That was my long-standing jinx.
If I went to work on a Sunday, whether it was a cup or a person, something would always end up slipping through my hands.
『Please, let me out! Deputy Manager Seo Aru, are you doing this just because I made you come in to work on the weekend?!』
On the retro game screen in front of me, Section Chief Choi, reconstructed in pixelated graphics, wailed.
“Chief, I just awakened so I don’t really know the controls…! I-I wonder if pressing this will release you from my inventory…?”
▶ 【Dismantle】
Ah. Wrong button.
[【Section Chief Choi】 will be dismantled!]
『Wait! Deputy Manager Seo? My hair is disappearing…?』
『Wh-what… what the…?!』
『S-save me, please, save me…!』
『Deputy Manager Seo, Seoooooo!』
‘Th-this isn’t right.’
[Warning! - Once dismantled, items cannot be restored to their original state.]
『Save meeeeeee!』
Suddenly, the Chief ended up inside my inventory. And then I accidentally hit the dismantle button.
That day was the 1,008th day in a row I had gone to work.
—Yesterday afternoon, near an alley in Seocho-dong, a massacre was carried out by a berserk Awakener.
The rattling subway car was filled with a machine’s voice that sounded more human than human.
—The suspect was in the terminal stage of Mana Stone Disease, and it was found that he had been concealing his condition from the Hunter Management Bureau…
Sunday morning, when everyone else was resting.
I was on my way to work.
‘Another Awakener rampage incident. Lately it’s been happening every day.’
The number of casualties might vary, but there wasn’t a day without a report of crimes committed by berserk Awakeners.
‘Not long ago people were praising them as heroes who would save the world. Now they’re all contracting Mana Stone Disease and losing their minds.’
Mana Stone Disease.
An incurable plague contracted after prolonged exposure to the otherworld’s mana.
What happens when you catch this deranged disease?
After a series of hallucinations and mental breakdowns, mana stones start sprouting across your body, and in the end your flesh collapses, transforming you into a monster.
‘The problem is, even when Hunters use their abilities, they’re still exposed to the same risk of Mana Stone Disease.’
It was nice of them to raid gates to protect civilians, but if they were active for too long, they’d suddenly snap and start attacking people.
Hunters were nothing less than walking time bombs.
Clatter, clatter—.
As the subway briefly surfaced above ground, an electronic billboard slid past in the distance.
『Congratulations to Hunter Cheon Yooseong, Korea’s No.1 ranked Hunter, on his birthday!』
I stared indifferently at the billboard showing Cheon Yooseong’s face.
The faint blue eyes framed by flowing silver hair were certainly striking.
‘What, are Hunters recruited based on their looks?’
Maybe because they held the power of life and death, the public called them heroes and idolized them.
Never mind that if they caught Mana Stone Disease, they’d turn into disasters on par with nuclear bombs.
‘Still, Hunters must make a lot of money. Wasn’t a single mid-grade mana stone worth more than my monthly salary?’
That thought crossed my mind as the subway rattled along.
Compared to the slave’s life of working weekends, maybe the short but intense life of a Hunter… might actually be better.
‘…Not that an unawakened like me has any business thinking that.’
Soon my hamster-wheel routine would start turning again. I decided to leave that fleeting daydream as nothing more than imagination.
—Next stop, Seocho. Seocho Station. Doors will open on the…
Leaving behind my ridiculous fantasy, I walked into the same monotonous routine as always.
Still, for some reason, there was an itch in the corner of my heart.
Beep.
After swiping my ID, Section Chief Choi greeted me warmly.
“Oh! You’re finally here, Deputy Manager Seo!”
“Hello, Chief.”
“Aru, you don’t look so good. Haven’t been sleeping well?”
“Ha ha…”
This was the man who insisted I come to the office to finish work I could’ve done at home. Section Chief Choi, the very one.
“Seo, more importantly, come here and take a look. I left a spreadsheet link in the messenger, but why does it say I don’t have permission?”
“…Did you set the sharing permissions?”
“Ah, I forgot! Then could you set everything up for me? Starting with this folder.”
“…”
I was so dumbfounded I couldn’t control my expression.
‘So this is why he insisted I come in to finish work on the weekend?’
Cleaning up after the Chief’s endless string of blunders would take far longer than my actual overtime tasks.
‘But he doesn’t mean harm, he really doesn’t…’
It was just that the Chief was old-fashioned.
Fine. Compared to the sadistic bosses I saw all over the internet, this wasn’t so bad…
I was rationalizing furiously as I powered on my laptop when—
“Seo! No need to rush! How about we grab a snack first?”
The Chief waved at me from the break room, smiling like a child. His innocent grin made him all the more infuriating!
‘Will I even be able to leave before 7…?’
Sometimes, mindless words and deeds without malice are more terrible than deliberate cruelty.
That uneasy thought flashed across my mind…
Soon, two cups of capsule coffee and a couple bags of snacks were on the break room table.
Of course, serving refreshments to the Chief was my job. On a Sunday, the only ones in the office were the Chief and me.
“Chief, here you go.”
“Ha ha, that’s Seo for you. So quick and capable. I’d want you as my daughter-in-law!”
“Don’t you only have a daughter?”
“Ha ha, it’s just a saying!”
Something about the Chief’s oddly excited face irritated me.
‘Why does he always call me out, and not anyone else?!’
I had to finish my overtime. At this rate, weekend work would turn into weekend night work.
“…You know, if only I had a daughter your age…”
“Y-yeah…”
“That’s right! My daughter is actually a top-20 ranked Hunter!”
Total nonsense.
No one on our team believed a word of it.
‘If that were true, you wouldn’t be a salaried worker. You’d be living it up in a 50th-floor Han River view apartment…’
Beep!
To drown out his nonsense, I turned on the break room TV.
—Yesterday at dawn, Awakener Lee, who was released without detention due to “low flight risk,” tracked down his ex and killed her—
…Beep!
—At a warehouse owned by a guild on the outskirts of Seoul, a mana stone explosion killed 21 foreign workers instantly—
I had only turned it on to tune out the Chief, but my mood got worse, not better.
“So, Aru, how have you been? I called you because we never get time to talk openly, just the two of us. Ha ha.”
“Just… fine, I guess. Work’s been busy…”
My lips twitched despite my forced smile.
‘My precious Sunday, wasted for such a ridiculous reason…!’
But I quickly suppressed my anger and plastered on a smile again.
Living in Seoul required money. A lot of money.
If you failed to pay the “defense fee” for living in Seoul on time, you’d be kicked out to the provinces where monsters roamed.
Even drinking the water in that mana-polluted land would send you into madness in half a year.
So no matter how crappy my boss was, quitting wasn’t an option.
I valued my life. I wasn’t ready to join my parents yet.
‘But… why am I feeling so dizzy?’
I’d been nauseous for a while now. I could almost see rainbow-colored auroras.
[Congratulations on Awakening!]
Wait. What the hell? Am I hallucinating?
[Acquired Unique Skill: 【Omnipotent Inventory (EX)】]
[Acquired New Skill: 【Boldness (D)】]
[Your current Awakener Rank is
‘What the hell is this supposed to mean?’
I awakened? And even got an EX-rank skill?
I blinked at the holographic window floating before my eyes, stunned.
—Breaking news! A dungeon break has occurred in Seocho-gu, Seoul!
—Citizens are advised to evacuate calmly!
With the TV alert came the blaring of sirens.
KWAANG!
The building shook violently with a thunderous boom. The shock was so strong that cracks spread across the break room wall.
“Ch-Chief?!”
Sway—.
As the Chief lost his balance, I reached out to catch him.
[Would you like to store 【Section Chief Choi】 in your inventory? Y/N]
A bizarre system message popped up before my eyes!
‘What the…?’
Store the Chief? In my inventory?
Too absurd, I just stared at the translucent window.
Was this reality or a dream… I couldn’t tell.
‘Wait, weren’t only items from gates supposed to go into the inventory?’
Why did the Chief, a human, show up as if he were an item?
“Seo… Seo! Thanks! I almost fell…”
[Would you like to store target in inventory? Y/N]
—[YES]
—[NO]
The Chief’s shoulder trembled faintly as I held him up. The strange system window still floated before me.
‘Right, I should press NO…’
My trembling finger was just about to press it when—
…KWAANG!
The building shook again.
▶ [YES]
And I accidentally pressed YES!
[You have obtained 【Section Chief Choi】!]
“Wh-what the…?!”
All of a sudden, every part of the Chief’s existence was sucked away. Straight into the inventory window hovering before me.