Uhyon walked home along the road, thinking about only one thing: what sin or wrongdoing had he committed to earn this title? He recalled every bad thing he'd done—but all of them were ordinary human mistakes, no worse than anyone else's misdeeds. He thought so much about it that his head began to ache. He walked into a shop along the way, intending to buy some ice cream or another treat, but remembered he needed the money for something else right now.
As Uhyon crossed the street, his stomach growled, reminding him of his hunger. Around him, various schoolkids were saying goodbye to their friends and heading home. Seeing this, Uhyon felt deep regret that he didn't have a close friend. No matter how many times he tried to make new, good friends, no one wanted to be friends with him. His friendship with Min was held together only by being classmates and their slight similarities. Thinking of this made his stomach growl again as he arrived home.
"Can't you be a little patient, you little stomach?" said Uhyon, deliberately speaking loudly as he closed the door behind him.
He slowly took off his clothes, put on his house outfit, and headed to the kitchen to eat. Opening the cupboard above the right side of the electric stove, he took out the last packet of ramen. He filled the kettle to boil and turned on the TV. News were on; he watched, simply to stay up-to-date. Meanwhile, he opened the ramen packet and set everything up.
When the water boiled and the kettle whistled, Uhyon turned it off and poured the water into the bowl he'd prepared for the ramen. He covered it and returned his attention to the news—but there was nothing good or particularly important reported.
Bored to death, he decided to grab an apple from the fridge and ate it.
After finishing the apple, he checked the time: 2:23 PM. He opened the ramen and began eating. He liked the usual delicious flavor, but ate ramen only once or twice a week—mostly saved for emergencies to stay healthy.
He then cleaned up the dishes and began on his school homework, following his usual daily routine. He hated spending time on video games like his peers. He saw games like gambling:
"You bet your time on video games, and you never win. You always lose time and get nothing in return."
Indeed homework was difficult and dull, but he knew it was obligatory—otherwise, he'd struggle to find a job in the future.
Once he finished those hard assignments, he prepared to leave for his job. The paths to school and to work diverged, so he headed to the right and resumed listening to his audiobook. This time the main character could leave his hometown with his friend. "The worst trope used most in stories is the protagonist effect. The hero always dodges misfortune somehow by strange luck," thought Uhyon.
When he arrived at his workplace, Mr. Baek was there again, giving orders to other workers. Uhyon was delighted that he could ask Mr. Baek if he could leave work earlier today. He was also glad that Mr. Baek might mention his title and details—but Mr. Baek showed no change in expression toward him.
"Hello, Mr. Baek."
"Oh, hello, Uhyon. How are you?"
"I'm fine, thank you, Mr. Baek. Actually, I was hoping to finish and leave a bit earlier today—I have some errands."
"Alright then—you know you can go anytime, just make sure you don't leave your worker-card behind," - said Mr. Baek with a slight joking tone.
"Yes, no problem, Mr. Baek," - Uhyon replied with a bit of nervous excitement.
"Okay then, see you."
"Goodbye, Mr. Baek." - Uhyon wanted to ask about his title but Mr. Baek hurried off, so he stayed silent.
Quickly, Uhyon changed into his work uniform and took his place. As usual at work, but today, by luck, Kang didn't show up. He'd felt uneasy about Kang. Then he reminded himself to hate Kang or Kang speaks angrily of him.
As time passed, Uhyon's interest in the Hunt grew stronger. His coworkers hadn't seen him so cheerful before and asked why, but Uhyon lied, giving no real reason so as not to cause concern.
When the clock neared 7:30 PM, Uhyon said goodbye to everyone, dressed, and headed for the metro. Even though he was on time, he hurried. At the station, he paid with his card and boarded the metro. He asked people to confirm that he needed to get to "Central Seoul" station. Many gave him strange looks. "Maybe it's because of this title," Uhyon thought.
Three stops remained before Central Seoul. As usual, more passengers boarded, and it kept getting crowded. Finally he reached Central Seoul Station, got off, climbed up, and phoned manager Suho.
"Hello, Manager Suho."
"Hello… Uhyon, was that your name?"
"Yes, I'm Uhyon. I called you yesterday."
"Yes, I remember. So?"
"I've arrived at Central Seoul Station."
"Wow, early! I'm on my way."
"Okay."
Suho ended the call. About five minutes later, a man of average height—around 25–30 years old, with slightly long yellow hair, brown eyes visible under glasses, wearing clothes that somehow resembled a fisherman's outfit—approached Uhyon.
"Are you Uhyon?"
"Yes."
"Good. I'm Manager Suho. If you're ready, let's move."
"Okay—where do we go?"
"Come with me, please hurry. The hunter I told you about yesterday is a bit angry."
"Okay."
They crossed the intersection, walked left, then after about 100 meters turned right. Uhyon saw a dungeon. A blue, oval-shaped gate, surrounded by yellow tape—it looked like it was swallowing him, and he was astonished.
"First time seeing a prison up close?"
"Y…"
As Uhyon was about to respond, a person lunged at him. Pushing him up against a building about 15 m away, grabbed his neck. The person was well-built, wearing a massive metal-like armor, had black hair and eyes visible under an armored helmet, holding a large, scary battle-axe.
"Tell me who you are, kid?"
"Uh—Uhyon."
"Not your name—who are you? Why do you have that title?"
"Hey, Kim, what are you doing? Is this our new gatherer?" - said manager Suho.
"Shut your voice. You're not a hunter, so you don't know. That thing is giving off a strange aura. Also, they have a hunter-like title. You told me he wasn't a hunter."
"He told me I wasn't a hunter," said manager Suho.
"Do you have magical power?"
"N-no."
"Don't lie, kid—you can see it. You've got magic."
"R-really—I-I don't have magic."
"Hm, we'll see."
Kim forcibly gripped Uhyon's neck and clasped his hands together. He ordered Suho to open one of the two large machines beside the dungeon, take out that measuring device, and turn it on. Suho did as told, placed it on the table and activated it.
"If you have't a magic, I'll apologize. It's the latest mana meter from the Association and is licensed."
Kim took Uhyon's hand and applied it to the device. The readings were fascinating—it looked like a dance: "1,0,1,0," changing so quickly it stopped at 1. Just as Kim was about to speak, it flicked back to 0.
"That—it cannot be. Did I make a mistake? That means the aura and title coming from you...?"
"Sorry, Mr. Kim. I forgot to tell you—my hunter friend mentioned it to me today. I can't even see my own title. But my friend called it 'The Innocent sinner.' Sorry."
"Okay, but I don't like its color," said Mr. Kim.
"What do you mean?"
"Your friend must've missed that—your title's color shows its attitude toward you. White = good, black = bad. But if it's light red, it means it's stronger than you and its attitude is worse. But no one or thing has ever been dark red, so I can't say what that means. Your title flashes half a second white, half a second light red. It hasn't changed since I first saw you. Curiously, titles change color only when relationships improve or worsen."
"So does that mean I'm evil?"
Mr. Kim laughed.
"Of course not—otherwise I would've killed you in one strike."
"Then, if our conversation has gone well, Uhyon, please sign this," - Manager Suho interjected.
"Alright... What?"