He didn't mean to find it.
It started with curiosity.
After his first solo kill, he searched online for information about Rift Monster remains—cores, claws, fragments—anything that could be sold.
Official sites barely showed prices.
Instead, most links led to error pages.
Or warnings.
But one anonymous forum mentioned a place beneath the lower district.
A market where rules don't exist.
He followed vague directions through abandoned subway tunnels and collapsed maintenance corridors.
No signs.
No maps.
Just instinct.
Eventually, dim lights appeared ahead.
Voices.
The smell of oil and blood mixed with cheap food.
He stepped out into a massive underground chamber.
And froze.
Stalls lined both sides of the cavern, lit by flickering lamps. Hunters in worn armor argued prices. Civilians carried crates of monster parts. Armed guards stood on platforms above, watching silently.
This was no black market.
This was an entire hidden economy.
Monster cores displayed in glass cases.
Weapons made from Rift creature bones.
Illegal enhancement drugs.
Fake Hunter licenses.
Everything that couldn't exist on the surface…
existed here.
His pulse quickened.
So this is where the real world hides.
He walked slowly, keeping his head down.
People sized him up.
He looked young.
Weak.
Out of place.
A vendor with mechanical eyes leaned forward.
"Kid. You lost?"
"No," he replied quietly. "I'm selling."
The vendor raised an eyebrow.
"Selling what?"
He reached into his bag and placed a small, dull crystal on the counter.
A low-tier Rift core.
The vendor scanned it.
"Fresh," the man muttered. "Solo kill?"
He didn't answer.
The vendor glanced at him again.
"…You don't smell like Universe Energy."
That made his stomach tighten.
"What?"
Most awakened left traces of their energy.
He didn't.
The vendor shrugged.
"Doesn't matter. I'll give you five thousand credits."
He nodded.
It wasn't much.
But it was enough to eat for weeks.
As he turned to leave, he felt it.
Eyes on him.
Not curiosity.
Evaluation.
From a balcony above, a woman in dark Hunter armor watched him quietly.
No insignia.
No rank badge.
Just sharp eyes.
She spoke softly into a communicator.
"That kid…"
"He killed a Rift Monster alone."
Pause.
"And he doesn't use Universe Energy."
Outside the market, he leaned against a wall and exhaled.
His legs felt weak.
He looked at the credits on his device.
This was how he'd survive.
This was how he'd grow stronger.
Not through the academy.
Not through the system.
Through shadows.
But he didn't notice the figure following him across the rooftops.
Nor the fact that his existence had just been flagged.
The underground had rules.
And he had just broken one without realizing.