HUNTERS ARRIVE
A LOUD EXPLOSION SHOOK THE HOUSE.
BLINDING LIGHT CUT THROUGH THE DARKNESS.
"MOVE IN!" A DEEP VOICE ROARED.
SUDDENLY THE MONSTERS WERE SCREAMING. ARMORED FIGURES STORMED INTO THE ROOM, WIELDING WEAPONS THAT GLEAMED WITH ENERGY. ONE HUNTER SWUNG A MASSIVE GREAT SWORD, SPLITTING A GOBLIN CLEAN IN HALF. ANOTHER FIRED A CROSSBOW THAT RELEASED SHARDS OF LIGHT, TEARING THROUGH THEIR TWISTED BODIES.
RYUJIN WATCHED IN SHOCK AS THE HUNTERS SLAUGHTERED THEM WITH PRECISION.
EACH MONSTER THAT HAD DESTROYED HIS LIFE WAS BEING CUT DOWN… BUT IT DIDN'T FEEL LIKE ENOUGH.
IN LESS THAN A MINUTE, IT WAS OVER.
THE FLOOR WAS LITTERED WITH GREEN BLOOD AND MUTILATED CORPSES.
HUNTERS AND THE SYSTEM
RYUJIN HAD HEARD ABOUT THEM—HUNTERS.
THEY WERE THE ONLY LINE OF DEFENSE AGAINST THE GATES.
EVERY TIME A GATE OPENED, MONSTERS FROM ANOTHER DIMENSION POURED THROUGH. TO FIGHT BACK, CERTAIN HUMANS AWAKENED POWERS. THOSE HUMANS WERE RANKED BASED ON THEIR STRENGTH—
F-RANK – THE WEAKEST, BARELY STRONGER THAN NORMAL HUMANS.
D-RANK TO B-RANK – TRAINED ENOUGH TO CLEAR LOW AND MID-LEVEL GATES.
A-RANK AND ABOVE – POWERFUL ENOUGH TO DESTROY ARMIES OF MONSTERS.
HUNTERS WORKED UNDER THE ASSOCIATION, AN ORGANIZATION THAT REGULATED GATES, EVACUATED CIVILIANS, AND SENT TEAMS TO CLEAR THREATS.
AND THEN THERE WERE THE GATES THEMSELVES—RANKED IN THE SAME WAY.
F-RANK GATES WERE CONSIDERED SAFE.
S-RANK GATES COULD DESTROY CITIES IF LEFT UNCHECKED.
RYUJIN REMEMBERED THE WHISPERS HE HAD OVERHEARD ONCE… ABOUT SOMETHING ELSE.
A TALL HUNTER WITH A SCAR ACROSS HIS FACE KNELT IN FRONT OF RYUJIN.
"HEY, KID. YOU'RE SAFE NOW," HE SAID, HIS VOICE LOW, ALMOST SYMPATHETIC.
SAFE?
RYUJIN STARED AT HIM BLANKLY.
SAFE MEANT NOTHING.
NOT WHEN HIS FAMILY WAS GONE.
THE HUNTERS CHECKED THE HOUSE AND LEFT, TAKING THE BODIES OF THE MONSTERS WITH THEM. RYUJIN STOOD ALONE IN THE RUINS, THE COLD WIND CUTTING THROUGH HIS SKIN.
HE LOOKED AT THE BLOOD-SOAKED FLOOR WHERE HIS PARENTS HAD FALLEN.
HE FELT NOTHING BUT A BLACK, BURNING VOID IN HIS CHEST.
"THIS WORLD TOOK EVERYTHING FROM ME," HE WHISPERED TO HIMSELF.
HIS EYES NARROWED, AND FOR THE FIRST TIME, HIS VOICE WAS FILLED WITH SOMETHING DARKER THAN PAIN.
"ONE DAY… I'LL TAKE EVERYTHING FROM IT."