STPS

Chapter 2

1. My oldest brother is back

As the name suggests, Lee Bobae* was the treasure of the family. Their parents, who had only three sons in a row, prayed for a year to get a daughter.

*T/N: 'Bobae' means treasure in Korean

A famous daughter from a family with many sons. Lee Bobae's life was comfort itself.

Her family, who lacked nothing financially; the love and attention of her parents pouring onto her; and her older brothers, who treated each other moderately but spoiled the youngest.

Lee Bobae was a happy child, a happy girl, and was going to become a happy adult.

But, like almost everyone in this world, from one day onwards, Lee Bobae's life became a thorny path.

***

Crack Day. On that day, cracks simultaneously opened all over the world and monsters came out. People were swept into the cracks and disappeared, or killed by monsters. The existing firearms did not work on the monsters, so it was impossible to even fight them.

Slaughter all over the world. The collapse of the state and the destruction of civilisation.

Humanity seemed to be walking on the path to extinction due to the unprecedented events, but they survived.

The system emerged. The system was the first to close the cracks in the world. Monsters from the crack were also sent back into the cracks.

This prevented a greater tragedy, but not all cracks were closed. Not all monsters returned.

The system contacted an unspecified person as if to solve this problem.

The person who came into contact with the system awakened an unknown power that could fight against the turbulent world and monsters.

The system that resembled a game window, cracks that resembled dungeons, and the power gained by awakened people that was similar to popular novels, movies, and settings in games.

Humanity had adapted to a rapidly changing world and overturned common sense.

The person who came into contact with the system and awakened his power began to be called a Hunter. The hunter killed the monster and went into the crack to find missing people.

Social stability came fast, and change came faster than that. Humans were crazy about new materials brought from monster corpses and cracks. But they were scared at the same time.

The unknown world, the unknown existence, the unknown power. Fear was the driving force behind action.

A study to know the unknown and to overcome the fear began.

The era of cracks had now started.

***

On Crack Day, Lee Bobae lost her parents. Her youngest older-brother became a vegetable while protecting her. It was a common story.

The moment Lee Bobae's eldest brother Lee Gwihan appeared, the story became a little out of the ordinary.

Lee Gwihan was an Awakener who came into contact with the system. Had it not been for him who had awakened into the battle world, Lee Bobae would have been killed by a monster while hugging her youngest brother.

Her parents died, and the house was swallowed by cracks after bringing a few things out. Bank deposits were frozen and prices were soaring.

South Korea was one of the few countries that kept government agencies and security, but it did not save the four siblings. Poverty could not be helped by the nation.