"Mr. Kang? Can you hear me?"
Min-Soo snapped out of his trance. The black system window faded into the background, becoming a semi-transparent overlay in his vision.
A doctor in a white coat stood in the doorway, flanked by two nurses. One of them was the young woman who had fled earlier. She was pointing at him, whispering something about "shattering air" and "needles bending."
The doctor, a weary-looking man named Dr. Lee, adjusted his glasses. He looked at the cracked floor tiles beneath Min-Soo's bare feet, then at the shattered syringe on the tray.
"The nurse tells me you're… agitated," Dr. Lee said, stepping cautiously into the room. "And that there was an equipment malfunction."
Min-Soo took a deep breath. He had to be careful. If he told them he had a black hole inside him, they'd lock him up in the deepest containment cell the Association had. Or worse, dissect him.
Turn it off, he commanded mentally.
He focused on the sensation of the invisible barrier covering his skin—the Event Horizon. It felt like a second layer of clothing, humming with static. He willed the static to stop.
The humming faded. The air around him stopped shimmering.
"I'm fine," Min-Soo said, his voice surprisingly steady. "I just… I woke up and felt strong. I didn't mean to break anything."
Dr. Lee frowned, walking over. He hesitated before placing a hand on Min-Soo's shoulder. When nothing happened—no distortion, no gravity crush—the doctor visibly relaxed.
"Adrenaline surge," Dr. Lee muttered, mostly to himself. "Common in survivors of trauma. But we need to check your Mana status. If you've reawakened, the Association needs to know."
He pulled out a portable Mana Meter—a clear crystal sphere mounted on a digital base.
"Place your hand here."
Min-Soo stared at the device. Usually, this machine measured the mana capacity of a Hunter. Blue light meant magic power. The brighter the light, the higher the rank.
For Min-Soo, it had always remained clear. Zero.
He placed his hand on the glass.
Hummmm.
The machine whirred.
"Zero," the doctor sighed, looking at the digital readout. "Still zero. That's… odd. Usually, surviving a Fracture forces a mana awakening."
Min-Soo looked closer. The readout did say 0, but the crystal sphere wasn't clear.
It was getting darker. The ambient light in the room seemed to be bending into the glass, dimming the bulb inside the device.
I'm draining the light, Min-Soo realized with a jolt. I need to let go.
He yanked his hand back just as a hairline crack appeared on the crystal surface.
"Well," Dr. Lee said, oblivious to the near-breakage. "Physically, you're in peak condition. Muscle density has tripled. Bone density is… off the charts. You're heavy, Mr. Kang. But without mana, you're still just a civilian by Association standards. Maybe an E-Rank physical type at best."
Min-Soo hid his relief. An E-Rank. That was perfect. It meant no attention.
"Can I leave?" Min-Soo asked. "My mother… I need to work."
"Technically, we should keep you for observation," Dr. Lee said, scribbling on his clipboard. "But you're uninsured, and the bills are piling up. Since you're stable… sign here."
Thirty minutes later, Min-Soo walked out of the hospital doors and into the glare of the afternoon sun.
Seoul was busy. Cars honked, pedestrians hurried, and the giant holographic screens on the skyscrapers broadcasted the latest raid news.
"S-Rank Hunter Choi defeats the Frost Monarch!"
"Guild Stocks rising!"
Min-Soo ignored it all. He had a bigger problem.
[Daily Quest Alert]
Time Remaining: 22 Hours.
Objective 1: Consume 10,000 Calories. (50 / 10,000)
The shard of steel he had eaten earlier barely counted. His stomach felt like a vacuum cleaner trying to suck in his own spine. He was starving. Not the kind of hunger where you want a snack—the kind where your brain starts categorizing passing pedestrians as biomass.
He checked his pockets. His wallet had been recovered from the dungeon. He had 50,000 won (about $40).
"Cheap and heavy," he muttered.
He found a "Refill House"—an all-you-can-eat pork belly restaurant tucked in a back alley. It was meant for construction workers and low-rank Hunters.
"One person," Min-Soo said, slapping the cash on the counter.
The owner, a gruff old lady, eyed his hospital wristband. "Two hours limit. Don't waste food."
Min-Soo sat down at a corner grill.
He didn't cook the meat. He didn't have the patience.
He threw the raw slabs of pork onto the grill, seared them for three seconds, and shoveled them into his mouth.
[Consuming Biomass (Pork).]
[Digestion speed accelerated by Gravitational Tides.]
Normally, eating two kilograms of meat would make a man sick. But inside Min-Soo's stomach, the food didn't digest chemically. It was crushed. The moment the food hit his stomach, the Singularity broke down the molecular bonds, converting matter directly into energy.
He didn't feel full. He felt… fueled.
More.
He went back to the buffet bar. He took the whole tray.
The other patrons stared.
"Is that guy starving?"
"Look at how he eats. He's not even chewing."
Min-Soo ignored them. He ate the pork. He ate the rice. He ate the kimchi. He even ate the chicken bones, crunching through them as if they were crackers.
[Calories: 4,500 / 10,000]
[Calories: 8,200 / 10,000]
Thirty minutes later, the owner walked over, looking terrified. "Sir… we're out of meat."
Min-Soo wiped his mouth. He felt better. The frantic clawing in his gut had subsided to a dull hum.
[Objective 1 Complete.]
[Energy reserves stabilized.]
He stood up, the metal chair screeching. "Thank you for the meal."
He walked out, leaving a stunned silence behind him.
Now came the hard part.
Objective 2: Endure 2G (Twice Gravity) Pressure for 10 minutes.
Min-Soo walked until he found an abandoned construction site near the Han River. It was cordoned off due to a minor dungeon break a month ago, so no one was around.
He stood in the middle of a concrete foundation.
"How do I do this?" he whispered.
[System Prompt: Would you like to activate 'Gravitational Training Field'?]
[Warning: This will increase the gravitational pull on your body relative to the Earth's core.]
"Activate."
BOOM.
There was no sound, but Min-Soo felt it. It was as if an invisible giant had placed a hand on his head and shoved him down.
His knees buckled. He slammed onto the concrete on all fours.
"Urgh!"
The air was forced out of his lungs. His blood felt like mercury, heavy and sluggish. His heart hammered against his ribs, struggling to pump the heavier blood to his brain.
[Current Gravity: 2.0 G]
[Time Elapsed: 00:01]
Min-Soo gritted his teeth. Stand up.
If he was just a normal human, 2G wouldn't kill him, but it would make moving incredibly difficult. A 70kg man would feel like he weighed 140kg.
But Min-Soo wasn't just heavy. His insides were heavy. The Singularity in his chest was reacting to the pressure, spinning faster.
Get up!
He forced one foot onto the ground. The concrete beneath his boot cracked, spiderwebs of fissures spreading out.
This is nothing, he told himself. In the Void Fracture, I felt infinite weight. This is just… heavy.
He pushed. His thigh muscles screamed, tearing and instantly knitting back together thanks to his vitality. He rose, inch by inch, fighting the invisible hand.
[Time Elapsed: 05:00]
Sweat dripped from his nose, hitting the ground with the force of a pebble.
He stood fully upright. He took a step. Then another. He began to shadowbox. A punch that usually took effortless energy now required his full focus.
Whoosh.
His fist cut the air. It was slow, but it carried momentum.
[Time Elapsed: 10:00]
[Objective Complete.]
[Deactivating Training Field.]
The weight vanished instantly.
Min-Soo jumped—and soared ten feet into the air. He flailed, shocked, before landing lightly (and cracking the pavement again). He felt light. Like a feather.
[Daily Quest Complete.]
[Reward Available.]
"Retrieve Reward," he panted.
[Reward Received:]
1. Status Recovery
2. Stat Points: +3
3. Random Box (Common)
Min-Soo sat on a pile of rebar. "Status Recovery."
A cool blue light washed over him (or rather, was sucked into him), fixing his torn muscles and fatigue.
"Three points," Min-Soo mused. He looked at his stats.
Strength: 10.1
Gravity: 1
He dumped all three points into Gravity.
[Gravity: 1 -> 4]
[Passive 'Event Horizon' range increased by 2cm.]
[Attraction force increased.]
He looked at the Random Box. It appeared in his hand—a small wooden crate. He crushed it.
[Item: 'Obsidian Dagger' (E-Rank) obtained.]
A simple dagger made of volcanic glass. Extremely sharp but fragile.
Min-Soo gripped the dagger. It was trash loot. E-Rank weapons broke against C-Rank monster hide.
"But..."
He activated Event Horizon. The dark, wavy distortion coated his skin, and then, it flowed onto the dagger. The obsidian blade turned pitch black, losing its shine.
He swung the dagger at a thick steel rebar sticking out of the ground.
Shhhink.
There was no clang of metal on metal. The dagger passed through the inch-thick steel like it was cutting through smoke. The top half of the rebar slid off, the cut surface perfectly smooth.
"It didn't cut it," Min-Soo whispered, looking at the blade. "It erased the space the blade passed through."
He grinned. A jagged, terrifying grin.
He had no money. He had no guild. But he had a weapon that could cut through anything, and a stomach that could eat the world.
His phone buzzed. A notification from the Hunter Association App.
[Urgent Recruitment: E-Rank Dungeon Porters Needed.]
[Location: Sector 4 (Goblin Cave).]
[Pay: 150,000 Won + Loot Share.]
[Departs in 1 hour.]
Min-Soo stood up, the black dagger vanishing into his inventory.
"Time to go to work."