Han Sol’s awakening happened during teeth-brushing time at kindergarten. He was standing with the other children before the long mirror, diligently scrubbing his teeth with a tiny brush, when a shimmering blue window materialized in the air right in front of him. [For smooth communication between the caster and the system, adjustments will be made to the caster's cognitive abilities.] [Update in progress: 85%...] Han Sol froze, his mouth falling open. A glob of toothpaste and drool slid down his chin. His homeroom teacher noticed and rushed over to wipe his face with a tissue. "Teacher, Han Sol sees something stra—" He tried to explain, but his voice was lost in the usual classroom chaos. "Teacher!! I need to poop!!" "Teacher!! He pooped!!!" "Teacher, Binnie is sleepy—" Han Sol looked at his teacher, who was already juggling three other emergencies, and decided it was better not to add to her problems. A new clarity sharpened his thoughts, a gift from the system. He was four years old, after all. A big boy. He could handle this himself. [Update complete.] The update finished just as nap time began. Lying on his mat in the quiet room, Han Sol stared at the new window floating above him. [Opening the system.] Thump-thump. His small heart hammered against his ribs. He balled his little hands into fists, waiting with breathless anticipation. Even at four, Han Sol understood what this meant. He had awakened. Every kid at kindergarten knew about awakened beings. Most of them dreamed of becoming hunters when they grew up. Han Sol’s dream was to become Gudetama, the lazy egg character. But if he couldn't achieve that, he wouldn’t complain about getting a cool job that everyone else wanted. [Skill Unlocked] [System Engine Malfunctioning Crafting (L): Oh no! The system engine is broken!] Crafting: Production "L?" The highest letter Han Sol had learned was S. He knew hunters were ranked up to S-rank, which he figured must be the best. But the letter before him was an L. Where did that fit? "A, B, C, D..." Han Sol whispered the alphabet to himself, trying to place it, but the system helpfully provided an explanation. [Legend (레전드): A rank one level higher than S, signifying the highest grade.] The system even provided the pronunciation, just for him. [Checking caster's age.] [Due to (Unknown Title), the child protection system has been activated.] [Quest: A child needs a reliable guardian. Let's find one!] [Reward: Unlock Child Protection Skill] Han Sol blinked at the quest window. "Guardian?" Two words surfaced in his thoughts: Mom? Dad? His eyelids felt heavy. As he began to drift, his mind filled with the image of soft, puffy clouds. From those white clouds, little hands and feet emerged, forming two small sheep. The mother and father sheep plucked tufts of their own wool to create a tiny baby lamb, then wrapped it in a warm, loving embrace. "Mom... Dad..." He needed a guardian for one simple reason. It was because Han Sol didn’t have parents. He had lived at the orphanage since he was a baby. From what he’d seen, there were only two ways an orphan like him could get parents. The first was adoption. But only a few children were ever chosen, and just wishing for it wouldn’t make a new family appear. "That won’t work." The second way was for his birth parents to come back for him. Sometimes, parents would return to the orphanage, their faces streaked with tears. They would hug their children and apologize, explaining that they had been too poor to raise them but had finally saved enough to take them home. "Maybe... Maybe my mom and dad are like that too..." Maybe the only reason they hadn't come for him yet was because they were struggling. Han Sol fiercely wiped away the tears welling in his eyes. If his parents couldn't come back because they were poor, then the answer was simple. "I have to make money!" The people on TV were always talking about how much money hunters made. There were entire shows dedicated to their incredible earnings and the fancy houses they lived in. "I can do it too!" If he became a hunter and made lots of money, he could live with his mom and dad. "Hehe." A wide grin spread across Han Sol’s face as he imagined a happy life with his parents. He immediately set some rules for himself. First Rule: Keep his earnings a secret. The well-behaved kids at the orphanage sometimes received a small allowance from the adults. But if you had too much, the older kids—especially the ones about to age out—would take it from you. Han Sol winced, the memory of older kids cornering him for his pocket money still fresh. "Yup. It has to be a secret." That meant his awakening and all the money he was going to make would be his secret alone. He had to do this without relying on anyone else. Han Sol sighed in relief, suddenly glad he hadn't managed to tell his teacher about the strange window. And then— "Han Sol, why aren’t you sleeping?" "Eek!" It was his teacher. Han Sol quickly yanked his blanket up to his chin and squeezed his eyes shut. He planned to stay perfectly still until she left, but it was no use. The gentle, rhythmic patting on his back was impossible to resist. His consciousness began to blur and fade. Is my teacher an awakened, too?! Hit by what felt like an L-rank sleep skill, Han Sol slowly drifted off into dreamland. After his awakening, Han Sol started absorbing information wherever he could find it—from the orphanage’s library, television programs, and the internet. The system's cognitive adjustments had made him incredibly sharp. He retained everything he learned, and even concepts that should have been far beyond his grasp settled into his mind with perfect clarity. In no time, Han Sol became adept at summoning his status window. Name: Han Sol Level: LV. 1 Title: ■■■ ■■■ ■■ ■■■ (Access Restricted) [Quests] [Passive Skills] (This skill helps the child unleash their creativity, laying the foundation for exceptional growth.) [Active Skills] At a glance, Han Sol’s active skills seemed ordinary, the kind any crafting-based hunter might possess. What made Han Sol special, however, was his passive skill. While normal crafters had to rely on materials dropped in dungeons, Han Sol’s passive allowed him to extract and combine materials from anything that existed in the world. The very first thing Han Sol tested "Extract-Extract" on was a Pororo chewable vitamin. [Activating skill "Extract-Extract".] As the skill took hold, the vitamin in his palm dissolved and reformed into a small, star-shaped candy. [You have acquired "Vitamin (F)".] "Ooh." He wasn't sure if this was a world-changing discovery, but for him, it was perfect. He was just a kindergartener. He couldn't go into dungeons, and he certainly didn't have any money to buy materials. So he kept experimenting, extracting and combining anything he could get his small hands on. As his proficiency grew, his "Squish-Squish" skill leveled up to E-rank. With it, he was able to craft some surprisingly interesting toys. He was just starting to imagine all the fun things he could make next when— Han Sol slapped a hand over his mouth. "Now’s not the time for this!" He couldn't get distracted by playing. He had to make money.

Chapter 2: He Saw A Blue Window