Hal's brows knitted as he saw the system update. _Tch. I guess this system never changes. Now that my chances of survival have increased due to the presence of those guys, it actually made the quest harder, by requesting me to kill the very monster it had initially issued a Survival Quest for!_ _Ah, I guess it’s inevitable. At least the penalty has already changed, and the rewards are quite clear now. Besides, stealing a kill is a good skill of mine, hehe…_ [Skill: 'Dash' has been activated!] Hal summoned his daggers and joined the fray, going straight for the boss monster. Tap, tap, tap.He ran along the walls, kicked off, then spinning through the air, he passed right over the demon’s head and stabbed its neck with his Bone sword. Roar! The demon let out a scream as the blade lodged itself deep, drawing out lava-like blood that smelled of brimstone. “Woah, I knew my instincts never let me down!” Tom smirked. After seeing Hal’s little performance, Tom felt he had been right

With a complicated look, Tom kept staring at Hal, still finding it hard to believe the kid had turned him down without batting an eyelid. As it stood, Hal seemed more interested in the loot from the hunt than a contract with the top guild in Kansas. I mean, who the hell does that? “Sir, perhaps we should wait until we get outside,” Matthew said as he walked toward his boss. “Maybe then, he will listen to what you have to say.” “But...” Tom was about to vent his frustration when the Hunters who had initially been sent to clear this dungeon finally arrived, the B-rank Hunter leading the group. “I’ll take it you guys are done over here,” the leader stated. “There! That’s him!” the D-rank Hunter blurted at the same time. “…” The leader threw an annoyed look at his subordinate before walking toward Hal, who had just risen from his position in front of the monster, the loot in hand. “Are you the Hunter who separated from the team?” he asked in a gruff voice. “That’s right,” Hal rep

Wisp! A cloud of black smoke swirled in the air, two huge black dogs with thin eyes stretched backwards, and a tail like that of a devil appeared around Hal, a black wisp of smoke arising from their body. These were the Devil dogs; they were at the King-tier, and Hal could summon two of them for now. "Two, hmm, that's quite expected, besides once my rank levels up, I'll be able to summon more of them...." Hal crossed his hand, as he looked at the Devil dog's standing right there in his living room, a sight that was only supposed to be seen in a dungeon, and if ever seen outside one, would be as a result of a successful dungeon break, which was an extremely rare occurrence. It would attract a lot of attention if people found out he could summon monsters only found in dungeons. Worse, people could start getting ideas, and might mistake him for a human-type monster. _Hehe, at this rate I could be called a necromancer, since I can now raise dead monsters, and get them to do my bid

The black door slid shut behind Hal with a low hiss, sealing him away from the lobby’s red carpet and polished bronze. A rush of chilled air swept over him, and as his eyes adjusted, the inside of the gaming hall opened before him. The place was enormous, more like a futuristic arena than an arcade. The lights were dim, tinted blue, and the air carried the faint hum of machinery. Pod chambers lined the walls in neat rows—sleek, egg-shaped capsules glowing faintly with veins of neon light. Hunters milled about the space, some waiting their turn, others laughing and chatting like gamblers at a race track. The room pulsed with quiet energy, the atmosphere tense but playful, competitive yet relaxed. Clusters of people stood before the giant leaderboard display at the center of the hall. The holographic board hovered in mid-air, its translucent surface divided into sections by rank: E, D, C, B, A, and S. Each list displayed the top ten names, their scores, clear times, and a glowing

“CI?… Personification of the Celestial System?” The words tumbled across Hal’s mind like a stone skipping water, leaving ripples of disbelief. His chest tightened. His eyes darted across the dim pod chamber, searching for the owner of the voice that had echoed inside his head. But then, he didn’t need to look far. A meter in front of him, the air began to warp. It was like light itself was bending, folding into pixelated fragments that hummed and shimmered. The warped light trickled downward, condensing into the faint outline of feet. Slowly, like a sculptor chiseling marble, the rest of a form assembled: legs, a waist, arms unfurling like streams of light, and finally…. A head. A face. Hal’s breath caught. Standing before him was not flesh and blood, but a being woven of holographic threads, a mosaic of pixel-light constantly shifting between transparency and form. She was slim and graceful, with contours that carried a faint glow. Her eyes, however, were the most st