Chapter 1
Jet-black hair.
Ordinary eyes with nothing special about them.
And a completely harmless face, like a Shih Tzu.
If someone asked Kang Ha-min whether he had a dream, he could answer without hesitation.
Safety first.
Avoid danger at all costs.
Live a life without putting yourself in danger.
Of course, it would be nice to work hard, make a lot of money, and become the owner of a building.
Or maybe become a Hunter, gain fame, and earn a ridiculous amount of money.
But once you actually lived in this world, you understood.
You understood just how unrealistic those dreams were.
How impossible they were to reach.
In a world where even living an ordinary life was difficult,
Kang Ha-min never dreamed of things like that.
Even so, he had worked desperately hard.
He had worked so hard that he eventually became a civil servant, securing himself an iron rice bowl, a stable job for life.
Of course, he was only a low-ranking civil servant.
But earning enough to put food on the table was enough for him.
Yeah. That really was enough.
[Notice of Dismissal]
Accordingly, you are hereby notified that your employment will be terminated effective March 1, 2026.
Clack, clack.
The sound of keyboards echoed through the office.
Everyone's keyboard except Kang Ha-min's.
Normally, Ha-min's typing would have been part of that chorus as well.
But now, it had nothing to do with him.
He slowly looked around the office.
Flinch.
Flinch.
Every one of his fellow civil servants avoided his eyes.
No one wanted to make eye contact with someone who had just been fired.
It would only make things uncomfortable.
Even the Team Leader, who normally shouted whenever something went wrong, remained silent.
Even though he's that kind of Team Leader...
Ha-min knew better than anyone that the Team Leader had loudly protested how unfair this whole situation was.
But what could he do?
In the end, the Team Leader was also just a civil servant.
An ordinary government employee who couldn't refuse an order from above.
He also had a wife and children waiting for him at home.
Without complaining, Kang Ha-min trudged out of the office.
"What the hell, Kang Shih Tzu? You're really leaving?"
At that moment, a voice reached his ears.
Ha-min turned his gaze toward it.
There stood a face he never wanted to see.
Kang Ha-min's senior at work, and the absolute worst of the worst.
A piece of trash who caused trouble every chance he got and constantly sexually harassed the female civil servants.
Ahn Min-woo.
But his parents were members of the National Assembly.
The only reason he was even working here was to build up his career record before becoming a National Assembly member himself.
The thought that someone like this wanted to become a politician was disgusting.
But what could Ha-min do?
That was simply how the world worked.
"Man, thanks. Seriously, thanks. I got through this whole mess because of you."
That smug grin on his face was disgusting.
Especially when he knew perfectly well whose fault this really was.
"It was a Dimensional Break accident. What can you do about it?"
A Dimensional Break.
Right.
Everything had started because of that.
And the greatest cause of Dimensional Breaks was the Tower that had appeared in this world.
The Sky Tower.
It had been given that name because it was so enormous that it seemed to reach the heavens.
One day, the Sky Tower suddenly appeared in this world.
Immediately afterward, Awakened began to appear.
They were Hunters who possessed abilities ordinary humans never had.
And just as humanity began questioning the existence of the Sky Tower...
[Due to the absence of challengers attempting the floors of the Sky Tower, the First Trial will begin.]
[Dimensional Break.]
The First Trial appeared.
Governments declared states of emergency.
And people immediately began climbing the Sky Tower.
That marked the beginning of the Great Hunter Era.
Kang Ha-min worked in a department responsible for dealing with Dimensional Breaks.
He had originally applied to the department because one of his friends had died in a Dimensional Break.
But now, the job had become his lifeline.
It was how he earned money and survived.
Then, not long ago, an incident occurred.
It had originally been classified as Stability Rank A, but was reported as Rank B instead.
The consequences were disastrous.
[Subjugation Team, Total Annihilation]
[Large Number of Civilian Casualties]
The incident happened just before Seongdong-gu, Seoul was about to celebrate 1,000 days without an accident.
Naturally, the higher-ups went into an uproar.
It had been a long time since an incident of this scale had happened.
It was serious enough to appear as breaking news.
The real cause was that the National Assembly member in charge had secretly changed the outside contractor so he could siphon off some of the budget.
Of course, none of that was reported.
"It was an unfortunate accident caused by an error in judgment among the working-level staff."
Instead, several ordinary civil servants were forced to take the blame.
And Kang Ha-min was one of them.
"I'll buy you a meal sometime. I survived because of you. Seriously."
Ahn Min-woo took a long drag from his electronic cigarette and gave Ha-min a greasy smile.
Of course he was happy.
The man who had changed the outside contractor was none other than this bastard's father.
"Hoo..."
The vapor from his electronic cigarette covered Kang Ha-min's face.
Ahn Min-woo acted as though he owned the entire world.
And in reality, he was someone who practically did.
"Kang Shih Tzu, you've worked hard all this time. Here, this is from me. Take it to your parents and be a good son."
Ahn Min-woo pulled out an envelope filled with money and smiled smugly.
Every curse imaginable rose to Ha-min's throat.
But he held them back.
Instead, he carefully chose his words.
Even a Shih Tzu wouldn't just sit there and take everything.
Sometimes, it bit.
And when it did, it bit hard.
Kang Ha-min slowly raised his head.
A smile appeared on his lips.
"Yeah. Must be nice for you. You have so many moms you can be a good son to."
Crack.
Ahn Min-woo's expression slowly froze.
His father was Ahn Cheol-woo.
And among the civil servants, it was common knowledge that the man had several mistresses.
Wow.
Even Kang Ha-min was surprised after saying it himself.
I just destroyed one man's family situation with a single sentence.
But what could he do?
If Min-woo didn't like it, he should have chosen better parents.
That was enough biting for today.
"Well then, have fun working your ass off."
Leaving the dumbfounded Ahn Min-woo behind, Ha-min turned around and sprinted away at full speed.
"You bastard!"
Ahn Min-woo finally came back to his senses and shouted.
But when it came to running away, Kang Ha-min was unbelievably fast.
There was no point getting punched after finally getting the last word.
Run for your life!
It was a shame that he couldn't properly see Ahn Min-woo's furious expression.
Still, he felt a little better.
No, actually, I don't feel better at all!
His life had fallen apart in an instant.
The life he had worked so hard to build wasn't something that could be made better with one clever insult.
What was he supposed to do now?
How was he going to make a living?
The uncertainty of his future weighed heavily on him.
His running gradually slowed.
Beneath the fading evening sky,
all he could do was walk forward with heavy steps.
Tap.
At that moment, something cold landed on his head.
Ha-min looked up.
Before he knew it, snow had begun falling from the sky.
Apparently, even the world itself refused to leave him alone.
What am I supposed to tell my parents? They live their whole lives thinking about me.
He hadn't even told them what had happened yet.
His parents were the type who had hung up a huge banner just because their son had become a civil servant.
