“Hae-seon…!!”

My sister, having been treated by Kiril, regained consciousness. For a while, she clung to me, shedding tears, then fell asleep as if she had fainted. Until the very moment she fell asleep, she kept repeating the words, “Thank goodness.”

To think I almost told someone like this that she had been given a terminal diagnosis. Just the thought of it made me dizzy. My sister couldn’t remember anything after encountering the black toad.

So, I was able to make up a story. I said, ‘We were lucky to get help from a Hunter who was nearby,’ and as always, my sister believed my words implicitly. Well, she was probably in no state to question things right now.

While my sister was in a deep sleep, I skimmed through some online articles and then turned on the TV. Breaking news about today’s Gate was being broadcast on the old TV screen.

[Today's afternoon Gate incident is an unprecedented and unusual case…]

Now that the immediate fire was put out, the doubts I had at the Gate cautiously reared their heads. Why weren't the Hunters on standby beforehand? Forget about exterminating Monsters, they hadn't even set up Safe Lines to restrict civilian access.

If only that line had been properly established, my sister wouldn't have entered the Gate.

[The Glory Guild, which has jurisdiction over the area, was unavoidably…]

The more the announcer reported, the more my anger flared. Today, a ‘Double Gate’ had opened in the Republic of Korea. An unusual situation where Gates opened in two different locations at the same time.

It was a rare occurrence, but not completely unheard of. However, there was a reason the announcer was making a fuss, calling it an ‘unprecedented and unusual case.’ The appearance of a Poison-type Monster was something that might happen once a year, but the Monsters that appeared in both locations of the ‘Double Gate’ were both Poison-type.

[Due to the limited resources of Hunters and equipment for dealing with Poison-type Monsters…]

The areas where the Double Gate occurred were Gupadong and Gaebang District. Both are in the same district, but they are often talked about for their extreme gap between rich and poor. Gupadong, known as the wealthiest neighborhood in the Republic of Korea.

And Gaebang District, where people like us, struggling to get by day to day, were gathered.

[The Glory Guild has expressed its deepest condolences to the bereaved families of those who died in this Gate incident, and will increase equipment for dealing with Poison-type Monsters in the future…]

Who was it that said that? A long tongue means you're nervous. The announcer wasn't part of the Glory Guild, but my face contorted as I watched him ramble on with explanations.

And soon, I came to the following conclusion.

‘Gaebang District was abandoned.’

The comments on the articles I checked online were no different from my thoughts. └Wow, damn. What rotten luck. How can a Poison-type show up as a Double Gate? └They say over five hundred people died.

Isn't that the highest death toll in recent years? └Glory, those bastards. They have money to shoot commercials all day long, but not to get equipment to deal with Poison-types? └No, no. Do you know what kind of guild Glory is? Their Poison response team was dispatched from the start.

It’s just that the place they were dispatched to wasn’t Gaebang District. └It was either split the team in two or definitively abandon one place. They chose to give up on the beggars of Gaebang District. └Honestly, isn't that the obvious choice?

They were forced to take on the poor areas because the Association pressured them when expanding their jurisdiction, and since they only had one team, of course they'd have to protect the rich neighborhood first lololol └Glad it's not my neighborhood.

They're scrambling to add personnel and equipment now, a scene I've seen many times before. └Meanwhile, the Glory Guild swept up all the A-rank Hunters this quarter. They look like they're trying to conquer the world. Although the Glory Guild is nominally a public service entity for the nation, they are ultimately a group that pursues profit.

They might have made a choice that was rational for them. But would the residents of the abandoned district think the same?

‘What a load of crap…’

The more I thought about it, the more nauseous I felt. Double Gate or Poison-type, whatever. I just didn’t like the fact that they were weighing lives.

And for money, of all things. If they had dealt with that side first and then come to our side, I could have at least understood. According to a witness in Gupadong, the Glory Guild withdrew immediately after the situation was resolved.

All while a massacre was happening right next door. No matter what rational reason there was, it was an undeniable fact that the abandoned people had died like dogs. If I hadn't met Kiril, I too would have become a corpse like them.

[Thanks to the swift response of the Glory Guild this time, casualties were minimized…]

In the end, their choice to save the prestigious and wealthy area was deemed correct. Interviews from high-ranking officials in various fields, thanking the Glory Guild, poured in like a flood, and the news of the deaths of Gaebang District residents was being covered up as an ‘unavoidable and unfortunate incident.’

Tap, tap.

Sitting on the floor with my knees together, I lightly tossed a black sphere with one hand. At a glance, it might look like I was playing with a baseball, but it was an object that would make anyone knowledgeable about Monsters fall over in shock.

“Information.”

As I murmured softly, the device Kiril had given me displayed information about the sphere.

Typically, Monsters have a heart called a ‘Core.’ The color of the Core varies depending on the type of Monster, but the Cores of Poison-type Monsters are all black. Hence, the name ‘Black Core.’

Among Hunters, the Black Core is known as ‘a pie in the sky.’ It contains several times more energy than other normal Cores, but its toxicity made it difficult to use as a weapon or absorb into the body. Forget absorption; due to its powerful toxicity, most people’s hands would melt the moment they held a Black Core.

Tap.

Yet I was tossing and catching that Black Core as if it were a toy. It was the second gift Kiril had left me, after the lens-shaped device.

「This fellow's toxicity is strong, but compared to you, it's child's play. Try to recall the feeling of using Poison Step while holding this. Something interesting will happen.」

‘Is this… how I do it?’

Recalling Kiril’s words, I clenched my fist around the Black Core.

Sssss…

The color of the Black Core resembled the Gate that had opened during the day. A deep black hue that seemed as if it would suck in everything around it. I closed my eyes and tried to recall the sensation of the Black Ether Kiril had given me.

The feeling of Kiril's energy gathered in my feet. At first, there was no noticeable change, but as I stubbornly focused my mind, a change finally began to appear.

Vwoom.

“Huh…?”

The hand holding the Black Core trembled. It wasn’t because of the chills like before. The Core had begun to resonate with my body.

I focused a little more and tightened my grip on the Black Core.

Shhh.

I opened my eyes at the strange sensation. Oh, my god. As if it were melting ice cream, the hard Black Core was melting away.

<Converting to Black Ether, current status 31%… 52%… 74%> A unique luster began to form on the unpleasantly black Core.

The very energy Kiril had given me. It was Black Ether. I didn't have to wonder how to absorb it.

The moment I turned it into Black Ether, it felt like one of my own limbs.

Swoosh.

The Black Core had now completely turned into a liquid state. And that liquid slowly seeped into my body through the palm of my hand. Was it because I had completed my Awakening?

The absorbed Black Ether felt just like blood. No, rather than blood, it was something more fundamental. It felt as if ‘life force’ was being injected into my body.

In a short time, the Black Ether was completely absorbed into my body, and I was overcome with a feeling of refreshment greater than ever before.

It seemed the Black Ether I had received from Kiril was 1,000 BA. After checking the information the device provided, I couldn't help but be surprised by two facts. The first was Kiril’s own ability score.

The Black Ether she had passed on to me was just a tiny fraction of her own. But that small amount was twice the volume of an A-rank Black Core. I couldn’t even begin to guess what an incredible Hunter Kiril was.

And the second.

“Body enhancement…”

This was something I hadn't heard even from Kiril. A Poison-type user with body enhancement. Just as Kiril had shown me ‘Poison Rain,’ I had thought it was natural for a Poison-type to fight by drawing out Black Ether.

“No… perhaps…”

On the other hand, there was a part of it that made sense. The reason I could so easily learn Poison Step from Kiril. It was thanks to the Black Ether she had implanted in my feet.

The ability to move fast, surpassing the limits of the human body, was possible because the Black Ether had ‘enhanced’ my feet.

“…”

Then.

Let's think about it the other way. If the result of enhancing the ‘feet’ with Black Ether was Poison Step, what would happen if I spread it over my ‘entire body’? I quickly asked the device.

“If I keep creating Black Ether like this and enhance my whole body, what level can I reach?”

“Whoa!!”

An exclamation escaped my lips on its own. An S-rank Knight. It meant that even without using any special poisons, I could chew up most combat-type Hunters with just my physical abilities.

A Hunter who could engage in close combat with the best Knights while also using skills like ‘Poison Rain.’ Kiril's words, ‘the strongest being in the world,’ might not have been an exaggeration. Just imagining it made my heart beat faster and faster.

The dreams I had to bury deep in my heart because I lived with an illness. Those dreams were starting to bloom again from the very bottom of my heart. I want to beat all the damn Monsters.

I want to defeat the poverty that made my family suffer. Most of all, I want to become strong enough that my life won't be weighed on a scale by others.

The next morning, at the crack of dawn.

Swoosh.

I gently stroked the hair of my sleeping sister. She's a person with a strong will, despite her appearance, so I hope she holds on. I changed into comfortable training clothes and left a note by her pillow.

According to Kiril, the deadline to get the antidote was one week. I couldn't afford to waste a single day.

Th-th-thump!

I ran at full speed to the place where Kiril had taught me Poison Step. I was a little out of breath, but it didn't feel difficult at all. It was different from before when I had to take the bus for even short distances.

Now that I had finished my Awakening, my body was no longer frail.

“Alright, then…”

At dawn, before even the sun had shown its face. I closed my eyes to control the Black Ether I had held within me overnight.

Ssshhh.

Like a fish swimming in the sea, the Black Ether slowly roamed my body. As if it was waiting for a command to be given. My legs, which had already received Black Ether from Kiril, probably didn't need further enhancement for the time being.

I took a deep breath and began to slowly spread it throughout my entire body.

Zzzing.

Just like when the Black Core was turned into Ether, it resonated with my body. After a short while. It had taken root in every corner of my body.

‘How effective will it be?’

Although it was only about half the amount Kiril had given me, what I had obtained was an A-rank Core. An A-rank Monster isn't a level that can be caught by 'one A-rank Hunter.' It was said to be a level that could only be obtained when a ‘team of five or more A-rank Hunters’ was formed.

Considering that most mid-sized guilds in the country don't even have ten A-rank Hunters, it was a treasure-like item for me. As it was such a hard-to-obtain Core, I wanted to test how much it would help with body enhancement.

‘This seems completely crazy, but…’

Facing the wall of the vacant lot, I raised my right hand. Looking at the concrete wall reminded me of the black toad's hard skin. Before, my hand would have broken before the wall did, but now, the situation had changed.

No, it had to have changed. I gritted my teeth and swung my fist at the wall.

Crash!!

“Ugh…!!”

Shit.

It hurt so much that tears welled up in my eyes. Could it be that this much Black Ether wasn't enough to achieve body enhancement?

Crack.

“?”

The discordant sound of a crack stimulated my ears. I, who had been blowing on my hand, turned my gaze in the direction of the sound, and my eyes couldn't help but widen. A large crack had formed in the concrete wall.

A power impossible for an ordinary person had been manifested. Since I had coated my entire body with Black Ether, it wouldn't just be my fist that was enhanced.

“What's my current physical level?”

“…Good.”

Before setting off on a short journey, I could feel a very satisfying change. Even if it was the lowest rank, a ‘Knight’ was at a level that could easily handle three or four ordinary grown men. After shaking my hand out once.

I gave a command to the device.

“Tell me the location of Dr. Jin.”