Behemoths began to appear on earth about 40 years ago.
About 22 years before I was born?
Anyway, you can guess right?
Iâm eighteeâŚ.
No, eighteen years old.
(TLN: In Korean there are two ways of pronouncing numbers, and the first way he says âeighteenâ is 'ship-palâ, which sounds similar to 'shibalâ, which is an offensive word. )
Your average, fearless, South Korean high school student.
As for my possessions, well, I donât have shit.
Iâm a student, so thatâs only obvious.
But even if you donât consider the fact that Iâm a student, Iâm still poor as a damn dog.
⌠Iâm a non-AwakenedâŚ
What am I talking about?
The world has changed to become extremely unfair. Ah, not that it was fair before the change.
But itâs even more unfair now.
Itâs fucked up.
The Awakened kill Behemoths, get praised as the eraâs hero and become rich as fuck.
If the non-Awakened want to become rich, they have to suck their thumbs and wait for their weekly lottery ticket, hoping to win.
So Iâm just studying hard.
Who knows?
If I do well in my SATs and graduate from a good university, maybe I could join a guild or the Awakened Association as an office worker?
If it goes really well, maybe I could even become the manager of an Awakened.
â⌠So, throughout South Koreaâs historyâŚâ
Snore~
And my buddy Hwang Jae-Hyuk is sleeping.
Heâs even snoring.
Even so, the teacher doesnât do anything about it.
Itâs not because heâs given up.
This guy was told that he is an Awakened during his first year of high school.
Basically, heâs going to live a successful future where everything is secure.
And heâs even in the warrior line of the Awakened.
Just thinking about it, itâs about as fair as a dogâs dick.
(TLN: Think of it as âJust thinking about it, itâs unfair as fuck.â Yes, the author literally wrote âunfair as a dogâs dickâ.)
Why does that guy get to be born with everything.
And why do I have nothing.
Heâs just fulfilling the necessary education that the nation has decreed.
Just think of it as an education system which prevents the Awakened from turning on the nation, a disciplinary system.
At school he sleeps and after school he earns money! So unfair, this fucking world!
Ah, letâs just not even think about it.
Iâll just keep studying.
Because this is all I can do.
And the one reason that I work so earnestly! Family!
The only family member I have left, my mother.
I think of my mother who would be working tirelessly at the restaurant, always saying that she would raise her useless son alone all her life.
Euduek~
(TLN: Sound of gritting teeth. )
Then my molars grind hard against each other.
She only looks at me and dedicates her entire life to me.
When I think of my mother, my heart always hurts.
It can only do that.
A long time ago.
It was around when I was in my 2nd year of elementary school.
The human who called himself my father, addicted to both alcohol and gambling, used to beat my mother a lot.
Even so, my mother never let out a sound.
Because I was in the room.
She didnât want to show her son that side of her.
Even so, I was fully aware.
Weâre a family that lives together in a single house, how could I not know?
The next day, I would see the torn and bruised face of my mother.
I even tried to just look at the knot patterns in the carpet on the floor, but stillâŚ..
One day, father died.
Father? No, âA man who called himself my father died.â That should be it.
Thatâs what itâs like in my mind.
It seemed that he had borrowed money from all sorts of loan sharks to fuel his gambling addiction.
Five days after he was reported to be missing, I was able to meet the man known as my father.
With two hollow eyes, and with a Y-shaped cut which ran from his chest to his bellyâŚ
Honestly, I was a bit sad.
But deep inside my heart, I was laughing.
We can be happy now.
Now mother doesnât have to be hurt anymore.
I laughed because those thoughts were there.
The debt of 2 million Won kept on growing.
Like that, the man known as my âFatherâ left a debt of 40 million Won and slowly faded away from my memories.
Ding-Dong-Dang-Dong~
Interrupting my fleeting thought, the bell that signals lunchtime rings.
The teacher leaves the room immediately.
And, my buddy Hwang-Jae-Hyuk opens his eyes instantly.
What a scary guy.
How does he rise up, sharp as a knifeâs edge, as soon as lunch starts?
It canât not be some amazing ability.
Of course! Although this probably isnât an Awakened abilityâŚ.
âHey.â
Jae-Hyuk faces me and hands over 500 Won.
Wow, this guy is really nice.
If you thought that, youâd be wrong.
Because this guy⌠is a delinquent.
âBuy me two chocolate breads and a bottle of Coke with this.â
Did he not receive primary school education? He mustâve cooked and eaten his math textbook.
(TLN: This is a Korean phrase â If you cook something up and eat it, itâs like it goes through one ear and out the other. This phrase basically means that heâs a retard who never studied.)
And with bread, youâre supposed to drink milk you idiotâŚ
âThatâs not enough moneyâŚâ
I replied like that.
And I know exactly what will happen afterwards.
âAhh. Min-Cheol, do you want to die?â
The bastard stares at me while calling my name.
But Iâm trying my best in order to not give in.
Yeah⌠Iâm Jae-Hyukâs bread shuttle.
Although sad, thatâs the reality.
Although the difference between an ordinary person and an Awakened differed with the Awakenedâs rank, if you treated the ordinary personâs strength as â1â then the Awakenedâs strength would be â10â.
Anyway, when it came to do with money I was really sensitive about it.
So, this idiotic order of telling me to go buy 2 chocolate breads and a cola with only 500 Won is something I canât accept.
(TLN: Itâs like handing 50 cents to get bread and Coke.)
Itâs the iron law of the National Association of Bread Shuttles⌠Iâm joking.
If Jae-Hyuk handed over 3000 Won, then I wouldâve gone.
Although itâs a petty excuse, I can eat lunch and exercise at the same time while going back and forth.
But the disadvantageous demand of using my own money to buy the items, I canât accept.
I canât use my own money to buy the items.
I gave the 500 won back to Jae-Hyuk.
âHaah~ Has this bastard gone crazy?â
As he said that, he raises his eyebrows and suddenly stands up from the chair.
Honestly, probably because Iâm human, Iâm scared.
But I canât surrender.
Because, the 2000 Won that my mother gave to me this morning, it canât be used for this piece of shit bastard.
âDo you want to get hit a few times first, or do you wanna just go?â
I donât reply.
He starts hitting me.
Smack! Smack! Smack!
His punch lands in my pit of the stomach.
Iâm winded, and it hurts a lot.
âKeuâŚKeuhuekâŚ.!â
Hurts.
Annoying.
So scary.
If only this fucker disappeared from the world like the guy who called himself my father⌠That would be good.
AndâŚ
In this unfair world.
If only I could become a millionaire.
I could laugh at these pieces of trash in front of me, and live my own life.