SSS-Class Summoner

Chapter 1

Coincidence or Necessity (1)

Environmental destruction, war, limited resources: humanity has always lived with these problems.

Now though, these problems reached a turning point. An unimaginable disaster ravaged humanity.

Gates suddenly opened in unexpected places, and scores of apocalyptic monsters were rushing out of them.

Modern firearms couldn't hurt these monsters.

At first, in an effort to catch the smallest of these monsters, billions of missiles were launched.

The only way to close the gateways was to wait for them to spit out all of the evil monsters, exhausting what appeared to be the gates' supply of the creatures. The problem was that even if some of these gates vanished, more would appear just to replace them. All over the world, this was happening. All over the world, humans were trying but failing to stop the cataclysmic tragedy brought about by these treacherous monsters.

Humanity was devastated; cities were left empty, destroyed.

But out of dark despair, there came the glimmer of hope.

When the gates opened, a small group of people found themselves blessed with new abilities.

Known as awakeners, these people had power and stamina far beyond human limits. Some of them even received unique abilities.

This group, known as "The Awakened," defeated the monsters using their special powers and newfound instincts. They vanquished the invading savage monstrosities — conquering the creatures who were otherwise immune to humanity's intervention.

After the appearance of the first gate, there came a time of mass confusion while the Awakened put the Great War policy in place.

Once the disaster was subdued, and a semblance of normality returned to the world, the catastrophe created an opportunity.

Ether, the monsters' nuclei, a potent energy source, boasted an overwhelming efficiency compared to any modern terrestrial resource.

With the advent of ether, the price of oil plummeted, and human technology took great advantage of this newly acquired efficiency.

Many new technologies using the new ether were developed, making it easier to deal with monsters, even without the Awakened's assistance.

In developing countries, where civil war and wars between nations prevailed, whose governments were constantly engaged in fighting off monsters, the battles between humans stopped and disappeared as people put aside their differences to recognize the common enemy. It was in this massively altered world that the Awakeners became the main figureheads of society.

The number of Awakened that a nation could lay claim to had a direct impact on that country's national power.

In Korea alone, the number of Awakened compared to the number of people was very much noticeable. Korea's status was unparalleled. Its standing in the international community was higher than any other nation, and it quickly became the most influential country in the world.

All over the world, the often-asked question was why the Korean Awakeners were greater in number and could boast superior abilities to other nations. People speculated that the first gate was linked to Seoul in some way.

Awakeners had saved many lives, and this, coupled with their extraordinary powers, led to them quickly becoming prominent in modern society.

It was not long before Awakeners started to appear on TV far more regularly than celebrities and politicians. But the interest in the very highest-level Awakeners was far greater than that.