The sole heir to a ruined world

The Sole Heir of a Ruined World – Episode 1

Thick gray smoke filled the sky, and the streets were consumed by the sounds of screams and crying.

*Kieeeek!*

Monsters with giant bat-like wings soared through the sky.

Creatures with bodies harder than steel crawled and leapt across the ground.

*Crunch. Boom!*

*Aaahhh!*

People left defenseless were swallowed whole by the monsters or crushed under the debris of collapsing buildings, meeting their tragic ends.

Decades ago, the first “Gate” had appeared, and since then, the world has undergone a massive upheaval.

A world where monsters roaming freely had become the new normal.

**The Outbreak.**

Countless gates appeared across the world, and if they weren’t cleared within a set period, the monsters inside would overflow, spilling into the world.

“…Hankyul.”

Hankyul stood amid the chaos of an outbreak with his family.

“Hankyul!”

His mother, bleeding profusely from her head.

His father, who had lost the lower half of his body to a monster.

Even as they were dying, their only concern was their son.

“Stay alive. You must survive, no matter what!”

Those were their last words.

The boy, whose parents sacrificed themselves so he could escape, ran and ran until…

*CRAAASH!*

He came face-to-face with the collapsing rubble of a building, crashing down toward him.

That was Hankyul’s final memory of the outbreak.

—

“Haaah…!”

Hankyul jolted awake, gasping for air.

Staring at the dark ceiling above him, he realized that what he had just seen and heard was a dream, and he steadied his breath.

“…Phew.”

It was the same nightmare he had every single day since that day.

And in that nightmare, his parents always said the same thing:

**”You must survive!”**

Their final words.

To honor his parents’ dying wish, Hankyul did his best to live each day.

His back drenched in sweat, he dragged himself out of bed, his arms doing all the work as his legs remained limp and motionless.

As he painstakingly made his way to the bathroom and washed up, an alarm echoed from the bedroom.

The alarm went off multiple times, stopping and starting again, by the time he managed to return from the bathroom.

**「Time for work.」**

The message displayed on his smartphone prompted him to move his arms again.

***

“Give me a Dunmil,” said a man standing in front of the register, tossing cash onto the counter.

Hankyul turned his upper body, grabbed the requested pack of cigarettes, scanned it, and handed it over.

“That’ll be 5,000 won.”

As Hankyul picked up the cash, the man scowled and raised his voice.

“Young brat! What are you doing sitting there? When an adult stands in front of you, you should get up and hand things over with both hands, politely.”

Hankyul, unfazed by the man’s words, calmly put the cash into the register.

He was already used to comments like this.

“Hey, hey, don’t make a fuss,” one of the man’s companions tried to intervene.

“What do you mean, don’t make a fuss? That brat’s being rude!” the man yelled, still displeased with Hankyul.

Looking uncomfortable, the companion leaned in and whispered something to him.

“He’s disabled.”

Though it was said as a whisper, it was loud enough for Hankyul, standing right in front of them, to hear everything.

“Disabled? That guy? He looks perfectly fine. Is he faking it or something?” the man said, placing both hands on the counter and leaning forward.

The overwhelming stench of alcohol hit Hankyul’s nose as the man got closer.

“Hey, are you really disabled?” the man asked, staring directly at Hankyul.

Hankyul didn’t avoid his gaze and simply answered, “Your purchase is complete.”

The man’s expression twisted in frustration, and he was about to shout again when his companion pulled him away.

“Sorry about that. He’s drunk and saying all sorts of nonsense.”

The group left the convenience store, the man being dragged along by his companions.

Through the still-open glass door, Hankyul could hear one of them mutter, “What’s wrong with you? Aren’t you embarrassed to act like that to a disabled person?”

“…”

Hankyul was used to hearing such things.

**Disabled.**

As someone with paralysis in his lower body, that word was, in many ways, a natural part of his life.

When the outbreak happened, he had been crushed under building debris, leaving his lower body paralyzed.

Since that day, he couldn’t move without a wheelchair.

Seven years had passed since his paralysis began.

He had grown so used to the stares and remarks from others that they hardly fazed him anymore.

***

As night fell and the convenience store grew quiet, a familiar face entered the store.

“Hankyul, you’ve worked hard.”

It was the convenience store owner who had hired Hankyul, a man who, in many ways, Hankyul was deeply grateful to.

“Nothing unusual happened, right?”

“No, nothing happened,” Hankyul replied.

“Really? Earlier, I thought I saw a troublesome customer cause some trouble.”

“They’re all just customers anyway.”

Hankyul dismissed the incident casually as he moved out from behind the counter.

The store owner looked down at Hankyul in his wheelchair with a mix of pity and admiration.

“You work so hard even with that body. If my son were even half as diligent as you, I wouldn’t ask for anything more.”

To Hankyul, it didn’t feel like much of a compliment.

What was so great about a sense of diligence born from being paralyzed?

He’d much rather be lazy and have a healthy body.

“Well, I’ll head home now.”

“Alright. Take care and see you tomorrow!”

The owner, sitting behind the counter with his smartphone, nodded as he replied.

“Poor guy,” the owner muttered as Hankyul exited the store.

Hankyul didn’t react to the words he overheard and silently pushed his wheelchair forward into the night.

—

At home, Hankyul got out of his wheelchair and struggled to lie down on his bed.

His routine was always the same—work, come home, and go straight to bed.

It was repetitive, but it was how he survived, doing his best to live each day.

Once he lay down, he made sure to finish all his tasks beforehand, as it was difficult to get back up again.

Staring blankly at the ceiling, he thought to himself:
*”I can’t even remember what it feels like to walk anymore.”*

It had been far too long since he lost the ability to use his legs.

He had become so accustomed to this life.

Even though he lost his family and his ability to walk, Hankyul blamed no one.

He knew that resentment and regret wouldn’t change anything.

Instead, he focused on living his life to the fullest.

He didn’t even bother with social media, knowing it would only make him compare himself to others and fall into despair.

He understood better than anyone that comparing yourself to others led nowhere.

*”…Let’s sleep.”*

Closing his eyes, Hankyul knew he needed to rest and conserve his energy to face tomorrow.

—

A soft breeze tickled his hair as he lay there with his eyes closed.

It was a gentle breeze, carrying a refreshing scent that cleared the stale air in the room.

*”…A breeze?”*

Hankyul’s room was completely sealed.

The windows were tightly shut, and neither a fan nor an air conditioner was running.

A breeze in such a closed room was impossible.

Sensing something was off, Hankyul opened his eyes—and was left speechless by the sight before him.

The ceiling was gone.

—

A Clear Blue Sky

The sky stretched endlessly, clear and blue, without a single cloud in sight.

When Hankyul turned his head slightly, a lush green field came into view.

The hard texture of a mattress he had been lying on was gone, replaced by the soft touch of tangled grass cushioning his back.

Before he could even question why he was here—

「‘The World’ invites you.」

It was a system message.

「A ‘world’ without a master desperately seeks one.」

Hankyul had heard about it before.

When the great upheaval began, those who awakened powers would realize it through a system message.

It was said that the system from games had appeared in reality and that only awakened individuals could see it.

Now, that same system was welcoming Hankyul.

「‘OOOOO’s OOOOO’ has registered you as the master of the ‘world.’」

However, something about the system message seemed off.

Normally, an awakening message looked more like this:

「You have awakened as a ‘Pyromancer.’」

「You have awakened as a ‘Mercenary.’」

It was straightforward and to the point, notifying the individual of their new identity.

But this message was different—much more elaborate and grandiose.

So what exactly was this message that Hankyul was now seeing?

「You have become the ‘Master of the World.’」

This wasn’t an awakening—it was a statement.

A declaration.

The system’s phrasing was completely different from the awakening messages he had heard of.

Hankyul blinked in confusion at the unfamiliar wording, but only briefly.

「In the ‘world,’ all status ailments of its residents are cured, and all injuries are healed.」

At that moment—

*Twitch.*

Hankyul felt the wind brush against his toes.

The sensation was startlingly unfamiliar yet deeply familiar at the same time.

The feeling in his lower body that had been completely gone had returned.

It was strange.

He had been paralyzed for seven years.

Surely he must have forgotten what it even felt like to walk.

And yet, here it was—that long-forgotten sensation.

Hankyul placed his hands on the ground and stood up.

For the first time in seven years, he was standing on both feet.

Surprisingly, there was no awkwardness in his movements.

His legs responded as if he had never stopped using them, as if he had been walking all along.

“My legs… are moving,” he murmured, staring blankly down at his lower body.

Was he overwhelmed? Overcome with joy?

No. He wasn’t feeling any of that.

The only thing Hankyul felt was pure astonishment at the fact that he could walk again.

But there wasn’t even time to process this feeling.

「The Outer World has recognized the ‘world’ with its new master.」
「The Outer World sends scouts.」

A warning message flashed across his vision.

「If the center of the world is attacked, the world will perish.」

This time, the message appeared in bold red letters.

「If the world perishes, so does its master.」

The meaning was clear, and it wasn’t something he could ignore.

Hankyul had just regained the use of his legs.

Despite his paralysis, he had lived his life to the fullest, doing everything in his power to survive.

And now, the possibility of dying loomed before him.

Hankyul didn’t want to die.

He had to live—to honor his parents’ final words.

「Time remaining until invasion: 05:12」

Only a little over five minutes were left.

Hankyul quickly scanned his surroundings.

In the middle of the world stood a stump.

He approached it.

「‘OOOOO’s Stump.

The center of the world.

If a sprout appears, something good might happen.

(Magic required for a sprout: 100.)」

The stump was the world’s center.

If that was the case, perhaps all he needed to do was protect it.

The problem, however, was that he had no weapons or means to defend it.

The only thing he had was his now fully functional body.

Even as Hankyul was racking his brain, trying to figure out what to do, time continued to tick away.

「The invasion begins.」

Before he could even mentally prepare, a message announced the start of the invasion.

*Grrrrk.*

A familiar yet strange growl echoed in the air.

Hankyul turned his head and saw a dark figure.

「Corrupted Scout Goblin.」

It was a monster anyone who played games would recognize—a goblin, the most basic enemy.

An early-game monster that was little more than a tool for gaining experience.

But in this moment, that goblin was a deadly threat to Hankyul.

*Kieeek!*

The goblin charged at him.

*Shunk.*

Before he could react, the goblin’s rusty dagger plunged into his neck.

*Shunk. Shunk!*

Over and over, the blade pierced his neck and chest.

Hankyul felt the blade sinking into his flesh, the sharp pain spreading through his body.

And then—his body collapsed.