TDLHRH 9

Turning her head this way and that, she spotted a stone placed in front of a towering building. Carved onto the stone in rather elegant handwriting were the words Korea Hunter Association.

“Ah, so this is the Association.”

Even among the faintly emerging memories, this was a place she’d never once visited. Haerang, however, remembered going in and out of here multiple times with their parents for awakening tests and various paperwork.

In that case, Haerang probably knows this place well.

Sneaking a glance at Haerang, who was fiddling with his phone, Horang caught his brief gaze before it shifted to the person approaching them.

“Guild Leader Baek Haerang.”

“Ah, it’s been a while. There was no need for the Director herself to come out.”

“Not at all, not at all. It’s only right to greet the Guild Leader in person. Hmm, by any chance, is this…?”

The woman, referred to as the Director, was filled with curiosity as she naturally directed the topic to Horang. Horang, silent as she tried to discern whether the woman was friend or foe, simply stared at her.

Meanwhile, Haerang, worried that Horang might suddenly lunge at the woman like she had earlier that morning, held onto Horang’s shoulder as he responded.

“Yes, she’s my sister. Noona, say hello. This is the Director of the Association’s Awakening Center.”

“Hello, I’m Baek Horang.”

“…My sister has only recently returned.”

“Ah, of course. I completely understand. Being close to the Returnee Center, we see many returnees, so it’s no problem at all.”

Hearing Horang casually throwing informal speech at the white-haired elderly woman, Haerang’s heart kept clenching and unclenching. On top of that, Choi Heeyeon, the Director of the Awakening Center, was a warm adult who had occasionally handed him candy or chocolates during his childhood visits, making him even more concerned.

But there’s no way I can scold my sister here and now…

Thankfully, Heeyeon was an exceptionally understanding person. She had been the one to support Haerang when he almost lost his way after the loss of his family, so she knew exactly how flustered he must feel around his returning sister and was all the kinder to Horang because of it.

“Well then, Ms. Baek Horang, shall we head inside?”

“Inside where?”

“To the Awakening Center, of course. Since you’re a returnee, you’ve surely awakened some abilities. We can’t let you into society without proper Hunter registration.”

“Hunter registration, you say…”

“Typically, adolescent awakeners undergo evaluation and registration simultaneously through the Hunter Exam, but since you’re an adult and a returnee, we’ll use the Narin system for your evaluation and registration. In fact, even for adolescent awakeners, the Hunter Exam is mostly for show, while evaluations and registrations are done through Narin.”

“…Narin? What is—oh, wait.”

Horang squeezed her eyes shut and opened them again as a flood of memories overwhelmed her, making her head hurt. In those few seconds, Horang recalled everything about “Narin.”

According to history books, a week before the first gate appeared, a meteorite crashed into an artificial island floating on the Han River. The impact completely destroyed the artificial island. During the subsequent restoration efforts and meteorite investigation, a glowing stone was discovered on the riverbed.

The water patrol officer who first found it initially suspected radiation and reported it. Following protocol, everything connected to the Han River water supply was shut down, and Seoul became a city without water for a week. Even all the bridges over the Han River were closed, forcing office workers to work from home—a brief period that significantly advanced video call technology. With just the loss of water, Seoul began descending into panic. When experts started warning that a true apocalypse might be imminent, about a week later, the radiation management team completed their investigations. They discovered that the mysterious stone contained no radioactive material, leading to the reopening of the Han River.

So what happened to this meteorite, Narin? Once the Radiation Management Department was no longer involved with Narin, research began in earnest to uncover what exactly it was. Ironically, the mystery was solved when a researcher who unknowingly was an awakener came into contact with Narin during an experiment.

The first researcher to touch it reported that, the moment they made contact, a game-like system window appeared before their eyes. The window displayed their name, stats, and other details. To determine whether this phenomenon was a coincidence or followed some kind of protocol, the researchers recruited volunteers and continued their investigations.

After several months of experimentation, they found that only those who experienced unexplained high fevers for two to three weeks before black holes appeared in the air reported feeling healthier than usual afterward—and only these individuals could see the system window. Upon receiving these reports, the government instructed city halls, district offices, and community centers across the nation to gather those who had recovered from mysterious fevers and continue the research. As a result, except for a few individuals who hadn’t truly recovered or whose fever periods didn’t match, all of them reported seeing the system window and discovering their abilities through it.

Among these abilities were somewhat fictional-sounding skills, but when tested at military bases, these skills proved real. For instance, fire would actually be emitted as described by the skill name, or someone could wield a sword at unbelievable speeds.

Everyone who witnessed these scenes—especially the military, who had directly fought the monsters pouring out of the black holes—began using persuasive interviews with Three-Star Hunters to bring these people into combat. They began obliterating the monsters. Monsters that couldn’t be killed with bullets and kept attacking were helpless against the magic and swords of these individuals.

Unfortunately, individuals in the United States had already started broadcasting their monster-killing abilities on MyTube, leading to global acceptance of calling these people Hunters.

But Narin was different.

For one, Korea’s smaller territory compared to other developed nations, along with the government’s quick decisions and the overworked researchers, allowed them to be the first in the world to identify the meteorite’s use and the characteristics of suitable individuals. The researchers, whose dark circles had gone beyond black to vantablack from their relentless efforts, published a paper that shocked the world. In it, they included the name they had carefully chosen for the meteorite: Narin.

Meaning descended from the sky in Korean, the name was simple to pronounce and easy to remember, spreading the mysterious meteorite’s name across the globe.

…This long narrative occupies half of the textbooks.

Because of this, Horang was overwhelmed with a rush of memories that momentarily made her dizzy. Seeing Heeyeon’s curious gaze and feeling Haerang’s concern through the tightening grip on her shoulder, Horang spoke up to calm them both.

“I remember now. But isn’t that only for awakeners? I’ve never awakened.”

“Ah, returnees are a bit different. Based on our research so far, we believe the world the gate victims fell into makes it easier to awaken abilities. Earth doesn’t have the same environment, so people usually experience the trigger of high fevers before awakening.”

“Hmm… That might make sense.”

“Well, since returnees are so rare, it’s hard to establish a standard. If you have time, could you answer a few simple questions before touching Narin? Adding your case would make the research much more accurate.”

“Annoying… Oh, why?”

“Noona, have some manners. Haha… We can do the questions later when you’re free. For now, shall we head inside? Too many eyes are watching.”

Haerang awkwardly smiled and pulled Horang close to stop her from outright refusing. Seeing this, a warm smile appeared on Heeyeon’s face.

Since the incident, Haerang had lived with his guard up, only opening up to teammates who shared life-and-death situations with him. Even though he claimed he was old enough now, seeing the boy who was just 29 become increasingly hardened was heartbreaking for someone who had watched over him since childhood.

But there was nothing she could do to resolve Haerang’s trauma, so all she could do was observe.

Miraculously, with the return of his missing sister—who was not only alive but also healthy—Haerang seemed to have softened a bit. Perhaps it was more because of Horang’s unpredictable behavior than her return, but still, it was a welcome change.

For someone who had to stand on his own without a guardian, Haerang’s 20s seemed to finally be getting some compensation, and Heeyeon couldn’t help but feel emotional.

Clearing her throat to shake off her sentimentality, Heeyeon smiled professionally as she looked at the siblings.

“Shall we go?”

Guided by Heeyeon, they entered the building, which was less crowded than Horang remembered. From the news in her memories, the inside of the Awakening Center had always been bustling. Back then, people lined up from dawn just to enter, hoping to win the so-called lottery of the Gate Era: awakening. News programs often criticized these individuals for waiting all day until the center closed.

Horang vaguely remembered watching such a report over a meal, thinking, Wow. Had the Hunter status fallen in the past decade?

But Hunters remained indispensable in the Gate Era. People might fear Hunters, but they would never reject them outright. Even Haerang, who had no family but his Hunter abilities, was well-respected wherever he went.

Noticing Horang tilting her head in curiosity, Heeyeon spoke with a smile in her voice. “The crowd’s definitely thinned compared to the past, hasn’t it?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah. I remember lines stretching outside, but now it’s so quiet.”

“We worked hard to achieve this. From policies to staff training, we overhauled everything. Now, unless you have a medical certificate proving you had a high fever during the awakening season, you can’t even enter the Awakening Center. Visitors with other purposes must bring a statement of reason.”

“Ah, I see…”

Horang decided to revise her initial impression of Heeyeon, whom she had thought of as just a guide.