Chapter 1
The Awakened, Lee Shin (1)
January 1, 2000—the day the new millennium began.
People let their imaginations run wild, giving rise to all sorts of doomsday theories, and TV news programs even invited experts to debate the absurd rumors.
Some felt anxious.
Others were filled with anticipation.
With all sorts of emotions intertwined, the first day of the new millennium dawned.
And the experts who had assured everyone that nothing would happen and there was no need to worry were wrong.
January 1, 2000.
Rifts opened in the skies above the capitals of countries around the world. Monsters poured out of the gaping holes in droves, while at the same time, a portion of humanity awakened as superhumans.
The awakened humans fought against the monsters, and they came to be known as “Hunters.”
The dawn of a new era.
A historic day when chaos, crisis, and opportunity arrived all at once.
Lee Shin was born on that very day.
“It’s a boy.”
At the very moment the entire world was in an uproar.
January 1, 2000.
Even the time was exactly midnight.
“Mark my words, this boy is destined for greatness!”
Lee Shin’s parents made a huge fuss.
There was no way it could be mere coincidence that he had been born at the exact moment a new era began. He had clearly been born under some sort of heavenly destiny. No matter what he became when he grew up, he was sure to become someone great!
Holding their precious child in their arms, Lee Shin’s parents let their expectations grow and grow.
But rather than growing up to become someone great, Lee Shin couldn’t even make it smoothly through his school years.
Throughout elementary school, Lee Shin was always ostracized and lived as a loner.
His parents couldn’t bring themselves to get angry and blame the other students.
After all, the other children weren’t maliciously bullying their son.
If anything, they were afraid of Lee Shin.
“Ma’am, I’m afraid Shin is a little... unusual.”
Lee Shin had difficulty getting along with others.
More precisely, other people had difficulty getting along with Lee Shin—and that included not only the students but even the teachers.
“Seon-ah from Class Three has a sick younger sibling. Every night, she prayed to me and asked me to make her sibling better. I don’t know how to do that, so I gave her milk instead. Mom said that if you drink plenty of milk, you’ll get better from any illness.”
“Cheol-min regrets pretending not to know his dad because he was embarrassed by him during the open class. I wasn’t trying to expose Cheol-min’s family problems. I only knew that he would regret it far in the future, so I told him in advance to apologize to his dad.”
“Ms. Min-ji is seriously wondering whether she should marry the man she’s dating right now. That man likes gambling, lies all the time, and sometimes sees other women. It was obvious he would bring misfortune into Ms. Min-ji’s future, so I gave her some advice. She asked me every day at church what she should do. I only gave her an answer—a clear, correct answer that would let her walk down the right path.”
Lee Shin was an unusual child.
What was even more astonishing was that not a single thing he had so casually said was a fabricated lie.
His parents wondered whether Lee Shin might possess some sort of spiritual gift.
But there were no shamans in either his father’s or mother’s family. Both were devout Christians, so could a child with shamanic powers really be born into a Christian family?
Or perhaps, because he had been born on such an extraordinary day at such an extraordinary time, he had inherited some inexplicable power, just like the Hunters everyone was talking about.
But even after taking him to the Association and paying a hefty fee to have him tested, the result came back negative.
Amid all the uncertainty, Lee Shin’s mother jokingly remarked whenever his mysterious abilities suddenly manifested.
“Shin, should we make you a shaman?”
It might even suit him.
For a moment, Lee Shin’s father was tempted by the suggestion as well, but he soon shook his head.
With abilities like those, Lee Shin might indeed become a famous shaman.
But his parents knew their son well.
Others envied their perpetually expressionless and composed son, saying he was mature beyond his years.
But in his parents’ eyes, Lee Shin was simply a pitiful child.
They had seen Lee Shin fumbling around in kindergarten, desperately trying to fit in with the other children.
They knew that the reason he had told the students and teachers those things at school was because he wanted to become friends with them.
They knew that whenever they put on a children’s cartoon, he watched the boisterous little neighborhood-patrol characters playing together with eyes that were half envious and half lonely.
What their son needed wasn’t to be special.
What he needed was an ordinary, simple life.
“Son, want to go hiking with Dad?”
“Shin, let’s go have a picnic by the Han River!”
“Mom, Dad. What about school...?”
“It’s okay if you don’t go to school. Son, for now, let’s just have as much fun as we want.”
“But if I don’t go to school, then friends...”
“My son, there’s still so much you don’t know! There are plenty of friends outside school too. Dad has a really close friend whose daughter gets upset every day because she doesn’t have any friends her age. How about we all go see the ocean together this Saturday, and you can become her friend?”
Consideration and love.
Showered with affection, Lee Shin stopped living as a special child and began enjoying the ordinary, simple life he had always wanted.
Those days were happier than he could ever have asked for.
Precious memories he wouldn’t trade for anything.
And so, Lee Shin turned twenty-four.
Unlike his unusual childhood, he had grown into the sort of ordinary young man you could find anywhere in South Korea.
But Lee Shin’s parents didn’t know one thing.
Destiny could not be avoided.
“Yaaawn. Seriously, I’m dying here. You have no idea how brutally they’re training us. I don’t think I’ve even slept ten hours total this entire week!”
“Then your health will deteriorate.”
“Of course it will! I can practically feel my lifespan shrinking in real time. At this rate, I’m going to drop dead before I even hit forty. I wasn’t like this when I was twenty, but now that I’m pushing twenty-five, my whole body aches. Every damn joint.”
“You can’t die early. You’re my only friend.”
“What are you talking about? I’ll live longer than you.”
Twenty-four-year-old Lee Shin.
He was meeting Choi Bom, the daughter of his father’s best friend, Choi Seung-baek. She was his childhood friend whom he had known for years, as well as his only friend his own age.
“If you’re going to live longer than me, drinking this much is dangerous. Alcohol agrees with me, but you have a weak constitution. You’re going to have a rough morning tomorrow.”
“Ugh, quit nagging me. I know you can hold your liquor!”
“You’ll start regretting it at 1:32 a.m. You’ll grumble that you shouldn’t have ordered another bottle, then complain that you’re thirsty and gulp down some aloe drink. At 2:44 a.m., you’ll experience the horrifying sensation of vomiting aloe through your nostrils—”
“I told you not to do that!”
Smack!
Choi Bom whacked Lee Shin on the head.
“I know I’m going to have a terrible hangover tomorrow, okay? But what am I supposed to do? When you spend every single day getting worked to death at the Hunter Academy, you start craving alcohol like crazy!”
“....”
“The instructors are such assholes. Instructor Choi Mi-hee is especially awful. She’s always going on about how she’s putting us through hell for our own good, how the fifth Rift cycle is coming soon, and how if we don’t want to bleed later, we need to sweat one more drop right now....”
Lee Shin’s childhood friend, Choi Bom, was a prospective Hunter.
She had awakened not long ago, and because she possessed considerable talent, she was receiving generous support while training at the Hunter Academy.
All so she could become a Hunter—a hero who fought to protect humanity.
“What do you mean by the fifth cycle?”
“You seriously have no interest whatsoever in what I do, do you? The Rifts first appeared twenty-four years ago, and their danger level increases every five years. Four years ago marked the twentieth year, so that was the fourth cycle. Next year will be the twenty-fifth year, which means the fifth cycle. From what I’ve heard, the monsters that appear get nastier with every cycle, and things become insanely dangerous.”
“I don’t want you doing anything dangerous.”
“Hehe.”
Choi Bom’s cheeks had turned red from the alcohol, and she grinned foolishly.
“Of course this big sis is scared too. But what am I supposed to do? If we leave a Rift alone, it’ll collapse and swallow Seoul, and the only people who can enter Rifts are awakened Hunters. So I have to go in, if only for everyone else’s sake. Got iiiit?”
Choi Bom grabbed Lee Shin’s cheeks and pulled them.
Without the slightest change in expression, Lee Shin stared at her and said,
“If anything happens, pray.”
“Huh?”
“I can always hear your voice.”
“What are you even talking about? Ma’am! Another bottle of soju over here!”
Unlike Choi Bom, who was grinning playfully, Lee Shin continued staring at her without changing his expression.
...But it’s true.
***
After the rowdy drinking session ended, Lee Shin returned home to find his parents already asleep.
He washed up, changed into his pajamas, climbed into bed, and lay down.
—Joy to the world, the Lord is come. Let earth receive her King~.
A hymn was playing from his parents’ bedroom, just as his mother always left one playing while she slept.
He had long since grown used to it.
—Let every heart~.
—And heaven and nature sing, and heaven and nature sing~.
But perhaps his mother was pressing the volume button in her sleep, because it sounded unusually loud tonight.
In fact, it seemed to be getting louder and louder.
「You have been chosen.」
Perhaps a text message had arrived despite the late hour, because a ding sounded between the verses of the hymn.
「Name: Lee Shin」
「Class: God」
「Rank: Lowest」
「Trait: Creator Lv. 1」
「Skills: Creation / World Observation / World Intervention / Apocalypse」
「Believers: 0」
「Worlds Possessed: 0」
「Divine Power: 0」
Ding. Ding. Ding. Ding....
The notifications were now ringing so incessantly that they could no longer be ignored.
Lee Shin squeezed his eyes shut and tried to ignore them and fall asleep. He had always been an extremely sensitive sleeper, and once he woke up, his drowsiness usually disappeared completely.
「The earnest prayer of a pitiful believer who never abandoned her faith even in an abandoned world has reached you.」
「Your first believer has been born.」
「The world in which this believer resides has no owner. Ownership of that world shall therefore be bestowed upon you, the greatest, noblest, and most absolute existence.」
The notifications refused to stop.
And then....
「First World」
「Transporting to Earth No. 444, [A Small but Deadly World].」
「Good luck♥」
Lee Shin’s body began to float into the air.
3:21 a.m.
It was awfully late to be going anywhere.
***
「Overall Assessment: She has not eaten or drunk anything for ten days. This tiny life-form needs water immediately.」
“Joy to the world! The Lord has coooooome!”
When Lee Shin opened his eyes, he found himself standing in a desolate wasteland.
In the middle of the barren earth was a tiny girl kneeling with her hands clasped tightly together.
“God! Oh, God! You’ve finally answered me! This Eve can die without regrets nooooow!”
Her priestly robes were covered in dirt.
Her face and body were emaciated from what appeared to be prolonged starvation.
Yet her eyes alone burned as fiercely as the sun.
As Lee Shin stared blankly at the tiny girl, another ding sounded.
A transparent status window immediately unfolded before him.
「A devout believer who never abandoned her faith, even in an abandoned world.」
「Name: Eve」
「Class: Cleric」
「TIP: Show mercy and bestow [Water] upon her!」
「TIP: This faithful girl will be overjoyed by the grace of your almighty and merciful self!」
「TIP: (6·u-)令」