At exactly one hour past Kale’s departure, the silence outside the infirmary shattered with the synchronized thud of boots. Five men dressed in pitch-black uniforms approached Leo, each one towering over him like walking tanks. Their suits shimmered faintly in the sun, armored yet seamless. Black combat gloves, steel-toed boots, and dark shades that masked their expressions — the complete image of elite enforcement.Compared to Leo’s lean frame, they were gargantuan, with shoulders so broad they could cast shadows over him. The emblem of the Central Government Guild was etched in silver on their left shoulders. One of them motioned, and without a word, Leo fell into step, flanked on all sides as they guided him toward a waiting black van. The same emblem was displayed boldly across the doors — a silver eye encased in a circle, watching everything.Leo felt their aura — steady, cold, suffocating. These men were far above his level. He could sense the difference, even if he couldn’t quan

Two heavily armored guards escorted Leo down a narrow, dimly lit hallway. The walls were a sterile white, but the flickering overhead lights cast long, eerie shadows along the floor, making every step feel like a march toward execution.At the end of the hall stood a thick, metallic door — massive, imposing, humming faintly with energy.One of the guards stepped forward, pressed his hand against a glowing blue panel.With a hydraulic hiss, the door slid open, revealing the Memory Analysis Chamber.Leo’s breath hitched.The room was like something out of a science fiction nightmare.Cold. Metallic. Inhuman.Banks of monitors lined the far walls, displaying static-ridden images and streams of unreadable data. The scent of disinfectant was so strong it stung his nostrils. At the center of the room was the chair.It wasn’t just any chair — it looked like a mechanical throne, dark steel with thick leather straps dangling ominously from the armrests and footrests.Above it, a spider-like ar

The air outside the Central Government Guild office was sharp with the scent of steel and city grime, the late afternoon sun bleeding orange across the concrete sidewalks. The hum of engines, chatter from passing hunters, and the distant whistle of automated transports painted a symphony of civilization's pulse. Amid the chaos, Leo tucked his hands into the pockets of his worn hoodie, shoulders slightly hunched, eyes fixed on the ground.His thoughts spun in quiet disarray. How did the system manage to block out its own traces from the memory extraction? The Rift data had been partially preserved, yet every moment the system had intervened was a complete void. Not even a flicker. It was as though the system had slipped through reality's fingers.Leo sighed, kicking a stray pebble. "Well, it’s not my headache," he muttered to himself. "As long as the system stays hidden, I should be fine."His eyes flickered with realization."Oh right!" he said out loud, snapping his fingers. "The mis

The morning air hung heavy over Cinder Valley, thick with fog and the iron-scent of distant magic. The sun had barely crept over the jagged horizon, casting long shadows across the group of armed hunters that stood like sentinels on the rocky edge. Clad in a chaotic medley of armor, robes, and reinforced suits, they ranged in power from battle-hardened D-class to the almost mythical S-class. And amidst them, like a drop of ink in a vat of steel, stood Leo—the sole F-class hunter.Leo swallowed, adjusting the strap of his light pack and wondering, not for the first time, how the hell he’d been roped into this suicide mission. His hood shadowed his face, and his fingers flexed around the dagger at his side—a pitiful weapon compared to the arsenal carried by those around him.A man stepped forward from the group. Tall and broad-shouldered with a cruel scar coiling from wrist to bicep, the leader’s presence silenced murmurs before he even spoke. His voice, when it came, rolled like thunder

The battle had ended—or so everyone thought.Gareth Ryne, the team’s raid leader and the only S-Class among them, stood before the fallen corpse of the Shadow Wyrm, its massive body coiled in a grotesque death spiral. The stench of venom and scorched flesh lingered in the air, heavy and sickly. Blood pooled around its partially severed neck, a faint purple hue gleaming under the flickering enchantment torches.Gareth unsheathed his blade again—a titan-forged cleaver enchanted with obsidian runes. With a calm expression masking a burning frustration, he crouched beside the beast and whispered to himself, “How did that punk know the core’s location? What skill does that nobody have…?” He turned slightly and examined Leo who was having a chat with Sammy.He wasn’t used to being outshined, especially not by someone like Leonis Ardent—an F-Class rookie who’d come out of nowhere, spewing intel like a seasoned tactician.He gritted his teeth and drove his blade into the chest of the Shadow Wy