Chapter 1

The Third-Generation Chaebol Heir Returns from the Apocalypse

“Hey, silver spoon.”

“What is it, old geezer?”

“You little bastard... So you've finally decided to stop holding back?”

“Is that something you should say after throwing the first punch?”

“Ha. A bastard who's all talk to the bitter end...”

“...”

“...”

“...What about the others?”

“...I'm the only one left.”

“I see....So this is as far as we go.”

“Do you have any last words? I'll hear you out.”

“What's the point of leaving a will? Who's there to hear it besides you?”

“...”

“Then instead of a will, I'll leave you with a few words.”

“Please, go ahead.”

“...Thank you. For fighting alongside me until the very end instead of running away. You're... a much better man than I'd heard.”

“...!”

“Ha. Guess I really am about to die. Here I am, suddenly spouting things I'd never normally say.”

“It certainly seems that way.”

“You little bastard... Seriously, when it comes to running your mouth... you're number one among the S-ranks... No question.”

“...”

“...”

“Then, may I say something as well?”

“...”

“It was an honor for me to fight alongside you too, Association President.”

“...”

But no answer came.

Perhaps I should have said it a little sooner.

Hair turned completely white, a bushy beard, and a massive, sturdy physique that seemed too imposing for an elderly man.

That was how Park Gangcheol, president of the Hunter Association, met his death.

I closed his lifeless eyes, lifted his body, and carefully laid him beside the corpses of our other comrades, arranged in a row.

They were all the bodies of hunters who had fought alongside us until the very end.

Most were covered in wounds, and some had parts of their bodies, or nearly their entire bodies, mutilated beyond description. Even so, I had somehow managed to gather the scattered remains and piece them back into human shapes.

Finally, I looked over the seven bodies, confirming each person's identity.

The Association President, S-rank No. 2 Han Jiyeon, the twin brothers ranked third and fourth, Kim Dohun and Kim Dogyeom, No. 12 Park Jeonghyeok, No. 14 Mileina Lee, and No. 17 Cha Yunha.

Suddenly, something glinting on my left hand caught my attention.

[Ring of Time - F-rank]

A ring that had lost its light and all its power. Now it was nothing more than an ordinary silver ring.

Even when appraised, it was just a ring with no special effects.

-I picked it up on my way here. It dropped while I was hunting, but it's not worth selling, so you can deal with it instead.

-What am I, your trash can?

Cha Yunha had casually left it with me one day.

I had no idea what she'd been thinking when she did that, but...

Now this ring was the only keepsake I had left of my fallen comrade.

“...”

After stroking the ring for a moment, I rose to my feet.

“I should follow them too.”

It was time to end my life.

I drew mana from my mana heart and shaped it into a massive shovel in midair.

Using that shovel, I dug a large pit in the exposed earth between the broken sections of concrete flooring. Then I laid the bodies inside and finished by covering them with the soil I'd dug up.

I didn't bother making a gravestone.

After all, the words engraved on a gravestone are meant not for the dead, but for those left behind—

And in this world, there was no one left but me.

I looked around.

Collapsed buildings, shattered roads, and corpses scattered here and there among the rubble of concrete and cement.

A completely dead city.

No matter where I went in South Korea—no, anywhere in the world—the scenery would probably be exactly the same.

Thud... Thud...

As I stood dazed in that ruined world, a faint rumbling reached me from far away.

I knew what was making that sound.

The beings that had brought destruction upon this world.

Aliens, gods, demons. Grotesque beings that couldn't be described by any word known to humanity.

There were, however, two things I knew for certain about them.

One was that they had descended upon Earth the moment humanity failed to clear the Towers within the allotted time.

The other was that they were far more powerful than any monsters the hunters had ever faced.

It had taken eight years for the entire world to fall after the Towers began collapsing.

After utterly devastating the countries where their Towers stood, the monsters continued marching into neighboring nations.

As a result, even countries that had successfully managed their Towers until then were unable to withstand the monsters pouring in from other nations and were wiped out.

The Towers in those destroyed countries would then collapse in turn, allowing even more monsters to join the invasion of countries that had yet to fall.

One country after another fell like dominoes. Korea was no exception.

The Towers collapsed first in China, then in North Korea. The monsters pouring out of them chose the Korean Peninsula as their next target.

South Korea suffered the same fate.

The hunters continued to resist, but they were driven farther and farther south...

And eight years after the first battle against those creatures, even Busan, our final line of defense, had completely fallen.

“So in the end, I'm the only one who survived.”

Baek Dohyeon, the lowest-ranked S-rank hunter.

Perhaps it was a trick of fate, but I, who had awakened the latest among the S-ranks and was therefore the weakest, had managed to survive the longest.

But my luck ended here.

Rumble— Rumble—

The vibrations were getting closer. That meant my end wasn't far off.

“...Since it's come to this, I might as well put up one last struggle.”

I drew up what little mana I had left and circulated it through the circuits throughout my body.

Then I began walking along the ruined six-lane road toward the source of the sound.

With every step I took, memories of the past resurfaced.

I had wasted my twenties living recklessly, doing whatever I pleased like a good-for-nothing.

Then, at the age of thirty-one, the end of the world began with the news that the United States had failed to clear its Tower.

During that time, I happened to awaken and belatedly joined the hunter resistance.

Until the very last moment, everyone fought with all their strength to survive.

And I was no exception.

But as time passed, they disappeared one by one.

Some died while trying to escape, while others died sacrificing themselves for their comrades.

Every death I'd heard about or witnessed with my own eyes remained engraved in my heart, without exception.

What should I have done? Was there no way to prevent this situation?

I thought about it endlessly and regretted everything, but nothing changed—

As I continued walking, lost in thought, 'those things' finally began to appear in the distance.

Grotesque creatures, no matter how many times I saw them.

Some took the form of enormous rings of flesh flying through the sky, studded with countless eyeballs.

Others resembled giants as tall as buildings, their bodies engraved with mysterious black patterns.

Still others had humanlike forms, except they possessed eight arms, ten legs, and enormous black wings sprouting from their backs.

Each one was uniquely hideous, with no two looking alike, and every last one was horrifying to behold.

There were dozens, perhaps hundreds, of these grotesque beings. Spread out in a long horizontal line, they were slowly sweeping through the city as they advanced toward me.

Grit.

Tatata—

Before I knew it, I was gritting my teeth and sprinting toward them with all my might.

Because I wouldn't be satisfied unless I landed one final blow on those fucking things...!

I gathered every last bit of my remaining mana into my right hand.

Whoooom—

A massive blue light emerged and took the shape of a greatsword.

Finally, less than thirty meters separated me from them.

The ring of flesh floating at the front noticed me and turned all its eyeballs in my direction.

-Kikigik.

With a grotesque sound, the center of the ring began to glow, but—

Tap— Slash!

I was a step faster.

Leaping forward with all my strength, I brought my mana sword down upon the creature with everything I had.

But my blade failed to cut even halfway through the ring of flesh and became lodged inside it.

Whoooom—

The light gathering at its center did not disappear—

“Ah, fuck.”

A massive beam shot toward me from the ever-growing blue light.

In the end, I had no choice but to accept my death.

However, just as I was enveloped in the intense blue light and my consciousness began to fade, I had the faint impression that something was glowing at the edge of my vision—

___________

[Power is being supplied to the Ring of Time.]

[The Ring of Time is regaining its original form!]

[Retracing the causality of the wearer, Baek Dohyeon.]

[Causal divergence point confirmed. A point has been found where reality can be altered to bring about the future desired by the wearer.]

[Rewinding time.]

_____________

...Strange.

The searing pain that had felt as though it was burning my entire body had definitely disappeared.

Was I completely dead? But if that were the case, my consciousness was far too vivid.

Flash—

Suddenly, my vision brightened.

“Ugh...”

The light was so blinding that I squinted before gradually regaining my sight.

Just as I was about to figure out what was happening—

Splash!

“Urgh!?”

Something cold struck my face.

...Water? Did someone just splash water in my face?

I rubbed my eyes repeatedly and finally managed to open them—

“You worthless vermin.”

The first thing I saw was a middle-aged man holding a glass of water, his face twisted with rage.

Neatly combed-back, graying hair, a tidy black suit, a stern face, and angular glasses.

I knew him. There was no way I wouldn't.

The name engraved on the plaque atop the expensive wooden desk was Baek Taeseok.

He was my father and the chairman of Baekmyeong Group, South Korea's third-largest chaebol conglomerate.

“Uh...?”

As I stared blankly at my father, unable to understand what was happening—

Whoosh—

“!?”

An empty glass flew toward my face, and I barely managed to duck out of the way.

The glass slammed into the wall and shattered into pieces with a loud crash.

“You insane bastard! You're a disgrace to our family!”

“...?”

“If you're going to cause trouble, at least make it something worthwhile! What? You got into an argument in a game? So you went looking for the other person to have one of those real-life fights or whatever you call them? And you call yourself a man, bringing bodyguards along like a coward?”

“...”

Something about this scene was familiar. No, I had already experienced this exact situation once before.

“Y-you...!”

My father, panting with rage, threw the newspaper lying on his desk at me.

“Read it! Read with your own two eyes what the article says!”

It was one of South Korea's famous daily newspapers. The front-page headline read:

[Third-Generation Chaebol Heir Brings Bodyguards to Gaming Dispute... 'Humiliated' After Confronting B-Rank Hunter]

I blankly raised my gaze to the top of the newspaper.

The date printed there was February 12, 2030.

Exactly fifteen years ago. I was twenty-four at the time.

“...Huh?”

It seemed I had returned.

Back to the days when I was notorious as the good-for-nothing heir of Baekmyeong Group, South Korea's third-largest chaebol conglomerate.