TOP 01

Chapter 1. The Porter Who Held Onto Revenge

Clang! Shhhk—!

“Ugh.”

“Drop your sword and surrender quietly.”

“Bullshit! You’re not taking another step past here!”

Thud—!

Crash!

The sound of fabric tearing, screams, and the clamor of battle came one after another from the living room.

Hearing those dreadful noises, Yujin trembled in his mother’s arms.

“M-Mom…”

“It’s okay, Yujin. It’s okay.”

Yujin’s mother — Yoo Mi-ae.

Vice Guildmaster of the Fate Guild, and a 7-star Hunter.

She was desperately trying to soothe Yujin.

But the urgency and anxiety on her face were clear.

Even thirteen-year-old Yujin could see it plainly.

This was absolutely not an okay situation.

But… Uncle said they were just guests…

Yujin’s resentment turned toward his uncle.

Namgung Myung — his father’s sworn brother.

He’d said only that the Holy Knights of the Order would be visiting.

The Holy Knights of Gaia — lauded as protectors of the world.

Yujin had been thrilled at the thought of seeing them up close… but only for a moment.

Holy Knights… I thought they were champions of justice…

They weren’t.

They were brutal.

They were grim reapers, here to bring an end to the peace his family had enjoyed.

“Aaaaargh!”

The next scream was one he knew well.

His father’s.

The same father who had always seemed strong and unshakable — a 7-star Hunter, praised as one of Korea’s best.

And then—

Bang—!

“Sister-in-law.”

“Namgung Myung! What the hell are you—”

“Well, you could say I’m… inheriting the throne.”

With a bloodstained dagger in hand, Namgung Myung strolled into the room, chuckling.

A guild executive. His father’s sworn brother.

And Yujin’s favorite uncle.

“U… Uncle…?”

But the man before him now was nothing like the uncle he admired.

Yujin’s young voice shook.

For a moment, he couldn’t understand what was happening.

Why was his uncle holding a blade toward them?

Whose blood was that on it?

Could it be… his father’s?

“My little guy, you must be really scared.”

His voice was as gentle as always.

But Yujin was frozen in place.

For some reason, those words sounded utterly chilling.

“…At least spare Yujin.”

“Oh, come on. You know it’s not up to me.”

“Please…”

Thump.

Yoo Mi-ae fell to her knees.

She had no choice.

If it were just Namgung Myung, she could try to fight him herself.

But behind him was someone she could never defeat alone.

Step.

Heavy footsteps approached from the living room toward the room.

Dad!

Yujin’s heart leapt in hope.

Surely his strong, dependable father would fix this—

But.

“It’s over outside. Finish things here quickly.”

It wasn’t his father.

It was the Holy Knight Commander of the Gaia Order — the “guest” from earlier.

Dressed in pure white full armor, even his face hidden behind a helmet, his gauntleted hand held a bloodied sword.

A bloodied sword bearing Gaia’s emblem.

“Yes, Commander.”

Namgung Myung replied briefly, then advanced toward Yujin and his mother, dagger at the ready.

“Don’t hold too much of a grudge, sister-in-law. Sometimes you have to know when to bend. Stay too rigid, and you’ll break.”

She didn’t answer.

Had she given up?

From Yujin’s position, all he could see was his mother’s back — her expression hidden from view.

Then—

Fwoooosh—!

A massive wave of mana erupted from Yoo Mi-ae.

“W-What?!”

Namgung Myung, startled, quickly fell back into a defensive stance.

She was a 7-star mage.

It might be impossible to turn the situation around — but she could at least take one of them with her.

“M-Mom?”

Yujin called to her blankly.

There was no reply.

Instead, the Holy Knight Commander spoke.

“A teleportation spell.”

“Shouldn’t we stop it?!”

“No. If she wants to exhaust herself, why interfere?”

“But—”

“She’ll fail anyway. A mere 7-star could never pull it off.”

Teleportation was one of the hardest of all 8-star spells.

Attempting it as a 7-star was suicide.

Fail, and the mage would die from mana backlash.

Succeed… and she’d still die.

Yoo Mi-ae knew it.

She knew she would die no matter what — but she still cast it, burning her very life force.

All for one purpose.

I have to… save Yujin…

Her bloodshot eyes stayed fixed on her enemies as she chanted.

Then—

“…Yujin.”

She looked back at him with trembling eyes, speaking with difficulty.

“M-Mom!”

“Live. You have to live.”

Tears streamed down Yujin’s face.

He didn’t even know why.

Just looking at her face made the tears fall faster.

“Commander?”

“Hmm?”

“Isn’t… isn’t she actually succeeding?”

“…Hmm. Seems so. How…?”

“Oh, shit!”

By then, light had already wrapped around Yujin’s body.

And then he realized—

“W-What about you, Mom?”

Yoo Mi-ae only smiled through the blood at her lips.

This wasn’t a spell for two.

It was a spell for one — for Yujin alone.

“No way! He’s not getting away!”

Namgung Myung lunged toward Yujin, unwilling to leave such a threat alive.

But—

Thunk!

Yoo Mi-ae stepped in the way and took the blade instead.

The tip of the dagger burst out through her abdomen.

Splurt—!

Blood sprayed from her mouth, spattering Yujin’s face.

“Y…jin… Live…”

Betrayed by someone she trusted, dying…

Yet still smiling at her son through a mask of blood.

It broke his heart.

He turned away from her face — and looked instead at another.

“You little bastard!”

The face of the uncle he’d once thought an angel, now twisted like a demon as he lunged to kill him.

At that moment, Yujin thought—

Revenge.

Thump.

Someday…

He swallowed his grief and filled the void with rage.

He swore vengeance.

I will… repay this blood debt.

Flash—!

—And he survived.

---

“Haah!”

It was that nightmare again.

That day, ten years ago.

A dream he had all the time — one he never got used to.

His back was drenched in cold sweat.

“Damn it.”

He looked around quickly.

Even knowing it was unlikely they were still after him — his identity long since cleaned and years having passed — the thought still crept in.

What if they’re still looking for me?

Especially when he dreamt of that day.

But everything looked the same as usual.

The back mountain behind his home, his regular training grounds.

Logs, rocks, and lumps of iron lay scattered — the crude tools of his physical training.

“Haa…”

Reality settled back in, bittersweet relief filling his chest.

“…I passed out, huh.”

Not only passed out — he’d had the nightmare too.

It had been too much training for his current state.

Throb.

“Urgh.”

Pain shot through his right arm.

The cost of pushing himself until he lost consciousness.

Throb.

Tzzzt.

Not just his arm — his whole body ached as if it were breaking apart.

“Damn ‘Mana Overflow’…”

All of it was because of his innate trait.

“I finally awakened, only to get such a useless trait. Ha…”

He was an Awakened.

He’d survived for the sake of revenge, trained endlessly to become stronger.

Maybe that determination had paid off — three years ago, he awakened.

But the trait he gained was the problem.

Mana Overflow.

His mana recovery speed was fast.

Very.

Extremely.

So fast that his recovery outpaced his consumption.

At first, it seemed amazing — practically infinite mana.

An S-rank trait, or so he thought.

But—

It had a fatal flaw.

His frail body couldn’t handle the swollen mana.

Once it passed a certain point, it would invade his body like a flood.

The moment he lost control, his body would start breaking down.

It was like living with mechanical pencil lead for bones — requiring extreme focus not to snap them.

And the more his mana grew, the harder control became.

His body stayed the same, but his mana grip kept getting stronger.

Too much of a good thing.

So he tried to consume as much mana as possible while training his body.

That training ground was the result.

But now…

“…I’m even passing out.”

Even that stopgap measure was reaching its limit.

His body’s growth was too slow; his mana only kept increasing.

He needed another method.

Not that he had no options…

But they were… problematic.

---

The Iron Fangs — a small local guild and a black-market company.

He worked there as a porter.

The reason he endured all the abuse, verbal and physical?

Only one.

“What? It was 300,000 won yesterday, and now it’s 500,000? Are you kidding me?”

“Don’t like it, don’t buy it. You know I’m the only one who can make this stuff.”

“…Unbelievable.”

They had something only they could supply — the illegal drug Mana Suppressant.

With it, he could temporarily suppress the problems caused by Mana Overflow.

But—

Damn it. Even extortion has limits.

Whether he’d guessed Yujin’s desperation or not, the guild’s quartermaster had almost doubled the price overnight.

A complete scumbag.

“Hey, why are you so obsessed with this stuff anyway? It’s not even addictive.”

Quartermaster Lee Se-han asked, shaking the vial in his hand.

…Tch.

Yujin forced himself not to look too hungrily at it.

He needed that drug.

One vial per day.

Its effect lasted only a day, and it could only be obtained here.

And only this man — an ex-con with the Alchemist trait — could make it.

He clenched his fist.

“You don’t need to know.”

“Suit yourself. Anyway, if you’re not buying, get lost. I’m busy.”

But he couldn’t walk away.

Without it, even his brutal training regimen would be impossible — maybe even daily life itself.

Losing control of his mana meant his own power would destroy his body.

A ticking time bomb.

“What, you gonna hit me?”

Lee Se-han smirked at the sight of his clenched fist.

“No. But… When we got that lamia heart in, you… fudged the count, didn’t you?”

“…!”

“Skipping a few magic stones is one thing… but high-value materials like that?”

“H-How did you—?!”

He didn’t need violence.

Not when he had blackmail.

“I’ve got proof, so don’t think about denying it.”

“…What do you want?”

“Nothing much. Just sell me the Mana Suppressant at the old price.”

Haa.

Even making that threat left a bitter taste in his mouth.

He hadn’t planned to use this card…

But this was the best deal he could get.

“Damn it. Fine, I’ll give it to you if you just—”

“No deal.”

He cut him off coldly.

“Keep the price the same from now on, and this stays between us.”

“…Tch.”

Lee Se-han hesitated for a long moment, then finally handed over the vial.

“You’d better keep your word.”

“Of course.”

A clean transaction.

He turned to leave immediately.

I’m late. The party leader’s gonna throw a fit again.

He sighed — for multiple reasons.

I’ll need more blackmail material on the quartermaster…

Judging by Lee Se-han’s twisted expression, there would be some retaliation sooner or later.

Greedy and petty — that was his evaluation of the man.

As he thought that—

Bang!

“Ugh.”

“What the hell?”

Stars appeared before my eyes.

Suddenly, the door opened and slammed hard.

When I looked up, I saw a long-haired hunter.

He was the party leader for today’s dungeon run and the captain of Hunter Team 8, which I belonged to.

“Kim Yujin? I was wondering why I couldn’t see this damn pack mule anywhere, and here you are,” he sneered.

“…Sorry.”

I wasn’t late, but I apologized anyway.

It was an unavoidable reality.

There’s no logic in bullshit.

“This bastard just bailed. Hey, can’t you do your job properly?”

“……Sorry.”

I explained once again — I hadn’t done anything wrong.

They were just picking on the easy target: the pack mule.

But today, their attitude was especially bad.

“Ah, thanks a lot.”

Suddenly, Lee Sehan approached and snatched the magic suppressant from my hand.

‘What the hell is he doing?’

I glared at him with that question in my eyes.

The long-haired party leader also looked at Lee Sehan with a puzzled expression.

“What’s going on here right now?”

“As you can see, this damn pack mule got caught trying to steal something. Hehe.”

“……”

I was dumbfounded for a moment.

Is this guy crazy?

Did he just erase what I threatened from his mind?

“Ugh. The pack mules these days have no manners. Ha ha!”

“Don’t worry. I’ll give him a proper lesson today.”

“I trust Team 8’s leader!”

“In that regard, maybe about that favor I asked before……”

“Oh, of course!”

But I couldn’t bring that up right now.

Our party leader was quite close with Lee Sehan.

If I brought that up here, I’d just lose face and gain nothing.

“Retarded pack mule.”

“……”

I silently endured their contemptuous stares.

I had no choice at the moment.

But.

‘Sons of bitches.’

I will never forget this grudge.

---

Black skies and red earth.

Inside the dungeon, hunters who had finished fighting lit their cigarettes.

And I…

Snap! Scratch, scratch.

I was dismantling an orc corpse.

My whole body bruised.

“Aren’t you going faster? I can see your hands.”

“Sorry!”

“Oh, you’re pretty confident, huh? Won’t you lower your voice?”

“…Sorry.”

“Your voice is too quiet.”

What do you want, damn it.

I chewed them out in my head.

It was a familiar situation.

Random violence, unfair orders.

Right now, after getting beaten up badly, I was carrying a heavy backpack filled with magic stones while dismantling an orc corpse.

The height of inefficiency.

I had no way to argue.

I was a powerless pack mule, and they were powerful hunters.

Especially inside a dungeon, laws to protect the weak were useless.

Ssshh—

Suddenly, I felt a hot sensation.

“Ugh.”

“Oh? What’s this? You’re holding up well. Maybe my beating toughened you up?”

The long-haired party leader rubbed his cigarette butt out on my forearm, chuckling.

‘Damn it.’

If he’s the leader, he should at least have some responsibility.

Stop harassing the powerless pack mule drunk on cheap power.

“Boss, what if this guy awakens from all that? Hahaha.”

“Would anything change? He’s just a loser no matter what.”

“That’s true. Hahaha!”

The other hunters were no different.

The only one who didn’t harass me was the female hunter covered in tattoos.

But that wasn’t important.

She was just a mercenary we brought in from outside for today’s dungeon run.

Suddenly, I thought:

‘Should I just kill them all?’

I could give in to the boiling anger.

If I gave up suppressing my magic and actively used it…

Even if my body shattered, at least I could kill one of them.

But.

‘No. I wasn’t born to do that.’

I held on to reason.

‘Revenge for my parents.’

That was why I had survived so stubbornly until now.

Not petty revenge in front of me.

Still, I couldn’t help but sigh.

‘Hoo. Will the day come when I overcome this cursed trait and soar?’

No, more importantly,

‘Will I even be okay today?’

That was the bigger problem.

I hadn’t taken today’s magic suppressant.

I already felt the raging magic inside me starting to run wild.

Thanks to the magic suppressant, I had controlled the massive magic power through superhuman control.

Now it was slipping from my control.

Crack!

A sudden pain.

It felt like magic was crushing my muscles.

“Ugh.”

I groaned from the unexpected pain.

Then—

“Hey, look at this bastard. You wanna pick a fight? If you’re mad—”

That was a perfect excuse.

The party leader raised his arm to hit me on the back of the head.

But—

Thud!

His movement didn’t continue.

“Ugh, what… what the hell—”

“Oh my, sorry. I came in here with this in mind from the start.”

Scratch.

Puff!

The female mercenary suddenly killed the party leader.

‘Huh…?’

My judgment froze at the sudden murder.

‘I was going to get rid of the party leader…’

Ah, that’s not it.

“You bastard, my boss!”

“Treachery!”

“That’s not it. I’m not even part of your organization.”

I snapped out of it listening to the conversation between the female mercenary and the hunters.

‘Calm down. It’s not like this is the first time I’ve seen a murder.’

Taking a deep breath, I looked up at her.

The tattooed woman wielding a dagger.

From her sudden action, she seemed like a Red Hunter who kills Awakened.

Simply put, a PK (player killer).

“Damn. A wandering mercenary bitch!”

The iron-fist hunters drew their weapons at her.

“It’s a Red Hunter! Kill her!”

“You’re no match for me. Just be my experience points quietly.”

The tattooed woman swung her dagger and fought back.

‘What the hell is this situation?’

Though we had won the fight against the orcs, the scene suddenly turned into a fight between humans.

The fortunate thing was that they didn’t pay attention to me.

I was just a pack mule.

Powerless.

So the hunters didn’t care about me.

Lucky in the midst of misfortune, but I couldn’t just stay still.

‘I have to run away.’

Getting involved would be death.

I had to run first and see how the situation played out…

“Arrgh!”

“Ugh!”

“Gah!”

…Trouble.

The iron-fist hunters fighting the tattooed woman were quickly cut down.

‘Seriously, idiots.’

I always knew their mouths were more dangerous than their combat skills.

But this was too much.

‘How the hell did three guys not last a a minute against one woman?’

In the end, only the tattooed woman and I were left in the dungeon.

We locked eyes.

“Planning to spare me…?”

“Do you?”

“…I thought so.”

Damn it.

Boom!

I threw my backpack filled with heavy magic stones on the floor.

It was filthy heavy.

The tattooed woman looked at me with a pitiful expression.

“Watching what those bastards do, I think you’re kinda pathetic too. But there’s no choice, I have to kill you.”

She muttered that she couldn’t leave witnesses.

Such crocodile tears.

“Just consider yourself unlucky.”

Luck.

Sure, I wasn’t a lucky guy.

I lost my parents young, and the unique trait I awakened was worse than useless.

But—

“Hoo. You don’t seem lucky either.”

“?”

The tattooed woman frowned at my sudden change in tone.

“I didn’t take my magic suppressant today.”

“Hmm? What does that have to do with—”

I cut off her words and gave up trying to suppress my magic.

Kugugugu—

Ignoring the remnants of the suppressant, a vast amount of magic surged through my magic circuits like a tidal wave.

“W-what is this!?”

The tattooed woman was startled as if she felt it too.

“Listen.”

By pure magic quantity, I hadn’t measured exactly, but it was probably more than an 8-star hunter.

“I’m not a pack mule because I’m weak.”

My unique trait is “Magic Overload.”

Magic crazily accumulates in my body—an insanely brute trait.

“…I’m a pack mule because my power is too much.”

It overflowed so much it almost destroyed me, but anyway—

My power overflowed.

‘I don’t know if I’ll survive this.’

Still, the odds were better than just meekly waiting to get killed.

“Cr-crazy!”

The tattooed woman gasped in horror and twisted her body.

She seemed to try to run away, but—

“It’s too late.”

Twu-hwaaak—

Using overflowing magic as energy, my fist launched at her.