Separate recycling, remember!

Whirring. The faded paper rattled in the cold breeze. A thick, beetle-like figure moved busily, crouching in an alley.

Thick padding, toad apron, rubber gloves, sweatpants and three-line slippers. Ui-jae was peacefully sorting through the recycling, dressed in his winter home-warming look. As he removed the label from the plastic bottle, Ui-jae muttered a complaint.

"No matter how much trash I throw away, there are so many..."

He collected the labels and threw them into a plastic bag, stomped on the plastic bottles to deflate them, and then picked up the soju bottle.

Boom!

At that moment, there was a sudden explosion of firecrackers in the air. Cha Ui-jae raised his head, wondering what it was, and saw a familiar white window.

[Congratulations, J!]

[You are the new number one in 'Region: South Korea'].

"What?"

Plop. A heavy stopper fell to the ground. An empty soju bottle rolled out of the bag and onto the asphalt.

Why does this guy say I'm #1 for recycling?

Ui-jae didn't even think to point out the contents properly because the system's guidance was so stupid.

1st place? Ui-jae wanted to ask and at least grab the collar in case there was someone who could answer. He couldn't understand why this message came today, which could have ended normally.

Instead of asking the system for information, Ui-jae quickly turned on the internet application on his cell phone. Fortunately or unfortunately, the news about the hunters' rankings was displayed at the top of the portal's main screen.

"Breaking news, Korea's No. 1 ranking, J」"

"[Breaking news] Lee Sa-young, the undisputed No. 1 player, fell to No. 2 behind J」.

"[Breaking News] The Awakening Management Bureau said, "The same hunter name cannot exist, not the same name.""

"[Breaking News] Awakening Management Bureau, "Possible system error, facts are being confirmed""

"[Breaking news] Jung Bin captured boarding helicopter... heading to Incheon."

Moreover, the number of articles increased with each refresh. The system was even kind enough to pop up a new ranking window for his reference.

J
Lee Sa-young ▼1
The Gospel of Matthew ▼1
Jung-bin ▼1
GyuGyu ▼1
Honeybee ▼1
Doctor ▼1
I am a master craftsman ▼1
Ham Seok-jeong ▼1
Song Jo-heon ▼1
Shield Guy ▼1]
There was a blue down arrow next to every name except J. It was a devastating visual just by looking at it.

"Shit."

Subconsciously, Ui-jae remembered a picture he saw in an Internet post one day.

Let's find out what not to do at the funeral

This is

(Emotions with raised hands)

Resurrection

You'll be embarrassed if you suddenly come back to life, right?

See you next time.

Yes, Cha Ui-jae accidentally... did something he should never do.

J. It's a little embarrassing to say it, but he's so famous that he saved countless people while working as a hunter, and even appears as a hero who sacrifices himself with rifts in learning cartoons read by children.

Such a person resurrected after 8 years? And as soon as he came back, he took back the first place?

Of course, they'll scour the land to find him.

He could hear a quiet life slowly receding from him. Only then did he realize. Oh, right. It wasn't the firecrackers he had heard before.

It was the sound of his small, precious, quiet daily life exploding...

As he mechanically refreshed the screen in denial, anger rose in his chest as high as the number of updates in the corner. With a grunt, he grabbed an empty bottle of soju from the bar and, holding it by the spout, pointed it at the status window.

"Hey, what did I do to be number one?"

In the past, being number one could be a thing. J was strong, he slashed monsters nonstop, and he was unstoppable in terms of skill and performance.

But what about Cha Ui-jae? What Cha Ui-jae did after escaping from the rift was cleaning, recycling, washing dishes, making hangover soup, taking care of discount coupons, shopping, taking care of Ha-eun, donating to the Incheon Rift Foundation, sometimes catching a monster on the street and reporting it to the Rift Management Agency. It was just that much.

If that was all he had to do to become number one, a dog or a cow could have become number one.

[1st place perk reward]
[Collect]

Give me the decline button.

He looked for a reject button somewhere, but there wasn't one, not even a tiny X, let alone a reject button. Instead, the system began to highlight the words 'Accept' in red.

You think I'm going to press that? Absolutely not. Ui-jae deliberately turned his eyes away from the system, intending to ignore it until he got tired of weeding and collapsed.

However, the system displayed a new window wherever he turned his eyes, and this time, instead of receiving it, it floated another option.

[■■■ Some of the deleted privileges will be restored].
[Restore permissions...]
[■■■■ Permissions to access Korea Channel 1 will be restored]
[Would you like to access Korea Channel 1?]
[▶Yes]
[▶Yes]

As if it had been listening, the options increased. The problem was, nothing really changed.

Hunter Channel is a system-created group messenger. A group messenger where you can share information, talk to each other, and make announcements. Of course, Ui-jae thought that they must have been forced into it because the hunters only played solo.

Anyway, there was an access standard on the channel to meet the user's eye level, and channel 1 was a place where only the first to 50th places were given access rights.

In other words, Jung-bin, Honeybee, and Bae Won-woo are on channel 1.

Of course, Lee Sa-young.

You are crazy. I can't go in there.

He tried to live as quietly as possible, but the world wouldn't leave him alone. UI-jae picked up a soju bottle that had rolled far away and separated the lid from the glass bottle.

"Close the window, because I'll never go inside."

[.......]

The system did not respond.

It is finally quiet.

Ui-jae breathed a sigh of relief and picked up the sticks and empty bottles scattered on the floor.

[!!Error!!!]
[Time to choose is up]
[Automatically connects to channel 1]

"What?"

Ui-jae was horrified. What is this cheap system saying?

+82 [CH.1] 「J has entered

This is bullshit.

How outdated this damn system is, and it didn't even have a nickname change function! Cha Ui-jae, who was suddenly resurrected under the old name of J and even connected to Channel 1, lost his fighting spirit in an instant.

He couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of it all.

"Ha, haha."

Whether he knew it or not, the chat, which had been frozen for a moment, began to climb at a frenetic pace with a flurry of messages.

:

:

[50] Romantic Opener: Much
[50] Romantic Opener: Wow
[11] Shield Guy: Wow
[6] Honeybee: ?
[6] Honeybee: Really?
[34] Very Small Miracle: Isn't this a system error?
[50] Romantic opener: No, come on
[50] Romantic Opener: It'll be legendaryᄏᄏᄏᄏᄏ
[8] I am a master craftsman: eiᄏ
[8] I am a master craftsman: a surprise a surprise cameraᄏ
[8] I am a master craftsman: They plan it with the system ᄏᄏ to see our reactions ᄏ
[8] I am a master craftsman: like the one on TVᄏ
[8] I am a master craftsman: Observation Entertainer turned on. Oh, my. Lee Haewan.
[6] Honeybee: It's crazy to escape reality
[4] Jungbin: Hong Ye-sung ^^
[4] Jung-bin: I'm going to turn off the Wi-Fi for a moment.
[4] Jung-bin: Please be careful not to let others talk.
[8] I am a master craftsman: (crying emoji)
[29] Manseokpal Boy: Isn't that someone else's nickname?
[43] Toon: It's not really J, is it?
[4] Jung-bin: As you all know, ^^; Hunter names cannot be duplicated.
[4] Jung-bin: I think you're very confused.
[4] Jung-bin: I'm checking, so please wait a moment. ^^
[29] Manseokpal Boy: Long-term non-contact nickname in online games
[29] Manseokpal Boy: I release it periodically...
[15] I don't have a nickname: it's not a game.
[3] Matthew: Jung-bin.
[3] Matthew: The possibility that the rift may have reopened...
(TL/N: I know some of this doesn't make sense, but I'm trying my best ???? Chats are the hardest to translate)

The chat window, which was so hectic that he couldn't read Matthew and Mok Tae-oh's careful questions, froze. Ui-jae stopped breathing for a moment. If the Incheon Rift is open again, Ui-jae has to go there.

He has to go back to that hell and find the things he left behind. He has to pay for his sins.

Clank!

Ui-jae blinked. The soju bottle in his hand shattered. The back of his neck cooled. He seemed to have sweated without noticing it. Whoo, when Ui-jae took a long breath and raised his head to clear the annoying system window...

[2] Lee Sa-young : X

Lee Sa-young's message appeared. Ui-jae blinked slowly.

[11] Shield guy: Excuse me, Mr. J?
[11] Shield guy: hoxy... Can you please chat?

And even in this situation, Bae Won-woo was consistently tactless.

If it were you, would you hit him?

For some reason, he felt relaxed. His confused mind seemed to be sinking bit by bit. Ui-jae, crouching on the floor, decided to borrow the power of AI as a last resort.

"Hello Nexby, find me a way out of Hunter's channel."

-Searches for a way out of the Hunter Channel.

-No results.

Damn it.

"Huh? It's not working."

At the Haejang-guk house, which was still crowded with hunters, a hunter snooped around the TV and pressed the remote control button. But no matter how many times he pressed the button, the TV did not turn on. He scratched his head and shouted.

"This is supposed to be a TV, isn't it broken?"

Ui-jae replied and filled the tray with empty dishes.

"Yes, it is. I looked at it this morning and it's broken. I'll call a repairman tomorrow."

Of course that's a complete lie. The TV was fine. It's because the cord is unplugged.

"I wanted to eat while watching the 110-minute debate."

As the man mumbled with regret, the other hunters next to him began to chime in one by one.

"Is this what we're doing today? Should we send a rescue team or not?"

"Oh, I'd like to see that."

"We'll have to watch it on our phones."

"Can't we call a repairman now?"

"He won't be here tonight."

There were many disappointed voices here and there. But Ui-jae pretended not to hear them all. All to avoid the disaster of watching this week's '110 Minute Debate' together, which they were so eager to watch.

Today, a week after J's appearance on the Hunter Rankings, the subtitle of the special live broadcast of "110 Minute Debate" was as follows.

"J's Return - Incheon Rift, Should Rescuers Be Sent In?

Since the resurrected party's opinion was not included in any of this, not even by the blink of an eye, Ui-jae woke up and unplugged the TV. His fists clenched tightly.

I will never let them see this.