The Wise Cleaning Life Of A Returning Genius Hunter [EN]: Chapter 2

002

“What a shitty dream……”

The sunlight pouring through my eyelids woke me up.

My chest felt heavy, perhaps because of the unsettling dream. My breathing was shallow, and the sheets were damp with sweat.

I sat up in bed, and a jolt of muscle pain shot through my entire body.

It seemed I had fallen into a deep sleep for the first time in a while.

A long yawn helped shake off the lingering drowsiness.

I turned my head to scan my surroundings, and the scene of the room I was in came into view.

“……What.”

I couldn’t hide my bewilderment.

A studio apartment.

To elaborate, it was a cramped studio apartment of about eight *pyeong* [approximately 285 square feet], a pigsty that was probably better than this.

Of course, it wasn’t my place.

Anything this size would only be about the size of my bathroom at home.

Then it couldn’t be Chief Lee’s place…even more so.

Even if the world were ending, there’s no way that woman would let me into her house.

“Then where is this…….”

I got out of bed and stood on the floor, but my legs wobbled.

I barely managed to steady myself by grabbing the edge of the desk, and the content of last night’s dream suddenly flashed through my mind.

[Your death has been confirmed.]

[Due to your death, the hidden skill acquisition requirement has been met.]

[Hidden Skill: Karma]

The voice I heard in the dream was still vivid in my head.

‘Your death has been confirmed?’

Bullshit, this isn’t a movie.

A hollow laugh came out naturally.

I rolled my eyes and scanned the unfamiliar room once more.

The creeping anxiety suddenly reared its head.

I frantically searched through the pigsty for the bathroom.

Until I opened the bathroom door, I still had my doubts.

I could have dismissed it as just a bad dream.

I must have drunk myself into a stupor last night, blacking out completely and falling asleep at one of my team member’s houses.

That must be it.

No, it had to be.

But the moment I opened the bathroom door and saw my reflection in the mirror in front of me.

I had to face the harsh reality.

“What is this…….”

In the mirror was clearly me from 10 years ago.

Kim Junwoo at 28 years old was in there.

“S, System Open.”

Half out of my mind, I opened the ability confirmation system that only ability users who had manifested a ‘unique skill’ could open.

And one skill appeared before my eyes.

[Hidden Skill: Karma]

[View Skill Effects]

I placed my hand on the system window and brought up the description box.

[Acquisition Condition for this Skill: Death]

[Due to the effect of this skill, you have regressed 10 years into the past.]

[This skill cannot be arbitrarily deactivated.]

“Haha…….”

In an instant, my legs gave way again, and my butt landed heavily on the cold tile.

It wasn’t a dream.

I really was dead.

[Due to the effect of this skill, your job has been reassigned.]

Even as I shook my head at the unbelievable reality, I shifted my gaze to the window that appeared below.

‘Shit…….’

A curse word came out automatically.

I became a Hunter at 18, and by the time I was 28, I had been promoted to A-rank.

At the time, my ranking was 22nd in the country and 525th in the world.

So, if I had simply returned to 10 years ago, I should still be a Hunter.

Moreover, a super promising Hunter who was the center of media attention.

But…….

[Dungeon Janitor]

What is this supposed to mean?

A janitor?

Kim Junwoo, the great, is a dungeon janitor?

[Karma – Release Condition]

[Ascend to the position of Secretary-General of the International Ability Association within 5 years.]

[Upon achieving the goal, the skill will be automatically deactivated, and you will return to the moment before death.]

[Failure to achieve the goal will result in the complete annihilation of ‘Hunter Kim Junwoo’.]

[Time Limit: 4 years, 11 months, 29 days, 20 hours, 32 minutes, 48 seconds]

[Close Skill Effect]

If I succeed, I go back to before I died, and if I fail, I’ll rot away doing janitorial work forever.

That’s what the skill boiled down to.

“Bullshit.”

That’s absurd.

The International Ability Association.

An international organization that directs and oversees all associations worldwide.

The Secretary-General there has more power than even the President of the United States.

In other words, the position of the highest authority in the world.

It’s selected every five years through internal voting, but even I, who achieved SSS-rank for the first time in the world, couldn’t even get on the ballot.

To ascend to that position?

That position that even being the world’s number one ranked Hunter wasn’t enough to reach?

And within 5 years?

“…….”

I’m sorry, but I can’t do that.

Aside from not wanting to, it’s impossible.

In the first place, I don’t even know why I should follow those ridiculous conditions.

That’s right—

Let’s ignore it.

Who cares about karma or whatever.

Anyway, if I just become the Secretary-General, I can come back to life, right? If so, living as a Hunter like before is the better option no matter how I think about it.

Of course, it’s still difficult as a Hunter, but there’s still a much better chance than being a janitor…….

[Unique Skill: Demon King – Locked]

[Acquired Skill: Omnipotence – Locked]

[Acquired Skill: Limit Break – Locked]

[Acquired Skill: Fallen Angel – Locked]

[Acquired Skill: Rolling Paper – Locked]

…….

[Acquired Skill: Low Shield – Locked]

“What the…….”

The hand checking the skill window tightened its grip.

[To unlock existing skills, you must meet the respective conditions – View Details]

There was no need to see more.

I closed the skill window and ran my hand over my face.

A Hunter without abilities?

It would be more likely for a passing dog to speak human language.

‘So, there’s no room for tricks…….’

What is this all about?

What the hell is that damn karma…….

[Congratulations! You have acquired a new skill]

At that moment, the system window flashed before my eyes.

There was no way this hopeless situation would be reversed by gaining one new skill now. Even if it were an Epic skill.

Nevertheless, I couldn’t hide the feeling of hope.

With the feeling of grabbing at straws on the edge of a cliff, I checked the skill.

[Acquired Passive: Mysophobia]

[Effect: Go clean, you moron]

Clang—

My sanity flew away along with the bathroom mirror.

***

The pigsty’s bed.

A body thrown haphazardly on top of it.

I lay still, blinking my eyes silently.

I died and woke up to find myself 10 years in the past.

Overnight, I went from an SSS-rank Hunter to a dungeon janitor, and all my Hunter skills were locked.

My life’s achievements, everything that was me, had disappeared completely.

What am I supposed to do now?

Am I really going to have to do janitorial work?

I have the pride of an SSS-rank; I’d rather die than do such a shabby job.

‘But I can’t live like this forever either. I have to go back.’

As I muttered to myself, I felt a heat rising to my head.

Why am I even worrying about this?

What is this even supposed to be?

It’s all because of that karma or whatever, that damn hidden skill…….

“No, no.”

Putting aside the hidden skill, if I were to pick the biggest reason why I’m in this mess, it would undoubtedly be because of the guys who killed me.

I don’t know who they are, but they’re definitely not ordinary.

A private guild?

Or association personnel?

Or maybe…….

Ring—

Ring-ring—

The sound of a bell ringing.

But the sound was only coming from somewhere, and the phone was nowhere to be seen.

Under normal circumstances, I would have been annoyed, but for some reason, I was more pleased than anything else right now.

Is it Chief Lee?

Or my team members?

Maybe the association president?

Of course, it was an absurd expectation, but I couldn’t help but follow the sound of the bell and frantically rummage through the pigsty.

In the meantime, the bell rang and stopped several times.

When I finally found the phone buried under the mattress, the fourth ring was just beginning.

An old model that I wasn’t even sure I would use 10 years ago.

An unsaved number was displayed on the small screen.

“……Hello.”

I carefully pressed the call button and opened my mouth with a trembling voice.

“Oh, you answered? Junwoo-ssi! Good morning. It’s Team Leader Park!”

“……?”

A hearty voice of a middle-aged man.

Judging from the fact that he knew me, he seemed to be someone I had a relationship with.

I desperately racked my brain to recall team leaders with the surname Park from 10 years ago. But no one came to mind.

“Well, the thing is. I was calling to see if it’s difficult for you to come to work today.”

“……Yes?”

“It’s already been an hour since work started. Ah, are you perhaps not feeling well? The last dungeon was a bit tough, wasn’t it?”

“Dungeon……?”

At that one word, I let out a short “Ah.”

It was a word that immediately told me where the call was coming from.

The job that Karma assigned me was a dungeon janitor.

Then the person who’s talking to me about coming to work right now must be someone from the cleaning team.

“Actually, the last dungeon was a bit of a tough job. Today isn’t as bad…… Ah, of course, I’m not saying you should force yourself to come…….”

“Seriously, Team Leader! That bastard, I’m telling you, he just ditched because it was hard, right?”

At that moment, the voices of others cut in over the phone.

“It’s not like this is the first or second time. We can just assume that’s what happened, why bother calling again.”

“Aish, if he can’t do it, he should at least contact us. How many people are waiting because of one person, seriously!”

“Stop it and hang up. We have enough people even without him.”

I couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh.

No matter how bad my situation is right now, to be talked about like this by the dungeon janitor guys.

I really must have kicked the bucket.

“Everyone be quiet. There might be circumstances.”

Team Leader Park’s voice scolding the team members could be heard over the phone.

Surprisingly, the loud voices became quiet as if by magic at that one word, which wasn’t even raised.

“Anyway, Junwoo-ssi. Just rest if you’re having a hard time. It would be nice if you could send a text message in advance if something like this happens next time.”

“Ah, well…… I understand.”

Seriously, who is covering for whom?

I answered appropriately to the absurd situation and was about to hang up the phone as it was when.

“Ah, you can send a text message to this number. You can save it as Team Leader Park Geuntae…….”

Wait a minute.

What……?

“What was the name……?”

“Huh? Ah, I guess you forgot. It’s a hard name to remember. It’s Park Geuntae. Park, Geun, Tae.”

My head started to get complicated at the voice that pronounced each syllable clearly.

Even in the midst of that, Team Leader Park continued to say something.

“Anyway, get some rest today. If you can come to work next time…….”

“I’ll go today.”

“……Hmm?”

“I’m going to work now.”

I hung up the phone without even thinking of listening to the answer.