I Possessed The Villain In a Hunter Novel And It Fits Me Perfectly

'Isn’t there a skip button for this?'

I already knew how this bastard lived from the original story anyway. Did I seriously have to sit through all of it again?

I was already starting to feel bored.

Whether I liked it or not, Kwon Taehan stared at the Status Window in fascination and started waving his hand around in front of it while spewing nonsense.

“...Am I dreaming?”

You think this is a dream? It was honestly amazing that a bastard with such a lack of imagination could somehow convince himself this kind of bullshit was a dream.

Kwon Taehan spent a long time clutching his head in thought before muttering cautiously to himself.

“...Status Window?”

Interesting. This should have been his first time seeing a Status Window, yet he immediately arrived at the term “Status Window.”

For me, adapting quickly had been natural since I’d already read about everything Kwon Taehan did in the novel. But for him, this was truly his first time. He shouldn’t even have had any frame of reference.

'Well... maybe he saw stuff like this a lot at home?'

Then again, there were only so many things a guy with no friends who never went out could do at home.

I briefly imagined a few hobbies Kwon Taehan probably had, then decided to be respectful and stop there.

'Hm?'

At that moment, the perspective suddenly shifted.

Until just now, I had been seeing things from Kwon Taehan’s point of view. But now I had pulled slightly away from it and could see Kwon Taehan himself.

Like someone who had just gotten out of bed, his hair hung down messily in complete disarray, and his hair was... dark.

'Before awakening.'

So he had been given the obligation to save the world even before awakening?

At that moment, his Status Window changed. It looked like the effects of him calling for the Status Window at empty air had appeared a beat late.

Name: Kwon Taehan

Age: 24

Rank: -

Title: -

Main Skills: -

Growth Limit: S

So this really was before he awakened.

I stared at Kwon Taehan with fascination. It was the first time in my life I had ever actually seen the era when Kwon Taehan was weak as hell.

He spoke in disbelief.

“My Growth Limit is... S-rank? No way.”

Why the hell did this guy talk so much when he was alone?

'Or is he trying to talk to the system?'

That possibility seemed more likely, but considering he did not even bother checking the Status Window after saying it out loud, it really just looked like he was a lunatic talking to empty air.

Then the Status Window closed once before rapidly changing again.

Save the world from destruction!

Would you like to review the Quest?

Quest?

A behavior guide and Quests exist for Kwon Taehan of Regression 0.

'Motherfucker, I never got anything like that.'

What kind of bullshit favoritism was this?

I clicked my tongue in admiration at the Status Window’s blatant bias while Kwon Taehan, apparently thrilled out of his mind, immediately opened the Quest on his own.

The Quest that appeared read:

Quest for Awakening

Visit a nearby Dungeon in order to awaken.

Reward: First Awakening

“A nearby... Dungeon?”

Yeah, it definitely sounded like bullshit. It wasn’t telling him to visit a nearby convenience store. It was telling a bastard who had not even awakened yet to march straight into a Dungeon.

Yet somehow, those absurd instructions seemed to give Kwon Taehan determination. He stripped off his stretched-out T-shirt, opened his closet, and started searching for clothes suitable to wear outside.

“Uh.... Should I wear workout clothes?”

Not that it would make much difference.

***

After checking the news, Kwon Taehan headed toward a nearby Dungeon. The moment he saw the police line, his face turned deathly pale and he froze in place.

He came here intending to enter in the first place, and now he was reacting like this just because he saw a police line?

After hesitating for a very long time, Kwon Taehan eventually turned around and started leaving.

“Next time....”

Like there was any guarantee next time would come.

Seriously, this bastard was passive as hell.

As Kwon Taehan trudged away, he looked unbelievably frustrated. Well, that made sense. The Status Window had practically spoon-fed him instructions, and after checking the news and coming all the way here, he was now going home because he couldn’t cross one police line.

'Yeah, just ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) give up already.'

Kwon Taehan sat at a bus stop staring at the ground for a long while before finally standing as a bus arrived.

Just as he was about to board it...... he suddenly paused, gave a small bow, then stepped back off the bus again.

Then he abruptly started running toward the Dungeon site.

'What the hell? This guy’s directing his own movie.'

At this point, it felt like I was watching a one-man comedy show.

In high spirits, I followed Kwon Taehan’s movements and watched what he did.

And when he returned, a Dungeon Break had already occurred.

'Lucky bastard.'

I guess people chosen to save the world really were built different.

While I was counting the number of police officers collapsed on the ground, Kwon Taehan suddenly dropped to his knees right there.

“No....”

At that moment, a Status Window appeared before him.

(Completed) Quest for Awakening

Visit a nearby Dungeon in order to awaken.

Reward: First Awakening

Reward will now be provided.

Regardless of how shocked Kwon Taehan was, things proceeded steadily onward.

The mana generated by the Dungeon Break reacted with his own mana and triggered his First Awakening.

Name: Kwon Taehan

Age: 24

Rank: C

Title: -

Main Skills: ■■ ■■(EX), Blazing Flame(C), Flame Storm(C), Physical Enhancement(C)

Growth Limit: S

'It’s hidden.'

As someone who knew Kwon Taehan’s original Status Window, my eyes were inevitably drawn to the concealed Skill.

That had to be the Infinite Regression Skill.

And...... at the same time, it resembled my own Status Window too.

An EX-rank Skill.

Four hidden squares.

'No way.'

Still, it was surprising that his Skills were C-rank rather than S-rank. Which meant that after his reawakening, even his Skill ranks rose?

Kwon Taehan alternated between staring at the corpses sprawled across the ground and his own Status Window before slowly standing.

“Can I... view Dungeon information too?”

As though steeling himself, Kwon Taehan asked in a trembling voice. Once again, the Status Window changed quickly.

C-Rank Gate (Frozen Sea)

: A frozen ocean.

Creatures living beneath the frozen sea reside here.

Dungeon Boss — Ice Whale

Additional Dungeon creature information...... More

Would you like to review the information for “Ice Whale”?

The ice fragments scattered across the ground had all been sharpened into blades.

Realizing the things embedded in the corpses were not knives but ice, Kwon Taehan slowly reached out a hand.

Blazing Flame(C) is activating.

A small flame flickered to life in his hand.

Kwon Taehan stared at the flame briefly before pouring mana into it. What had initially been no larger than a candle flame quickly grew into something the size of a torch.

After silently observing it, he turned his gaze back toward the Status Window.

“Review information.”

Ice Whale(C)

A whale living within the Frozen Sea.

Capable of generating endless quantities of sharp ice.

“...Doesn’t it show weaknesses or anything?”

This Status Window really was useless as fuck.

Kwon Taehan apparently thought something similar, judging by the bewildered tone in his voice.

The problem was that Kwon Taehan was not standing peacefully inside a Dungeon.

He was in the middle of an active Dungeon Break.

BOOM!

A massive shard of ice suddenly shot toward Kwon Taehan’s body.

Instinctively jerking backward, Kwon Taehan grabbed his chest tightly and whipped around toward the split Rift.

The pitch-black Rift looked completely incompatible with the idea of a sea.

Yet a moment later, accompanied by the crashing sound of violent waves, ice shards came pouring down from beyond the Rift.

“Haa....”

Kwon Taehan clenched his hand tightly once, then opened his eyes again.

Blazing Flame(C) is activating.

The moment enormous flames erupted from Kwon Taehan’s hand, a gigantic whale burst out from beyond the Rift.

KWA-A-A-A-!

“Kh...!”

The clumsy flames he launched melted through the whale’s hide through sheer destructive force alone. Since they were the same rank, the damage inflicted on each other was roughly equal.

In an instant, cuts of ice opened across Kwon Taehan’s arms and legs.

Yet perhaps because of the adrenaline of his first battle, he did not collapse from it.

No... maybe it was not adrenaline.

Maybe it was responsibility.

Because his gaze kept drifting not toward the whale, but toward the corpses scattered across the ground.

The unrefined flames gradually grew larger in order to engulf the whale. The flames rising from below steadily melted the ice while using Kwon Taehan himself as fuel.

It was an oddly perfect moment.

His first awakening, and his first battle, just happened to align perfectly with his Skills.

As though something wanted him to win....

FWOOOSH!

Violent flames swallowed the enormous mass of ice whole.

What was that emotion flickering in Kwon Taehan’s eyes?

Duty?

Or perhaps...... the thrill of his first battle?

Or maybe a desire for recognition?

There were endless possibilities, but somehow none of them felt correct.

I stared at him quietly before eventually turning my head away.

People were arriving.

The people who appeared after the battle were Special Response Team Hunters, and there were several familiar faces among them.

Most noticeable of all, naturally, was Ryu Taeyoung.

“Are you alright?”

After confirming that Kwon Taehan had gone limp from the exhaustion after battle, Ryu Taeyoung quickly poured potions over him.

Kwon Taehan stared blankly into space with a face overwhelmed by countless emotions.

Then it happened.

“Captain! One of them is still alive!”

At the shout calling for Ryu Taeyoung, Kwon Taehan turned his head.

Apparently one out of the four corpses lying on the ground was still alive.

Kwon Taehan’s brows twisted immediately.

Was that relief?

I could not tell.

***

After that, Kwon Taehan completed his awakened registration under Ryu Taeyoung’s guidance and, after much deliberation, eventually joined a Guild.

It was a Guild I knew well too.

[ SH Guild ]

After staring quietly at the building, I turned my gaze back toward Kwon Taehan.

He was speaking with someone equally familiar.

“So then, Hunter Kwon, what do you need? Our benefits are pretty good. We’ve got a training facility underground too. Fire-type Hunters tend to cause a lot of damage while training.”

Smiling brightly, Song Hwayoung proudly showed off the training grounds to Kwon Taehan.

Kwon Taehan silently observed the facility before lifting his head.

“I just want to clear a lot of Dungeons here.”

“Dungeons? Really? Well, plenty of Hunters are like that.”

“Yes.”

“Still, don’t become too obsessed with clearing Dungeons. Usually... when people get too consumed by things like that, it doesn’t end well.”

Song Hwayoung spoke with a crooked smile, as though recalling something.

Kwon Taehan looked like he had a great deal he wanted to say, but eventually only nodded.

After that came scenes I did not know.

Entering this Dungeon and that Dungeon, returning injured again and again, despairing over wounded teammates, struggling against the Status Window....

Yet Kwon Taehan had a Status Window that acted like a guide.

It clearly laid out what he needed to do next, presenting both rewards and Quests while carving a definite path forward for him.

Just like now.

Quest for Second Awakening

Visit an S-rank Dungeon in order to achieve your Second Awakening.

Reward: Second Awakening

[Breaking News] Newly Appeared Dungeon in Haeundae District Estimated to Be S-Rank

A massive Status Window appeared before Kwon Taehan as he stared at his phone.

'Ah.'

The Dungeon where Song Hwayoung died.

And the Dungeon where Kwon Taehan underwent his Second Awakening.

In a sense, it was also the true “beginning” of this long ordeal.

Determination settled across Kwon Taehan’s hardened face.

What a...... tragic thing.