Chapter 005
Crunch, crunch.
“Is it good, Mimi?”
Crunch, crunch.
“Sorry dinner is late. You won’t believe me, but I literally came back from the dead today.”
Mimi, who had her nose buried in the food bowl, glanced up at me. For some reason, her gaze seemed skeptical.
“It’s true. Look at my knees; they’re a bloody mess.”
Crunch, crunch.
“……Fine, just enjoy your meal.”
Accompanied by the soundtrack of Mimi’s mukbang, I pulled my phone out of my pocket.
Tap, tap.
I knew full well that electronic devices turn into useless bricks inside a Gate, but I tapped it a few times anyway. As expected, it was dead. I tossed the phone aside and picked up my laptop instead. I immediately logged into Hunter-NewTube and the Hunter community forums.
Predictably, every corner of the internet was buzzing about the sudden Gates that had appeared a few hours ago. As I skimmed through several posts, my jaw dropped.
“There were eleven of those monstrous Gates in Seoul alone……? And they appeared in every capital city worldwide? I guess the world is finally ending.”
Browsing the posts, I found one with an exceptionally high number of views and comments. The nickname indicated it was posted by an anonymous member.
[HOT! Looking for the hero of the Mapo-gu Gate.]
The Mapo-gu Gate—that was the one I fell into. With a sinking feeling, I clicked the post.
Do you guys realize only one person got sucked into the Mapo-gu Gate??
I checked other Gates and basically thousands were pulled in.
Mapo-gu having only one casualty is all thanks to this woman.
(Photo)
She suddenly drifted into the intersection and told everyone to run because a Gate was about to open.
I thought, ‘What kind of BS is this?’ lol, but for real, the Gate opened exactly where she said it would;; Does that even make sense?
And she saved an old lady crossing the street and got sucked into the Gate instead…
The alarms went off the second she disappeared. It was literal goosebumps.
With trembling fingers, I zoomed in on the attached photo.
“Ahahaha……. That’s me…….”
The clothes were identical to what I was wearing right now. It was me. Definitely me. I quietly covered my mouth. My worst fear had come true. Of course, even if I could turn back time, I would have done the same thing…… but the sudden spotlight was terrifying. I realized I had just dismantled my own peaceful, ordinary life.
Worse yet, the views and comments on this post were skyrocketing in real-time.
└ lol, she predicted a Gate? lol
└ Gate prediction tech hasn’t even been developed yet ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└ Hunter Association employee here. If she really predicted a Gate, we have to find her and treat her like royalty;
└ I saw it too. She really acted like she knew the exact second it would open.
└ Honestly, she deserves a Citizen’s Award.
└ Prediction my ass lol. Even Ed-hyung can’t do that.
└ I smell someone’s fanfic burning.
“Aaagh……!”
I zoomed into the photo as much as possible. Luckily, because I was wearing a mask and a hat, my face wasn’t exposed. But I couldn’t let my guard down; too many people had seen me at the scene. What would happen if the Association actually found me? Would they threaten me, asking how I predicted the Gate, and perform horrible experiments to commercialize the technology……?
“Please, anything but that……”
When I clicked the photo again, a window popped up saying the post had been deleted.
“Phew, thank goodness.”
Assuming the author had deleted it, I breathed a sigh of relief, closed the forum, and checked the news.
“Huh?”
This time, a headline dominating the news home screen caught my eye. It was a report stating that Hunter Kang Jin-seo had closed all the Labyrinth Gates, including the one in Mapo-gu.
“Wait, what happened?”
I knew Senior Jin-seo had entered the same Gate as me. His mana flow was so intense that I could recognize it instantly even from a distance. It had been like that since our Academy days. His mana was so hot and massive that my skin would prickle the moment he, a year my senior, stepped into the building.
But the message saying I had cleared the Gate and was eligible for rewards definitely appeared to me…… wait.
“No, wait. Regardless of the misunderstanding, isn’t this actually better for me?”
Sight, hearing, smell……. It was much more beneficial to let the world believe he cleared it rather than being cursed by the entire planet for ‘cheating’ with non-existent stats. Now that the post was deleted, I just wanted my existence to stay buried. Please……!
“Anyway, Senior Jin-seo is truly incredible. Did he really close ten Seoul Gates by himself in that short time?”
“This Gate was structured so that clearing one clears them all. It’s the same for other countries.”
“What? I’ve never heard of a Gate like th—”
Hold on.
Who am I talking to……?
Inside the darkened shop, the eerie blue light from my laptop spilled out. ……And there, sitting beside me this whole time, was a single black cat.
“A-aaagh!”
Instinctively, I grabbed the first thing my hand touched—a flower vase—and aimed it at Mimi, or whatever this thing in the shape of a cat was.
“W-who are you!”
“A cat. Mimi.”
“Stop the bullshit! What did you do to Mimi!”
Slurp, lick.
The monster occupying Mimi’s body licked its black paws and fixed its vertically slit yellow pupils on me.
“’Mimi’ is the name you gave me because I go ‘meow,’ isn’t it?”
Crazy! Why is a Mimic here!?
“How…… how do you repel a Mimic again?”
Even though it had been years since I graduated from the Hunter Academy, my memories of the curriculum usually remained vivid, but I was so panicked I couldn’t remember a thing.
“Do not compare me to a mere Mimic.”
“Then what are you!”
“Your benefactor, who chose you.”
The ‘Mimic’ shifted its posture and began licking its side.
“Who do you think pulled you out of the labyrinth and helped you awaken? Tsk, it was me.”
“Are you saying you’re the status window or something?”
“You could look at it that way.”
I frowned deeply. I couldn’t believe I was having a conversation with a cat-thing. Just as I was about to yell at it again to get out of Mimi’s body, I remembered. ……The two cat ears attached to the top of my status window. And this creature claiming to be the status window had the exact same ears.
“……No way.”
Despite my brain telling me it was impossible, my mouth moved on its own.
“Can you…… prove it?”
Ping!
^[Title Acquired: Incarnation of Distrust]^
^[Title Acquired: The Ungrateful One!]^
Seeing the status window flash before my eyes, I had no choice but to slowly lower the vase.
“Then what happened to the real Mimi……?”
After further conversation, I learned that the ‘real’ Mimi I had been feeding and doting on for years was this creature’s physical form all along.
“……I feel like my entire world has been invalidated. You know that?”
“Like I care.”
“Sigh……. So, what do you want from me?”
I sat there in a daze, feeling helpless. The bitterness wouldn’t fade, knowing the cat I’d loved for years was actually some mysterious entity.
“Tsk.”
“Don’t belittle the heart of a human who just lost the only thing she cared about overnight.”
“Fine, whatever.”
Mimi finally withdrew her cold gaze from me.
“So, to summarize: you were looking for a suitable candidate to bestow your power upon, and I was the one?”
“Consistent volunteer work, a suitable profession, high understanding of Hunters, and a self-sacrificing mindset, etcetera.”
“…….”
“Especially that tearful ‘grand performance’ you put on at the intersection; it moved my heart.”
“Performance? That was my noble sacrifice……”
“Anyway, now you just have to use my power to help others.”
“And if I refuse?”
“As if. You love helping people. Besides, weren’t you sad that you hadn’t awakened?”
“I was sad because I couldn’t make money. But I’ve always hated things like Gates and Hunters.”
“Hmm?”
“If it weren’t for Gates, I wouldn’t have become an orphan. I wouldn’t have developed this sensory hypersensitivity, and I wouldn’t have to suffer from every smell and noise in this world……”
As I spewed out words like a Gatling gun, I suddenly stopped.
“Huh……?”
The world felt…… quiet.
The nerve-wracking noise of cars on the road, the unpleasant smell of the trash heap across the street, the blinding glare of the streetlights—none of it felt overwhelming. I had never felt this peaceful, even after taking a handful of prescribed pills. I froze in place. This silence surrounding me was so utterly foreign.
“It’s thanks to your awakening. You should know that a Hunter can control those sensitive senses at will.”
The cat’s eerie smile seemed to say, ‘You can’t reject me now.’
“If you give up my power, you have to go back to living in that noisy hell. For the rest of your life.”
“Hell……”
The word ‘hell’ was no exaggeration. Until now, I had suffered from senses so excruciating that I felt I couldn’t survive a single day without medication.
“Your medicine is too expensive to afford much longer, isn’t it? Your sensitivity has been getting worse, and you haven’t even been able to keep the shop open for long.”
“…….”
“You even talk in your sleep about wanting to pay back your debt to that ‘Nara-eonni’ person, but how there’s no money left after meds and rent?”
Everything the cat said was true. I couldn’t argue. Seeing my silence, Mimi followed up with a nudge that was more of a bribe than a threat.
“Ah, I forgot something important.”
^[Quest Triggered!]^
^[Sell an oil made with the Absolute Senses skill (0/1)]^
^[Clear Reward:
– 1 Stat Point
– Senses Stat Skill Tree unlocked
– 100 Coins awarded]^
Fwip! The cat lifted a paw and unsheathed a single claw to explain.
“100 Coins per bottle of oil, 1,000 Coins per massage. That is the income you can earn with your class and skills.”
“……?”
“For your information, 100 Coins is one million won in Korean currency.”
The cat’s expression said it all:
‘You can’t say no to this, right? lol’
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