Behemoths began to appear on earth about 40 years ago.
About 22 years before I was born?
Anyway, you can guess right?
Iām eighteeā¦.
No,Ā eighteen years old.
(TLN: In Korean there are two ways of pronouncing numbers, and the first way he says āeighteenā is 'ship-palā, which sounds similar to 'shibalā, which is an offensive word. )
Your average, fearless, South Korean high school student.
As for my possessions, well, I donāt have shit.
Iām a student, so thatās only obvious.
But even if you donāt consider the fact that Iām a student, Iām still poor as a damn dog.
ā¦ Iām a non-Awakenedā¦
What am I talking about?
The world has changed to become extremely unfair. Ah, not that it was fair before the change.
But itās even more unfair now.
Itās fucked up.
The Awakened kill Behemoths, get praised as the eraās 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 Iām 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.
āā¦ So, throughout South Koreaās historyā¦ā
Snore~
And my buddy Hwang Jae-Hyuk is sleeping.
Heās even snoring.
Even so, the teacher doesnāt do anything about it.
Itās not because heās given up.
This guy was told that he is an Awakened during his first year of high school.
Basically, heās going to live a successful future where everything is secure.
And heās even in the warrior line of the Awakened.
Just thinking about it, itās aboutĀ as fair as a dogās dick.
(TLN: Think of it as āJust thinking about it, itās unfair as fuck.ā Yes, the author literally wrote āunfair as a dogās dickā.)
Why does that guy get to be born with everything.
And why do I have nothing.
Heās 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, letās just not even think about it.
Iāll 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 didnāt want to show her son that side of her.
Even so, I was fully aware.
Weāre 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 stillā¦..
One day, father died.
Father? No, āA man who called himself my father died.ā That should be it.
Thatās what itās 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 bellyā¦
Honestly, I was a bit sad.
But deep inside my heart, I was laughing.
We can be happy now.
Now mother doesnāt 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 āFatherā 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 knifeās edge, as soon as lunch starts?
It canāt not be some amazing ability.
Of course! Although this probably isnāt an Awakened abilityā¦.
āHey.ā
Jae-Hyuk faces me and hands over 500 Won.
Wow, this guy is really nice.
If you thought that, youād be wrong.
Because this guyā¦ is a delinquent.
āBuy me two chocolate breads and a bottle of Coke with this.ā
Did he not receive primary school education? He mustāveĀ cooked and eaten his math textbook.
(TLN: This is a Korean phrase ā If you cook something up and eat it, itās like it goes through one ear and out the other. This phrase basically means that heās a retard who never studied.)
And with bread, youāre supposed to drink milk you idiotā¦
āThatās not enough moneyā¦ā
I replied like that.
And I know exactly what will happen afterwards.
āAhh. Min-Cheol, do you want to die?ā
The bastard stares at me while calling my name.
But Iām trying my best in order to not give in.
Yeahā¦ Iām Jae-Hyukās bread shuttle.
Although sad, thatās the reality.
Although the difference between an ordinary person and an Awakened differed with the Awakenedās rank, if you treated the ordinary personās strength as ā1ā then the Awakenedās strength would be ā10ā.
Anyway, when it came to do with money I was really sensitive about it.
So, this idiotic order of telling me to goĀ buy 2 chocolate breads and a cola with only 500 WonĀ is something I canāt accept.
(TLN: Itās like handing 50 cents to get bread and Coke.)
Itās the iron law of the National Association of Bread Shuttlesā¦ Iām joking.
If Jae-Hyuk handed over 3000 Won, then I wouldāve gone.
Although itās 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 canāt accept.
I canāt use my own money to buy the items.
I gave the 500 won back to Jae-Hyuk.
āHaah~ Has this bastard gone crazy?ā
As he said that, he raises his eyebrows and suddenly stands up from the chair.
Honestly, probably because Iām human, Iām scared.
But I canāt surrender.
Because, the 2000 Won that my mother gave to me this morning, it canāt be used for this piece of shit bastard.
āDo you want to get hit a few times first, or do you wanna just go?ā
I donāt reply.
He starts hitting me.
Smack! Smack! Smack!
His punch lands in my pit of the stomach.
Iām winded, and it hurts a lot.
āKeuā¦Keuhuekā¦.!ā
Hurts.
Annoying.
So scary.
If only this fucker disappeared from the world like the guy who called himself my fatherā¦ That would be good.
Andā¦
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.