In a world where portals to other dimensions cracked open like lightning across the sky, cities were built atop ruins and fears. Monsters surged from rifts, and with them came opportunity—and death.
A select few Awakened, humans who developed supernatural abilities, became hunters. Ranked from S to E, they were the front line between civilization and chaos. Guilds were built. Fortunes made. Glory seized.
And then there was Thalen Gray.
Rank: E
Class: Questgiver
It sounded cool on paper. Exotic. Mysterious. Like he belonged in an RPG.
But in reality he is one of the most miserable awakened out there.
Once one reaches the age of 15 some people are given random skill based on luck.
The class are separated into five tier
Mythic
Legendary
Epic
Rare
Common
The first skill you received will be at E rank.
The awakened are required to complete the task assigned by the system to upgrade the skill.
But not every task will guarantee a skill upgrade.
Most of the tasks assigned by the system will result in magic stones, item, weapon, skills and sometimes something completely useless.
Nobody knows how the system really works
And the criteria for the quest.The system sometimes gives ridiculous quest that doesn't even make sense.
Thalen received a mythic tier skill
'The quest giver'
But as Thalen luck ran out . His skill has a lot of flaws
Name: Thalen
Class: The quest giver
tier: mythic rank
Skill: guest granter
Current task: 0
[ You are able to assign tasks to other awakened of E rank and below. The rewards you enlist will be deducted form your inventory ] ( upgrade the skill to unlock more)
Thalen signed as he read the system panel for the 5th time today waiting for the system to assign new tasks but nothing changed
Thalen hasn't received a single task since his awakening. Compared to the excitement of first receiving the skill. thalen has given up the hope for any advancement.
You see, Thalen can give a quest to other
E rank hunters but he has to give the reward from his own pocket.
If there isn't a satisfactory reward most decide to ignore even the easiest quest. Thalen doesn't have enough money to even last for a few days without working.
Thalen once gave a quest to his neighbors to cook food for him out of curiosity
The idea came to Thalen around noon, which was the worst time for ideas, because that was when hunger really started clawing.
The noodles were long gone.
His last protein bar had expired two weeks ago—technically, it was still chewable if he didn't read the label too closely—and he had exactly 783 won left in his account, which was enough to stare longingly at food from across the street and maybe cry a little if the wind hit right.
The cold truth was this: he was broke. Again. But he was also bored. Dangerous combination.
So, when the couple next door—Mr. and Mrs. Oh—passed by his shipping container home, cheerfully carrying bags of groceries, Thalen had an idea.
A quest. Something light. Nothing serious. A bit of fun.
Just to test the system's flexibility, of course.
He pulled out his old Questgiver interface and whispered, "Generate quest."
Quest: Helping Others
Description: Cook a homemade meal for your next-door neighbor (That's me!)
Reward: 1,000 won
Penalty: None
Status: Active
Duration: 3 hours
It even looked wholesome. Touching, almost.
He sent it with a smile.
And, to his shock, not ten minutes later, the Oh couple returned, both grinning like schoolkids with a secret. Mrs. Oh held out a plastic-wrapped tray steaming with bulgogi and kimchi rice, the aroma practically roundhouse kicking his stomach.
He almost cried.
Almost.
Instead, he smiled, bowed politely, and took the food like a starving saint. He was already reaching for chopsticks when the notification hit.
[Quest Completed: Helping Others]
[1,000 won has been deducted from your bank account]
[Remaining Balance: -217 won]
Thalen froze. Mid-bite.
"…Wait. Don't tell me."
He dropped the tray, scrambled for his cracked tablet, opened his banking app.
There it was. Plain as the moldy socks in his laundry pile.
Transaction: System-Triggered Quest Payout -1,000 won
His jaw slackened.
"You stupid system!" he shouted at the glowing screen. "You never said you'd pull from my bank if my inventory was empty! That's theft! That's entrapment!"
The screen blinked innocently. No refunds. No appeals.
He sat back against the container wall, the food cooling beside him, both sustenance and insult.
He didn't eat that day. He couldn't. The idea of enjoying that meal while knowing he'd just sunk deeper into debt made his gut twist harder than his hunger.
Later that night, as shadows crept through the alleys and the district grew quiet, Thalen sat alone with a flickering light above him. He sipped hot water boiled from rain he'd collected in a cracked basin.
"This skill would've been incredible if I'd been born a second-generation chaebol brat," he muttered.
His parents had died when he was six. Traffic accident. Classic tragedy. He barely remembered their faces, just the scent of his mother's perfume and the way his father used to ruffle his hair before work.
There was no inheritance. No extended family. Just a government dorm, then a communal school, then the streets.
He'd worked odd jobs through high school, scraped together enough to test for the Dungeon Registration Authority, and prayed for a strong Awakening.
Instead?
Questgiver.
A support class that wasn't just useless without money—it cost money.
He was a walking Kickstarter with no backers.
Now he lived off expired rations, rainwater, and the occasional charity quest that paid less than minimum wage but let him feel useful.
The tray of untouched bulgogi still sat on his table.
Mocking him.
He'd spent more money feeding other people than himself this month.
Life is truly unfair.