How a legendary returner lives

*Boom—!!*

It was an ear-splitting sound, like a bomb going off.

No, more like the sound of something enormous landing on the ground.

Both Jeongbin and Jin Shi-hoo turned their heads at the same time.

There was a massive stone figure towering over them, about 30 meters tall.

It wasn’t just a chunk of stone. It had a head, arms, and legs—a full-bodied stone creature.

“A… golem…?”

“It’s a golem.”

Both Jeongbin and Jin Shi-hoo spoke at the same time, then turned to look at each other.

“…You said you’d been missing, right? So how do you know what a golem is?”

“I saw a lot of them on Titan.”

“….”

“You don’t believe me?”

“No, I believe you… but we should run first. Take my hand.”

As a B-rank awakener, Jeongbin had several “skills.”

One of those skills, suited for this kind of situation, was “Sprint.”

Sprint lightens his steps, exponentially increasing his running speed, and it grants the same effect to anyone he’s in physical contact with.

But Jin Shi-hoo didn’t take Jeongbin’s outstretched hand.

Did he really need to run?

Jin Shi-hoo stood up and flicked his fingers toward the golem.

[White Lotus Cult Holy Flame’s Seven Techniques.]
[Technique One: Sky-Splitting Finger Strike.]

Then, something incredible happened.

A single beam of light.

Jeongbin could only see that single beam of light.

And then—

*Crash—!!*

With a massive explosion, the A-rank golem shattered, pieces flying in all directions.

Jeongbin stood there in shock, staring.

What… what did I just witness?

Where the golem had been, a small orb floated in the air. It was no bigger than a fingernail, and Jin Shi-hoo flicked his fingers at it again.

Once more, a single beam of light shot forward.

*Pop.*

The orb exploded with a soft sound.

Simply put—

A golem is an artificial construct created by someone. It requires an energy source to move, typically called a core.

If you destroy the core, the golem is completely destroyed.

Jin Shi-hoo crouched down again.

“Alright, now tell me. What’s happened on Earth over the past ten years?”

—

August 16, 2024, the day Jin Shi-hoo went missing.

On that day, the world changed.

A strange phenomenon occurred globally, where gates—like mystical doors—began to appear in midair.

People of the current era would come to call these phenomena “gates.”

If a gate wasn’t cleared within a certain time, it would undergo a “gate break,” resulting in an explosion that unleashed the monsters inside upon the world.

But that wasn’t all.

Alongside the appearance of gates, a “system” was bestowed upon random individuals, regardless of age or gender.

They could see their own stats displayed in a hologram window and were granted pocket dimensions, or “inventories,” which modern technology couldn’t replicate.

The inventory allowed for storage of multiple items, with capacity increasing as they leveled up.

People suddenly found themselves transformed into something like game characters. This wasn’t a dream; it was unmistakably real, and those who could use the system became known as “awakeners.”

All of these changes are recorded in books. The year 2024, when humanity’s way of life shifted drastically, is now called “The Year of the Great Cataclysm.”

The transformed world could be simply explained.

Awakeners could enter gates, kill all the monsters within to clear the gate, and in doing so, level up and grow stronger.

With each level-up, they gained “stat points,” which could be distributed among five main attributes: strength, agility, stamina, intelligence, and mana.

In addition, some awakeners received unique abilities during their initial awakening. These are known as unique awakeners, and they possess exclusive skills that can’t be found anywhere else.

At present, in this era, the most outstanding awakeners number precisely seven, and all of them are unique awakeners.

These seven are called “The Seven Stars,” known as “Chilgang” in Eastern regions and “Seven Star” in the West.

In South Korea, Jin Song-yi is the only one who holds a place among these “Seven Stars.”

Since the Great Cataclysm, a multitude of incidents and accidents have taken place, and a great number of books have been published. Naturally, numerous professions have also emerged.

This is the world as it is now.

On a side note, those who clear gates were initially called hunters, but more recently they’ve been officially referred to as “Clearers,” a term that is even registered in dictionaries.

Originally, they were called “Clear Runners” (Clear + Runner), but it was shortened to “Clearner.”

After listening to all this, Jin Shi-hoo folded his arms.

He wanted to share his impression.

“It’s a mess.”

“…Yes, it is. And our current situation is also a mess.”

“Why’s that?”

“Well, we’re inside a gate now. Unless we clear it, there’s no way out.”

“Various professions have emerged, right? Isn’t there a rescue team or something?”

“…There is, but this is an A-rank gate. In this case, a rescue team wouldn’t suffice; a group of awakeners must form a party to officially clear it. And when a gate appears, there’s a process to gather awakeners who will clear it, which takes time. At least…”

“At least?”

“It takes at least a week for a rescue team to arrive.”

“That’s a long time.”

“It could take even longer.”

“Why’s that?”

“…I didn’t mention this earlier, but once an awakener enters a gate, the ‘gate break’ timer pauses until that awakener dies.”

“How do people know if someone is inside the gate?”

“As you may have noticed, the gate takes the form of a door. The space around the door warps. If someone is inside, the warping freezes.”

“That’s… intriguing.”

“…Yes, it’s quite peculiar. There’s not much to do but wait it out, however long it takes—whether that’s a week or two.”

Jin Shi-hoo didn’t understand.

Couldn’t they just… “clear the gate?”

“…I’m a B-rank awakener. How could I possibly clear an A-rank gate by myself?”

Jin Shi-hoo chuckled.

“Seems pretty low.”

“…It’s not low, but… ha… Anyway, I’ve explained it all, so now you tell me. What was that thing you used earlier? It looked like some kind of laser.”

Jin Shi-hoo snapped his fingers into the air.

*Bang!*

A deafening sound erupted as a beam of light shot into the sky and collided with it.

“This?”

“…Yes, that. Did you learn that on this place called Titan? Or… could it be…”

“Could it be what?”

“…Are you a unique awakener? Did you recently awaken with an incredible skill or something like that?”

Looking around as if it was no big deal, Jin Shi-hoo replied.

“I learned it on Titan. Just think of it that way. But didn’t you mention something about the ‘Salvation Guild’?”

“I did.”

“What’s that?”

“Jin Song-yi was one of the earliest awakeners after the Great Cataclysm. She worked in the government’s ‘Gate Rescue Team’ for two years before resigning to establish the Salvation Guild. It’s the top guild in South Korea. Also the top corporation.”

Whenever the world undergoes a sudden transformation, wealth redistribution follows naturally. Some become wealthy overnight, while others are ruined just as quickly.

Jin Song-yi just happened to be one of the former. Given her corresponding abilities, there’s nothing more to be said.

Jin Shi-hoo nodded, as if he understood.

It seemed that the world hadn’t just changed; it had changed drastically. He said,

“Well, let’s get out of here.”

“Didn’t you hear what I just said? You’re talking like you’re stepping out of a café.”

“It makes no difference to me.”

“…”

“I have one more question. Do we just need to kill the sorcerer who owned that golem?”

“…For A-rank gates that feature golems, there are two ways to clear them. Either find the ‘treasure’ inside the gate, or kill all the ‘sorcerers.’”

In that case—

“Then we can take the simplest approach, right?”

“What are you planning to do?”

Jin Shi-hoo didn’t respond in words.

This time, he clenched both his hands tightly.

Jin Shi-hoo’s gaze and hands were fixed on the enormous mountain visible in the distance.

He aimed at it, then snapped all ten of his fingers.

[White Lotus Cult (白蓮敎) Holy Flame’s Seven Techniques.]
[Technique One: Transformative Technique, Sky-Splitting Ten-Finger Strike.]

Ten beams of light.

The beams twisted in midair, almost as if they had a will of their own, before diving straight toward the mountain.

*Crash—!!*

A tremendous explosion echoed.

Jeongbin covered his ears. It sounded like a nuclear bomb going off.

And amidst it all, he could see it.

The mountain, approximately 10 kilometers away, was now riddled with holes.

It was bizarre, terrifying even.

And this wasn’t the end.

Something even more chilling happened right then.

*Ding!*

[Gate: Golem Mountain-44]
[Northeast Outpost, Zone 4]
[Rank: A]
[Clear Complete]

The gate had been cleared.

And then.

[You have cleared an A-rank gate ‘alone’ in record time.] [A special stat achievement is added.] [Your special stat achievement increases by ‘1.’] [You are awarded a special reward. Please choose one from the following options:] [1. Remaining stat points: 30], [2. Unique skill (internal grade random): 1], [3. Unique-grade equipment (internal grade random): 1] [Special rewards may be deferred.] [Special reward awarded.] [You have a deferred special reward.] [Special reward upgraded.] [1. Remaining stat points: 70], [2. Random-grade unique skill (minimum A): 1], [3. Random-grade unique-grade equipment (minimum A): 1] [Special rewards may be deferred.]

To be serious for a moment, ever since becoming an awakener, I’ve never seen anything like this.

A stat called ‘achievement’? Special rewards? This kind of thing existed?

The part I can’t understand is how the system concluded that Jeongbin cleared this A-rank gate alone.

Jeongbin turned his head.

A man stood nearby, smiling brightly.

The man who introduced himself as Jin Shi-hoo.

Why doesn’t the system recognize him?

But Jeongbin was sure of one thing:

This man had just become his ‘savior.’

And that this man wasn’t just strange—he was extraordinary.

“Why are you staring so intently?”

“…You’re… just glowing, that’s all.”

“Of course I am. But, more importantly, it’s cleared now, right? So, can we go out through that gate?”

Jin Shi-hoo pointed toward a gate.

That was an ‘exit gate’—the type that appears once the internal gate is cleared.

Jeongbin answered.

“Yes… yes, you may exit now.”

“Your tone has changed.”

“You misunderstand. I always speak this way. Sir, please, come this way. I’ll escort you to your residence.”

With a smile, Jeongbin guided Jin Shi-hoo out of the gate.

* * *

There are no restrictions on entering a gate. Awakeners and regular people alike can enter.

But, in reality, no one would ever send an ordinary person into a gate.

In the very early days, there were suggestions to send military forces to destroy gates, but that idea was only attempted twice.

The U.S. military tried twice to deploy troops, but since then, no country has attempted it again.

The moment firearms or missiles enter a gate, they turn into scrap metal.

They become completely unusable.

The exact reason is unknown, but everyone accepted a reasonable answer.

“The system didn’t allow it.”