2025-04-08 21:07:49Meanwhile, in a large, opulent office adorned with dark mahogany walls, gold trim, and shelves of ancient artifacts, a man stood tall by the full-length window. He looked to be around six feet, clad in a sharp black suit that hugged his muscular frame. His presence exuded authority. His sharp eyes scanned the horizon beyond the glass, lost in thought.
Behind him stood a man with peach-colored hair slicked back neatly, a single monocle perched on his left eye, magnifying the sharp gleam in it. His name was Cassian Vale.
“Mr. Ryu,” Cassian began, his voice polished, professional. “The situation in Darkvale Forest is becoming increasingly unstable. Reports suggest the Nightscale Crawlers are growing more aggressive.”
Ryu turned slowly to face him, his jawline sharp, his expression unreadable. “Have we rounded up the D-class hunters?”
Cassian nodded. “Yes, sir. They're assembled and awaiting your orders.”
Ryu walked back to his grand desk, sitting down with a measured sigh. He laced his fingers together. “The Crawlers are just F-class...but if they swarm, they could rival an E-class beast. Possibly even D-class in destruction if they continue to copulate unchecked.”
Cassian's brow furrowed slightly. “Understood.”
“Send the hunters out within the hour. Make sure they’re well-equipped,” Ryu ordered, the steel in his voice unmistakable.
Cassian gave a curt nod and turned to leave, his steps silent.
Just as the door closed behind him, it swung open again without a knock. A man strode in, his jet-black hair tousled stylishly, a smirk tugging on his lips. He didn’t wait to be invited. He sat across from Ryu like he owned the place.
Ryu's eyes narrowed. “Logan. What the hell are you doing here?”
Logan chuckled, crossing one leg over the other. His black combat gear hugged him like a second skin, and the aura he exuded made the room feel heavier. “Just came to pay the guild a visit. You should be honored. Not every day an S-class hunter takes a stroll to your boring-ass office.”
Ryu rolled his eyes. “I’m an S-class too. I don’t go around parading it like a damn badge of honor. And I won’t be content until I hit M-class. Unlike you, who treats S-class like some VIP club.”
Logan scoffed, a bit stung. “Harsh. Real harsh. You never change, do you?”
The silence stretched for a moment before Logan leaned forward slightly.
“You planning to recruit? Things are getting... messy out there. Monsters multiplying at insane speeds. Something’s off.”
Ryu gave a slow nod. “Already on it. Other guilds are scrambling too.”
Back in Darkvale Forest
Leo crouched behind a massive jagged boulder. Blood trickled from the corner of his lips. His breath was ragged. He wiped his mouth with the back of his sleeve.
“Fuck...” he muttered under his breath. “That mid-boss is insane.”
He used the reflective surface of his light dagger to peek around the rock. In the warped image, he saw it.
A massive Nightscale Warden—the mid-boss.
It was nearly eight feet long, serpentine, with thick obsidian-black scales that shimmered with violet pulses. Its body was armored like plated steel, and its numerous legs ended in serrated talons. Two glowing crimson eyes scanned the tunnel like searchlights.
[Mid-Boss: Nightscale Warden | Rank: E+]
Leo’s body trembled as he recalled the encounter. Three hours of evading. Three hours of near-death brushes. Three hours, and he had already coughed up blood thrice. The Punishment Protocol was relentless.
“I have to finish this... or I’m dead either way.”
Just as he braced himself, a deep screech echoed. The Warden turned.
BOOM!
The massive boulder Leo hid behind was suddenly ripped from the ground by a lash of the creature’s tail and flung aside like a toy. Dust and stone rained down as Leo was left exposed, blinking through the debris.
[Warning: You have been detected.]
“No shit!” Leo cursed and rolled sideways as the Warden lunged.
Its jaw snapped where Leo had been a heartbeat ago, digging into the earth instead.
Leo scrambled to his feet and sprinted, zig-zagging as the beast chased. The tunnel vibrated with the creature’s screeches.
[System Alert: Critical Health Threshold Approaching.]
[System Notice: Emergency Protocol Initiated. Temporary Skill Unlock: Shadow Blitz]
Suddenly, Leo's body felt a rush of dark energy. He blinked—and in an instant, the world around him blurred.
[Temporary Skill Acquired: Shadow Blitz - A high-speed dash technique allowing the user to move at near-invisible speed for 3 seconds. Cooldown: 1 minute.]
He vanished from the creature’s path and reappeared behind it.
“Whoa...”
The beast whipped around, confused. Leo didn’t hesitate.
With his light dagger glowing faintly, he ran toward the underbelly where the scales were weakest. The Warden struck down, and Leo Shadow Blitzed again, appearing directly beneath its core.
“Come on, come on...”
He thrust the dagger upwards, piercing the soft, pulsating flesh. The Warden let out a screech that shook the very tunnel.
Leo barely rolled away before its body slammed down.
[Critical Hit. Mid-Boss HP: 47%]
The battle raged on. Leo had to use every second of his temporary skill, each moment dancing between life and death. The Warden’s tail struck him once, sending him sprawling, ribs cracking. But he pushed on.
With a final Shadow Blitz, Leo landed atop the beast’s head and drove the light dagger down through its skull.
A shudder. A final screech.
Then stillness.
[Mid-Boss Eliminated.] [Reward: Venom Gland (E), Beast Core (D), Skill Scroll (Shadow Blitz - 50% Sync)]
Leo collapsed beside the corpse, panting, blood-soaked and bruised.
“Holy...shit...”
The system screen flickered before him.
[New Achievement Unlocked: "Survivor of the Abyss"] [Stat Points +5. Skill Retention Unlocked: Shadow Blitz - Permanently Acquired (Level 1)]
Leo laughed weakly, a delirious grin on his face.
“Guess I’m not completely useless after all..."
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Latest Chapter
Chapter 33: Mansion
Leo sat lazily on a stone bench outside what had once been his ramshackle hut, a cold can of soda hissing faintly in his hand. The carbonation tickled his throat as he took a long gulp, eyes fixed on the translucent screen hovering before him.Through the system’s projection, he could see the chaos unfolding inside the rift — Gareth and his squad locked in a desperate struggle with the mutated hybrid. To Leo, it looked less like a battle and more like a particularly bloody play staged for his entertainment.Inside the gargoyle ring, Mira’s sigh carried into his mind. “You’re cruel, Master. Sitting here drinking soda while they bleed out in there?”Leo smirked, tilting the can back. “Cruel? No. Call it… entertainment. Besides, I don’t see why that Kale guy has had it out for me for so long. He’s practically obsessed.”Mira’s weary voice dripped with exasperation. “Obsession or not, you don’t have to keep controlling the corpse of that demon. You already proved your point when you dropp
Chapter 32: Guests 2
Sammy—” Gareth turned toward the assassin. Her eyes gleamed sharp beneath the hood. “You’re my shadow. Flank, eliminate, and report back. Nothing escapes your sight.”Sammy bowed her head slightly. “Understood.”Then Gareth’s eyes landed on Kale, who had been smirking the whole time. His jaw tightened. “And you…”Kale raised a brow. “What about me, Commander?”“You’re here to supervise. So do just that. Stay. Out. Of. Trouble.” Gareth’s voice cut like steel.Kale’s smirk twitched. He wanted to spit back an insult, but the coldness in Gareth’s eyes silenced him. His teeth ground together, but he said nothing.Sammy, watching from the side, gave Kale a single, dismissive glance before vanishing into the shadows.Just then, Yuto’s voice buzzed through Gareth’s comm.“Commander! The readings inside the rift just changed! Mana surge has dropped. Movement inside has… ceased entirely.”Gareth frowned deeply. “Seized? As in—whatever was fighting in there… stopped?”“Yes,” Yuto replied, voice
Chapter 31: Guests
The cavern reeked of blood and burning ichor. Leo’s breath came in sharp rasps, sweat dripping into the open gash along his ribs. Each movement sent lances of fire through his side, but he gritted his teeth and pressed on.A towering brute—the ogre-bat hybrid—swung its massive claw.[Skill Activated: Quick Step]Leo blinked sideways, but pain slowed him just enough—the edge of the strike clipped his shoulder, sending him sprawling. His dagger skittered across the stone floor.“Leo!” Mira snarled, swooping low. Her wings lashed like whips, striking back two wolf-spine hybrids. She slammed into the brute, her claws digging into its throat. But the monster’s hand clamped around her wing, wrenching it at an unnatural angle.Crack.Mira screamed—a sound that tore through the cavern. Her stone hide held, but the joint bent grotesquely. The wing twitched, half-crippled, forcing her to the ground.Leo pushed up, coughing blood. His dagger answered his call, flashing back into his palm.[Skill
Chapter 30: The battle had just begun.
“Meat! Meat! Meat!”Leo’s jaw clenched. He leaned toward Mira just enough for her to hear him. “We’re not food,” he whispered, eyes narrowing. “They just don’t know it yet.”The hybrids surged closer, claws clacking, teeth gnashing—preparing for the feast.The system’s warning blared again in his head:[Warning: Time remaining to clear Rift—10 hours, 57 minutes]Leo groaned. “I get it, System. You’re training me, but seriously, throwing me into this hellhole with monsters that look like they crawled out of a dumpster fire? A bit extreme, don’t you think?”Still, the thought of wealth and power pulled a smirk from him.Mira, pale and clutching her stomach, caught sight of that smile. Her lips trembled. “Master… I hate when you smile like that! It means you’re about to do something reckless! Let’s just get out of here!”Leo chuckled. “Of course.”But “out of here” wasn’t going to be so easy.The hybrid creatures—half rotting humans fused with reptilian scales and insect-like mandibles—c
Chapter 29: Dispatched.
Meanwhile, in the Central Government Guild Headquarters, the atmosphere was unusually heavy. The marble floors gleamed beneath the golden chandeliers, and guards stood rigid at every doorway. The president’s office, however, was quieter, though tension rippled in the air like a bowstring drawn too tight.A man in a white lab suit, his glasses slightly fogged from his hurried pace, burst into the room. His breathing was uneven, but his voice carried urgency.“Mr. Chu!” he exclaimed, “We detected a strange energy from an area off the eastern coast!”Mr. Haruki Chu who was in a virtual meeting with few subordinates regarding expanding the hunters library and providing free access paused. His pen stilled above the documents he was reviewing, and he lifted his head slowly, frowning.“Jasper,” he said evenly, “give me the coordinates.”The man, Jasper, fumbled through his datapad and handed it over. “Until this morning, the energy was stable, neutral even. It seemed dormant, like it had bee
Chapter 28: Dangling Skulls
The system directed Leo and Mira towards a red pulsing rift that loomed in the distance; beating like a living heart within the depths of the forest. The closer Leo and Mira walked toward it, the thicker the air became. The atmosphere was heavy, charged with something unnatural, as if the woods themselves were trying to push them back.Leo’s body stiffened. His chest tightened until each breath burned his lungs. The pressure weighed him down, making his veins bulge beneath his skin. His vision blurred at the edges, and his lips parted desperately, gasping for air that refused to come.“D–Damn it!” Leo cursed under his breath, clutching at his throat. “The system’s trying to kill me!”Mira, alarmed, reached for him. But to her shock, she was breathing normally, unaffected. She blinked in confusion, her foxlike ears twitching as if sensing the abnormality in the air. “Master? Master! What’s wrong? I’m fine!”Before panic could fully take over, the familiar blue interface of the system ma
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