"Ah, my back."
The sound of vertebrae popping rang in the damp, cavernous space.
I straightened up, wiping a mixture of slime and monster blood off my gloves.
The stench of rotting Two-Headed Ogre flesh was thick enough to make a normal person faint, but to me, it just smelled like a potential, albeit small, paycheck.
My name is Kang Ji-Hoon.
Age 26.
Job: F-Rank Hunter.
"Hunter" is a generous term. I am basically a glorified janitor. I come in after the A-Rank guilds have annihilated the boss and taken all the shiny, high-grade loot.
My job is to carve out the minor magic stones and salvage the residual organs from the leftover minions that nobody else cares about.
"Let's see... three goblin molars and a damaged ogre gallbladder." I looked at the pathetic pile of junk in my hands. "Great. That's enough to buy a cup of coffee if I skip the sugar."
I kicked the remaining half of the Two-Headed Ogre in frustration. Being an F-Rank meant having the magical potential of a wet paper towel. No matter how hard I trained, I hit a wall. A very tall, very concrete wall called 'Innate Talent.'
The 'Golden Dragon Guild' had cleared this place an hour ago. They were thorough. Not a single chest, silver coin, or rare drop was left behind.
"Cheapskates," I muttered, walking toward the corner where the Boss Monster had supposedly died. "Could've at least left a ring or something."
As I kicked at the loose dirt and pulverized monster viscera, my boot hit something hard.
Clack.
It wasn't a rock. It sounded empty.
I crouched down and dug frantically. Buried beneath the mud and ogre blood was a small, wooden box. It looked ancient, rotting at the hinges. It looked exactly like trash.
"Probably just debris," I sighed. But, habitual greed is a scary thing. I reached out and flipped the latch.
Inside wasn't a weapon. It wasn't a skill book.
It was a slate. A rectangular slate made of smooth, polished black jade, eerily sleek like a modern device.
"What is this? A cultivation tablet?" I scoffed at my own joke.
I picked it up.
ZING.
A shock of static electricity shot up my arm, frying the nerves all the way to my shoulder. I yelped and tried to drop it, but the damn thing stuck to my palm like it was superglued.
Then, the air in front of me shattered.
[Ding!]
A blue holographic window, the kind I'd only ever seen in web novels and cheap fantasy games, popped up right in my face.
[System Error Detected.]
[Unidentified User 'Kang Ji-Hoon' has accessed the Admin Console.]
[Scanning potential...]
[Talent: F-Rank (Trash)]
[Spirit: S-Rank (Greedy)]
"Hey! Who are you calling trash?" I yelled at the empty air, ignoring the absurdity of the floating text.
[Conditions Met.]
[Initiating 'Murim Administrator' Protocol.]
[Would you like to Log In?]
[Y / N]
I stared at the floating letters. My heart was hammering against my ribs, driven not by fear, but by the intoxicating scent of possibility.
Usually, this is the part where the protagonist thinks about his sick mother or his insurmountable debt. Me? I just thought about the look on the Golden Dragon Guild leader's face when I could finally afford a mansion next to his.
"If this is a dream," I grinned, my eyes gleaming, "I'm going to sue someone for waking me up."
I smashed my finger against the [Y].
[Login Accepted.]
[Welcome to the World of Blood and Iron.]
[Warning: Difficulty is set to 'Hell'.]
"Wait, set to wha—"
The world twisted. The damp dungeon cave dissolved into a violent swirl of ink and light. The stale smell of rotting ogre was instantly replaced by the sharp scent of pine needles and freshly spilled blood.
My vision cleared.
I wasn't in a cave anymore. I was standing in the middle of a wooden courtyard. The architecture was distinctly ancient and foreign.
And surrounding me were about fifty burly men in matching red robes, all pointing menacing spears at my throat.
A massive, bearded man stepped forward, his eyes burning with intense killing intent.
"Identify yourself, intruder! Are you a spy from the Orthodox Faction?"
I blinked. I looked at the spears. I looked at the angry man.
Then, a new window popped up.
[Ding!]
[Main Quest: Survive.]
[Reward: You get to keep your head.]
[Failure: Decapitation.]
"Ah," I muttered, raising my hands slowly.
"Damn it."