Arc 1 - Chapter 1

The morning sun shone gently over Seoul, illuminating the towering skyscrapers standing majestically.

Amid the city's bustling life, a giant screen on one of the buildings displayed the latest news about a dungeon break that had just occurred in Gangnam District.

"Dungeon break confirmed in Zone 45! Rank A and S hunters have been deployed to contain the monsters emerging from the dungeon. Residents in the area are urged to evacuate to the nearest safe zone immediately!"

Kang Hajin scoffed as he watched the news from inside the bus cruising through the city streets. It wasn't the first time he had heard something like this.

Dungeon breaks had become a part of everyday life. For some, they were terrifying threats, but for others especially hunters they were golden opportunities for fame and fortune.

Unfortunately, he wasn't one of them.

Hajin glanced at his phone, checking the time left before he reached his office.

"Shit, I'm gonna be late again," he muttered.

He rested his head against the window, letting his mind drift back to the day that changed his life forever.

The day he awakened.

At first, he had been ecstatic. Only a small percentage of the population could undergo an awakening, and he was one of the lucky ones. The dream of becoming a hunter, diving into dungeons, and raking in massive wealth was right in front of him.

But it all came crashing down the moment the system window appeared before him.

[System Notification]

Congratulations! You have awakened as a Hunter!

Class Obtained: [Programmer]

At that moment, he thought it was a mistake. Programmer? He had never even heard of such a class before.

Everyone who witnessed his awakening had the same reaction a mix of confusion and pity.

"Ah… maybe it's a support class?" someone muttered.

"But if all he can do is 'programming,' what the hell is he supposed to do in a dungeon?" another scoffed.

Hajin remained silent as he tried to process the class description.

[Programmer]

An individual capable of editing and modifying various parameters within the system. Limitations depend on the user's level and understanding.

It sounded useful, but in reality… no combat skills, no physical enhancement, and no special abilities that could help in a dungeon.

Basically, a trash class.

His dream of becoming a hunter shattered instantly. No guilds wanted to recruit him. No hunters were interested in working with him.

In the end, he gave up and settled for an ordinary life as an office worker to support himself and his sister, Kang Araa.

The bus came to a stop near his office. Hajin took a deep breath, shaking off the bitter memories, then stepped out and briskly walked toward the building.

As soon as he entered, a coworker greeted him with enthusiasm.

"Yo, Hajin! Did you see the news? Dungeon break in Gangnam! Crazy, right? I heard some high-level monsters showed up!"

"Not really surprising. Dungeon breaks happen every week," Hajin replied with a shrug.

"Yeah, but still, I always wonder… what would it be like to be a hunter? If I awakened, I'd probably be a Rank S hunter by now."

"You sure about that?" Hajin shot him a flat look.

"If you got a trash class, you'd regret it."

His coworker laughed.

"Haha, maybe. But at least I'd hope for something cool, not like...." He suddenly stopped, as if realizing something. "Ah… my bad, I didn't mean....."

Hajin sighed and waved his hand dismissively.

"Forget it. I'm used to it."

His coworker awkwardly left, leaving Hajin alone at his desk. He let out a deep sigh, then powered on his computer. Work was piling up, as usual.

Today was going to be a long day.

After a few hours buried in his work, Hajin finally had a moment to relax. He leaned back in his chair, stretching his stiff neck, then glanced at the time on his monitor.

"Still only 2 PM…" he muttered.

Today's workload wasn't too heavy, so he had some free time before clocking out. Lazily, he pulled out his phone and scrolled through the latest hunter news.

"Rank SS Hunter Baek Jiho clears top-tier dungeon in under two hours!"

Hajin sighed. Another story about a legendary hunter. The world revolved around them.

If it had been the old him, he might have felt jealous, but now he just saw it as entertainment.

Absentmindedly, his finger tapped on an icon he hadn't opened in a long time his system window.

[Status Window]

Name: Kang Hajin

Class: Programmer

Level: 3

Strength: 10

Agility: 9

Vitality: 10

Mana: 15

Skill: [Edit Parameter (Lv. 1)]

"Even after all these years, still useless," he muttered with a sigh.

But then, something caught his eye.

In the corner of the screen, a small icon was blinking. He had never noticed it before, but for some reason, he felt strangely curious.

Intrigued, he tapped on the icon.

In an instant, his status screen changed, revealing something he had never seen before.

[Debug Mode Activated]

Hajin's eyes widened.

"What the hell is this?"

Suddenly, the entire screen transformed into a strange interface filled with lines of unfamiliar code. There were various parameters he could edit level, stats, even skills. He frowned, wondering if this was some kind of error or glitch in his system.

But something inside him urged him to try.

Cautiously, he tapped on Strength and saw an option labeled "Input Value."

"...Can I change it?" he whispered.

Half-jokingly, he typed 50 and hit enter.

[Strength has been changed to 50.]

At that moment, his body felt lighter. A sudden surge of power coursed through him. His muscles tensed, and he could feel an energy he had never experienced before.

His heart pounded in his chest.

"...Is this real?"

Hajin stared at his own hands in disbelief. As a test, he clenched his fist and punched the desk in front of him with full force.

CRACK!

The wooden desk immediately cracked. The loud noise made several coworkers turn their heads in shock.

"Hajin? What the hell are you doing?"

Hajin quickly pulled back his hand and tried to play it cool.

"Ah… nothing, nothing. My hand slipped," he said quickly, letting out a small laugh.

People still gave him weird looks, but eventually, they went back to their work.

Hajin swallowed hard. Cold sweat dripped down his temple.

"…I can edit my stats however I want?"

His eyes went back to the system window on his phone, where all the parameters were still editable.

A slow grin spread across his face.

For the first time since he awakened, he actually felt like he had real power.

And this was just the beginning.

Hajin kept staring at his system, his emotions all over the place. His heart was pounding. His hands were shaking—not out of fear, but out of sheer excitement.

"…If I can change Strength, what about the others?"

His eyes moved to the Agility parameter. If he could really tweak his stats however he wanted, then…

Without hesitation, he tapped Agility and inputted the number 50 just like before.

[Agility has been changed to 50.]

Just like before, a strange sensation washed over his body. This time, he felt lighter like he could move way faster than before.

To test it, he slowly stood up and shifted to the side.

TAP!

Hajin's eyes widened. His movement was way quicker than he expected. It felt like the world around him was moving slower, but in reality, it was him who had gotten faster.

He clenched his jaw, forcing himself not to react too much and attract attention.

"…Holy shit."

He couldn't stop himself. His eyes darted back to the system window. If he could change Strength and Agility, then what about the rest?

He tapped Vitality and set it to 50.

[Vitality has been changed to 50.]

Instantly, his whole body felt refreshed, like all his fatigue had vanished. Even the stiffness from sitting too long was completely gone.

And last, Mana.

When he set it to 50, something different happened. This time, it wasn't just his body that changed it was his mind too.

There was something… strange inside him now, like he could sense something he had never noticed before.

"…Is this what it means to 'feel mana'?"

Then, a new idea popped into his head.

Skills.

He looked at the Skill section of his system window. Right now, the only skill he had was [Edit Parameter (Lv. 1)], which let him change his stats like he just did.

But if he could actually program this system…

"…Can I create a new skill?"

With growing curiosity, he tapped the Skill section, hoping for some kind of edit option. Sure enough, a new screen appeared.

[Skill Editor]

Please enter parameters for the new skill.

Hajin's eyes lit up.

So it was really possible.

He swallowed hard. This wasn't just about making himself stronger—it was about creating abilities that had never existed before.

But he had to start simple.

Carefully, he typed in the description:

Skill Name: Reinforce

Effect: Increases Strength by 10 points for 10 seconds.

After double-checking, he pressed Confirm.

[Skill 'Reinforce' has been created.]

"…It worked?"

He closed the system window and tried activating the skill.

"Reinforce."

Immediately, his body felt stronger. His fists clenched tightly, and he could feel a noticeable boost in his power.

"This is insane," he muttered with a small laugh.

If he could do this… then his possibilities were fucking endless.

Hajin stared at his hands with a grin full of meaning.

It was time to stop living a boring-ass life.

It was time to return to the hunter world.

And this time, nothing was gonna stop him.