Prologue: The Gate of Hell
In a dark, damp underground tunnel—
A whoosh of air.
In empty space, an aura blacker and more ominous than the subterranean dark itself flared up like flame.
Moments later the blazing energy vanished, and in its place a black gate appeared out of nowhere.
The gate was extraordinarily antique. Its presence in a tunnel like this looked almost absurdly out of place. But a closer look would change that impression entirely.
People in despair. People wailing. People fleeing. People raging. And the demons tearing them apart, tormenting them, violating them, devouring them whole.
If Hell had a gate, would it look like this? Could any door be more fitting for a lightless underground?
Creeeak—clunk!
The gate slowly opened with an unpleasant grinding of metal. Six silhouettes stumbled weakly out through the gap.
"Fuck! Nobody said the mid-boss would be this goddamn hard to kill!"
A bespectacled mage spat curses as he checked what little remained of his potions. A warrior inspecting the state of his shield sneered right back at him.
"Hmph. It's not that the bastard's tough—it's that your magic is pathetic."
"What?! Who the hell do you think you are?! You couldn't even block the boss's attacks a few times before you went down. Why even carry a shield? Planning to use it as a soup pot?"
"...You done talking?"
"Yeah, I'm done. What are you gonna do about it?"
Warrior and mage locked eyes, ready to throw down then and there.
"Both of you, stop it!"
Having just finished treating the wounded, the priestess bellowed at them. The two men might have ignored her—until the party leader fixed them with a stern glare, forcing them to swallow their anger for the moment.
"Looks like the labyrinth's darkness has gotten to you. Both of you, get your heads on straight."
"Yeees∼."
"Understood."
After warning the pair, the party leader turned to the female swordsman checking her newly healed injuries and the hunter sorting through the loot from a treasure chest. Sensing his gaze, they reported in order.
"The ankle injury seems pretty serious. My movements still feel off."
"Three Brown-grade items and one lowest-grade health potion—that's all!"
The party leader let out a long, heavy sigh, then asked the hunter,
"All of them Brown-grade?"
"Yes, unfortunately so!"
"...Keep your voice down. You're supposed to be a hunter."
"Sorry! Ah... ahem. My apologies∼."
The party leader squeezed his eyes shut. It wasn't purely anger at the hunter's behavior—though that played a part. More than anything, he was weighing whether to press the exploration further.
Haaah∼. Came to make money, and now we're leaving having spent it instead.
The deliberation did not last long. This was a labyrinth—an inhuman realm of demons where a single wrong choice, or even a choice made a moment too late, could cost you your life.
"We're heading back. Priestess, find a sanctuary."
"Yes!"
Amid the miasma that filled the labyrinth, the priestess began to pray, searching for the faintest thread of holy power.
It was her final prayer.
"No! Save me! Help me!"
Kikikik! Kieeek!
The priestess was seized by the claws of fiends and dragged into the darkness. The hunter lunged to reach for her—but fear, helplessness, and an ugly selfishness held him back. The demons' mocking laughter echoed through the tunnel.
"Hic... I'm sorry. I'm sorry."
Repeating meaningless apologies, the hunter forced himself to keep walking. The priestess's distant screams faintly threaded through the laughter and clung to his heels. He clenched his teeth and shut them out, telling himself it would be over soon.
Just like when the mage was taken. Just like when the female swordsman was taken. Just like when the warrior was taken. Just like when the party leader was taken.
Thud. Thud.
As he walked, the hunter stripped off everything but the barest scraps of clothing and cast it all to the ground. His bow and arrows. His silver-plated dagger. His quality leather armor. Every expensive potion he carried. All of it had been purchased with hard-won resolve, and it pained him to abandon them—but none of it was worth more than his life.
"I'll live. I will definitely live—gah!"
The instant he steeled his resolve, pain lanced through his thigh and sent him sprawling forward. Groping at his leg, he found a dagger buried deep in the flesh. The handle felt strangely familiar. Then he understood.
It was the silver-plated dagger he had just thrown away.
"Fuuuuck!"
Kikikik! Khehehe!
The hunter finally unleashed every emotion he had been holding back. Demons that had crept up unnoticed shook their shoulders with laughter at the sight of him. After mocking him to their hearts' content, they slowly closed the distance.
Crimson blood stained their mouths. They had already gorged themselves on the flesh and blood of his comrades, and still they drooled as if it were not enough.
The hunter felt death approaching.
In that very instant—
Crack! Crackle-crackle!
A fierce noise that set the heart pounding tore through the air. The hunter's eyes snapped open—and he saw it.
A single streak of blue lightning, illuminating the labyrinth's darkness.
Crackle!
"Kieeek!"
The blue lightning swam through empty air as if through water, passed over the hunter's head, and plunged straight into the heart of the demon pack. A powerful surge of lightning energy that made the skin prickle wrenched screams from every fiend at once. In that opening, the blue lightning sank sharp fangs into every demon within reach and tore them apart.
The hunter could only stare, mouth hanging open, as the creatures that had been toying with him mere moments ago were slaughtered with almost absurd ease.
"Kiik! Kichaat!"
"Kyaeng!"
The survivors broke and fled. The blue lightning swam through the air once more and gave chase. A long, trailing stream of blue lightning—something the hunter had often seen in the river near his childhood home—and he murmured it without thinking.
"An electric eel?"
The moment the words left his lips, the slaughter was over. Footsteps approached, stepping over the corpses of demons.
"Are you alright?"
A pleasant, beautiful voice. Then a sweet fragrance seeped deep into his nose. The tension drained from the hunter all at once. Slowly, he lifted his head and looked up at the owner of that voice.
"Ah..."
Hair and eyes black not like the sticky dark of the labyrinth, but like a soft night sky. Apricot skin that looked soft and springy just from the sight of it. Naturally appealing, androgynous features. The hunter felt his heart begin to pound for an entirely different reason than before.
"Um..."
"P-Please marry me!"
Seizing the hand his savior had extended toward him, the hunter cried out. The face that had been full of concern instantly twisted in dismay. Even that expression looked beautiful to the hunter. Already, unborn sons and daughters were taking shape in his mind.
Heh heh. So this is where my little cuties were all along.
"I'm sorry."
"P-Please. Just consider it once. I may not look it, but I've saved up quite a bit of money."
"That's not the issue."
The savior shook their head firmly. Drawing in a deep breath of the sweet scent that spread with the motion, the hunter asked,
"Then..."
"I'm a man."
"...What?"
"I said I'm a man."
"So what?"
"..."
The hunter would not yield.