The beginning in the end

The day of the apocalypse (4)

Joon-ho's body ached, each movement feeling like it took everything he had left. His legs wobbled under him, and his breath came in short, ragged gasps. The weight of failure pressed on him like an insurmountable mountain. His muscles screamed in protest, but it wasn't the pain that hurt the most-it was the hollow feeling inside of him, the creeping realization that he wasn't enough.

I'm useless... His thoughts spiraled downward, a dark abyss threatening to swallow him whole. How pathetic. I can't even protect myself...let alone protect other...

But as the weight of self-loathing settled deep within his chest, something inside him snapped. The world around him-burning, collapsing, chaotic-wasn't going to wait for him to get his act together.

Why am I even doing this? The question echoed in his mind. Why am I fighting? To protect others? To be the hero?

He had no interest in being anyone's hero. That life had been forced upon him in his past existence, and it had left him hollow. The endless striving, the sacrifices, the failure. All for what? To be used and discarded?

No more.

Oh how naive am I, trying to protect the people who left me to rot in my past life.

Joon-ho's eyes narrowed, his mind sharpening like a blade. I don't give a damn about saving anyone. I don't care about some goddamn prophecy or system that makes heroes and villains out of people.

His fists clenched at his sides, his fingers digging into the cold steel of the pipe he still gripped.

I'm not here to play their game. I'm here for me. And if that means tearing down the whole damn ranking system and organisation that made me nothing, then so be it.

The Hunter Organization-the people who wielded power over this new world, the ones who treated humans like pawns-was at the center of this mess. They were the ones who set the rules. They were the ones who decided who was worth living, and who was meant to die. They thought they were invincible, unshakable.

The organisation was form right after the apocalypse, as if someone had already predicted everything and was preparing for the day to come. Right after everything cooled down, the 'Hunter organisation' was built on December 1st 20XX.

I'll make them regret ever treating me like shit. The thought was like a fire igniting deep within him.

Joon-ho straightened up, his exhaustion momentarily pushed aside by the surge of rage that surged through him. The world didn't matter. The monsters didn't matter. The people who were dying didn't matter.

He had a goal now, a reason to keep going: to make the Hunter Organization pay for everything they had taken from him. For every life they had destroyed. For every person they had used like cattle. For every moment he had spent feeling less than them.

This world, this organisation, it's all a damn game to them. And I'm done being their pawn.

Joon-ho turned, his gaze focused and unwavering, ready to face whatever came next. The fight with the monsters, the chaos that had engulfed the city-it didn't matter. Not anymore.

It wasn't about saving others. It wasn't about being a pushover.

It was about him.

And he would tear the Hunter Organization apart, piece by piece, until there was nothing left. He wasn't some side character in their world. He wasn't some tool for their amusement. He was going to show them exactly what a "D-rank" could do when they stopped caring about what everyone else wanted.

I will make them burn for what they've done.

And for the first time, Joon-ho felt a surge of something unfamiliar in his chest: not hope, not purpose, but raw, unrelenting ambition. He wasn't going to be anyone's hero. He was going to be the one who destroyed everything that had ever held him down.

"Ge# y0ur a$s b@ck t0 work, stup1d h#man"

"Yeah, fine. I'll get back to work," he muttered to the voice, a smirk tugging at his lips.

Soon I'll figure out what you really are but until then, I'll live.

He dragged his feet forward, each step feeling like a battle, but his eyes burned with purpose. No more self-pity. No more questions. No more hesitation.

His mind flashed back to the days after the apocalypse had begun, the days when the Hunter Organization had consolidated its power, building its empire on the backs of people like him-people who didn't matter. He could still remember the looks of indifference on the faces of the higher-ups when they handed down their orders.

"Not good enough." "You're weak." "You're disposable."

They had made him feel like nothing. But now, as the world crumbled around him, he was going to show them just how wrong they had been.

He wasn't some forgotten pawn. He wasn't some weakling. He wasn't even a "D-rank" hunter. He was Joon-ho-and that was enough.

The city around him burned, the cries of the desperate blending with the roars of monsters in the distance, but he paid it no mind. The chaos was nothing more than background noise to the new reality he was forging. Every step, every breath, every ounce of energy went toward his singular goal: to break the Hunter Organization from the inside out and the first step was to gain the trust of the public.

"I'm not some fucking side character," he muttered under his breath. "And I'll make them regret it." Joon-ho grinned, the pain was getting to him but he was excited... excited to crush the organisation into pieces.

But first, I need to survive these monsters. The monsters here are around rank D-F, I can handle the rank E-F but in my current condition I cannot fight any rank D monsters.

[Mission: Kill 20 Monsters (any rank]
[Reward: unknown]
[Panalty upon failure: unknown]
[Time limit: 30:00]

[Player Status Window]

[Player: Joon-ho]
[Class: None]
[Rank: D]
[HP: 50/50]
[MP: 30/30]
[Strength: 10]
[Agility: 10]
[Endurance: 12]
[Mental Fortitude: 20]
[Spare Stats: 3]
[Skills: Unyielding Will (Passive), Hunter's Instinct (Passive)]

[Abilities: None]

[Achievement(s): The first player (Legendary)]

Fyi: 1 monster defeated = 1 spare stat