Chapter 1 — Day One: When the System Chose Him
Prologue: A World That Didn't Know It Was Ending
It began with a ripple.
Not in water, not in the air—
but in reality.
A faint tremor passed through Daehan City, so subtle most people thought it was just a truck rolling by. Cafés buzzed with chatter, students argued over games, office workers hustled home with tired sighs.
No one knew the world had already crossed the line of no return.
Then—
[SYSTEM BOOTING…]
[APOCALYPSE PROTOCOL: ONLINE]
Welcome, Players.]
A chime echoed inside every mind at the same time.
And life ended.
1. The Nobody Who Didn't Want a Class
Yun Seojin was sitting outside a convenience store, eating a sad-looking kimbap and wondering if he should sell his scooter to pay rent.
He never got the chance to finish the thought.
The air turned white.
Sound collapsed into silence.
A blue screen exploded into his vision.
[CLASS BEING ASSIGNED…]
"What… what is this…?" Seojin whispered, dropping his chopsticks.
People around him froze, staring at their own screens in horror.
[Class Assigned: SUMMONER]
[Grade: ???]
Warning: Summoner classes are considered low-combat roles.]
[Estimated survival rate: 3%.]
"Three percent?!" Seojin sputtered.
"Hey, System! Refund! Re-roll! Something!"
The System politely ignored him.
Around him, other people shouted:
"I got Warrior!"
"Tank? What is that—?"
"Healer? Is this a game?!"
But before panic could even settle—
The ground screamed.
2. Daehan City's First Dungeon Break
It didn't explode.
It didn't erupt.
It simply opened—like someone unzipped the street.
A long glowing crack split the pavement, pulsing red like a heartbeat. Buildings flickered. Lights shattered.
Then came the growling.
A horned wolf-creature crawled out—skin ashen-gray, eyes burning orange, saliva dripping like acid. A second followed. A third.
Someone screamed.
A taxi slammed into a bus.
Chaos broke loose.
Seojin's pulse hammered as the System chimed again:
[Quest Generated: First Blood]
Eliminate one monster.]
Reward: Basic Skill.]
"No. Nope. Absolutely not."
Seojin backed away, shaking.
He was a food delivery dropout, not a fighter. He couldn't kill anything. He got a support class. And the System expected him to—
A hand grabbed him.
3. The Girl Who Refused to Die
Kang Harin—bleeding from the forehead, breathing hard, but eyes sharp and alive—pulled him behind an overturned motorcycle.
"Hey! Summoner!" she barked.
"You've got a combat class, right?"
"I don't think you know what a Summoner is!"
Harin didn't wait.
She lifted a broken metal signpost like it weighed nothing.
"I'll distract it. You hit it with your skill."
"WHAT SKILL?!"
The horned wolf spotted them and charged.
Harin sprinted to meet it, letting out a raw, desperate shout. She swung the metal pole, clashing with the monster's jaws—pushed back, but still standing.
Seojin's heart pounded.
[Skill Available: PRIMAL SUMMON – Rank F]
Would you like to summon?]
[YES / NO]
He slammed YES.
Because if he didn't, Harin would die.
A magic circle burst beneath him—unstable, dim, trembling like it wasn't sure it should exist.
"What did I just—"
The circle erupted.
4. The Weakest Summon… Or the Most Dangerous?
A tiny black fox rolled out of the magic.
It was small enough to fit in his arms, fur messy, mismatched golden-and-silver eyes shimmering.
"…meep?" it squeaked.
Seojin stared.
Harin stared.
The horned wolf paused mid-lunge as if thinking:
Is this a joke?
Seojin yelled at the System,
"THIS is my summon?!"
The System again offered no sympathy.
[Summoned Creature: Gomchi, the Fragmented Shadow Cub]
Rank: Unknown]
Abilities: Hidden]
Gomchi blinked slowly at the monster—
—then exploded.
Not literally.
But its body dissolved into black smoke, reappearing behind the horned wolf with a faint crackle of shadows.
Harin's eyes widened.
"What—?"
A single clean slice tore across the wolf's spine.
No gore.
Just a flash of shadow and a collapse.
The wolf hit the ground with a thud.
Gomchi trotted back to Seojin and sat proudly.
"Meep!"
Seojin looked from the dead monster to the tiny fox.
"…okay. I take back every insult. You're perfect."
Gomchi purred smugly.
5. After the First Kill
The System chimed again.
[Quest Completed!]
Reward: Skill — Summoner's Link (Rank F+)]
Warm energy pulsed into Seojin's chest.
He felt Gomchi's presence like a second heartbeat—soft, warm, protective.
Harin exhaled shakily, leaning on her broken pole.
"I thought we were dead," she admitted, voice shaking slightly now that the fight was over.
"Same," Seojin said. "Except I've been thinking that since I got my 3% survival rate."
She snorted—half-laugh, half-sob.
Then her expression hardened again.
"Yun Seojin."
He flinched. "How do you know my name?"
"It popped up over your head."
"Oh."
"You're coming with me," she said.
"We're forming a party."
"Why?"
She pointed at the bisected monster.
"Because that was your first summon. And because something tells me you're not going to survive alone."
Seojin looked at Gomchi, who hopped onto his shoulder and nuzzled him softly.
"…Yeah," he whispered. "You're probably right."
Above them, more cracks opened in the sky.
More dungeon portals flickered to life.
People were running, crying, shouting.
Sirens wailed in the distance.
The world had truly ended.
And Seojin, the nobody with a useless class—
had just become something dangerous.
Something wanted.
Something hunted.
The last Summoner.