Seoul, 11 years later
Year 202X
Its been 10 years since the first dungeon outbreak in 200X a worldwide disaster known as the Great Cataclysm in which thousands of monsters from a different demention poured out and wrecked havoc. It was an unbelievable disaster that struck the whole world, killing millions. As if a way to fight back against evil, a God like figure descended from the skies and bestowed power upon a select number of people with the capabilities to fight and kill these monstrous beings suspected to come out from dimensional rifts later called dungeons. Research had later shown that the criteria needed to be ment to become a Ranking Hunter (Hunter) is your body must be able to properly handle Mana, hense, Mana awakening.
an individual's capability levels are ranked F being weakest to S+ rank being the strongest in the order of F, E, D, C, B, A, S, S+. Just how humans are ranked, dungeons are also ranked from F to S F being the safest B being moderate, S being dangerous and S+ being a disaster. When dungeons with monsters inside are left uncleared a dungeon break occurs making it harder to clear. Which is a dungeon must be notified, blocked off, ranked and cleared immediately to prevent mass casualties. It took a lot of trial and error over the past 10 years. Since the great cataclysm the death toll reached 11 million worldwide and 50,000 died in South Korea alone. Now, death tolls are significantly lower and the governments aim is to keep it that way.
As time went by more and more people started to awaken abilities and the government came together to create organisations in which these hunters fight under contracts. The Hunters Association. Here hunters are able to take requests to clear dungeons suitable to their level with their Hunter cards.
People no longer fought to survive they now mainly fight for the money that comes with it, getting greedier and greedier some even risking their lives for fortune. That also means that individuals who abuse their awakened ability exist also. Crime rates increased and those that awakened and didn't want to fight in dungeons but still wanted to contribute civilly to society became peace officers solely working to stop and convict these individuals lawfully and protect citizens.
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Hee-Sung's POV
Im now 19 years old, popular (okay maybe not) healthy and handsome. Ive been living with my Aunt Cha Ji-won since i was 8 years old living with my mom in Busan, i moved to Seoul with my Aunt after packing up and moving my stuff almost immediately after her funeral.
"HEE-SUNG COME EAT YOUR BREAKFAST YOUR NOT LEAVING THIS HOUSE UNTIL YOU DO!!!" Shouted Aunt Cha
Hee-Sung ran down the stairs almost stepping on their family dog, Sora.
"WHOA, SORRY SORA" He apologised
"woof" barked sora in a frazzled tone.
Sora was a Boader Collie with a beautiful black and white coat. He is always happy and friendly to other people. He also knows when your sick and feeling sad and immediately goes to comfort you. if I could sum up Sora i'd say he is supremely intelligent and brimming with energy.
2 years after I moved in with Aunt Cha I had turned 10, she got me Sora who was a tiny puppy for my birthday. I was still griefed after my moms passing I hated my birthday as she wasn't there with me to celebrate it. I had a humble upbringing, we weren't well off. My mom made sure to take a day off work to spend with me on my birthday and we'd stay up and have a triple chocolate cake... just the two of us. we'd have movie marathons and it was the only day out of the year shed let my curfew slide, however, i could never stay up past 12am, I was always the first to fall asleep. I'd wake up the next morning cuddled up to her in bed and her warm comforting smell of vanilla perfume would make me feel at home. I miss her.
Creating new memories such as birthdays, with her not in It felt pointless. Aunt Cha couldn't bare to see me like that any longer so she tried getting me a pet to help me heal, after all, I had lost my last remaining family. from the second I saw Sora I knew he became new family and after that I opened up to Aunt Cha and she's family too. I haven't completely moved on from the past. I still have nightmares walking in seeing my mom like that, but I'm healing.
I remember it took me almost 2 weeks to pick a name for Sora. I was adamant that it had to be perfect. then one day I was lying down looking up at the clear, blue, faultless sky feeling the warm sun and thought, that's how Sora was... MY sky. So I named him Sora (sky) written 宙 (sora) in Japanese and 하늘 (haneul) in Korean. Beautiful right.
"phew... morning Aunt Cha" I turned on the TV whilst taking a bite into his toast.
"Hee sung-ah make sure you come home by 16:00pm STRAIGHT after school you hear me? We're training again" she told.
"Again Aunt cha... I'm still sore from yesterday can you not give me a break for today..." he exclaimed.
"No, I've been teaching you martial arts since you were 12 years old. How you're not used to the training by now must mean I've been going too easy on you?" Aunt Cha said, folding her arms and smirking.
N- NO, I'm perfectly fine. See *whoosh!!" Hee sung exclaimed, rotating his arms in full circles to show he was feeling no pain. Which he was.
Recently, he began noticing the level of training had risen, but he never mentioned anything as he knows his aunt won't tell him anything. If there's one thing he's learnt since living with his Aunt is that she's a woman who kept many secrets.
Hee-sung sat down and turned up the volume of TV, picking up a second slice of toast to eat.
"Dungeon breaks are still active globally in the world with hundreds of beasts breaking out monthly meanwhile hunter Park Min-Young known as Ice Queen still holds the highest successful subjugation count since the beginning of these dungeon breaks in 20XX"
"Its hunter licence season again and 11 years since star hunter Park Min-Young was the first of 8 hunters in the world to achieve S+ rank stats in the period of the Great Cataclysm...."
*Hee-sung switched off the TV.
"AUNT CHA IM HEADING OUT NOW THANKS FOR BREAKFAST!"
"That boy" *shakes head - "HEE-SUNG YOUR LUNCH!!"
"Thanks Aunt Cha" Hee-sung grinned
"BYE SORA!" he shouted
"woof woof" Sora replied, as if to say 'see you later'
On the walk to the Academy , Hee-sungs' friend jumped out from literally nowhere and scared him
"BOO!" He shouted.
"AHHHGGG" Hee-sung screamed almost falling back.
"HAHAHAHA" sang-pil laughed
Yoon Sang-Pil who he had known since he had moved to Seoul, lived just a few doors down from him. They were close as he was Hee-Sungs' first friend after moving to seoul.
"SANG-PIL YOU ALMOST MADE ME THROW UP MY HEART!!" Shouted Hee sung.
"OH don't be so dramatic"
Sang-pil one day I swear..."
"Swear what?" "what you gonna do?" he said in a joking tone"
"I'm gonna do this!" Hee sung took Sang-Pils head and put it in a headlock and started ruffling his head.
"ARGHH, Hee sung I had just did my hair stop, DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG IT TOOK ME TO LOOK THIS HANDSOME!! OK! OK I'm sorry ill tap out"
Hee sung let go. Sang-pil fixed his hair wiping a fake tear. Hee sung laughed and said, "Now who's the dramatic one, come on or we'll be late for school"
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