Kim Jin-Soo groggily lifted his body off the bed. He twisted his neck and stretched his arms. His condition seemed fine.
As a D-rank Hunter, he occupied one of the most common hunter ranks in South Korea. A-rank or B-rank Hunters were like the sun—untouchable beings he couldn’t even dream of looking at. Half a year ago, he had been injured during a Gate raid and had been recovering ever since. It was a life-threatening injury, and the doctor had said that if it weren’t for the tenacious vitality of a Hunter, he might have already left this world.
If an ordinary person had suffered such an injury, they would’ve died on the spot or wouldn’t have lasted even three minutes. Just thinking about it sent chills down his spine. It showed just how severe his injury had been.
Today, he had to subjugate a D-rank Gate. While most of his medical expenses had been covered by the state during his recovery, he still had to shoulder a portion of it himself.
And, above all, he still had a home loan to pay off. Usually, people who suffered such life-threatening injuries or went through long recoveries would quit hunting due to PTSD, but thankfully, he was mentally strong. Even a six-month recovery period couldn’t stop him.
Honestly, Kim Jin-Soo found debt-collecting banks scarier than Gates filled with terrifying monsters. Monsters could be beaten down, but there was no way to take down a bank. In fact, the bank would crush him. The security guards banks employed weren’t your average civilians.
In fact, even stronger Hunters might come to his house to demand he repay his debts. If that happened, he’d have no choice but to obediently cough up the money.
Since his injury was due to his own carelessness, he was confident it wouldn’t happen again. It was an injury born from his lack of experience.
After getting out of bed, he checked the time and started packing. Since the Gate had appeared a while ago, the subjugation route had become somewhat standardized. Civil servants had already informed him of the danger levels and preparations needed inside the Gate, so all he had to do was pack his gear.
“Hmm… is this good enough?”
Once he entered the Gate, he’d have to rough it for several days, so he started packing various daily necessities. Hunters carried around tough, military-style backpacks because they needed a lot of gear for Gate subjugations.
And, most importantly, he prepared food. Since it was food meant to be eaten outdoors, he couldn’t bring anything that required cooking. He had to choose pre-cooked meals, like combat rations soldiers eat. He still had some rations he’d bought before his injury, but their expiration dates were approaching, so he needed to eat them quickly.
He packed about 10 meals’ worth of food. That would be enough to last him three to four days. Though, to be honest, the taste wasn’t anything to write home about. Pre-cooked meals were just… meh.
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With a military-sized backpack slung over his shoulder, Kim Jin-Soo arrived at the shimmering Gate. A few people were already gathered there. A civil servant stood expressionlessly next to the Gate. Since it wasn’t a C-rank or higher Gate, there wasn’t much tension. The monsters that came out of these Gates were all pretty much the same.
The scene reminded him of a labor dispatch office. A bunch of unrelated people were gathered and sent wherever work was needed. In a way, it was accurate. Lower-rank Hunters were just like manual laborers, except they got paid a bit more.
“Are you Mr. Jin-Soo?”
“Ah, yes, that’s me.”
The civil servant approached and began verifying his identity. It seemed like four Hunters were scheduled to enter today. After confirming Kim Jin-Soo’s identity, the civil servant checked the others as well. After exchanging introductions, Kim Jin-Soo entered the Gate with a somewhat tense heart.
It had been half a year since he last entered a Gate, and it felt like the first time all over again. He had been just as nervous back then, and now that same feeling was creeping up on him. Of course, he had some experience under his belt, so he quickly shook off the tension.
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“Let’s take a break here and eat!”
Kim Chun-Sik, the temporary leader for the day, spoke up. He was a veteran Hunter in his 50s, forever stuck as a D-rank Hunter. Still, he made good money and even drove a foreign car.
“Okay!”
Kim Jin-Soo, feeling exhausted…
I lay down on the ground to take a short break. Since it was a gate where goblins mainly appeared, it wasn’t too tough, but fighting still left my body feeling exhausted.
“Hmm…”
For some reason, whenever I entered a gate, I craved outside food. But you couldn’t eat that kind of food inside the gate. To eat something that could be cooked, you’d probably need to be at least C-rank or higher. Kim Jin-Soo rummaged through his backpack and pulled out something resembling combat rations—instant food. Since he wasn’t in the mood for anything fancy, he planned to eat kimchi fried rice.
As he turned his head to look at his other teammates, a question popped into his mind. It was mealtime, but the others weren’t even taking out their food. Instead, they were just leaning against their backpacks, resting. No matter how lazy you were about eating, skipping a meal meant you’d be starving until dinner…
With a puzzled expression, Kim Jin-Soo asked Kim Chun-Sik, who was resting nearby. The older man was staring at the sky, smoking a cigarette.
“Hey, Uncle. Aren’t you going to eat?”
When Kim Jin-Soo asked with a confused look, Kim Chun-Sik gave him a strange expression and shot back a question.
“Huh? Jin-Soo, don’t you know about Starlight Cherry Tomatoes?”
Cherry tomatoes? He couldn’t even imagine how many hundreds of them you’d need to eat to feel full. Seeing Kim Jin-Soo’s bewildered face, Kim Chun-Sik looked at him like he was some kind of caveman.
“Wow… I thought you were just hospitalized or something, but you really don’t know, huh?”
With that, Kim Chun-Sik pulled out a Starlight Cherry Tomato from his pocket. Kim Jin-Soo stared at it and said, “Isn’t this… just a regular cherry tomato?”
From the looks of it, it seemed no different from an ordinary cherry tomato. Eating a few of these wouldn’t even make a dent in his hunger.
Kim Chun-Sik clicked his tongue, looking at Kim Jin-Soo. For someone younger, he was surprisingly slow at picking up information.
“Just try one. Then you’ll understand the true power of this Starlight Cherry Tomato.”
Kim Jin-Soo picked up the tomato Kim Chun-Sik handed him and popped it into his mouth. After chewing a few times, the tomato melted away like ice cream, sliding smoothly down his throat.
“It’s pretty tasty.”
The flavor was on a whole different level compared to regular cherry tomatoes. But Kim Chun-Sik couldn’t help but laugh at Kim Jin-Soo’s reaction. Though Kim Jin-Soo didn’t understand why the older man was laughing, he soon found himself rubbing his stomach as a sense of fullness washed over him.
Even though he’d only eaten one cherry tomato, it felt like he’d just had a full meal.
“Huh…?”
“Looks like you’re feeling the fullness now. This is a Starlight Cherry Tomato, a high-end food item released by Starlight Food. One tomato packs a whopping 1,000 calories. And it’s not just empty calories like chocolate—it’s packed with various nutrients, making it a balanced meal.”
Hearing this, Kim Jin-Soo finally understood why no one was eating regular food. In a place like this gate where appetite was hard to come by, having such a simple solution for meals was a game-changer!
One of the inconveniences hunters often complained about was how hard it was to eat inside gates. But with these tomatoes, that problem was gone. After hunting monsters, the sticky body fluids and the lingering metallic taste in your mouth could kill your appetite. Even if you were hungry, your body just didn’t want food.
But no matter how little appetite you had, you could still manage to eat one of these tomatoes.
“Where can I get these, Uncle?”
Kim Jin-Soo stared at the tomato in Kim Chun-Sik’s hand with amazement.
“You can just buy them at the supermarket or convenience store.”
That day, Kim Jin-Soo discovered a whole new world.
