Becoming a Hunter
Author: Henry storm
last update2025-06-01 02:30:23

The air outside the hospital was heavy with moisture, the scent of wet pavement and distant factory smoke clinging to Henry’s lungs. Neon streetlights flickered, casting jagged shadows across the cracked sidewalk as he stepped away from the hospital’s looming silhouette. The protests of the nurses and doctors echoed in his mind—You need more time, Mr. Gray—but he’d brushed them off. Staying in that sterile room wasn’t an option, not when something inside him was pushing him forward.

[Quest: Register as a Hunter within 24 hours. Failure will bring consequences.]

The Core’s words had burned into his mind, cold and unyielding. He’d asked what “consequences” meant—death, pain, something worse? The system stayed silent, leaving a knot of dread in his gut. Whatever it was, Henry wasn’t about to test it.

He pulled his hood up, hands shoved deep into his pockets, and moved through Neo-Veridia’s dim streets. The city pulsed with weary life—shadowed figures hurried past, avoiding eye contact, some muttering into earpieces, others clutching bags like lifelines. The outskirts were a ghost of what the city used to be, a maze of shuttered factories and crumbling dreams, where only the strong thrived and the weak clung to survival.

It had been two weeks since he’d walked these streets, but nothing had changed. The same hunger, the same desperation, the same unspoken rule: Survive.

When Henry pushed open the door to their apartment, the air smelled of stale coffee and damp wood. The faint creak of the hinges was drowned out by a gasp.

“Henry!” Lily rushed toward him, her dark hair bouncing in its messy ponytail. She threw her arms around him, nearly knocking him off balance. “You’re home?”

He steadied himself, patting her back awkwardly. “Yeah, I… left the hospital.”

Lily pulled back, her brow furrowing. “You what?”

Tom, sprawled on their threadbare couch, looked up with a raised eyebrow. “You just walked out?”

Henry nodded, shrugging off his jacket. “Didn’t see the point in staying. They said I was fine.”

Lily rubbed her temples, exasperation clear in her voice. “Fine? Henry, you were in a coma for two weeks!”

“I feel okay,” he said, though the hum of the Core in his chest made him question that. “Really.”

Tom tilted his head, studying him. “You look… different.”

Henry tensed. “Different how?”

“I dunno,” Tom said, squinting. “Like you’re more… awake. Sharper.”

Henry forced a neutral expression, his heart skipping. Could they see it? The change the Core was making? “Just glad to be out of that place,” he said, deflecting.

Lily sighed, her eyes softening. “You should’ve told us you were coming. We could’ve met you there.”

Henry glanced around the apartment—small, cramped, the walls stained with time. The kitchen corner was bare, the fridge probably empty. “Where’s Mom?” he asked, already knowing the answer.

The room went quiet.

Lily’s face hardened. “She didn’t even ask about you.”

Tom crossed his arms, his voice low. “We told her you woke up. She barely blinked.”

Henry’s jaw tightened, a familiar ache settling in his chest. Their mother had been a ghost since their father died, retreating into her own world. But this? Not even checking on him after a coma? It cut deeper than he wanted to admit.

“You don’t have to think about her,” Lily said softly, her voice steady despite the pain in her eyes. “It’s just us now.”

Henry exhaled, nodding. “Yeah. I know.”

Sleep didn’t come easy. Henry lay on his creaky cot, staring at the cracked ceiling. Memories swirled—his father’s laugh, his death, the weight of it all. And now this system, the Core, humming inside him like a second heartbeat. He thought of Eric, the Hunter who’d failed, whose mistake had cost their father his life. One day, Henry would face him. Not now, though. Now, he had a deadline.

[Quest: Register as a Hunter within 24 hours.]

Tomorrow, he’d do it. He had to.

Morning came with the smell of burnt toast and the clatter of his siblings getting ready for school. Lily was shoving books into her bag, while Tom wolfed down a piece of blackened bread.

“You two need to eat more,” Henry said, rubbing sleep from his eyes.

Tom snorted. “Says the guy who was unconscious for two weeks.”

Lily glanced at him, her expression cautious. “You sure you’re okay being alone today?”

“I’ll be fine,” Henry said, standing and stretching. “Got something to take care of.”

She frowned but didn’t push. After quick goodbyes, they left, the door clicking shut behind them.

Henry took a deep breath. It was time.

The Hunter’s Association building stood out like a beacon in Neo-Veridia’s decay. Sleek and modern, its glass walls gleamed under the morning sun. Inside, holographic screens flashed with hunt reports, dungeon clears, and rank updates. People moved with purpose—some grizzled veterans, others nervous newcomers like Henry.

He approached the registration desk, where a woman with short, blue hair barely looked up from her screen. “Name?”

“Henry Gray.”

“Age?”

“Twenty-one.”

“Combat experience?”

He hesitated. “None.”

She sighed, tapping her screen. “Expected rank?”

“F1.”

She raised an eyebrow but didn’t comment. “Fifty gold.”

Henry winced. Money was always tight, but he pulled out his card, the scanner beeping as it drained his account. The woman slid a black ID card across the counter. “Congrats, F1 Hunter,” she said, her tone flat. “Try not to die.”

Henry gripped the ID, his pulse quickening. That was it. The first step.

As he turned to leave, the Core stirred.

[Quest Completed: Register as a Hunter. Reward: +200 EXP, +10 Skill Points, F1 Ground Blade.]

A surge of energy coursed through him, his muscles tingling, sharper, stronger. He felt alive, like his body was waking up in a way it never had before.

Then—

[New Quest: Defeat a Dungeon Boss. Solo.]

Henry froze, his breath catching. A dungeon boss? Alone? He was barely a Hunter, an F1 with no experience. His grip tightened on the ID, the plastic creaking.

The Core offered no details, no hints. Just the quest, cold and absolute.

He wasn’t ready. Not even close.

But he had no choice.

The dungeon facility loomed at the edge of Neo-Veridia’s rundown district, a fortress of steel and concrete. Unlike the city’s polished center, this place was built for survival—reinforced walls, high-tech scanners, barbed wire glinting under floodlights. The air buzzed with strange energy, like the hum of the Core but heavier, wilder.

Henry approached the checkpoint, where soldiers in dark combat gear stood watch, their rifles held with practiced ease. Their helmets hid their faces, but their presence screamed danger. His new Hunter ID would get him inside, but it didn’t guarantee he’d come out alive.

He steeled himself, the Core’s quest echoing in his mind. Whatever lay ahead, he’d face it. He had to.

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  • Unstoppable Force.

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  • The last stand

    The dungeon trembled, as if the Stonebreaker Troll’s defeat had shaken its very core. Dust swirled like a ghostly fog, settling over the cracked chamber floor, where fissures spread like shattered glass under Henry’s boots. The aftermath of his bare-knuckled brawl was etched into the stone—trenches carved by the troll’s club, dents from his fists.The troll lay sprawled, its massive frame still, its iron club discarded beside it. One of the dungeon’s fiercest bosses, brought low by a lone F-rank Hunter. It hadn’t expected Henry to be a threat, not some “insect” who’d dared to fight back.Henry flexed his knuckles, the sting of raw power pulsing through them. It hurt, but it was the kind of pain that fueled him. The troll had felt it too—every punch, every crack in its rocky hide. He rolled his shoulders, a grin tugging at his lips. “Not bad for a nobody,” he muttered.The beast’s final roar still echoed in his ears, a mix of rage and disbelief. Its glowing yellow eyes had dimmed, its

  • The shattering clash

    The boss chamber was a pressure cooker, the air thick with the weight of the Stonebreaker Troll’s presence. Each breath Henry took felt heavy, laced with the damp scent of stone and the faint tang of his own blood. The troll loomed before him, its four-meter frame nearly brushing the cavern’s ceiling. Its rocky skin glinted in the dim dungeon light, muscles rippling like a living mountain. Its yellow eyes glowed, locked onto Henry, watching, waiting.This wasn’t a mindless beast. It was calculating, sizing him up. Waiting for him to make the first move.Henry’s grip tightened on his sword, his body taut, heart steady despite the ache in his ribs from Boros’s earlier hit. He’d faced monsters before, but this was different. This thing knew how to fight.“Alright, big guy,” he muttered, rolling his shoulders to shake off the lingering pain. “Let’s see if you’re all muscle and no brains.”He shifted his stance, then moved. [Dash] kicked in, his body blurring forward in a zigzag, unpredict

  • The chase

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  • Unseen rivalry

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