It was a long day.

A man had just finished the daily hunting report which he had sent to his superior and was now lazing about in bed after a hot bath to soothe his tired body. Dark circles could be seen under his eyes.

He had a book in his hand,

[A Hero's Second Life].

It was a novel, one of the few forms of entertainment he truly enjoyed in this monster-ridden world.

He was a "Hunter".

Approximately 13 years ago, gigantic "rifts" appeared all over the world. Without warning, monsters, beasts, and demons alike flooded out of them and into the world. Ravaging the lands of earth, big and small alike. People called these rifts "entrances to the other side".

Well, the idea is the same as many fantasy novels nowadays. Except it took a whole year and hundreds of millions of casualties before a solution to such an invasion came to be known.

The world leaders were desperate for a guiding light in this dire situation, so they poured their countries' funds into the advancement of their technology and weaponry. And along the way, they were able to find, or rather, detect a brand new form of energy they had never seen before.

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Magical energy. Mana.

And as if it were timed precisely for that moment, people who were able to manipulate mana and possessed unique abilities started popping up one by one all over the world. Their numbers reached the hundreds of millions and they were commonly referred to as "ability users".

With the biggest problem of the world pacified, stability was brought back, and the people slowly returned back to the peaceful days they once spent.

■11:31pm - 04/21/XXXX■

It was quite late in the night, but it didn't matter. He was used to it anyway. The sleepless nights he had spent idly wandering through his thoughts couldn't possibly be counted anymore. Tonight was just going to be one such night.

...Or so he thought.

"Ughh.... My head....", he muttered, clutching his head in his hands.

His head started to ache, forcing him to sit up as beads of sweat started forming on his forehead. As if a nail was being hammered into it, the pain only got stronger as time passed.

But it could only last for so long, because after a minute and a half, the pain disappeared like it was carried away by the wind.

Sighing in relief, his upper body fell back onto the bed as his eyelids slowly closed and his consciousness slowly faded into the dark.

...Until he passed out in his bed. In his hand, the book could still be found open.

-Volume 7, Page 114.

At the same time, in a certain Viscounty's residence.

A young boy was fast asleep in his bed, he had gone to bed early since today was a special day to him, although for reasons unknown.

*Boom*

A loud sound could be heard as a thunder bolt boomed in the distance.

Jolted awake by the sound of thunder, he slowly sits up and rubs his tired eyes.

Opening them, he could see in front of him, a mirror. His reflection could also be seen staring back at him.

[....Huh....? Who the hell is this guy?]

He could only utter a single question under his breath, for he didn't know that that was his own reflection.