LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 1 - The End and the Beginning
CHAPTER 1: The End and the Beginning (1)
In the year 20XX, humanity was destroyed.
Was it because of the sudden appearance of the gates?
Or was it due to natural disasters—earthquakes, tsunamis?
Well, both weren’t entirely wrong.
When the gates materialized across the world, people’s greatest fear was the monstrous beings that emerged from them.
Three-headed creatures with bulging, glowing eyes—anyone would be terrified.
However, humanity’s downfall wasn’t caused by the beasts.
After the gates appeared, hunters arose to counter them, and over time, society found a semblance of stability.
The world… perished not because of the monsters’ sharp claws or teeth but because of a highly contagious toxic substance. I don’t know exactly how it began. A mysterious poison originating from the gates spread rapidly, and there was no way to neutralize it—no time to even try.
The poison was so strong that even the slightest contact led to contamination. The hunters, caught off guard, stood no chance against it. Now, I might be the last human alive. After all the effort I had put through in this chaotic world, the cause of humanity’s downfall felt almost absurd.
‘Well, I don’t think I have much time left either.’
With blurred vision, I surveyed the desolate ruins around me. Beside me lay my friend’s grave, which I had buried earlier.
A few simple flowers swayed above the roughly gathered dirt.
At least I got to choose where to die… I thought as I tried to blink away the haziness covering my eyes.
“Hey, do you know how much trouble I went through just to get these flowers?”
It’s not like I would get an answer talking to a grave.
“Just wait a little longer. It’s not like you have any friends besides me.”
My body, deprived of nourishment for so long, was too weak to summon any more energy. With no strength left to resist, I surrendered to the pull of unconsciousness.
Finally, I found my peace.
Hunter “Kang Yuha” has died.
Loading…
* * *
Beeeep!
How long had I been asleep? The shrill ringing that echoed in my ears made me frown, pulling me from the depths of unconsciousness.
Wait, didn’t I die?
As I slowly opened my eyes, a status window flashed before me. I have never seen it so vibrant before. After reading the contents, I was even more disoriented.
┏━━━━━━━━━━━━┓
You have achieved an impossible feat.
Title: Last Survivor, Regressor
Reward: Time (5 years)
┗━━━━━━━━━━━━┛
No, wait.
What is this…?
I raised my hand and brushed the bangs sticking to my forehead, then slapped myself across the cheek.
Slap!
With a crisp sound, my face burned hotly.
I cupped my stinging cheek and looked around. The framed pictures on the white walls, the gray blanket on the soft bed, the ticking desk clock.
Even the glass of water on the table—all of it was just as I remembered. It was my old studio apartment, where I had lived after graduating from college.
These familiar things I shouldn’t have taken for granted.
Listening to the clock’s ticking, I tried to regain my sense of reality. The peaceful scenery made my past struggles feel like a distant dream.
After sitting there for a while, a fleeting thought struck me. With a stiff turn of my head, I began rummaging through the bed.
‘It’s here…!’
I found my phone hidden under the blanket. The screen lit up when I touched it, and the battery was still pretty full.
I quickly entered the pattern and pressed the call button.
Ring, ring.
After a few rings, a voice was heard.
—Daughter~! What’s the matter? Why did you call?
“…Mom.”
―What’s wrong? Why do you sound like that? Did something happen?”
“…”
—Something must have happened. Did you fail the interview?
“No, I just… wanted to hear your voice.”
―Oh my, are you sick?
My throat was so choked up I couldn’t answer. Tears streamed down my face uncontrollably.
—Never mind, I’m coming over. I’ll be there today.
“No, really, I’m fine. I’m not sick at all.”
—Fine, my foot! My baby sounds like she’s dying!
“Really—I’m really okay. You’re busy, too, right? I just had a bad dream.”
―My daughter never acted like this, even when she was five years old…
“……”
— If finding a job is too tough, just come back home. Mom can handle it. How about opening a cafe here together?
“That again. You don’t even like coffee.”
— But my Yuha likes it, so I’ll just bake cookies!
“Okay, I’ll come home if it gets too hard. Don’t push yourself too hard either, Mom.”
—Mom is strong, so don’t worry. You’re the one struggling far from home. Don’t overdo it, and just take it easy, okay? Besides, you’ve just graduated.
“Okay.”
—And make sure to eat breakfast properly, too!
“I got it, I got it.”
—…. ah, yes! Yuha, mom has to go now.
“Okay. I’ll call you later.”
―Thank you, my daughter. I love you~.
After the call ended, I buried my face in my knees. The words I couldn’t say were swirling inside me.
‘Mom, I’m sorry. I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you.’
I wanted to dismiss it as a bad dream, but the stinging pain on my cheek and the flashing of the status window seemed to be shouting at me.
Title: Last Survivor, Regressor
Don’t waste your time; snap out of it. Everything you experienced was real.
The mysterious poison from the gates had erupted simultaneously across the world. I first heard about it on the news and immediately tried calling my mom—but the line never connected.
Desperate, I went searching for her, only to be turned away time and time again with claims that the area was under quarantine.
And then, without ever seeing a body, I found her name among the first recorded victims. I refused to believe it. I fought, I begged, I caused a scene—anything to get answers. But in the end, there was nothing. No confirmation, no closure. Just a name on a list.
And after all that chaos, I belatedly awakened as a hunter and gained purification abilities. Instead of joy, I felt like I was losing my mind. How could I not? I couldn’t even protect my own family. And now, I was cursed to live with this ability—a constant, agonizing reminder of my own failure.
‘Snap out of it.’
If I’ve returned to the past, there’s still a chance. What’s more, unlike in my previous life, I had already awakened. The situation was different from before.
‘I can change it.’
How desperately I had wished for this. If only I could go back just a little further…
Every night, I was tormented by regrets of “If only I had done this, if only I had done that.” But those painful nights are no longer a source of regret but an opportunity.
I bolted up from the bed and did what I needed to do right away.
“…Status Window.”
┏━━━━━━━━━━━━┓
Name: Kang Yuha
Rank: B
Title: Last Survivor, Regressor
Skills: Physical Enhancement (B), Purification (B)
※ Current rewards cannot be redeemed as of the moment.
┗━━━━━━━━━━━━┛
‘Rewards?’
No matter how I looked at it, it seemed like something was there.
I thought it might offer a clever solution to the situation, so I tried hard to control the status window, but the message didn’t change. I couldn’t even check the detailed contents.
I even tried flailing my hands in the air, but it was the same.
‘Ha… let’s move on for now.’
The abilities were the same as when I first awakened. My purification ability—which is fortunately still there—was B-rank. At this level, I might be able to use it once a day.
‘And Physical Enhancement is still the same.’
It was a skill I had found incredibly useful before my regression, and I felt a wave of relief to see it.
I can do this. There’s hope.
Although I’m just a B-rank awakener, no one in this world knows more than me right now.
I reopened my phone to check the date.
May 16th.
A bitter laugh escaped me. By now, the intention behind sending me back was all too clear, whether it was the system or some unknown entity.
May 16th, 5 years ago. The day I wanted to go back the most.
Today would later be remembered as the most tragic day.
「The day when Rank 1, S-Class Hunter Min Hajun died. 」
I know what I have to do.
I still have time. I got up and went to the bathroom. I have to take a shower before I go out.
* * *
The reflection in the mirror felt unfamiliar. After washing up, I saw short black hair barely touching my shoulders. I awkwardly ran my fingers through it, and the reality of my return hit me.
The last time I checked, my hair was a rough mess of white strands, hacked away with shards of broken glass.
The more I used my purification ability, the more my hair color changed.
Eventually, that E-rank skill evolved into a B-rank ability. It was also what kept me alive until the very end.
Pushing aside my thoughts, I walked into the living room, pulled a black cap over my head, and opened my inventory.
I checked while I was showering earlier. An item that I was very happy to have come back with me.
Sharp Dagger (S).
Before my regression, I had been lucky enough to join a group with an S-rank crafting hunter. They’d strengthened this weapon as a reward for saving their life.
I don’t know whether I should congratulate it for coming back with me or feel sorry for having to go through more suffering again.
―A gate has opened in the XX district, and citizens are being evacuated. As it was a weekend morning…
The sound of the news on TV caught my attention.
It was time to get moving.
* * *
I stood atop a tall building, looking down. The wind tousled my hair. Below, chaos unfolded, personnel controlling the area around the gate mixed with people evacuating.
It seemed like Min Hajun hadn’t arrived yet.
I turned on my phone and searched the internet.
REAL-TIME XX DISTRICT SITUATION
Crazy! I almost got beaten up in the middle of my shopping. People are running around in a panic.
└ Seriously, stop posting and just run.
└True.
But this… no warning before a gate appears? What’s the Hunter Association even doing?
└ Ah, they don’t care about us B-ranks anymore~
└ The Hunter Association is out of their mind these days. Look at how they’re working.
└ Useless scum. They take all those taxes and don’t do their job correctly… No wonder the country is falling apart.
Wait. I think I saw MHJ.
└ Yeah, don’t believe that crap~ Min Hajun went to attack a gate in the countryside today~
└ LOL, why would Min Hajun come for a mere B-rank gate?
I finally found the post I had been looking for.
That’s right. Why is he here instead of going where he’s supposed to?
I pulled my hat even lower and lightly leaped towards an alleyway where there were no people. I could feel my body falling at a rapid pace.
「Physical Enhancement」
At just the right moment, I enhanced my legs and used the walls to reduce my speed before landing. Physical Enhancement might be a brute-force skill, but it’s incredibly useful once you get the hang of it.
Fortunately, my accumulated experience remained, so even though my body was a bit slow to keep up, I could move fairly smoothly.
Blending into the crowd, I concealed my presence.
* * *
“Don’t push!”
“Please follow the hunters’ instructions!”
Choi Min-sik, a civil servant from the Hunter Association, sighed heavily. Today was supposed to be his day off, yet here he was, dragged into the chaos of an emergency.
‘What rotten luck.’
He had planned to spend a quiet weekend at home, maybe crack open a cold beer. But that plan had gone straight down the drain. Just thinking about the beer chilling in his freezer made him even more frustrated.
‘It’s only a B-rank gate. Why the fuss? Is the gate detection team even doing their job?’
For the massive salaries they supposedly earned, they sure messed up a lot. They were probably getting chewed out right now.
“Hey! Over there!”
While muttering complaints in his head, Choi Min-sik diligently controlled the crowd. That’s when he spotted a woman walking in the opposite direction. Sometimes, people get lost in a panic; maybe that’s what’s happening to her.
“Excuse me! You can’t go that way!”
He called out to her, then quickly moved to intercept. If a civilian got swept into the gate again, not only would he have to file a tedious report, but he’d also face an immediate pay cut.
“Hey, miss!”
Yet, no matter how loudly he called, the woman didn’t turn around. Strangely, no one else seemed to notice her. The crowd didn’t even try to stop her.
To make matters worse, despite running after her, the distance between them only grew.
‘Huh, why is she so fast?’
Activating his skill, Choi Min-sik finally caught up and grabbed her arm.
“Excuse me. It’s dangerous to go that way. Please evacuate as instructed.”
The woman whose arm was grabbed turned around. However, there was no panic or fear in her eyes.
‘…Something’s off.’
He couldn’t see her face clearly because she was wearing a cap pulled down low, but he felt an inexplicable sense of pressure from the depths of her gaze. Without realizing it, Choi Min-sik’s grip loosened.
“You’re pretty good.”
“Huh?”
Before he could respond, the woman vanished in an instant.
Her speed was unbelievable.
‘What… what was that? A ghost?’
Having worked in the Hunter Association, he was familiar with all the top-ranked hunters, but her face didn’t ring a bell.
It was a face you will never be able to forget, even if you only saw it once…
‘Should I… report this?’
He should avoid anything that could lead to assigning responsibility. Should I report this or not?
Choi Min-sik was caught in a classic office worker dilemma, standing blankly on the street for a moment.