The wind cut at Johnquis's face as he ran across cracked concrete, each step hitting rusted catwalks and crumbling rooftops. The red mark on his map blinked steady, getting closer with every step. The city was half-dead, shadows shifting through the ruins under the moonlight.
He stopped at the edge of the mission range.
The target was in sight. He looked up. A ruined skyscraper.
A system ping echoed in his ear.
[TIER-E NEST IDENTIFIED]
Location Type: Rooftop Hatchling Den
Eater Activity: Level 1 Confirmed — Level 2 possible.
Queen Type: Hatchling Queen (LVL 1)
Swarm Status: Minor
Recommended Team Size: 2–4
Status: Squad of 4
Proceed with caution.
He shouted, "Wait—what?! Squad of four?! This is a Tier E mission? But it was on the F-rank board! Oh no… this is my first time teaming up on a quest. Do I look okay? Do I smell bad?"
He sniffed himself and winced. "Ugh, I stink. Must be from that Eater I wrestled earlier… What are they gonna think of me?"
A voice called from nearby.
"Hey! Get over here! We're starting the quest in a minute!"
Startled, Johnquis shouted, "A-alright! On my way!!"
He wiped his hands on his pants, smearing grime and dried blood. His heart beating fast, not from fear of the Eaters, but from sudden nerves. A Squad. Real people. Real teammates. He hadn't spoken to anyone in a month.
He jogged toward the source of the voice. A few turns later, he found them.
Three of them were already there, waiting by a wrecked food truck. They used its roof to study a glowing map. Two men and a girl, all wearing the same black high-tech suits as Johnquis. Each had a glowing stone embedded on the back of their right hand.
Johnquis eyed the stones. "That girl's got a reddish-brown stone, that's bronze rank. That man's stone is the same color. The other guy's stone is grey, must be steel rank, probably the Captain."
The tall man in his mid-thirties looked up first. "You the last-minute pick?" he asked.
Johnquis replied. "Y-yeah. Just accepted the mission a few minutes ago—"
"Oh, fuck!" the man muttered, staring at Johnquis's black stone."Why'd we get an unranked on our team? I told you over and over we need someone who's useful. I don't have time to babysit! What the hell!"
Lex replied, annoyed, rubbing the back of her head. "Apologize, my love. I forgot to set the rank requirement on the listing. I panicked! If we didn't get one more member, the system would've kicked us, and others would've snatched the quest. We just needed one more body after Rex ditched us last minute."
"It's alright, love. We all make mistakes." Helock his eyes with Johnquis. "Get over here and sync your stone."
"Oh, why?" Johnquis asked.
"What do you mean, why?" He groaned. "Don't tell me this is your first time in a Squad."
"Uh... yeah. I thought you had to apply first on the Squad finder to join one. This just popped up, kind of a surprise—"
"Yes, a surprise! A real damn surprise on my end. For your information, unranked, every quest starting from E-rank requires a Squad. If you don't have one, the system just throws you in as a fill-in."
Mars grabbed Johnquis's hand without warning and pressed their stones together. A faint pulse of light flicked between them.
Mars tapped his Eater Stone. A screen flickered to life over his eyes.
"Let's see what we're working with…"
Johnquis profile appear on his view.
Name: [Johnquis]
Rank: [Unranked]
Feed Count: [9,900 / 20,000]
StarRate: [★☆☆☆☆]
Role: [Supporter - Control]
Status: [In Squad]
Mars tensed. "Okay, Johnquis, you're unranked. But what the—why do you only have one star? What the hell is going on?"
Lex looked at Johnquis. "Whoa! Seriously, one star? Let me see!"
She jumped down onto the food truck roof, grabbed Johnquis's hand with a sigh, and tapped her core stone. "C'mon. Protocol's protocol."
Another faint pulse. Her eyes flicked, catching the data feed.
Randy followed, smacking his stone to Johnquis's. "Might as well see what kind of deadbeat we're dragging around."
Both of them went quiet for a split second as Johnquis's profile popped up in their view.
Lex's jaw dropped. "You've gotta be kidding me… Like, no way, dude!"
Randy read aloud, "Johnquis… One-star rating… Role: Supporter, Control subclass. Huh. That sounds familiar. I swear I've heard that profile before."
Lex's face twisted, part disbelief, part recognition. "No freakin' way. Randy, he's the freshie with the chain! They call it The Leash, right? You're that guy? The one who fights up close, hugging every damn Eater to death? I thought that was a joke! The Leashed Blade! Who the hell uses a chain as their Eater? Oh my god! Hahaha!"
Randy gave a low whistle. "What kind of loser gets stuck with a leash? How can you fight an Eater with that? People are talking about you, man. It's just stupid."
Lex laughed harder. "Dude… they said you were cursed. The WEAKEST EATER BLADE EVER EXISTED! I thought it was some urban legend and now you're on our team? Hah! I can't, this is hilarious!"
Randy added. "And didn't his little sister leave him behind 'cause he was too weak?"
She and Randy burst into laughter.
Johnquis gave a fake laugh, "Yeah. That was me. The Leashed Blade. Real scary title, right?"
Mars stepped closer."Listen, unranked. I don't care if this is your first E-rank mission on a squad. You're here now. I can't ditch you even if I want to. System'll flag me. So don't mess this up."
He turned back "Nest's just ahead. Rooftop level. Queen's confirmed. Other Eaters are probably out hunting to feed her. We wipe them first, then hit the nest. Stay sharp, keep up, and don't speak unless spoken to."
He pointed without looking. "You stick behind Lex. She tells you to move, you move. She tells you to shut up, you shut up."
Johnquis replied calmly, "Understood."
A chime echoed in his ears. He checked his Eater Stone and tapped it.
[SYSTEM NOTICE]
You are now part of: [Active Squad]
Status: Mission Initializing
Time Limit: 6h00m
Objective: Eliminate all Eaters in identified nest. Confirm Hatchling Queen kill.
Another screen blinked:
[SYNCED Squad MEMBERS]
Name: [Mars]
Rank: [Steel]
Feed Count: [85,000/130,000]
Star Rate: [★★★☆☆]
Role: [Breaker]
Status: [In Squad]
Name: [Lex]
Rank: [Bronze]
Feed Count: [25,000/70,000]
Star Rate: [★★☆☆☆]
Role: [Ranger]
Status: [In Squad]
Name: [Randy]
Rank: [Bronze]
Feed Count: [27,200/70,000]
Star Rate: [★★☆☆☆]
Role: [Attacker]
Status: [In Squad]
Johnquis scanned their stats in silence. His eyes locked on his own number; One Star Rate. Every mission done alone. Days, weeks and month wasted because of his weakness.
He remembered every fight, barely surviving, pushing just to add a little to his feed count. A slow, painful grind.
"I'm envious… They get to do missions together, but I've been solo this whole time. Grinding harder, slower than anyone else… And the only family I had left, I let her down."
He watched Mars ahead, flexing his hands, already radiating confidence and power. Randy adjusting his gear, cocky smile never leaving his face. Lex clung to Mars's arm. They looked like a real team.
"If only my Eater Blade was made to kill… Why do I have a leash instead? Or maybe… maybe I really am just weak."
The words from earlier echoed again. And this time, they cut deeper.