The Spatial Ability User Who Puts Safety Above All Chapter 1

If someone were to ask me what matters most to me, I wouldn’t hesitate for even a moment before answering:

“Safety.”

When I was in the first grade, things called ‘Gates’ began appearing in the world.

From those Gates, all kinds of terrifying creatures poured out, and the world plunged into chaos, as if humanity were on the brink of extinction.

Martial law was declared, and explosions and battles erupted across the city multiple times a day.

Fortunately, it wasn’t just monsters that came out of the Gates. Along with them flowed a massive amount of mysterious energy called ‘mana.’

That mana awakened certain special humans, and those awakened individuals came to be known as ‘mana users’ or ‘magic users.’

After some time, people just shortened it to ‘users.’

In any case, users with powerful abilities became a huge help to humanity, and eventually, mankind managed to overcome the Gate phenomenon and protect Earth.

That said, the Gates never completely disappeared.
Instead, humanity learned how to respond depending on a Gate’s size and rank once it appeared.

Of course, ‘responding’ didn’t mean preventing damage 100%.

When I was in the third grade, a Gate appeared in the park right in front of my house.

Even now, I vividly remember that day.

I had gone for a walk in the park with my parents after dinner, and we witnessed the Gate being created in real time.

And that day…

My parents died.

Until their final moments, they did everything they could to protect me, and because of that, I survived.

Even now, I can’t forget the last words my father said to me.

“Yul… stay still right here. You’ll be safe. Okay?”

He pushed me into a government-installed single-person safety bunker and closed the door from the outside as he said that.

From that day on, I became so sensitive about safety that you could probably call it an obsession.

I never went anywhere that seemed even slightly unsafe, and I absolutely refused to do anything that looked remotely dangerous.

When I chose a place to live, I deliberately picked somewhere close to the Gate Management Bureau.
While others actively tried to expose themselves to mana in hopes of awakening, I made sure to stay as far away from it as possible.

I studied Gate phenomena and mana users obsessively. Not because I wanted power, but because I believed I needed to know it to avoid danger.

I lived my entire life by the principle of safety first.

Because of that, I never managed to get a proper job and was still working part-time at a convenience store at the age of twenty-two.

But I was satisfied with my life.

No. If anything, I was always thinking about how to live even more safely.

I sold the house my parents left me in Gyeonggi Province and moved into a tiny studio apartment in the very center of Seoul for one reason:

Statistically, the capital was the safest place when it came to Gates.

On top of that, the Gate Management Bureau’s headquarters was located right near my apartment.

The room was tiny, and the rent was insanely expensive, but it was safe.

The only thing that made me uneasy was that the convenience store where I worked was a bit far from my apartment.

But I had to make a living, so I had no choice.

But today…

That choice came back to haunt me.

Despite being so careful.

Despite risking everything to avoid danger.

In the end, overwhelming danger swallowed me whole.

***

Bzzzzzzz!

There was a distinct vibration that occurred whenever a Gate formed.

Ordinary people caught in that wave usually lost their senses.

Unfortunately, the Gate appeared in the vacant lot right in front of the convenience store where Seon Yul was working.

Seon Yul was also swept up in the wave and collapsed to the floor for a moment.

Still, compared to others, his mind was relatively clear.

That was why he could clearly see monsters walking out of the Gate through the convenience store’s glass windows.

“A… an orc?”

A pig-like nose, green skin, and a massive body.

An orc, the most common monster found in C-rank Gates.

“And… It’s bigger than normal, with black stripes on its face… Don’t tell me—that’s an elite orc?!”

Seon Yul had never seen one in person, but because he constantly read books and watched videos about Gate monsters, he recognized it instantly.

Even a normal orc required at least a Soldier-class mana user to fight on even terms.

An elite orc?

At minimum, you’d need a Hunter-class user for a one-on-one fight.
A fully armed military unit trained specifically for anti-monster combat might be able to handle it, but there was no way anyone like that was nearby.

Which meant only one thing.

This monster couldn’t be dealt with right now.

“T-the bunker… where was the bunker?”

As a die-hard safety-first type, Seon Yul always memorized the locations of nearby emergency bunkers.

But the problem was…

To reach the bunker, he’d have to go outside.

And the orc was right in front of the door.

The orc sniffed the air, searching for prey.

Gate monsters were usually starving, driven by instinct to seek out living beings and devour them.

“This is dangerous. Way too dangerous.”

Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.

Seon Yul’s heart began to pound wildly.

And then. Strangely, he smelled something incredibly sweet.

As if countless jars of honey had spilled, filling the convenience store with a rich aroma.

“Somewhere safe… please, I need somewhere safe.”

Seon Yul desperately searched for a safe place.

And at that moment…

A massive amount of mana was absorbed into his body, triggering what people commonly called awakening.

The sweet scent he smelled was none other than the ‘scent of mana,’ which was said to precede awakening.

“W-what?”

[Your consistent and unwavering desire has carved a Stigma into your heart.]
[Mana flowing through the Stigma has merged with your desire and manifested as a special ability.]
[You have obtained the ability ‘Absolute Space <EX>’]

“I-I awakened?!”

Seon Yul awakened in an instant.

But the rank was strange.

As far as he knew, the highest possible rank for awakened users was SSS.

He had never heard of EX before.

Still, there was no time to dwell on that.

Crash!

A powerful wave of mana spread outward as he awakened, and the orc smashed through the convenience store door and charged inside.

Monsters were extremely sensitive to mana waves; they had immediately detected Seon Yul.

The orc rushed toward Seon Yul, who was sitting on the floor behind the counter.

A moment of absolute crisis.

But then…

Seon Yul slammed his palm against the floor and focused.

Users instinctively knew how to activate their abilities the moment they awakened.

Though understanding usage and understanding application were different things, Seon Yul at least knew how to use it.

And so, without hesitation, he activated his ability.

[Creating entrance to Absolute Space!]

With Seon Yul’s command, a circular shadow about 1.5 meters wide appeared on the floor beneath him.

At the same time, the orc lunged.

BOOM!

“H-HAH!”

Seon Yul reflexively raised his arms.

But the orc was gone.

Not just the orc.

Nothing was there.

A pure white space.

Extremely small, but empty. Seon Yul sat alone inside it.

“Absolute Space… Is this my ability?”

He knew how to activate it, but not what it truly did.

A chilling sensation brushed against the top of his head.

Crunch… Grrr…

From the entrance above, the elite orc was sticking its head inside.

“Gah!”

Seon Yul flinched.

“I-I need to close it…”

Just as he thought that…

[Closing entrance to Absolute Space!]

Bzzzt! Slash!

The entrance shut.

And in the same instant, the orc’s head, caught between the closing gap, was cleanly severed from its body.

THUD!

The head fell between Seon Yul’s legs.

“EEEK!”

He yanked his legs away, but the orc’s head immediately dissolved into smoke and disappeared.

Then came the system messages.

[You have eliminated Elite Orc Hunter.]
[Calculating contribution…]
[Contribution: 100%. All experience and loot awarded to you.]
[You have gained a massive amount of experience. Level increased greatly (Lv. 1 → Lv. 5).]
[You have obtained new Stigma Points.]

…

…

Seon Yul was overwhelmed by the flood of system messages.

But there was one thing he knew for sure.

“I survived… I’m alive.”

He was safe.

“And this place…”

He looked around the tiny Absolute Space again.

Barely about 6.6 square meters, with a height of only two meters.

It was so cramped that anyone with claustrophobia would panic.

But Seon Yul wasn’t like that.

“It’s perfect… so comfortable.”

For the first time in his life, he felt a sense of safety he had never known anywhere else.