In a cramped room cluttered with empty cups and half-crumpled snack wrappers, the air felt heavy, as if weighed down by neglect. A lone figure lay sprawled across a sagging bed, eyes fixed on the ceiling as if it might provide answers he'd long run out of. His face carried the marks of exhaustion—not from physical labor, but from the slow, grinding fatigue of uncertainty.
Bills piled on the desk mocked him with their quiet presence, and the hollow ache in his stomach was a harsher reminder than any deadline. Months had passed without a single project, not even the low-paying kind he used to curse under his breath. His freelancing career, once brimming with promise, now looked like a cruel joke.
He exhaled sharply, dragging a hand across his face."Maybe I should just find something quick," he muttered, voice hoarse in the stillness. "Anything. Even if it's not freelancing."
The thought stung. Freelancing had been his pride, his independence, and his proof that he could stand on his own. Yet here he was, wondering if he should trade that freedom for the safety of a paycheck.
His phone buzzed weakly on the nightstand. Another job alert. He almost ignored it—until he saw the subject line:
[Special Proposal: Exclusive Contract Offer]
He skimmed the offer only long enough to see the words "exclusive contract" before his finger tapped accept. No terms read, no second thoughts.
The room tilted. A sudden wave of dizziness washed over him, sharp and merciless. His legs buckled, and he staggered back, slamming against the desk. Pain flashed as his forehead struck the edge of the table—then nothing. The world fell into silence and blackness.
…
When his eyes opened again, the first thing he noticed was color.
The sky above stretched wide and impossibly blue, dotted with clouds that seemed painted with a divine hand. The air was crisp, rich with the scent of grass and wildflowers. He lay against the trunk of a massive tree, its leaves casting dappled shadows across his face.
"What the…?" His voice caught in his throat as he sat up, blinking at the rolling meadows and distant forests that spread endlessly before him. It was beautiful, unreal—like stepping straight into the pages of a fantasy novel.
Then he froze. His hands. Slimmer, smoother, uncalloused. His reflection shimmered faintly in a nearby pond, and the sight nearly made him stumble back.
The tired, ragged man who had collapsed in his dingy apartment was gone. In his place stood a leaner, fresher face—his own, but from years ago.
"No way…" He staggered to his feet, noting the energy in his movements, the lightness in his step. His body felt alive, vibrant. Eighteen years old. Back in the prime of youth.
A nervous laugh escaped him. "I… I've actually de-aged?"
Speechless, he turned slowly, the reality settling in with every heartbeat. He wasn't in his cramped apartment anymore. He wasn't even in his old world.
This was somewhere else entirely.
Just as he steadied himself against the tree, a sudden ping echoed in his head.
A glowing blue screen materialized before his eyes, floating in the air like a hologram from some sci-fi movie.
[System Contract: Active]
Before he could blink, a flood of information crashed into his mind. Symbols, words, and entire explanations carved themselves into his thoughts, too fast to follow. His stomach lurched, bile rising to his throat as the world spun. He clenched his teeth, fighting the urge to vomit.
"Ugh… dammit… feels like my brain's about to explode…" He clutched his head tightly, feeling the nerve about to burst, but none of it happened.
Then, as quickly as it came, the rush slowed, leaving behind a strange clarity. The system's meaning became clear to him, as if the knowledge had always been there. Well, according to that information.
He wasn't just in another world. He had successfully contracted with the gods themselves. And yes, his past self on that planet is dead. He didn't care because he had no family or anything that would cause him to regret it.
His "job" was simple—or so the system claimed.
He was to be a Paid Freelancer. Well, it did make him feel weird, given what kind of freelancer gets paid like a job.
"…A freelancer… even here?" He let out a half-bitter, half-incredulous laugh.
The rules unraveled in his mind. A world map would display available jobs. Completing them would earn him currency and system points.
System points could be used in something called Gacha, currently unlocked. Other functions, like a Shop, would become available later as he progressed. He stared at the glowing screen, jaw slack. "So… quests for cash, points for gambling… This is basically freelancing with an RPG UI."
The idea was ridiculous. Yet, as he flexed his younger, revitalized hands, he couldn't deny the spark of excitement beneath his confusion.
For the first time in months—maybe years—he had a job. And for all of this, he was really grateful to those gods above.
Almost as if reading his unease, the system chimed again.
A neat row of supplies materialized beside him in glowing blue light—packed food, clean water, a rolled camping set, cooking utensils, and even a strange little burner that hummed faintly with magical energy. All inside his system storage, which can keep infinite items.
"…Well, that's convenient," he muttered, crouching to poke at the items. They were solid, real, not just holograms. A camping kit straight out of some luxury outdoor store. "Guess this contract comes with a welcome package." He smiled, almost grinning, with a simplistic smile that appeared out of a lack of tension and burden.
Still, the morning air was crisp and his body felt oddly energized, as though he'd just woken from the best sleep of his life. Pushing aside the surrealness, he focused on the most important thing: the map function.
A tap on the screen made the display ripple, then expand.
There, glowing faintly, was a human settlement only two kilometers away. Little quest icons pulsed around it—requests for meat, monster hides, or basic hunting tasks.
He grimaced. "Hunting quests… seriously? I don't even know how to hold a bow, let alone bring down a boar or whatever lives here." After all, he was a sheltered guy from the modern world; something like hunting was out of his luck.
Frustration churned in his chest—until another tab caught his eye. [Status]
The screen shifted. His profile was barebones, almost mocking in its simplicity:
Name: [Redacted]
Age: 18
Job: Freelancer
Skills: None
"…Wow. Talk about a depressing résumé."
But then, under Job, a small notification blinked.
[First-time Bonus: 10 Free Gacha Rolls Available]
He froze, staring. "…Wait. I get a free spin in gacha."
His lips curled into a nervous grin. This could either save him or screw him over in spectacular fashion. Although he had a feeling that he would get a good class out of it.
"Well… freelancing's all about taking chances anyway."
With a hesitant breath, he tapped [Gacha Roll].
The wheel spun, glowing symbols flashing past his eyes. Weapons, trinkets, and icons he couldn't even recognize. Finally, it clicked to a stop.
[Congratulations.]
[You have obtained the Hunter Class.]
The system chimed, and his Freelancer icon dimmed faintly, a new tag appearing beside it.
[Job: Freelancer (Lv.1) – Currently Tagged: Hunter]
His brows furrowed. "Tagged? What does that—"
Then it hit him. A sudden shift rippled through his mind, like a door unlocking in his brain. His arms tingled, his posture adjusted instinctively, and his thoughts filled with alien yet familiar knowledge—how to draw a bowstring, how to track prey through underbrush, and how to gut and prepare game.
He staggered back, gripping his head. "…Woah. That… wasn't there before."
The screen helpfully clarified:
Freelancer (Lv. 1): Able to synchronize with one class at a time.
Leveling Up: Increases the number of classes that can be tagged simultaneously.
Warning: Skills and knowledge are borrowed according to the tagged class.
He blinked at the message, then let out a shaky laugh. "So… I'm basically a one-man job agency."
The weight of it sank in. With each level, he could stack more professions. Hunter today, maybe swordsman tomorrow, maybe even mage later. The prospect sent a thrill through him.
But what unsettled him more was the flavor of the knowledge he'd just absorbed. These weren't skills for hunting deer or boars. No, the mental images etched into his mind were of clawed beasts, fanged wolves, and scaled monsters that looked straight out of an RPG bestiary.
He glanced at the distant settlement on the map again, unease prickling the back of his neck.
"This world… it really is sword and magic, isn't it?"
His hands clenched unconsciously, already forming the shape of drawing a bow. For the first time since waking here, his heart wasn't weighed down by confusion or fear—it was racing with anticipation.
Hiroshi steadied his breath and opened his status screen again.
This time, new lines had appeared beneath Hunter.
Name: [Redacted]
Age: 18
Job: Freelancer (Hunter)
Skills: Hawkeye, Agility Boost, Focus Shot [Lv. 1].
Job Skills (Hunter):
– Hawkeye (Active): Sharpen your senses. Enhances reaction speed and dynamic vision, allowing you to track fast or distant targets with ease.
– Agility Boost (Passive): Increases movement speed and flexibility. Always active.
– Focus Shot (Active): Channel mana into an arrow to increase its power. Damage scales with the amount of mana infused.
His eyes widened as he read.
"…Okay, that's… actually impressive." He thought internally. After all, this kind of skill set can definitely help out a beginner a lot, since he had played a lot of games, so he actually thinks this skill set was quite some combo.
Hawkeye sounded like a cheat skill straight out of a shooter game—catching fast movements, seeing details normal eyes would miss. The passive speed boost wasn't flashy, but the thought of being permanently quicker than average? That was a blessing for survival.
And Focus Shot… he could already picture it, an arrow blazing with energy, piercing through a monster's hide.
His hand twitched unconsciously, miming the draw of a bow. He didn't even own one yet, and still, his body reacted as if it had been trained for years. Although it did not feel bad at all, he thinks of it to be quite great.
He let out a low whistle. "This system isn't just handing me tools—it's rewriting me."
The thought both thrilled and unnerved him. In his old world, months of studying tutorials couldn't even guarantee a client. Here, one roll of a cosmic gacha, and he was suddenly qualified to be a hunter in a land of monsters.
He shut the status screen, the faint blue glow fading from his vision. His gaze drifted again toward the distant settlement on the map. Quests awaited. Supplies in hand. Skills ready.
For the first time in what felt like forever, Hiroshi had work lined up.
Well before that, he looked at the beginner hunter pack in the system storage. [Beginner Hunter Pack—Available].
Inside the pack was a finely crafted bow, simple yet sturdy, its polished wood reinforced with faint traces of runes carved along its limbs.
The string hummed with tension, as if eager to be drawn. Alongside it was a quiver filled neatly with arrows—exactly one hundred, each fletched with feathers that gleamed faintly under the sunlight.
Hiroshi whistled low. "Not bad at all. Feels like I just unlocked a DLC bonus."
He tested the bow's weight, pulling the string halfway back. Smooth, balanced, and perfectly fitted to his frame—almost as if it had been made for him. His newly imprinted knowledge from the Hunter class flowed naturally, adjusting his stance and steadying his breath.
Sliding the quiver onto his back, he quickly stored the camping set and food into the system's storage again, marveling at how cleanly everything vanished into the glowing space. Convenient was an understatement.
"Alright," he muttered, giving the bow another test draw. "At least now I don't look like a complete amateur walking into town empty-handed."
The faint smile on his lips betrayed his excitement. For the first time in a long while, he wasn't just a tired freelancer waiting for scraps.
He was armed, skilled, and heading into a new world that was literally posting jobs for him.
And with his fresh mind, he was literally brimming with excitement as he started to move toward the settlement and saw the red dots that were the sign of the wild tusk boar, his hunting target for today.