Seoul City Hall, Fissure Management Division Office.
It was the afternoon, and employees were gradually returning to the office after a quick lunch. In the break room, Do-Jun and Hyuk-Soo were chatting about various topics when Cheol-Soo walked in, carrying three cups of Americano from a chain coffee shop. He handed one to each of them before settling into a seat.
“Chief, what’s that...?” Hyuk-Soo asked, noticing Cheol-Soo holding another bag containing three packs of trading cards. The label on the packs read Hunter Battle, a card game that had recently become wildly popular among children.
After pulling the packs out of the bag, Cheol-Soo muttered with mild annoyance, “My son asked me to pick these up on the way home. Apparently, they’re a must-have if you want to fit in with the other kids these days. Funny how kids glued to their smartphones are suddenly into card games again.”
Each pack contained ten cards, ranging from F-rank to S. True to its name, Hunter Battle featured cards inspired by Hunters and monsters, each with a rank, skills, and attack power displayed beneath their names.
Cheol-Soo opened one of the packs, then muttered in disappointment, “This one’s a bust. The highest I got is a C-rank Orc Warrior.”
Do-Jun picked up a card from the table. Unlike the others, it featured a Hunter rather than a monster. The name on the card was Choi Kyung-Man, a D-rank Hunter well-known for his popularity on MeTube and other streaming platforms.
“Do your kids play this too, Do-Jun?”
Do-Jun scratched his chin. He’d heard of Hunter Battle a few times but hadn’t seen it at home. Yoon-Hee wouldn’t be interested in such things, and Karsiel probably wasn’t either.
“Not that I know of.”
But if anyone did... it would probably be Yong-Yong, Do-Jun thought.
Yong-Yong often didn’t wake up until around 10 AM. Although dragons didn’t need sleep, he adapted to human habits after arriving on Earth, sleeping at night and waking up in the morning.
Yong-Yong was sprawled out in a star shape on the empty bed. He opened his eyes, stretched his body with his hips pushed back, then scratched his rear and yawned loudly as he shuffled into the living room.
The apartment was empty, and a note was left on the dining table: Gone to play with Byeol.
Realizing that Karsiel had gone out with Byeol, Yong-Yong thought that maybe he should have woken up earlier. With no one home, he decided to eat his lunch quickly and go to the store across the street to spend some of his allowance.
For some reason, when he arrived, the area in front of the store was buzzing with activity. A group of kids had gathered around a small pavilion.
“Wow! Hyung-Min is amazing!”
“He’s already won five times in a row!”
Curious, Yong-Yong strolled over, hopping into the pavilion and squeezing his way through the group to see what was happening.
“Haha!” The five-year-old boy, Hyung-Min, laughed triumphantly, his nose held high.
Yong-Yong had heard of this card game but wasn’t particularly interested. It felt like something for little kids, although it did look somewhat fun.
One of the kids noticed him and shouted, “It’s Yong-Yong!”
“Wanna play Hunter Battle with us?”
The kids swarmed him, bombarding him with questions. Yong-Yong chuckled, shrugged, and shook his head. He thought these games, clearly meant for children, no longer piqued his interest—or so he believed.
“You guys have fun. I’ve got an important matter to attend to.” With that, Yong-Yong dashed off to the convenience store. “Grams! Do you have that jjamppong instant ramen they showed on TV today?”
Today was the release date for the jjamppong ramen he’d seen advertised.
“Whoa... Hyung-Min’s won eleven times now.”
“The Sword Emperor card is totally broken.”
“I wish I had an S-rank card too...”
The excitement was in full swing when a young man with striking, exotic looks appeared in the children’s line of sight. He sported a trendy middle-part hairstyle and was exceptionally handsome.
“It’s the taiyaki guy!” one of the kids exclaimed.
Kiriel—known as the taiyaki guy alongside Hakase—approached the kids while scratching his head.
“What are you kids up to here?” he asked the group of children.
“We’re playing Hunter Battle! It’s super fun!”
Kiriel looked at all the different cards scattered on the ground. He picked one up and turned it over in his hand. A troll card, B-rank, with around 300 attack power. Its skill was Health Regeneration, which restored 50 percent of its health if it wasn’t defeated in one turn.
“So, is this fun?” he asked.
“Yeah! Want to try, Mister? They sell card packs at the store.”
Kiriel smirked. “The great Kiriel doesn’t bother with stuff .”
Kiriel’s hands trembled as he held two cards. One was a B-rank Troll, and the other a C-rank Orc Warrior. Meanwhile, what about his opponent’s fielded card? An A-rank Dark Ogre. It was an overwhelming foe with a staggering attack power of 800.
Kim Hyung-Min, Kiriel’s opponent, sneered as he toyed with him. “Give it up, Mister. No matter what you do, you won’t win this.”
“Q-quiet! I-I’m thinking. Don’t pressure me.”
In the end, unable to beat the A-rank card, Kiriel lost. Suppressing his bubbling frustration, he pulled out 100,000 won in cash and rushed to the Changshin Supermarket. At 10,000 won per pack, he bought ten packs and started opening them right there in front of the kids.
Goblin, Kobold, E-rank Hunter, Orc, Orc, Mad Dog, Troll... Luck just wasn’t on his side, and no good cards showed up. Finally, when he opened the tenth and last pack, a shiny golden card gleamed!
“Whoa!” one of the children exclaimed.
“The taiyaki guy pulled an S-rank card!”
It was an S-rank Hunter: Kang Min-Hyuk. Its attack power exceeded 2,000. On top of that, it had an S-rank skill, Ultra-Speed, which allowed chain attacks—after defeating one enemy, it could immediately attack another on the opponent’s field.
“This... is it good?” Kiriel asked.
“Ha, I see.” With that, Kiriel challenged Hyung-Min to a rematch.
Having gone to the store “for a bit,” Kiriel returned to the food stall two hours later in terrible shape. He slumped over a plastic table, his face haggard and tears streaming down his cheeks—a mix of frustration and regret etched into his expression.
“Sniff, sob... I’ll have my revenge... How dare he mock me?”
“Idiot. Losing to a kid,” Hakase muttered, shaking his head in sheer disbelief as he washed the dishes.
Although he was ready to retaliate against Kiriel’s inevitable outburst, he noticed that Kiriel looked too exhausted, quietly sniffling instead. Hakase let out a sigh. Kiriel had suffered seven consecutive losses in the card game Hunter Battle. Having spent his entire daily wage of 50,000 won on card packs, he had been thoroughly crushed by Hyung-Min’s S-rank Hunter legion and the Masalis the Dragon card.
To beat Hyung-Min, I’ll need at least a Masalis card, Kiriel thought.
Masalis was the most powerful card in Hunter Battle. However, it was so rare that even spending over a million won wouldn’t guarantee pulling it. Rumor had it that Hyung-Min’s wealthy family had allowed him to spend millions of won to get the card. Kiriel knew that trying to emulate this would bankrupt him.
Hakase pondered briefly, then said, “Watch the store, dumbass.”
With that, he headed out.
It wasn’t time to close yet, but Hakase stopped by his workshop at the nest.
Although he was running a food stall for now, he loved crafting and researching things. He inspected the storage room filled with machine parts and numerous artifacts he had crafted. He was highly tempted to resume work on the high-output magical energy bracelet he had abandoned, but he shook his head and refocused.
Hakase brought out the few Hunter Battle cards Kiriel was left with after his losses and studied their designs. The highest-tier S-rank cards were intricately crafted, using fluorescent or raised ink to prevent counterfeiting. He decided to do his best to replicate the Masalis card.
“Hold on a second...”
He stared intently at the S-rank cards in his hand.
By 5 PM, as the sun dipped below the horizon, the kids playing Hunter Battle began packing up to head home. Kiriel picked out Hyung-Min among them and approached him with a smile.
“What now, Mister? Trying again? Did you buy more cards?” Hyung-Min asked.
The kids tried to dissuade him.
“Mister, you won’t beat Hyung-Min. He’s got twelve S-rank cards.”
“Really? We’ll see about that.” Kiriel smirked wickedly, pulling a pack of cards from his pocket.
The weather was getting colder. Now that the autumn rains season was over, the temperature dropped sharply in the mornings and evenings. People on the streets started wearing coats.
Walking home after stepping off a crowded subway, Do-Jun soon reached the entrance of Changshin Villa, but something felt off. Amid the chatter of children, he heard a familiar voice.
“Hahaha! Behold! My legendary card!”
“No way! There’s no card like that!” challenged one of the children.
Do-Jun approached the pavilion near the convenience store, where a group of kids and Kiriel were gathered. Curious, he moved closer to see what they were doing. It was Hunter Battle, the card game Cheol-Soo had mentioned earlier.
“Ha, what’s cheating?” Kiriel asked.
“I’ve never heard of a Legendary card!” Flustered, Hyung-Min protested, jumping in frustration.
In front of him lay five shiny gold cards: four S-rank Hunters and Masalis the Dragon—all S-rank. In contrast, Kiriel only had one card on his side. A sleek black card labeled “L” with an attack power of 9,999 and an overwhelming list of skills.
“T-take this! Dragon Breath!” Hyung-Min attacked Kiriel’s L-rank card with Masalis. But the vast difference in attack power meant he couldn’t win.
“Now, it’s my turn to attack,” Kiriel said.
“Come on, there’s no way a card like that exists! What’s this ‘King of Earth’ nonsense? Never heard of it!”
“What do you mean? The King of Earth lives right here in this complex.”
Engrossed in the game, Kiriel and the kids didn’t notice Do-Jun’s presence. Kiriel dramatically lifted his card and slammed it down.
“W-what’s that?” Hyung-Min gasped.
“I’m using my skill. It’s called ‘Reflection Paper.’” Kiriel grinned wickedly.
“Fill a hundred pages front and back, tiny font. By the time you’re done, you’ll wish I’d just hit you. Trust me; it’s worse.” Kiriel spoke as though recalling a personal experience.
The kids exchanged confused glances.
Meanwhile, Do-Jun stood silently, watching Kiriel’s back.