Episode 1

“Kang-hoo, are you okay?”

At his colleague’s voice, Kang-hoo looked into the single rusty mirror in the detention center that allowed him to see himself.

The rust accumulated along the edges of the mirror also bore unidentifiable bloodstains.

“Hmm… It seems the daytime labor was a bit too much.”

Although his face had turned pale, Kang-hoo brushed it off expressionlessly.

It was due to his congenital mana hypersensitivity.

It happened often enough that it didn’t seem like a big deal anymore.

A disease with its own pros and cons.

He had an overwhelming advantage in sensing, sympathizing, and attracting mana compared to others.

However, using mana beyond what his body could endure led to exhaustion and collapse.

In other words, it caused severe physical fatigue.

Therefore, ironically, physical recovery was more crucial for active mana usage.

But in a detention center that only saw its inmates as slaves for mining magic stones, physical recovery was a distant dream.

“Can you endure it?”

“Worrying won’t change anything.”

“If it’s hard, at least say it’s hard.”

“……”

Knowing what Kang-hoo’s silence meant, his colleague soon returned to his own iron bed.

Among the 61 workers in Block 18 of the detention center, everyone except Kang-hoo was deeply asleep.

3 AM.

The perfect midpoint between midnight, the sleeping time, and 6 AM, the waking time, which made it impossible to wake up.

But Kang-hoo, who no longer planned to sleep in his old bed, was exceptionally clear-headed.

“Life is hard indeed.”

Kang-hoo smirked bitterly.

He didn’t find the situation awkward because he had possessed the body of a character from his own novel.

“The Handbook of a Villain Turned Savior.”

It was a popular work, but it received a lot of criticism due to a bad ending introduced as a twist at the last moment.

The plot twist was that the protagonist was actually an accomplice of the Demon King, leading to the worst ending, where the world fell into the hands of the Demon King.

“I deserved the criticism. I pushed it too far, trying to be different.”

No matter how much he thought about it.

The ending was so disastrous that it seemed like a lapse of reason.

If he had possessed the main character - who became a villain at the end - ‘Jang Si-hwan’.

He would be revered as a hero of the world at this point in time, five years before the ending.

But he ended up possessing the body of ‘Shin Kang-hoo’, the unfortunate villain created to oppose Jang Si-hwan.

Having designed him as a cynical character and eliminated all positive aspects, starting with congenital mana hypersensitivity…

It wasn’t hard to be mentally devastated.

Moreover, in the past few days, the mental synchronization had been completed.

To the extent that he couldn’t even remember who he was before the possession.

Of course, the memories of the original work were clear.

“The longer the escape is delayed, the more I would miss the golden timing to save the world. There’s no time to waste.”

In the story, Shin Kang-hoo started as a villain, but in the end, his essence was that of a savior.

The real villain was the one who aided the Demon King’s Advent and handed over this world to him.

The hero Jang Si-hwan and the thirteen revered hunters, known as ‘The Thirteen Stars’.

“It won’t be easy to find a loophole in this well-crafted world to their liking.”

Shin Kang-hoo’s inherent cynicism overwhelmed his emotions, but he looked further into the future.

Only the accomplices of the false hero could survive at the end of this story, which inevitably led to the Demon King’s ending.

If he couldn’t change the future, he’d die either way.

Unless, of course, he desired to live.

In fact, he could just slit his throat and die right now without much thought.

But the reason he couldn’t do that was because, even in his deep pessimism, he saw a glimmer of hope.

That hope was the only light in his heart that made Shin Kang-hoo decide to leave the world and enter the plot of the original work.

Kang-hoo wanted to hasten that moment to today.

The reason was clear.

It was the day when the guards, who had been busy due to the arrival of a new inmate, were most exhausted.

Memories of the original work flickered like an illusion.

Kang-hoo shook his head and brushed off those memories.

Then, biting his lip, he stood up from the spot where he was looking at the mirror.

“Today, I must get out.”

He set a short-term goal.

Cheongmyeong Detention Center, a massive human exploitation site managed by the criminal organization Eclipse.

He would escape from the detention center.

It was not like the reality of post-apocalyptic South Korea outside the detention center would feel like heaven.

But at least he could enjoy the freedom of his body.

That was more than enough for him now.

A little later.

“You have one minute. Any longer, and not just your crap, but your life will be cut off.”

“Yes.”

Kang-hoo entered the makeshift restroom next to the detention center under the guard’s watch.

As soon as he entered, the distinctive stench of the restroom and the smell of rotting corpses wafted over.

Originally, there were restrooms inside the detention center.

But so many inmates hung themselves in the restroom that this was a desperate measure.

This detention center, in a blind spot of human rights, was essentially a living hell.

And this restroom was just one of the stories that illustrated that.

Kang-hoo entered the restroom and looked around.

As he remembered, part of the exterior was dented inward from being kicked from the outside, creating a sharp edge.

Sharp and long enough to cut flesh and make a wound.

Swoosh!

Without hesitation, Kang-hoo cut his palm. Blood gushed out, soaking the floor.

50 seconds left.

Using his blood as ink and his opposite finger as a brush, Kang-hoo drew a pentagram on the narrow restroom floor.

It was a summoning ritual.

A ritual to call forth the Constellation’ Dimension Plunderer’.

The reason Kang-hoo needed this Constellation now was simple.

The traits bestowed by Dimension Plunderer would all explosively boost his potential.

Escaping the detention center alone with the unremarkable Level 10 hunter’s body presented many obstacles.

For example, the guard waiting outside with a long sword was Level 45.

This meant he had at least a year’s experience as a hunter.

In other words, a direct confrontation would be difficult, and securing a power that could instantly reverse the situation was crucial.

“Aren’t you done yet, brat?”

The sharp voice of the guard was clearly audible, along with the scraping sound of metal.

40 seconds.

The pentagram sparkled, emitting a unique dark red glow.

Of course, this was just the beginning.

Kang-hoo raised his palm close to the pentagram, speaking the words that had been circling in his mind.

‘I know you’re watching my fate. And I know you revel in your contractors’ tragedy, trials, and sorrow.’

······.

No answer came.

A contract with a Constellation was never a one-way communication. It required an exchange of words and consciousness.

The Dimension Plunderer was not a petty being who would get offended by the ‘insignificant’ human’s informal speech.

On the contrary, it found it interesting.

‘The best person to utilize your abilities is me.’

Still no response.

Kang-hoo echoed the words the Dimension Plunderer had once said to Shin Kang-hoo in the original work, who was pessimistic and denying the future.

‘The more you hesitate, the further the hope that will come to this world will be multiplied by several or dozens of times.’

Life ahead would not be smooth.

Having possessed the body of a villain despised as a devil by the world.

Moreover, he had to confront the propaganda framework cleverly constructed by the Demon King’s accomplices directly.

It would be difficult.

But that didn’t mean he wanted to die meaninglessly in this world that had vividly become his reality, like a disposable tool.

Just then.

‘It’s done.’

Kang-hoo smiled.

As a Constellation, he would grant three traits when he selected a contractor.

First, maintain the proficiency of all skills learned or to be learned at their maximum.

Second, the ability to plunder boss skills and make them his own.

Third, the ability to plunder the contract of the Constellation worshiped by another hunter upon their death.

Each trait inevitably made the contractor powerful.

And now, what Kang-hoo could take advantage of was the first trait, skill proficiency.

Though he only had two skills, there seemed to be no problem with the required proof.

The proof he spoke of meant showing no fear in staining his hands with blood.

In other words, it meant to cut off the breath of the guard outside the door.

20 seconds.

“······”

Kang-hoo held his breath.

In the meantime, Kang-hoo’s two skills, temporarily boosted through traits, transformed into something entirely different.

Skill proficiency started at level 1 and only reached its maximum at level 20.

It required a long period of consistent effort and even rushed; it took at least 5 years.

Of course, reaching maximum proficiency had significance. It had to be that way.

Because all the coefficients, such as the duration of the skill, distance, destructive power, etc., skyrocketed significantly.

And now it has changed like that.

The Short Range Leap skill, which would have required luck to cover 1m, became a virtual space movement skill that could cover 12m in an instant.

The Lateral Movement skill, which was just a slight sidestepping, now allowed moving behind the target while in stealth.

Who would think the former and latter were the same skill?

This was the synergy between the character Shin Kang-hoo and the Constellation Dimension Plunderer. It was almost like a cheat.

5 seconds.

“This son of a······!”

Creak!

The guard, feeling offended by Kang-hoo’s lack of apology and no sign of coming out, opened the door.

After all, it wouldn’t be a problem if one prisoner died.

After all, Seoul was the only place where the ‘law’ still functioned to some extent.

Elsewhere, it was a world ruled by warlords, criminal organizations, and mercenaries.

Might made right.

In the presence of strong power, even murder was not a crime.

Just then, the guard definitely saw Kang-hoo for a brief moment.

Their eyes met precisely.

But as if a person had become invisible, he disappeared from sight in an instant.

It made no sense.

He was only Level 10!

There was no way he would miss a prisoner with a level 35 lower than his own, a mere incompetent.

But then.

Swoosh!

“Gah!”

Something cold and metallic pierced through the guard’s carotid artery, penetrating the center of the neck.

A perfect fatal wound, leaving no time to scream.

What Kang-hoo inserted next to the guard’s neck was a chopstick.

A weapon he had intended to use cleanly to cut his own life when he had no more attachment to life.

However, the will to live had turned the direction of the chopstick towards the enemy, not himself.

And then.

The noble Constellation responded to the call of a Level 10 hunter, worthless and pathetic, a lowly hunter.

Considering the majority of hunters who couldn’t even dream of a contract with a high-ranking Constellation like Dimension Plunderer even past Level 100.

It was truly an extraordinary event.