KEG 1

This is an esper-exclusive hospice ward where the nation’s heroes come to end their lives.

I, an orphan with no education and nothing to my name, applied here as a cleaner simply because I needed money.

“Please… just kill me.”

Colonel Kim Hanseong.

The man who had once awakened as Korea’s first S-class Esper and received more respect than anyone else was now begging me to kill him.

He had lost all his energy, his abilities were gone, and both his legs had been blown off. But even so, an Esper was still an Esper.

Espers whose bodies were reinforced the moment they awakened were unaffected by hospital drugs, and ordinary people couldn’t even scratch them.

A painless death for Espers was only possible by dying in battle against monsters inside Gates.

“How much will you pay?”

Anyone listening would probably scold me, an E-class Guide who was no different from a civilian, for being so arrogant. But I had a hidden skill I had never revealed to the world.

‘Dream Exile.’

“You appeared on TV a lot. You must have saved up quite a bit of money, right?”

My hidden skill could instantly kill any Esper, whether they were A-class or S-class. It was the kind of power that a world-destroying villain would have.

“Can you really kill me?”

“If you really want to die.”

I answered while mopping the floor of his private room.

I never thought I’d end up cleaning up the life of a hero like you, even though I’m just a cleaner.

“How can I trust you? If this is a joke…”

“How do you expect me to prove it? You only have one life.”

The mopping was mostly done, so I put the mop in the bucket on the trolley and pushed it toward the door. I had nothing more to say to someone who didn’t trust me. It wasn’t a power I could use recklessly.

There were still many rooms left uncleaned. I had to work diligently.

“Account number.”

Just as my hand touched the sliding door, the hero said the words I’d been waiting for.

Without turning around, I quietly made the sign of the cross over my chest. It was the only etiquette I had learned at the orphanage.

“XX Bank 302-1011-085**-****. Give me half of your entire fortune. Keep the other half for your journey.”

That was how tens of billions were deposited into my account, and on that day, Colonel Kim Hanseong, the hero who saved the nation and Korea’s first S-class Esper, died.

***

The office of □□ Capital, an illegal lending company whose name alone screamed “loan shark.”

I worked there as a debt collector. With no education and only knowing how to fight, I couldn’t live an honest life, so my life naturally took a crooked path.

“Pay up, debtor.”

“J-just a little more time…”

Today I was beating the living hell out of an alcoholic gambler debtor in his leaky one-room apartment, where he was in his underwear with his wife and kid, when –boom!–a massive explosion came from outside the old sash window, followed by a cloud of dust blasting into the room.

“Shit, what the fuck…”

I left the terrified family inside and stepped out to check the situation.

The city was engulfed in yellow dust so thick you couldn’t see an inch ahead. In the distance, unknown objects kept falling from the sky and slamming into the ground.

“Argh!!”

“Help me!!”

Ear-piercing screams. People suddenly burst through the dust clouds, brushing past me as they ran.

It was a series of unbelievable events.

But the most unbelievable thing of all was…

[World Line has changed. ‘Awakened’ selection begins.]

[Analyzing subject ‘Ha Seongho’.]

[Your trait ‘Money Freak’ has been reflected.]

“Money Freak? These bastards…”

A semi-transparent notification window appeared along with an irritating noise that sounded completely out of place.

It even specifically called out my name and nickname to mock me.

[Congratulations. You have awakened as an E-class Guide.]

[Hidden Skill: has been activated.]

[Awakener Profile]

Name: Ha Seongho
Class: E-class Guide
Trait: Herald of the Apocalypse
Skill:

“What the fuck is Dream Exile? Did this guy sneak in illegally? Is he a foreign worker?”

I stared at the incomprehensible text floating in front of me, then pulled out a cigarette.

“Ha… Should I go to a mental hospital or an ophthalmologist right now…”

Slice

The cigarette I had just put in my mouth was cut in half.

A giant mantis’s foreleg pierced the ground right at my feet, piercing through the dusty fog. Just one foreleg was bigger than my entire body, and its owner looked like it was easily three stories tall.

“Fuck…”

Anyone who’s survived as a street fighter learns to size up opponents. I knew my limits and had the wisdom to run from fights I couldn’t win.

So…

Tap!

I turned and ran without looking back.

Crash!

“What, what’s going on outside?!”

“Mom…”

“It’s okay… Shh… Shh…”

Deciding it was safer inside the building than outside, I went back into the debtor’s room.

The leaky one-room apartment was now leaking tears as well.

“There’s a monster outside. I’m not crazy, so don’t go out. Just stay here.”

Crunch–Crack–

At that moment, the giant mantis shoved its head into the second-floor window and made eye contact with me while gnawing on the window frame.

“Aaaah!!”

“Waaaah!!”

The family screamed hysterically at the sudden intrusion. The mantis’s compound eyes glowed red with irritation and let out an ear-splitting screech.

Boom!

“Shut your mouth, you fuck!”

I grabbed whatever I could–rice cooker, kid’s backpack–and hurled them at the monster.

But the monster didn’t stop. My attacks only provoked it more.

“The wall… the wall is going to collapse…!”

The wall where the monster’s head was lodged cracked wider and wider until the rebar was exposed. The whole building was tilting. It looked like it would collapse any second along with the monster.

That was when –Whoosh–Thudthudthud– blue energy-infused glass shards flew from the air and embedded themselves into the mantis’s head. Viscous fluid sprayed out, along with a disgusting aura.

“Shaaaaak!!”

The creature screamed in agony, but the glass shards kept coming. Eyes, head, neck–every visible spot was riddled with them.

The barrage continued until the mantis’s head looked more like a porcupine than anything else.

“Huk… Huk…”

I looked toward the source of the glass shards.

The debtor who owed 70 million won was breathing heavily, his body wrapped in blue energy. He created and launched glass shards in mid-air.

Thwack!

One final blade finally burst the mantis’s head open.

“Haa… ha… Heh… Hahaha!”

The debtor, who was out of breath, suddenly started laughing hysterically.

His wife and child, who had been watching from behind, turned deathly pale.

“Awakened? I’m an Esper? Fuck! Hahaha!!”

He muttered to himself like a madman, then bent over laughing again. I watched for a moment, then turned to leave the house. The mantis was dead, so I needed to get back to the office and figure out what was happening.

Just what was going on with the world…

“Hey, you son of a bitch Ha Seongho.”

Whoosh–Clang!

A glass shard stabbed into the floor right at my feet as I turned my back.

The debtor, who had been laughing like a lunatic, had stopped.

“I said I’d pay you back. Why the fuck are you bothering me, huh?”

He was high on his newfound power. From experience, guys like this were the type who only bullied the weak. If I showed weakness now, I’d be eaten alive.

“You didn’t pay me back. You son of a bitch debtor.”

Whoosh–Thunk!!

A glass shard pierced straight through my thigh.

My judgment was wrong. This guy wasn’t trying to intimidate me. He had never intended to let me go in the first place.

“Urgh, fuck.”

“Talking back? You still think I’m your bitch?”

The debtor grinned from ear to ear as he floated more glass shards in the air and walked toward me.

My leg was injured. There was no way out.

Then…

“My dick looks prettier than your ugly face.”

Fuck it. At least I’ll say what I want before I die.

Stab! Stab!!

“Aaack!!”

Every time I opened my mouth, more blades stabbed into me, forcing me to collapse to the floor.

Grab!

“Beg for your life. Come on, say you’re sorry.”

The debtor grabbed my hair and held a shard to my throat.

“Please spare me. I’m sorry.”

Slice–

I said exactly what he wanted, but he still slit my throat.

You son of a bitch. I did what you asked and you still cut me.

“Guh… Cough…”

Blood foam bubbled up from my damaged windpipe and spilled from my mouth and nose.

“Annoying bastard. Have a nice trip.”

My vision blurred, and the world dropped to the floor.

[Skill activated.]

[<Dream Exile>]

[One Esper has been exiled.]