Re:Ant Lord - Chapter 173: Serpent of Lightning

The year was 2026, and the world wasn't what it used to be. Ever since the Abyss Gates cracked open three years ago, spilling monsters and dungeons across the planet, life had turned into a chaotic mess. Cities were half-ruined, half-rebuilt, and people clung to whatever normalcy they could find. Hunters—those brave or crazy enough to fight the monsters—became the new heroes. Everyone else? Well, they just tried to survive.Fin wasn't a Hunter. He wasn't a hero either.He was just… Fin. A lanky 19-year-old with messy brown hair, a chipped front tooth from a dumb skateboard accident, and a power that everyone called useless. Absorption. Sounds cool, right? Like he could suck up energy or steal someone's strength. Nope. All it did was let him “feel” things he touched a little more than normal. He could tell you the exact texture of a brick wall or how warm a coffee mug was—big whoop. No fireballs, no super strength, no flashy moves. Just a glorified touchy-feely trick.“Fin, you gonna eat that sandwich or just stare at it like it's gonna confess its life story?” Meg's voice snapped him out of his thoughts.He blinked and looked across the rickety table at his best friend. Meg was short, loud, and had a wild mop of dyed purple hair that she swore made her look “intimidating.” It didn't.

Just days before his final discharge, Sergeant Shin Young-joon, a military chef by profession, witnessed the doom of the world.An apocalypse, that came out of nowhere and ruined the world that he used to know.In the blink of an eye his battalion fell into shambles, all the communication lines, and radio frequencies were severed, and before him was a message stating:[Congratulations on your awakening!] [Occupation: Novice Chef Lv.1] If only he had a profession like a warrior or an assassin, he might have attempted to stand his ground alone.But what was given to him was clearly the supporting job of a chef.With the recent developments in progress, he didn’t have any choices, other than saying, “From now on, I’ll be the one to feed you all.”

He was the hunting hound of the Baskerville family.

But at the end, he was branded as a traitor and executed.

— — —

Now, he has returned… after 40 years.

“This time, they will be my prey… and I’ll bite every single one of them to death!”

One day, the majority of humanity had a collective thought.

‘I wish the world would just collapse.’

And then, that wish came true.