My Gun Can Pierce Through Hunter Story Clichés!

“Hmm…”

Things were still confusing, but he was no longer surprised.
When witnessing a new phenomenon, what needed to be done was simple.
Investigate, research, and experiment.
The first thing to do here was clear.

“Let’s go to the internet cafe.”

x x x

After arriving at the internet cafe, he gathered various information.
By searching keywords like player, profession, quest, Savior, and so on, it wasn’t difficult to obtain basic information.
However, no matter how much he searched for the Human Preservation Project, nothing significant came up.

Anyway.
To summarize, it was simple.
The fact that monsters appeared in 2011 matched the history from before the regression.
And that was a history gradually approaching extinction.

But the current history was different.

Along with the appearance of monsters, a system called ‘Savior’ had merged with Earth.
The concept of players also emerged.
Players hunt monsters and develop themselves like in a game.
They receive quests from NPCs and get rewards.
They gain professions, learn skills, and use their strengthened powers to hunt more monsters.

One peculiar point was that the towns and NPCs that appeared in 2011 were based on each country’s past.

In any case, humanity was adapting to this monster-infested world in its own way.

It was different from the miserable history before, where people just languished until he developed magic weapons.
Numerous individuals chosen as players took up weapons, used their abilities, and protected themselves.
This was the current state created by the Savior system.

‘Savior.’

If translated into Korean, it meant ‘rescuer’ or ‘savior.’
Thinking about it that way, he somewhat understood why it was called the “Human Preservation Process.”

‘Some entity beyond human comprehension turned back time to save us and gave us new laws—something like that…’

What exactly this “entity beyond comprehension” was, there was no way to know.
If he still had his laboratory from before the regression, he might have attempted some analysis, but that wasn’t possible now.
All Han-wol currently had were a few thousand-won bills, an ID card, and a phone.

Just then.
The phone he had carelessly placed next to the keyboard vibrated.
There was a text message.
The content was as follows:

[From: Cousin Noona]
[Where are you? Weren’t we supposed to visit Seol-ha at the hospital today?]

‘Ah! What an idiot I am!’

Han-wol berated himself for not recalling this important fact until now.
More important than the Human Preservation Project or entities beyond comprehension, there was one crucial fact that shouldn’t be forgotten about the regression.
That was the fact that his younger sister was still alive.

Han-wol immediately turned off the computer and headed to the counter.

“How much is it?”
“Excuse me?”

The clerk was a bit taken aback by Han-wol’s tone, which didn’t match his apparent age.
But Han-wol didn’t care and repeated his question in the same manner as before the regression.

“I’m asking how much it costs.”
“O-one silver per hour.”
“One silver equals 1,000 won, right? I’ll pay in won.”

Han-wol immediately applied the knowledge he’d gained from the internet and handed a 1,000-won bill to the clerk.
Judging by appearances, the clerk seemed older.
But faced with Han-wol’s overwhelming confidence, the clerk was simply flabbergasted.

x x x

“Seol-ha…”

Upon arriving at the hospital, Han-wol immediately embraced Seol-ha as soon as he saw her.

“O-oppa?”
“Seol-ha, Seol-ha…”
“Why are you suddenly like this? Huh? Oppa, are you crying?”

Seol-ha was bewildered by Han-wol, who was silently crying in her arms.
His arms were tightening around her, to the point where it was a bit painful.
But she didn’t feel like pushing him away.
What finally freed Seol-ha was a remark from their cousin.

“Hey, hey. You’ll crush her. Can’t you see Seol-ha is in pain?”

Hearing that, Han-wol immediately loosened his grip.
He briefly lowered his head to wipe his eyes, then looked up again.
His face was completely normal, as if he hadn’t been crying just moments ago.
He even looked happy.

“Crying one minute, smiling the next… maybe you need to be hospitalized too?”

Their cousin nudged Han-wol in disbelief.
Though they were cousins by relation, she was about 10 years older than Han-wol.
Moreover, she had taken care of Han-wol and Seol-ha, who had lost their parents, without a single complaint.
Grateful for this, Han-wol now hugged his cousin tightly.
And quietly said:

“Thank you.”
“W-what’s wrong with you…? Are you really okay?”

While Han-wol was solely enjoying the joy of reunion.
An intruder intervened.

“Guardian of Lee Seol-ha? Could you come with me for a moment?”

The person who called Han-wol and his cousin was Seol-ha’s attending physician.

“I’ll come right now.”

Han-wol answered confidently and moved immediately.
While his cousin seemed a bit embarrassed by what had just transpired, Han-wol didn’t appear affected at all.

The doctor deliberately initiated the conversation far from the hospital room.
Creating an atmosphere suggesting Seol-ha shouldn’t hear this.

“I’ll get straight to the point. Within the next two years, Lee Seol-ha will…”

As the doctor continued, Han-wol’s cousin’s face was increasingly painted with shock.
Han-wol, already knowing the content, listened relatively calmly.

The disease afflicting his sister Seol-ha was commonly called ‘magic poisoning.’
An incurable disease contracted with an extremely low probability when attacked by monsters.
Humans unfamiliar with magic would gradually waste away and die as they became intoxicated by it.

Han-wol knew only one treatment method.
It involved the reverse injection of stabilized anti-magic material.
But since it took Han-wol decades to discover this, Seol-ha ultimately couldn’t avoid death.

Moreover, anti-magic material wasn’t even known in 2018 yet.
If Han-wol were to synthesize it directly, that would be a different story, but currently, he didn’t have any equipment.
Despite knowing a great deal, Han-wol couldn’t magically produce everything.
What Han-wol had been doing was science, not magic.

After finishing the conversation with the doctor, Han-wol said he needed some time alone.
He was standing on the hospital rooftop, looking out at the surroundings.

“Phew…”

Looking toward the western edge, he could see ‘Seoul Village West.’
One of the Joseon-era style villages that appeared along with the monsters.
It was called a beginner’s village, where many players would start their journey.
Han-wol captured the scene before him in his mind and thought about his future plans.

‘Anti-magic material to treat magic poisoning can also be obtained from monsters.’

Before the regression, there was one monster that had driven people all over the world into terror.

The name of that gigantic whale, large enough to cover half a city, was ‘Behemoth.’
When Behemoth appeared in the sky, that city was as good as doomed.
The monster was always wrapped in anti-magic material, making even Han-wol’s magic weapons ineffective.

Nevertheless, Han-wol was able to reverse-engineer Behemoth and successfully synthesize anti-magic material.
Further applying this, he created ‘magic reaction bombs,’ weapons with tremendous destructive power.
Their impact was comparable to nuclear warheads during the past world wars.
Or perhaps even greater.

Anyway.

Having already lost all his data and equipment, Han-wol ultimately had only one choice.

‘Start researching from scratch again.’

By the time Behemoth appears, Seol-ha would already be dead.
Of course, history might change, and it could appear much earlier.
But he couldn’t just wait based on such groundless belief.
He needed to find another way.

‘First, I need to recover my lost technology.
Though all the data is gone, the general framework is roughly in my head.
Plus, there’s the player system that didn’t exist before…’

Leaning his elbows on the rooftop railing, Han-wol muttered “Status.”

[Name: Lee Han-wol]
[Profession: None]
[Level: 1-Star E-Rank]
[Description: The only regressor on Earth who first realized the fact of returning to the past.
Once saved humanity but ultimately failed.
What choices he will make from now on, only he knows.]

Seeing the system’s description of himself, Han-wol let out a laugh of disbelief.
Most of it was accurate, but he didn’t appreciate the tone that seemed to be observing and testing him.
And the last phrase that seemed to be guiding him.

“What are you going to do if I do nothing, you bastard?”

Han-wol spoke as if addressing someone, though he was alone on the rooftop.

‘If there really is an entity beyond comprehension…’

Of course, it was a futile act, and nothing changed.

Then.

The status window in front of him crackled, and its content instantly changed.

[…What choices he will make from now on, only he knows.
However, he wished.
For a world where his sister wouldn’t die and could live safely.]