Closed Door

 “Fortunately, he wasn’t an awakener with combat abilities.”

It was said that about 30 years ago, on a day now called the “Great Reversal,” the world completely changed. I can’t say for sure, as I was born after this, but they said that before the Great Reversal, there were no gates, no monsters, and no awakeners. It’s hard to believe, but that’s how it supposedly was.

According to records, the day of the “Great Reversal” came suddenly, without warning. For about ten seconds, such a short time, but at the same time not as brief as it seemed, an incredible phenomenon occurred – the whole world stopped for a moment. Walking people, moving cars, cats jumping on fences, birds and planes soaring in the sky, and even water flowing from taps.

Someone hypothesized that this was a kind of buffering during the “synchronization” of Earth with another world, but this was still considered one of the most likely assumptions among many others, and no fact had yet been conclusively proven.

At that time, it was difficult even to survive, let alone figure out the reason “why this happened.”

After these ten seconds of emptiness, the world completely changed. Suddenly, space distorted, and from the formed rifts, creatures that had never existed in the world before emerged. They were hostile and aggressive towards all living things on Earth.

Animals, plants, humans, buildings, and everything that existed on Earth were attacked and destroyed, but humans suffered the most. The day of the “Great Reversal” is considered the day when more people died than ever before in human history.

Moreover, some of the most ordinary people awakened new powers within themselves and stood up against the alien creatures. They ran at incredible speeds for ordinary humans, demonstrated enormous strength, spewed fire, and threw ice.

At a time when countless people were dying, the emergence of the awakeners, who united all of humanity, finally brought the Great Reversal to a lull. They say it was a very dangerous period, too fierce and exhausting to describe in a few words, when humanity was on the brink of extinction. All those who couldn’t run or move quickly had a 99 percent chance of dying, and for this reason, the mortality rate among the elderly population was so high that for some time it was rare to see older people on the streets.

However, humanity, which possessed better survival skills than cockroaches, somehow managed to survive and adapted to the changed world with better adaptability than cockroaches.

The spatial rifts that let monsters through, at some point, began to exist in a distorted state, as if giving a period of respite, and humanity, after numerous trials and errors, learned to enter these rifts and hunt monsters before they could come out.

Ten years after the Great Reversal, known as the transition period, became a time for humanity to adapt to the changed world and establish new rules.

The distorted spatial rifts, resembling cracks, were called “Gates,” the unknown creatures emerging from the gates – “Monsters,” people who gained new powers after the world’s rules collapsed – “Awakeners,” and those among the awakeners who hunted monsters – “Hunters.”

“Fortunately, he was an awakener without combat abilities. You understand, if he had turned out to be a hunter, something really serious could have happened?”

Yes, that’s right. If he had turned out to be a hunter, my head would have been smashed instead of that bowl.

For an ordinary person to attack an awakener, especially a hunter who directly fought monsters, would be equivalent to wanting to say goodbye to life. After all, hunters were not just people who were a little stronger and fought a little better.

“Yes, you’re right. I was only thinking about the item he used, but I didn’t think about the consequences.”

“These days, there are items that ordinary people can use, but in the case of artifacts from gates, mana is required for their activation. In the latter case, it’s one hundred percent an awakener, but it’s difficult for an ordinary person to distinguish between items and artifacts. If this happens again, please report it to us first.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Although I was the complainant about the awakener’s crime, I was also the person who committed the assault, so Lee Dongjae and I were both brought to the Awakener Affairs Department.

I said:

“Something like light flickered around his neck area, and I briefly lost clarity of mind. I had a desperate desire to break free. I should have defended myself, but without realizing it, I overdid it.”

“What? How was I able to break free from the effect of his ability? Perhaps grandmother left some kind of mental protection item in the store. Our store is on the outskirts, and hunters passing through deserted areas sometimes drop by. We have regular customers, and they sometimes leave us low-value, low-level artifacts as decoration for the store. Maybe something like that worked. Or perhaps grandmother applied something to me in advance while she was alive. She was very worried about me after my parents’ death. It’s a pity she didn’t pay as much attention to her own safety. Sniff-sniff.”

Not a single word of what I said was true.

However, I knew that Lee Dongjae was an awakener with a pitiful transformation ability that at best allowed him to create or remove wrinkles, moles, or scars on his body, without any combat abilities. I also knew that the necklace he always wore around his neck was a gate artifact with the ability to charm people.

Not from the first meeting, but I knew that starting from tomorrow, he planned to come every day and slowly charm me using this necklace-artifact, so my words weren’t completely lies.

The fact that Lee Dongjae ruined my life hadn’t happened yet, but since he came to me, it was sure to happen, so I didn’t feel any remorse.

Considering the determination and anger I had accumulated against him for ten years, remembering how Lee Dongjae killed me without saying a word of apology until the very end and even getting angry at me. I think I’ve already fulfilled my human duty enough by not killing him just upon seeing his face.

I thought I would have to sit in a pre-trial detention cell until the facts were verified, but fortunately, Lee Dongjae’s data was already in the Awakener Crime database. It turned out that there had been several victims before me.

[Real name Ko Dongwoo, 42 years old.]

He told me he was 27 and asked me to treat him like an older brother. This uncle, who was more than twenty years older than me, was truly shameless.

Lee Dongjae, or rather Ko Dongwoo, used his ability to adjust wrinkles on his face to commit frauds under different names and ages.

Since so many people were dying due to suddenly appearing gates and monsters, Ko Dongwoo easily found victims by attending funerals. If he noticed a young or lonely mourner, he would make inquiries and then approach, falsely claiming to have had a connection with the deceased in the past, and establish a relationship. Using the charm necklace, he eliminated suspicions and easily secured a place next to the victim, making them emotionally dependent on him.

Then, over time, he would start borrowing small amounts of money under various pretexts. If the victim had real estate or other property, he would find various reasons to make them sell it and cheat with the amount, appropriating part of the money. In the end, even if the victim received a small sum, it still ended up in Ko Dongwoo’s hands.

The amount of money going to Ko Dongwoo gradually increased, and at the moment when he realized there was nothing more to squeeze out, he immediately broke off the relationship and ran away. The victim, even being abandoned by Ko Dongwoo, didn’t realize they had been deceived and just endlessly waited for his return.

When the residual effect of the charm ability finally dissipated, the victim realized what had happened to them, but by that time, Ko Dongwoo was long gone, having changed his face and name.

If explained like this, it might seem that no one would fall for such an obvious scam scheme and lose all their property, but for someone who actually became a victim, it was inevitable.

A kind person approached you at a vulnerable moment when you were feeling lonely and depressed after losing a loved one. And under the influence of the artifact, a sense of closeness grew quickly, and eventually, you were ready to believe Ko Dongwoo even if he said you could make soybean paste from red beans.

Ko Dongwoo had been deceiving people in this way until now, had deceived me, and would continue to deceive others.

In a way, I even admired how Ko Dongwoo kept on with his fraud without getting caught for another ten years. Although, on the other hand, he was a serious criminal, and for me – also a cursed bastard I wanted to kill.

It was frustrating that I couldn’t add what happened to me to Ko Dongwoo’s list of crimes. On one hand, I was glad that it hadn’t happened yet and now would never happen, but on the other hand, I felt sorry.