[Congratulations! You have now become a Player.]
FLASH—
JOLT—
"Haa… haa…
""Haa… haaa…"
My eyes snapped open.
The first thing I did was check my surroundings—making sure my plan hadn't changed anything.
A ceiling…
A window.
…It fits.
I'm in a hospital.
While I was in the dungeon, I barely registered the statues attacking me. At that moment, I was completely consumed by the joy of obtaining Ashborn's power.
Rattle—
The sound of the door opening pulled me back.
"Have you regained consciousness?"
"Are you from the Association?"
"Yes, we are," the black-haired man replied calmly.
I already knew what had happened to the others.
Knowing the original timeline, it wasn't hard to guess.
Joohee was probably receiving therapy right now…
As for the others, most of them would likely retire.
Mr. Song… I wasn't sure what he would choose this time. After all, he still had both of his hands intact.
When they were about to explain the situation to me, I cut them off.
"The other hunters—"
"No… it's okay," I said quietly.
Both of them paused.
Then they looked at each other…
…and nodded.
Nonetheless, they continued, shifting the topic.
"Only nine people survived the double dungeon."
"Hunters are aware that their job comes with danger… but disasters like this are extremely rare."
"After receiving reports from the survivors, we dispatched members of the White Tiger Guild along with our surveillance team. But by the time they arrived…"
He paused.
"…everyone was already gone."
"You were the only one we found—lying unconscious inside the dungeon."
"The Statue of God… and the other statues were nowhere to be found."
I remained silent, saying nothing.
The two men exchanged glances before one of them spoke again.
"There's one more thing."
His eyes sharpened slightly.
"We believe… you may have undergone a second awakening."
"A hunter's abilities are usually determined at the moment they first awaken."
"However… in rare cases, some hunters experience a second awakening."
"There have also been instances of hunters surpassing their limits—C-rank hunters advancing to A-rank, and B-rank hunters reaching S-rank."
"This could be—"
"No," I interrupted.
"I didn't reawaken."
They both looked at me.
"I'm sure of it. So far, nothing about my body has changed," I said calmly.
But inside, my thoughts told a different story.
Except… I've become a Player.
At those words, Woo Jin-Chul narrowed his eyes, suspicion creeping into his expression.
Strange… something's off about him.
He's far too calm—even after experiencing something like that.
I've seen the others… especially that healer girl. She was completely devastated. Even the rest are barely holding themselves together.
But this guy…
He's different.
I'll need to keep an eye on him… and include this in my report to the Chairman.
"All right. We're done here," I said, straightening up.
Tae-Hyun was about to say something—
—but I shot him a quick look.
He immediately understood the signal…
…and shut his mouth.
Back to Jinwoo
I waited for a few minutes.
I already knew my sister would come.
"Jinwoo! You're finally awake!"
I turned my head slightly as Sung Jinah rushed in, her eyes filled with worry.
"I told you to be careful! I was worried sick!"
She continued lecturing me nonstop.
I stayed silent, letting her words pass, waiting patiently for her to finish.
"…Anyway, I'm off," she finally said, letting out a small sigh.
"Yeah… be careful," I replied calmly.
She gave me one last look before leaving the room.
The door clicked shut.
I exhaled softly.
"All right…"
A faint smile appeared on my face.
"Time to check the system."
[MESSAGE]
[YOU HAVE UNREAD MESSAGES]
I said OPEN.
[MESSAGE]
CONGRATULATIONS! YOU HAVE NOW BECOME A PLAYER. (UNREAD)
[DAILY QUEST: TRAIN TO BECOME A FORMIDABLE COMBATANT] (UNREAD)
[NOTICE]
[THIS SYSTEM WILL HELP THE PLAYER DEVELOP]
[FAILING TO COMPLY WITH THE SYSTEM'S ORDERS COULD RESULT IN A PENALTY]
[YOU HAVE RECEIVED A REWARD]
"OPEN DAILY QUEST"
[QUEST INFO]
[DAILY QUEST - TRAIN TO BECOME A FORMIDABLE COMBATANT]
[GOALS]
Push-ups [0/100]
Sit-ups [0/100]
Squats [0/100]
Run [0/10km]
[CAUTION - IF THE DAILY QUEST REMAINS INCOMPLETE, PENALTIES WILL BE GIVEN ACCORDINGLY]
Looking at my skinny body... all right, time to grind.
Huff
Huff
Huff
That's it... after finishing the last one—running 10km—the nurses and other patients are giving me bewildered looks. One even tried to stop me. Luckily, Jinah already went away—if not, I'd be getting an earful again.
Ding
[QUEST REWARD]
[CHOOSE A REWARD FROM THE LIST BELOW]
Reward 1: Status Recovery
Reward 2: Ability Points +3
Reward 3: Random Loot Box +1
Without missing a beat, I choose—
Ability Points. It is very useful for enhancing my stats later on.
"Status Recovery" relieves any fatigue from exercising.
Other options include obtaining ability points to boost my stats or receiving an item from a random loot box. I can distribute these points to any of the abilities in the character stats menu.
Increasing my abilities will make me much stronger, along with leveling up.
I need to stockpile ability points for later. I also need to obtain a dungeon key from the random loot box to familiarize myself with fighting in a dungeon.
Come to think of it, there's a reward?
Open reward!
Ding
[You have been granted 5 ability points.]
Oh, nice.
8 days later…
"You know that patient? I heard he's a Hunter."
"Yeah, that's right."
"It hasn't been that long since he regained consciousness, but he's been running around every single day."
"What did the doctor say?"
"They said Hunters are different from the average person, so he'll recover in no time."
"They also said some light exercise wouldn't do any harm, but…"
"Look over there—he's running right now."
"Light exercise…?"
"Are you sure he's going to be okay?"
"How long has he been running?"
Huff…Huff…Ha…
Ding
[Notice]
[Run 10 km: Completed (10 km / 10 km)]
Accept Status Recovery!
With that, a green light shone over me, removing the numbness and fatigue from my body, leaving me as refreshed as if I had just woken up.
I specifically did this because I'll be entering the dungeon later—I need to stay at my peak condition. Over the past few days, I've consistently completed my daily quests, choosing ability points each time. From one of the random loot boxes, I also managed to obtain the key.
Open stats… time to distribute them.
STATS
Name: Sung Jin-Woo Level: 1Job: None Fatigue: 0Title: None
HP: 100MP: 10
Strength: 16 Health: 10Agility: 10 Intelligence: 10Sense: 10
Available Ability Points: 17
Hmm… Strength is the most important for now, along with Agility. I'll put 14 points into Strength and 3 into Agility.
I can feel the changes immediately. I'm no longer skinny—I can feel the power surging through my body. My muscles tighten, forming defined lines. I could have leave the hospital a few days ago… but I choose to stay a few more days to build and strengthen my foundation.
Ding
STATS
Name: Sung Jin-Woo Level: 1Job: None Fatigue: 0Title: None
HP: 100MP: 10
Strength: 30 Health: 10Agility: 13 Intelligence: 10Sense: 10
Available Ability Points: 0
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