know what. Is a recorder really necessary? To me, you just look like baggage."
Kang Tae-o's face came closer to Junhyeok's. He could feel his breathing.
Junhyeok didn't close his eyes. He didn't step back. He just looked at Kang Tae-o. He looked into Kang Tae-o's eyes. There was nothing there. Not emptiness, not malice. Just a playful way of killing time.
"I just... think there are people who think it's necessary."
"People who think it's necessary?"
Kang Tae-o burst into laughter. A long one.
"The only ones who think E-ranks are necessary are E-ranks themselves. You don't know, but when you really go into a dungeon, someone like you is real baggage. Someone dies because of you. You get it?"
Junhyeok's throat tightened.
Kang Tae-o raised his hand. He extended his finger in front of Junhyeok's chest. Pressing down on the protruding breastbone.
"Record? Try it. Later, when someone dies because of you, how are you going to record that?"
Junhyeok said nothing. Kang Tae-o's finger kept pressing. He felt the pressure going down into his training clothes.
At that moment.
"Kang Tae-o."
The instructor's voice was heard. It was low, cold, and final.
Kang Tae-o pulled his hand back. Junhyeok exhaled. It was breath he'd been holding without realizing it.
"Harassment during the newbie training process is a violation of association regulations. If caught again, I'll exclude you from training."
The instructor stood at the entrance of the training room. He looked to be around fifty years old. His face had no particular expression.
Kang Tae-o let out a laugh carelessly. "Understood."
Then he turned and went to the side of the other new recruits. The recruits had scattered somewhere. There was no one near Junhyeok.
The instructor looked at Junhyeok. Junhyeok looked at the instructor too.
"You okay?"
"Yes. I'm fine."
"Don't lie. Your face is telling me."
Junhyeok closed his mouth. He didn't know what to say. He couldn't tell the truth. If he told the truth, he'd look weaker. Then they'd bite harder.
The instructor stepped closer. Unlike Kang Tae-o. Kang Tae-o's approach was pressure. This was a different kind.
"Why did an E-rank come here?"
Junhyeok answered. "Because I want to be a hunter."
"A recorder?"
"Yes."
The instructor nodded. "Then remember this. What Kang Tae-o said isn't everything about being a hunter. If you weren't needed, would the association have called you? A recorder is the most important role in war-like dungeons. Without someone to record who died, where they died, and why they died, you can't plan the next strategy. You understand?"
Junhyeok nodded.
The instructor turned around.
"That's all for today's training. See you next time."
The recruits started to move. Junhyeok moved too. Retying his shoelaces.
The peeling shoelace looked like it would fall off again.
The Association's conference room. A round table sat in a space that looked to be over ten meters high. Selected hunters stood around it.
Junhyuk was one of them.
"The Abyss."
Team Leader Park Seoyeon's voice echoed. Those two words alone changed the air. Junhyuk tried to steady his breathing but failed. The Abyss was a legend. Six months ago it was classified as an S-rank gate, and since then it had been called the most dangerous dungeon among hunters.
Park Seoyeon placed her hand on the table. Her fingers were thin and long. Black gloves covered them. Mana circuits were inscribed on those gloves that extended to her forearms. They belonged to an S-rank hunter.
"I will announce the team composition."
Her eyes slowly swept across each hunter. Choi Minjun shifted his weight where he stood. Junhyuk could read the anticipation in Minjun's shoulders. Choi Minjun was an A-rank combat hunter. He would naturally be selected.
"Team Leader: Park Seoyeon, myself."
Park Seoyeon pointed to herself.
"Combat Role, First Priority: Choi Minjun. A-rank combat hunter."
The corners of Minjun's mouth lifted. Junhyuk saw it. He saw his friend's joy. That made Junhyuk feel slightly more at ease. With Minjun there, it felt like they could survive.
"Combat Role, Second Priority: Kim Jaeho. B-rank hunter."
A man standing beside the table stood up. Junhyuk had never seen him before. That meant he wasn't a newcomer. He was an experienced hunter affiliated with the Association.
"Healing Role: Oh Jieun. B-rank support hunter."
The female hunter nodded. Green mana swirled around her arms. It was healing-type mana.
"Recorder: Lee Junhyuk. E-rank hunter."
The air stopped.
It took Junhyuk about a second to process that his name had been called. E-rank. Recorder. Himself.
The Abyss.
"A recorder is essential. In S-rank gates, combat data is survival strategy itself."
Park Seoyeon's voice was calm. But Junhyuk could read something in her eyes. Doubt. Or judgment.
"Can Lee Junhyuk fulfill that role?"
Park Seoyeon looked at Junhyuk. Directly.
Junhyuk's throat went dry. His fingers trembled. He shoved his hands into his pockets. So the trembling wouldn't show. So his weakness wouldn't show.
"Yes."
One word. That was all.
Park Seoyeon looked at Junhyuk for thirty seconds. To Junhyuk, that time felt like thirty minutes. He could hear his own pulse in his ears. His breathing was too fast. His hands still trembled.
"Remember. E-rank."
Park Seoyeon spoke.
"In an S-rank gate, combat hunters can die. You must record the moment they die. You must record their final location. You must record their final words. All of that determines the survival rate of the next team. Understand?"
Junhyuk nodded. He couldn't answer with words. His throat was too dry.
"Gate entry is in four days. Prepare your equipment. And..."
Park Seoyeon stepped closer. She was about ten centimeters shorter than Junhyuk, but at that distance, she looked enormous.
"Don't die. You're someone we need."
Junhyuk couldn't understand what that meant. Whether it was trust or pressure. Threat or encouragement.
Choi Minjun grabbed Junhyuk's arm.
"Congratulations, Junhyuk. You're going to the Abyss."
Minjun's face was bright. But Junhyuk's hands still trembled.
Four days.
Junhyuk twisted his fingers. Until they turned white.
That night, Junhyuk lay in bed staring at the ceiling. There was nothing on the ceiling. Just white paint and cracked lines.
The Abyss.
That word circled through his mind. Again. And again. It didn't stop.
Junhyuk checked his recording equipment. A small notebook. Six pens. That was all. Very simple equipment. But as Park Seoyeon said, it would determine the survival of the next team.
If he didn't record properly, the next team would die.
If he died, the next team would die.
Junhyuk twisted his fingers again.
Four days felt like seconds.