AGONIZING NEWS

The world went through a disaster and managed to emerge from the chaos of destruction. In the process, every nook and cranny underwent a drastic change. Normal people's lives were affected the most out of it.

"The reason why we say that normal people live underwent the most drastic change was that a new definition of normal has emerged in this world. The topography is in no way the same. The environment morphed itself to support all the new mutations brought by the emergence of this wormhole."

Even the normal lifestyle was no longer recognizable. The biggest example is the discovery of special powers within people, which eventually led to a blend of power into normal social proceedings. A new gradation system began to emerge which ranked people based on this new power.

The first hunter organization was set up by the then UN which is now laid in shambles. Countries decided to have their own hunter associations and find new hunters who will become the pillars to safeguard the country against the monster on the other side of the wormhole.

Hunting soon became the most profitable and most popular job. People, no matter how weak their magical strength was, began to participate in the hunts in hopes of earning profits. A huge number of casualties began to appear due to the inability of hunters to face the enemy.

"Shouldn't we stop the hunters who aren't even able to face the monsters? They would just be killed on the battleground. The government needs to start taking strict actions to control the accessibility provided to lower-tier hunters."

"We can't stop people from running after profits. The whole public would simply retaliate using the right to have equal opportunity as the basis. All we can do is warn them of the potential dangers of going into these wormholes."

The inability of the government to control the masses led to a bill by an independent hunter organization to set up an act. Hunters were now allowed to form guilds and create parties that would jointly attack a wormhole. Some even argued about the benefit of doing so except for the profit gained by the more powerful hunters.

But the scene suddenly changed. The human mind is quite a greedy one, and opposite to popular belief, powerful hunters decided to establish their own independent organization. Every one of them wanted to be their own ruler. On the other end of the spectrum, it also helped in reducing the casualty.

...............….

The first incident occurred between two groups of people who had entered the same wormhole. Due to a clash between two of their members, the groups were soon involved in a war with each other and therefore incurred high casualties. It was the first time humans were killed by each other within a raid.

Hunter associations around the world decided to come up with a combined set of rules and regulations for the newly formed Hunter Organizations.

The wormholes were now referred to as "gates". While the other side of the wormhole was being referred to as a dungeon. Scientists around the world were investigating these locations and managed to create a device that would help in classifying the dungeons based on their magical strength.

"We hereby declare a new policy. On the eve of the multiple clashes between hunter organizations around the world, we have decided to establi9sh a directory of rules which would lay the foundation for the regulations of the dungeons and hunter guilds."

"Due to recent discoveries by our scientists, we were able to successfully create a device that could help give us an estimate of the quality of the dungeons. The grading system was hence established, which has similarities to the hunter grading system."

The new system allowed the country to take full control over the dungeons which appeared within their borders. The government would then let hunting guilds and people bid for these dungeons and buy them. This would help the guild get exclusive rights over the dungeon and would be overseen by the Hunter Association of that particular country."

A new set of minimums was set up for proper regulation. Given the magical strength of the dungeon, the team raiding the guild must have a minimum amount of strength for the allowance to enter. The low-tier hunters were hence restricted to low-tier dungeons which resulted in a rapid decrease in casualties. It was one of the reasons the new system was accepted so soon.

...............….

3 Am-

The alarm was about to vibrate but a hand stopped its function midway. How could I possibly let an alarm get ahead of me and wake my family? This burden was just for me to carry.

I am David Chang, a middle schooler residing in Tokyo. The first question which arose in your mind must be related to the absurdity of my name. My ethnicity belongs to a Sino-American background with my mom from America and dad being a resident of Korea. We could go into the backstory anytime, but let's focus on the matter at hand.

I woke up at 3 AM, the morning for my early workout. Why do you ask? It's simple to train me for the upcoming awakening ceremony. Students are allowed to go through the awakening process to find out their hidden abilities and level as a hunter. The regulations decided on this to help the younglings decide on their future career path.

I of course want to be a top-tier hunter. Why do you ask? I just need to give you a glimpse of my past. Although I barely remember that piece of memory, it must have something to do with the fear I felt back then.

My father and mother were both top-tier hunters. They didn't belong to any ancient family and were independently working for a hunting guild in China. I remember us being a happy family of four, with my elder sister in her high school. The jobs managed to play well and we were living quite a luxurious lifestyle.

That was until it happened.

..............

The day was a normal one, from all I could recall. Dad and mum were busy doing some of the household chores. My sister, who was just training as usual before her awakening ceremony, could be seen training in the garden. I would eventually peek at her training and dream about me getting the chance.

Dad and mum got ready, and we were at the lunch table. I don't expect there to be any negative signs or feelings on that day. We were in the middle of our meal when the phone rang.

"We will both be present within an hour". The guild must have contacted them regarding a dispatch to be done into a dungeon.

"Are you leaving once again mom?"

My mom came and hugged me and dad patted my head. "We will return soon baby. Just be careful and take care of your sister." All I remember doing was nodding with a happy face. Unknown to me that this was the last hug I would feel from my mother.

My sister was taking a day off that day and we decided to have some fun. We watched and played video games, until finally during midnight the bell rang.

"Could mom and dad have returned?"

"It's a dispatch into a wormhole, you idiot. Even the shortest hunt takes two days, and dad and mom are A-rank hunters. They would never be able to return before the week."

We opened the door, and one of our dad's closest friends stepped in. Their expressions were in disarray. I could see tears flowing from their faces, as they took me and my sister into the living room.

One of them hugged both of us tightly and broke the darkest sentence I have ever heard in my whole life: "Your parents are no more". That was the last thing I remembered from that night.