Chapter 274 – Part 2 – Choi Seong-min

The first thing Min Do-jun saw when he opened his eyes was an unfamiliar ceiling.

‘Is this… a hospital?’

It wasn’t a clean and pristine university hospital, but rather a simple and somewhat dirty hospital room that you might see in a rural countryside area.

‘Is this really a hospital? What’s with this sanitary environment…’

Still, it seemed to have the basics covered as he was connected to an oxygen respirator and receiving IV fluids.

However, Min Do-jun wasn’t flustered. He already knew that he could only possess bodies that were in a comatose state.

“Ugh.”

At that moment, countless pieces of information rushed into Min Do-jun’s mind like a flood.

It was the process of the body’s lifetime memories being transmitted to its new owner.

Since he had already been briefed about this, he calmly closed his eyes and accepted the information.

‘This body’s name is Seong-min. His surname is Choi, but since he’s a commoner, he should only be called by his first name.’

Like India’s caste system, this world had implemented a class system.

‘A world divided into classes in the order of military, merchant, commoner, and slave…’

Not only that, but unlike the existing Earth where countries were divided into hundreds, this world was different.

Westland, Eastland, and the Neutral Nation.

It was divided into only these three continents, and the place where Min Do-jun was located belonged to Eastland.

‘Eastland’s territory is as vast as ancient Goguryeo. Koreans, Chinese, Japanese, and all sorts of East Asians live mixed together.’

Westland referred to the continent across the sea where Westerners lived.

The Neutral Nation was literally a country that advocated neutrality.

The 8 Heroes were the kings who ruled each of these continents.

‘I have to assassinate the kings of each continent with a commoner’s body.’

The more he thought about it, the more insane the difficulty seemed.

Since classes were predetermined, wouldn’t discrimination be severe too?

‘Still, since I’m a hunter, I should be able to seek class advancement.’

Hunters in this world were like nobles from medieval times.

‘If I were an ordinary person, I couldn’t even dream of it, but since I’ve become a hunter, I can rise to high positions depending on my abilities.’

The awakening rate was the same as before – 1 in 1,000 people.

Since it wasn’t easy to become one, hunters received precious treatment wherever they went.

Of course, this was only if their rank was high.

‘Status window.’

-Name: Choi Seong-min (20 years old)

-Rank: F

-Combat Power: 0 (Unmeasured)

-World Ranking: 1,021,392nd

-Strength: 3, Health: 3

-Agility: 3, Magic Power: 3

-Traits: Interpretation (F), Hunter Slayer (EX)

-Skills: None

“…”

Min Do-jun was at a loss for words at the shabby status window compared to when he was max level.

‘This is no different from a level 1 who just awakened, isn’t it?’

He hadn’t expected much since it was an F-rank hunter to begin with, but still, having 0 combat power seemed too harsh.

‘What is this trait?’

Min Do-jun opened the information for the trait that Seong-min originally possessed.

[Trait – Interpretation]

-Rank: F

-Description: Can interpret and understand the meaning of unfamiliar text.

‘It’s not even a trait that helps in combat…’

Of course, there might come a situation where interpretation is needed someday, but it wasn’t helpful for the immediate future.

‘Out of so many traits, why did this one have to be chosen? There are memories of being happy about awakening, which is really unfortunate.’

He had even bragged to his family about becoming a hunter, but in the end, his trait was essentially useless F-rank.

In Min Do-jun’s memory, the image of Seong-min falling into despair came to mind.

And also the cause of falling into a comatose state.

‘He was beaten like a dog by some bastard named Nam-gi and ended up in this state…’

Nam-gi was an F-rank hunter who bullied Seong-min because he seemed easy to pick on.

‘Well, with such a frail physique, it’s understandable that he’d be looked down upon by fellow hunters.’

Moreover, Seong-min usually had a quiet and passive personality.

Since his combat power of 0 could even be confirmed through rankings, he must have seemed like the perfect target.

‘Don’t worry anymore, original owner. Now that I’ve taken over this body, there won’t be any more getting beaten up.’

Now that he had obtained a new body in a new dimension, he had to abandon the name Min Do-jun.

‘From today, I am Seong-min.’

Seong-min got up from his position, removed the oxygen respirator and the needle from his arm, and changed into casual clothes.

First, he needed to go home and reassure his family.

Just then, the door burst open.

“S-Seong-min?”

The person who entered was none other than Seong-min’s mother, Hee-seon.

“Mother.”

“Seong-min! Our Seong-min has woken up!”

As if she couldn’t believe it, his mother touched his body here and there before looking at him with a worried face.

“A-are you conscious now? Is your body okay?”

By the way, Eastland’s official language was Korean, so there was no problem with communication.

“Yes. I’m completely fine now.”

“Oh my, thank goodness! Really, thank goodness!”

Seeing his mother shed tears of joy while clasping her hands together, a smile formed on Seong-min’s lips as well.

‘Is it because the original owner’s memories remain? Even though she’s not really my mother, my heart feels touched.’

Perhaps it was because he recalled the image of his mother who went out to work at a restaurant steadfastly despite being treated as a commoner to raise her children?

Even though he wasn’t really her son, now that they had become family, he thought he should properly fulfill the role of a son that he couldn’t before.

“What about your restaurant work? Did you skip work to come here?”

“Huh? Y-yes. I briefly left to see you. I have to go back in a little while.”

“Don’t overwork yourself since it’s bad for your health.”

“O-okay.”

His mother’s expression became bewildered.

That was natural since Seong-min had never had proper conversations even with his family.

For such a person to suddenly worry about his mother with a warm voice was surprising.

“What about A-yeon?”

“She went to the factory.”

Seong-min had a younger sister named A-yeon who was 4 years younger.

‘In a normal world, she’d be of age to enter high school, but…’

She couldn’t attend school because she was a commoner.

And there was no need to attend either.

No matter how much a commoner studied and struggled, the jobs they could do were limited.

‘The only thing commoners can do is physical labor.’

Like washing dishes at a restaurant like his mother, working as a laborer at construction sites, or going to factories like A-yeon.

That was the extent of what commoners could do.

Doing anything other than simple labor was illegal.

‘This body also did manual labor until becoming a hunter.’

He had to do it even if he didn’t want to.

Commoners aged 16 and above were legally required to work.

‘They pay only half of half of what others get while working people to the bone.’

That was why Seong-min quit manual labor as soon as he awakened as a hunter.

If you awakened as a hunter, you could at least work comfortably at the Hunter Management Center.

‘Though it was still doing odd jobs.’

Rather, he spent more difficult days being ignored by fellow hunters.

Then, in the end, after being bullied by a fellow hunter named Nam-gi, this situation occurred.

“Mother. Did you hear about why I fell into a coma?”

“I heard.”

“Really?”

“You fell from a ladder while trying to get something out.”

“…”

It seemed that Nam-gi bastard had lied to avoid responsibility.

“Do you know how shocked I was when I heard the news and rushed over? I was so worried thinking I might never see our son again…”

His mother said this while expressing how relieved she was that he didn’t die.

‘Strictly speaking, the real Seong-min was as good as dead though.’

According to God, a comatose state was a phenomenon where the soul became exhausted from external shock and separated from the body.

Like a tenant who can’t afford rent and runs away, if the soul has no will, it won’t return.

‘In other words, it’s an empty house.’

Therefore, there was no possibility that Seong-min’s soul, who had lived a difficult life, would return.

‘He can’t return now that I’ve taken over the body either.’

Judging by the fact that he had been in a coma for 3 months, it seemed he had no intention of returning from the beginning.

‘Now I have to live as Seong-min.’

His mother, who had no idea that the Seong-min before her was a different person, suddenly hugged him saying she was grateful he was alive.

“Don’t you need to get examined?”

“No.”

“Are you really not hurt anywhere?”

“No. I’m not. I’m fine enough to be discharged like this.”

There were no injuries anyway, but rather than unnecessarily getting additional tests and spending money, it was better to leave as soon as possible.

Considering their poor circumstances, hospital bills were no small matter.

Thus, Seong-min immediately went through discharge procedures and returned home with his mother.

Torn wallpaper, indelible mold, etc.

This musty-smelling semi-basement was Seong-min’s home.

“How does it feel to come home after three months?”

“Ah… it feels familiar and nice.”

“Mom has to go back to work, so rest a bit. If you’re hungry, take out some side dishes from the refrigerator.”

“Yes. Take care.”

Seong-min felt uncomfortable seeing his mother’s back as she went back to work.

‘To think that even with three family members working, they can’t escape from a semi-basement.’

It was because commoners received relatively low wages.

‘Would it have been better if there was a father?’

Seong-min’s family consisted only of his mother and younger sister.

His father, who had a wandering nature, had abandoned the house and run away early on.

‘No. Even so, being a commoner, it couldn’t be helped.’

Unless something was done about the damn class system first, it would be difficult for his family to escape the semi-basement.

‘I need to grow and seek class advancement. For that, the blocked dungeons need to be activated first.’

Currently, monsters couldn’t be found anywhere in the world.

God had stopped the monster supply because he judged that the world would be destroyed by the 8 Heroes anyway.

‘Without monsters, the supply of runes and items has also stopped, and hunters’ growth has ceased.’

As a result, even if you awakened as a hunter now, you couldn’t receive the noble-like treatment of the past.

‘I might not know if I got an S-rank trait, but with F-rank, I can’t dream of dramatic change.’

That was why Seong-min still had 0 combat power even though it had been almost half a year since he awakened.

‘But this life is now over too. When dungeons are activated in two weeks, I’ll be able to grow in earnest.’

God had decided to reconnect the monster dimension to help Seong-min grow.

He would be able to receive all the traits and weapons he had chosen before possession at that time.

‘Before that…’

Seong-min glanced at the wall clock.

It was past 5 PM.

‘A-yeon’s quitting time is in 30 minutes, right?’

Since there was nothing particular to do at home, he decided to go pick her up.

What would it feel like if the older brother who had been in a coma suddenly appeared looking perfectly fine?

‘She’d be incredibly surprised, right?’

He knew the location of the company his sister attended from Seong-min’s memories, so there was no problem finding it.

The real problem was something else entirely.

“Ah, why are you doing this?”

“Let’s have a drink with me!”

“I need to go home quickly.”

A-yeon, who was getting off work, was having an argument with someone in front of the company.

“I’m just asking for one drink, why are you being so difficult?”

“I’m a minor, so I can’t drink alcohol.”

“That’s an old law. Now you can drink if you’re over 16, right?”

“That’s only possible for merchant class and above. Commoners can only drink from age 19.”

“Ah, this lowly bitch is being so difficult. Die.”

“…”

“Hey, what am I going to do to you? Give you a drink and do something? Huh? I’m just saying lonely people should drink together. Fuck!”

“Then how about drinking with me?”

At the sudden voice of a third party, the man frowned.

“Which bastard is butting into my conversation…”

The man stopped speaking and looked with surprised eyes.

“You, you’re…?”

“Have you been well? Nam-gi, you bastard?”

Seong-min grinned with delight.

The guy who had put him in a coma was right in front of him.