20demayo Chapter 1
Chapter 1
The morning of my middle school graduation was truly strange. As I opened my eyes under the blanket, a peculiar feeling washed over me; I had already lived through a day like this before.
“Have a good graduation ceremony. You can manage on your own, right?”
Just as I was about to step out the front door, I turned at the teacher’s greeting behind me.
The words struck me with such a strong sense of déjà vu that I unconsciously looked back. The teacher, however, misinterpreted my expression and gave me an apologetic look.
It had only been a few months since I started living at the child welfare center after my grandmother, my only family, passed away. Yet, the arrangement of the furniture, the faces of the children living there, even the groove on the leg of the living room piano—all felt as familiar as if I had lived there for years.
On the subway heading to school, I pondered the reason while pulling out my mobile phone. Even the news headlines on the portal site felt like ones I had read before.
[Small gate occurred in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province last night... 13 dead and 9 injured.]
[Swallowing 4 billion won every week... Operators of illegal hunter gambling site arrested.]
[68 days without hunter awakening... Authorities say, “We will take measures” amid worsening hunter shortage.]
“I’m sure I’ve read these news stories before,” I muttered, dismissing my bewilderment as I headed to school.
The school, adorned with a graduation banner at the gate, was packed with self-driven cars filled with graduates and parents, their faces flushed with excitement.
As I entered the classroom, I realized I couldn’t remember where my seat was. Standing in the center, I made eye contact with a girl who awkwardly peeled herself away from the desk she had been leaning on.
Only then did I recall that this desk was mine.
As I made my way to my seat, brushing past a group of boys, I noticed hunters activating their skills in a dazzling video on their mobile phones. Every time a blue flash flickered, the boys’ eyes sparkled with admiration.
In any country, powerful hunters enjoyed a popularity that surpassed even celebrities.
Not for me, though.@@@@
Sitting in the corner seat of the back row, I took out my mobile phone, keeping an eye on the homeroom teacher.
Soon, the graduation ceremony began, but I had no intention of watching the TV mounted on the classroom ceiling. My morning routine was to browse various platforms and read the web comics uploaded daily.
When I was young, my grandmother worked from morning till evening. As a result, I didn’t attend any after-school academies and spent my free time reading webcomics.
After indulging in countless stories, I had developed a knack for understanding the writing techniques of most web comics. To me, webcomic artists were more impressive than top idols or S-class hunters.
I was deep into reading webcomics on my phone under the desk when I heard the scraping sound of a chair being pulled out in the empty seat next to me.
Casually taking the seat was a boy so strikingly handsome it was almost eerie. Though he wore our school uniform, I was certain I had never seen him during my three years of middle school.
The pale-faced boy stared at me with an oddly persistent gaze, holding it even when our eyes met.
In an instant, the air around us turned cold; not just because of the strange seatmate who had suddenly appeared.
The students chatting via group text during the graduation ceremony, the parents pressing their mobile phone cameras against the classroom window, even the stack of graduation certificates precariously piled on the teacher’s desk; everything filled me with a sense of déjà vu, as if I had witnessed it all before.
As I looked around, overwhelmed by an anxiety that felt like a nightmare, the boy next to me spoke up.
“Doesn’t it feel like you’ve already been through a middle school graduation ceremony?”
“What?” I replied, startled by his sudden words.
I noticed that the name tag that should have been on the unfamiliar boy’s uniform was missing.
The pupil at the center of his black eyes flashed red for a moment.
“Actually, you’re right. You’ve already graduated from middle school before. Heck, you even graduated from high school.”
“...Who are you? Are you really in our class?”
Instead of answering my question, the boy ran a hand through his curly bangs.
“Don’t you remember high school? It’s only been a few hours since I turned back time. You’ll gradually recall more of your past memories as time goes on.”
His voice was sweet and soft, as if soaked in sugar—so much so that it instinctively aroused a sense of rejection.
“Maeng Sun-woo. You’re going to commit suicide on the day you graduate from high school.”
Those words resonated with a chilling depth, yet no one in the classroom turned to look at the back where the boy and I sat, as if they couldn’t hear his voice at all.
Feeling trapped in a terrible prank, I asked, “What did you just say?”
“I said you’re going to commit suicide. Three years from now,” he replied nonchalantly, slightly raising his black eyebrows.
I averted my gaze as he leaned back comfortably in his chair.
He was clearly mentally disturbed. Ignoring him seemed the best course of action.
As if reading my thoughts, I heard a giggle beside me. The boy continued, unable to hide his amusement.
“Unfortunately, the process of committing suicide took quite a while. Long enough that you couldn’t bear it anymore and called for me.”
I couldn’t help but turn my head again at those horrifying words. The boy’s eyes met mine once more, and he smiled, revealing his perfectly white and even teeth.
There must be gods.
My tightly closed lips parted slightly as the demon expanded his logic step by step, like a patient teacher.
“And who do you think created this world? It must be a god, right?”
The demon shrugged after examining my face, his expression suggesting that humans often look like they’re about to explode when confronted with something difficult to accept.
“If you don’t understand, that’s fine. You’ll be able to see for yourself soon enough,” he said, tilting his head leisurely and grinning.
The moment he snapped his fingers loudly again, my life changed completely.
[SYSTEM: Hidden Skill has been activated!]
[SYSTEM: The status window has been unlocked and can be viewed!]
The system message that appeared before my eyes contained content that was hard to believe.
How could I, who hadn’t even awakened, see the status window that only hunters could access?
At the same time, a status window I had never seen before automatically opened before me. The interface resembled the holographic system window that appeared when gates opened.
However, its contents were completely unfamiliar to me, a civilian just moments ago.
Name: Maeng Sun-woo
Age: 17
[Hidden Skill]
Corrupt Character (S-class/Always Active Skill): Captures the cut work of
What is this?
I pointed at the ‘S-class Hidden Skill’ with my finger, unable to articulate my disbelief. The demon smiled, as if he knew exactly what I was thinking.
“Just wait a little. This is the best spot of all best spots.”
The demon, who had been staring blankly at the blue sky for a moment, broke into a fresh smile. In his boyish form, he pointed toward Yeouido, visible across the Han River.
“Now, let me introduce you to your god.”
The demon’s expression couldn’t have looked more excited, as if he were arranging a blind date.
I stared blankly in the direction the demon was pointing.
-Bang!
That’s when it happened. A flash of light burst forth from the middle of the forest of buildings in the distance in Yeouido.
I turned my head toward the source of the sudden light. Immediately, a white glowing rectangle appeared above the National Assembly building, its green dome-shaped roof illuminated.
Before I could look closely enough to infer its identity, another flash of light erupted, blinding like a giant camera flash.
Beneath this light, a differently shaped rectangle materialized in the air. I couldn’t help but voice my confusion.
“What is that...?”
“What else? They’re drawing the background cuts for
Before I could grasp what he meant, one rectangle clearly appeared before my eyes.
「The webtoon artist, ‘Tito’, takes a deep breath while holding a tablet pen in his hand.」
“Huh...?”
A bewildered sound escaped my lips. It was like seeing a narration box straight out of a comic.
The white narration box, outlined in black, was unlike the translucent hologram messages displayed by the system; it felt more like 2D graphics suddenly inserted into a 3D world.
「Tito mutters that if he just works diligently, he will surely get an official serialization.」
I struggled to read the contents written in the narration box, frozen in shock. In contrast to my stillness, the demon’s face radiated excitement.
“The prologue is finally starting!” he exclaimed.
With a smile that stretched from ear to ear, the demon jumped up and down, overflowing with excitement as if he couldn’t control his limbs.
「Tito adjusts the angle of his dual monitors with a tense expression. The background of the second monitor is filled with documents detailing the character settings for
The demon turned his back to me, gazing out at the Han River. The collar of his school uniform fluttered as he spread his arms wide, embracing the winter river wind with abandon.
“Introducing for the first time! The creator of this wonderful world, webtoon artist Tito!” he proclaimed.
-Bang!
As if responding to his ambitious introduction, light burst forth once more from between the tall buildings of Yeouido.