Absolute Dweller

Shin Dong-hoon was a soldier.

Before coming to Busan, he had been stationed at Wangsimni Station, primarily assigned to perimeter security. Before the monster apocalypse fully erupted, he had been a sergeant under the Capital Defense Command, just on the verge of his discharge.

On the very day he was supposed to go on final leave, the monster apocalypse struck, and the world fell into chaos.

He had planned to spend the day in Seoul with his fellow soldiers, having a drink and relaxing—only for disaster to unfold.

Because of that, he had been unable to return to his hometown in Jeju, where his parents were. Instead, he was trapped in Seoul.

With the government declaring a national state of emergency, all military personnel were recalled, and from that moment on, the war against monsters began.

Their mission was to rescue and evacuate civilians.

But in reality, they accomplished nothing.

None of them had ever trained for something like this.

Every building they entered was filled with corpses and orcs, while outside, behemoths roamed freely, tearing apart military tanks like toys.

And then came the worst of them all.

A colossal Cyclops, as massive as a skyscraper.

The way it rampaged through buildings, reducing them to rubble, made it seem like a god of destruction had descended upon the earth.

It was a monster on a scale beyond comprehension, something that his rifle was utterly useless against.

BOOOOM!!!

With a deafening explosion, entire buildings were obliterated.

And Shin Dong-hoon ran for his life.

BOOM—!

The giant pursued him.

He wanted to run faster, but his body wouldn’t move properly.

It was like wading through water, his limbs sluggish, as if his own body was refusing to obey him.

‘I’m going to die like this...!’

Then, his legs completely froze in place.

Above him, a massive shadow of death loomed.

Slowly looking up, he saw the giant’s enormous foot descending toward him.

‘No...!’

There was nowhere to run.

‘I can’t die like this...!’

With desperate resistance, he fought against the impending death.

But—

BOOOOOOOM!

──────────!!!

"Haaah!"

With a strangled gasp, Shin Dong-hoon jolted awake, drenched in cold sweat.

For a moment, he was completely disoriented.

The softness of the blanket, the plush mattress, the warm sunlight filtering through the veranda window.

It was only after registering these details that he could process reality.

‘...A dream?’

No.

It wasn’t just a dream.

It was something he had truly experienced.

He had awakened at the very last moment beneath the Cyclops’ foot, barely surviving.

He had then joined the Wangsimni Shelter and managed to survive until now.

And now—

‘I finally made it here.’

Utopia. Paradise. Heaven.

Even after living here for a week, it was still hard to believe.

Sleeping peacefully without fear of monster attacks was already incredible.

But this place offered much more than that.

A rich, savory scent wafted through the air.

Opening the door, he stepped outside and found his junior, Lee Jun-ho, preparing breakfast.

The source of the mouthwatering aroma was the electric rice cooker, which was releasing warm, fragrant steam.

Sssshhhhhh—

Shin Dong-hoon stood there, watching the steam rise in a daze, until Lee Jun-ho greeted him.

"Sergeant Shin. You’re up."

"Yeah. Did you sleep well?"

"Slept like a baby."

As he loitered near the kitchen, Shin Dong-hoon asked,

"What’s for breakfast?"

"Doenjang-guk." (Soybean paste soup.)

"Again?"

"If you don’t like it, cook your own damn meal."

"...I’ll eat it just fine."

Sitting at the dining table, Shin Dong-hoon glanced around the kitchen.

An electric rice cooker, a refrigerator, pots, plates—all basic household necessities.

These had all been here from the start.

The temporary housing they had been assigned came fully equipped, allowing them to use everything freely.

With electricity and running water, they could cook meals.

With city gas, they could prepare proper dishes.

And most shockingly, this wasn’t special treatment just for them as Awakened individuals.

Everyone here was given similar accommodations.

In fact, for some people, life was better now than it had been before the apocalypse.

‘Where the hell is all this electricity and gas coming from?’

All the state institutions responsible for managing power, gas, and water had collapsed.

So unless they had somehow achieved self-sufficiency, there was no way these resources should be available.

Yet they were.

And that wasn’t even the most bizarre part.

The communication network was still functioning.

‘Open Trading Hub.’

Ding!

A holographic screen appeared before his eyes—something straight out of an SF novel.

And the most incredible thing?

When he purchased an item from the hub—

Zzzzzing—

The item materialized in reality.

It was miraculous.

"Oh, bluefin tuna sashimi!"

"Breakfast should be a feast, right?"

"Damn, Sergeant Shin. Thanks for the meal!"

And that wasn’t even the strangest part.

The "shops" that had replaced convenience stores and supermarkets, the "dungeons" where people went to earn money—

These things were beyond comprehension.

As Lee Jun-ho continued shoveling food into his mouth, he suddenly muttered,

"Ahhh. Food always tastes best when it’s bought with someone else’s money."

"......."

Shin Dong-hoon, watching him stuff his face with sashimi, spoke up.

"Jun-ho. Do you know what a Hunter is?"

Lee Jun-ho tilted his head, confused.

Seeing that, Shin Dong-hoon continued.

"It’s a profession. The people who sell stuff in the trading hub... They don’t buy their supplies from the store."

"If they bought everything from the store, they’d have to sell at a higher price to make a profit. It wouldn’t be worth it."

"Then—where the hell do all these goods come from?"

Lee Jun-ho blinked, staring at him.

Shin Dong-hoon flashed him a knowing smirk and asked,

"You know what happens when a citizen hunts a monster, right?"

After a brief moment of thought, Lee Jun-ho answered.

"...It just disappears, doesn’t it?"

"Exactly."

Shin Dong-hoon paused for a moment before continuing.

"But this is freshly sliced bluefin tuna sashimi from a recently caught monster. Where do you think it came from?"

"Uh... Did they buy it from someone without citizenship who hunted it?"

"No. People without citizenship don’t have that kind of luxury. They can barely feed themselves."

Lee Jun-ho furrowed his brows in thought before pressing for an answer.

"Just tell me already. Does this have something to do with that Hunter profession you mentioned earlier?"

"Correct."

"What?"

"There’s a profession called Hunter. Its specialty is preventing monster corpses from disappearing."

"Oh..."

"What if we became Hunters?"

"I’m sorry, what did you just say?"

Shin Dong-hoon picked up a piece of sashimi with his chopsticks and spoke casually.

"I mean, what if we get into the business?"

"...Sergeant, I’m sorry, but wouldn’t we have to leave the Safe Zone to hunt monsters?"

"Exactly."

"Then... that means we’d have to go outside Busan?"

"That’s right. If we want bluefin tuna, we’d need to head toward Gimhae or Gadeok Island."

"Where even is that?"

"It’s not far. About a 30-40 minute drive from here."

Lee Jun-ho set down his chopsticks with a deep sigh.

"Wouldn’t it be safer to just keep raiding Orc Dungeons?"

As Awakened individuals, they had fought monsters regularly. Their past battle records had even earned them the right to participate in Orc Dungeon raids.

They had already successfully cleared two raids without any casualties.

"The monsters are around the same level as orcs, but this way, we’d make more money. And it’s actually safer than fighting orcs."

"How the hell is it safer if the level’s the same?"

Shin Dong-hoon grinned confidently.

"You remember when you got your citizenship, right?"

"Of course."

"You remember seeing that wall, too?"

"Yeah."

"This place is a Safe Zone because it’s protected by a massive invisible barrier. It’s basically an enormous transparent dome covering the entire area."

Shin Dong-hoon made a dome shape with his hands before continuing.

"And here’s the important part. This transparent dome blocks all attacks from the outside—but allows attacks to pass through from the inside."

Lee Jun-ho immediately grasped the implication and asked,

"...Are you saying we can hunt monsters from inside the Safe Zone?"

"Bingo. It’s way safer than raiding orcs. And on top of that, we can profit from monster corpses."

"Hmmm..."

If that was true, it was definitely an appealing offer.

After all, Orc Dungeon raids weren’t 100% safe.

And most importantly—

"If we switch to Hunter, we can quit anytime, right?"

"Exactly. You just have to wait a month before switching to another profession."

That was basically no penalty at all.

If it didn’t work out, they could simply quit.

"Alright. So how do we get the Hunter profession?"

"You have to meet him in person."

"...Who?"

"Kim Jae-hyun."

Lee Jun-ho’s eyes widened in shock.

"Y-You mean him?"

"Yeah."

"Holy shit."

In truth, Shin Dong-hoon’s real goal wasn’t the Hunter profession—it was meeting Kim Jae-hyun.

He smirked and said,

"Aren’t you curious?"

"...About what?"

"About Kim Jae-hyun. What kind of person he is."

"Well, yeah, but..."

"Then let’s go find out for ourselves."

[Absolute Dweller's Perspective]

[The Profession Research Facility has leveled up.]

[The profession "Warrior" research has been unlocked.]

[The profession "Marksman" research has been unlocked.]

By assigning ten Toyong, I had doubled construction efficiency, allowing me to complete the upgrade much faster than expected.

'Should I level it up again immediately?'

[To upgrade this facility, three Toyong must be assigned for 14 days.]

[Would you like to upgrade the Profession Research Facility to level 3?]

[Yes / No]

'No.'

Even with double efficiency, it would still take seven days.

To unlock Priest research at level 5, I’d need to keep upgrading for at least a month.

'Since I have to wait anyway, I should finish the available research before upgrading again.'

For now, I would start with Warrior.

[Would you like to start the Warrior research?]

[Yes / No]

'Start immediately.'

Ding!

[Warrior]

...Research in progress...