I remember how it all started. I was only 4 and it was just me and my dad and we were the only family we had after my mom disappeared.
I wanted to help him as much as I could. He loved his wife more than anything in the world. He never re-married after she disappeared, he only thought about her and me. He told me many stories about her. I've always wished I could remember how she was. She went missing after I turned 4, my father always made her sound like if she were a god every time he talked about her.She was a hunter, a well known hunter that everyone envied.
Not all hunters are good hunters. I've learned that the hard way, I wished I had never awakened to be a hunter. I should have been a craftsman just like my father. I could have lied and disguised my awakening as a B class craftsman and been just like my father a creator. Something far better then those trashy hunters.
Being a hunter wasn't bad. All though my body couldn't handle it, just like my mom the overwhelming power was too much. The only way I was able to stabilize myself was by joining the hunter association, where they trained and sent me into dungeons. The pay is amazing but I would have rather been a regular civilian than a monster like them.
"Astor. . . "
"Remember that all beautiful things are not beautiful."
"From the colors of the Ora, shape and feel, they mean nothing if their rotten and dirty from inside."
He turned to look at me.
"You are not beautiful."
" You're far from it, I've always wished you took more from your mother than me. She loved anything and everything that was beautiful."
"No-one ever dared go near her not even I, I've always known that I wasn't as beautiful as she was. How could I ever compare myself to her beauty. Her eyes, skin, hair, smile and even her fights were all beautiful, nothing compares to the amount of power she had."
" I never knew what she saw in me a mear s class craftsman who's always covered with dirt, ash. who works for the company to build armor and weapons for the "heroes". I had nothing compared to her, a hunter, a hero to everyone. Someone who sacrificed her life for others, For people who never cared for her well being to which was the reason for her disappearance."
He gripped the metal he was holding and looked back at it. With a sad expression.
" I begged them to save her, but they shook it off and looked down on me like if I were trash". Saying
"Why bother going in such a dangerous place for one person we can just replace them just like the others. She's a S class hunter, she's fine".
"I'll never forget that day. I wasn't allowed to enter that place because of them. I could've saved her myself if they only let me go in there, but they insisted and pushed me out the way and closed the rift.
"I've made so many sacrifices for them I've gave them my time,my strength, my ability, but in the end they took all my creations they've even destroyed my lab equipment that took years to create. In the end they tossed us aside like trash and that's not beautiful."
He cut the piece of metal and put it down. And turned to me.
"Astor"
" I want you to remember that, the so-called hunters that people see as heroes are just trash that haven't been put in their right place. It's rare to find a real precious gem in that."
"Just like your mother."
He picked me up and hugged me, ever since mom's sudden disappearance, he seemed more sensitive when it came to us. He didn't allow anyone to enter the house, he only worked on personal projects. He didn't make anything for anyone else anymore.
"Astor, you're my sole reason to live, and if I have to bend and break the rules for you I will, even if that means death."
"While I worked for those wicked hunters, I noticed that most of them used swords and mana when they fight. You need to learn to not use the same skill, weapon in combat. I've written down every flaw and ways they died, even the weapon that caused them their life, but they never bothered to read it. So when they kicked me out I took the book and created something beautiful with it. I call it "Project Plunko" It was something I was working on secretly."
" A room that only allowed people in by the owner. A place of safety, horror, and emptiness. I've made 3 different ones, a safe place called "Sweet Home" , a training room called "Elegance"one and a blank room called "Desire" all just for you to become strong in your own way."
"This is a way that no one has trained in. A safe place that if you wanted to die you could. And if you can't fight back properly, you could start from zero. You can train as hard as you want in my training ground."
" My lil bunny."
"A craftsman doesn't only make things for fights and protection, but creates anything that could be thought and imagined about."
He pulled out a book from the shelf and opened it.
"Look at all of these ideas waiting to be developed."
He pointed at the bookshelves full of book
"If you ever awake as a craftsman, you'll also be able to create beautiful things. No one will be able to replicate such unique pieces or fix them without you. That's the best part, no one can replicate, fix or claim them because every item knows its creator and will refuse others. They are loyal to their creators even if they have new owners."
"Astor, my son, you are not beautiful enough, you need to polish yourself more."
"I don't care what class you get, I've already created the best fitted item for you. Just never sacrifice yourself for others that don't appreciate you."
Astor looked down at his hands.
"Dad. . ."
"Do I have to help others like mom did, if I became a hunter?"
"I would rather make weapons just like you. I don't want to be forced to become a hunter if I awaken as one, like mom."
". . . "
"Sadly we don't really have a choice. This world is in chaos all the time."
"Just remember what I said, not all hunters know their place, but there are some that are rare and beautiful."
"I hope I can be a craftsman like you dad. I've always loved watching and helping you out."
Father looked at me with a smile
"Come here my lil bunny".
"Don't call me that!! I don't like that I'm not a bunny!!!"
"Your mother always called you lil bunny even before you were born, it's nothing new to you. She would be very upset if she heard you saying that, you know she's sensitive just like you."
Astor looked up at his dad angry with a flushed face complaining.
"Hehehe Let's go home buddy. We'll have to wait like a week for your results anyway."
*******
We got the results in 4 days. It turns out that I'm just like my mom, a B class hunter lower than her. I was 14 when they told me they needed more hunters so I was forced to drop out of school and work for them. It was true what my father said about the hunters; they were ugly and disgusting in the inside and looked "beautiful" on the outside.
My father tried pleading with them to not let me go in the dungeons and rifts, but like always they never cared to hear out. There were times I hadn't seen my father for days and months. I had no one and felt like a machine working days and nights without brakes.
The more time i spent in the dungeons the more I leveled up. I went from a B level to A and then finally S grade meaning. At age 17 I was deployed into more dangerous missions. More than the other older hunters. Instead of graduating like my classmates I was fighting for their lives and in this fucked up system.
I had saved so many people during all this time and I've never once got a "thank you" from anyone. They instead complained about how I should have saved more people, how I should have been faster and how I shouldn't waste time looking around, that time is precious. It's always my fault for all the people that died in there and to take responsibility and apologize to the people for "my mistakes".
I was the only one working hard, unlike my colleagues who just walked around saying
"Astor got this he always does"
They lied to the public saying that i was 21 when i started working, they made it seem like there was an affair in my family, they were too ashamed to say that i started at 14 unlike the others that started at age 21. I was put to do all their work at such a young age. When the other started at age 18-21.
"Disgusting"
Later on I was called in to my superiors office to be told that my father has gone missing and that there wasn't a trace of anything to find out what happened on the day he disappeared.
I wished and prayed for something to come up but nothing did, there was nothing. Two years later he's still nowhere to be found.
There were times where I wished that I could just die while in the dungeons so maybe I could return to the past like in those fiction books. To a time where I'm still with my father, but time can't be rewind even if I wished and hoped that I could somehow turn back time or could have at least 1 wish again but that's not possible. I have to live in the real world. Where a loss is a loss and I can't do anything about it.
Maybe It would be best if I just disappeared as well and people thought that I've died.
Either way I did have to close this rift soon and see if there were any survivors left in there.
Well if I'm deciding on taking a break or kicking the bucket, I might as well finish my job and check if there's anyone left in there.
In fact there was someone there, there were two young children in there who looked like a kindergarten student and a high schooler around the same age as me.
They looked like siblings, an older brother and a younger sister, the only two that were left behind".
They were lucky I found them. One of them was completely covered by the rebels and the other was near the trees. Luckily I decided to listen around after finding the little girl. Who would have ever left a little kid by themselves. No one.
I personally would be sad if I had a sibling that was left behind because someone couldn't bother to look under the rebel.
As I sighed thinking about it, how would it feel to have another sibling. I wondered if we would fight or get along.
"Being alone isn't really fun anyways. It's nice to see a pair of family members together."
As I walked back towards the entrance I noticed that there were still monsters lingering around, I could fight them but that would take up time. This is a high level gate. I can't go on doing anything reckless with injured people with me.
I looked at my watch. There's about an hour still left till the gate closes. Going back would take about 30 minutes, leaving 20 minutes to look for any mistake made.
While making my way back I thought about how long I should take a break for 2-3 months,
"Eah that sounds good enough to recharge."
All of a sudden I got a warning.
————————
Lil-Bunny
Rift S-015 closes in 45 minutes!!!!!!
Return as soon as possible!!!!
Time remaining: 37 minutes
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"Shit!!"
I had miss calculated the time I had left. I ran as fast as I could but there was a monster near the entrance. I noticed on my way here that the high schooler was somewhat conscious. I tapped him until he woke up.
"Hey, I need you to do something for me."
I pointed at the gate that was close by.
"I need you to grab your sister and when I throw you I need you to run to the gate and get out as quickly as you can."
He looked somewhat confused. It was expected, he had just woken up from whatever just happened to him to begin told "hey I'm going to throw you and you run out" the monster had noticed we were nearby so there's no time to waste.
I grabbed him by the collar
"Wait .. WAIT!!"
"We don't have the time to wait. Give me a yell once you're about to pass the gate so I'll get out after you."
I threw him, at the same time the monster had also attracted. I ended up thrown to a tree. I felt as if I had no air left in me, but I couldn't let that thing get close to those kids.
"Shit. . . that hurt like a mother fucker."
While i got up i got a another warning
————————————————————————
Lil-Bunny
Rift S-015 closes in 25 minutes!!!!!!
Time remaining: 18 minutes
Get out as soon as possible!!!
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As I turned to look at the monster, the monster was already here. It seemed like it locked on to me with less than 18 minutes remaining. I ended up fighting that monster waiting for a signal from that kid. At this point I wouldn't have enough time to get out. All of the sudden I heard the stupid sign ever.
"Winter snow!!!!"
I'll be honest I wasn't good at estimating anything but it seemed like my throw was closer than I expected it to be. I've never been more proud of myself for aiming perfectly. That was a 10/10 throw.
"Well lets get this over with"
I threw my sword to the monster and killed it. I picked it back up and ran to the gate. I know the throw wasn't a clean one so there's no way they didn't get hurt. With all the trees and vines in the way.
"I am going to get in trouble again."
As I was making my way to the gate I only had 5 minutes left. I wasn't going to be able to make it out on time this time. I was too far. but at least I managed to get the last of the kids out before the rift closed on itself.
————————————————————————
Lil-Bunny
Rift S-015 Has closed
Time remaining: 0 minutes
————————————————————————
————————————————————————
You have failed to escape. Better luck next time
You are now in a place without exit.
————————————————————————
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Punishment penalties will be added. . . loading penalty
Penalty: Kill 1,000 Leshy
You have - 0/1,000 -kills-
————————————————————————
"1,000 Leshy. . . isn't that too much??"
I scratch my head. It's already hard to find them and now I have to kill 1,000 of them.
"And there's no exits either. . ."
"…"
Well whatever. At least the kids got lucky they got out in time. I was stuck in here trying to find a way to get out, and now with a penalty like this it's going to take a while.
Now that I think about it, what happened to the rooms my father made? I never really thought about going in them but instead put all my money and valuables in there.
I wonder if I have anything that could help me leave this place after the penalty is done.
I guess I just couldn't trust anyone with my stuff after my father went missing. I can't believe I hid and put all my things in the rooms my father created. They were like pocket holes where only I could access them no one else could just like father said. Surprisingly time doesn't flow in the rooms, they just stop kinda like in the rift where it's slower and faster in the real world.
" Plunko, do me a favor and open the training room."
There was no response.
" Plunko? "
It seemed like the system's access was restricted as well. Meaning they didn't know where I was.
The audacity it had to give me a penalty before disappearing as well. I couldn't believe it.
I had food and water in this gate, luckily I wasn't stuck in a desert or ice place. So there's nothing to worry about when it comes to that though after my penalty i really do need to get out of here.
I always believed that the rifts and dungeons were connected so there shouldn't be only one opening to them. I explored it for what felt like 5 hours and found nothing. While looking I was also hunting down the Leshy. In the end it took me 5 months to find an exit. When I finally made it out I was laying near a lake.
" Uhh?? What the? Where am I? "
It felt cold and the lake near was also cold. My head started to hurt so much that I felt cold? I think I was cold. In the end I ended up passing out. When I woke up again it was already night and it looked like it was going to snow soon. The gate where I was stuck in was a warm environment, maybe that's why I was feeling cold.
I looked around and saw the city, it looked completely different. It looked clean and with no sign of gates opening. I got up and walked up to the street nearby.
"How amazing. is that how it looked before the gates opened?"
It did look pretty but I felt a sting on my chest. Maybe I was butt hurt that they did better without me those past 5 months.
I looked down at my clothes. It seemed like when I was put back I was given new clothes as well. I still looked a mess though.
I sat back down "It seems like they had been well off with me in the end."
"Wouldn't this be a good opportunity to just leave that life behind?"
I would like that. A nice peaceful life, maybe i could be a craftsman like my dad and no one would know I was a hunter, they probably don't remember me.
I smiled while looking at the city.
"should I - should I go home. . . I miss home but it's. . . "
Well, at least this time I might be able to just take my break if I'm not found. I could always just say that I lost my memory or something. No one would care anyways.