The Abyss, EZ

A tense standoff held us motionless, my eyes locked onto the imp's.

The distance between us was roughly thirty meters. At that range, I should be able to react if it lunged—probably.

So far, the creature hadn't made any sudden moves. Was it not the aggressive type? Or was it sizing me up?

Flutter—

I conjured my glass butterflies into the empty air. Unlike my first attempt, two of them materialized this time—the maximum number I could currently handle.

Go get 'em, little butterfly.

I sent the first one fluttering forward. Contrary to its fragile, crystal appearance, it darted ahead at surprising speed, humming through the air like an aggressive hornet.

Just as the butterfly was about to collide with the imp—

Swoosh.

"Huh?!"

The exclamation slipped past my lips before I could stop it. The imp, which had been squarely in my crosshairs a microsecond prior, vanished without a trace.

Having abruptly lost its target, the butterfly halted in midair, hovering aimlessly.

How? Teleportation? Or invisibility?

My gears spun at top speed. First off, rule out teleportation. If it could blink through space, it would have already reappeared right on top of me. That narrowed the possibilities down to invisibility.

An enemy relying on specialized abilities rather than raw physical stats on the very first floor?

Apparently, the Abyss evaluated my competence and potential far higher than I had anticipated.

How do you fight an enemy you can't see? The first solution that came to mind was sound.

I held my breath, focusing every scrap of my concentration into my ears.

"……"

Nothing. Not a single breath ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠or scuff.

Amid the suffocating tension, a chilling hypothetical crossed my mind: If that imp pops back into existence right next to me, can I actually dodge its attack?

The answer: With my current physical stats, not a chance in hell!

However, an idea flashed through my head that might just turn that "not a chance" into "actually, no problem." It was still purely theoretical, but it was more than worth testing.

Over here.

I beckoned the remaining butterfly still circling near me, willing it to alight gently upon my shoulder.

Naturally, my skin didn't crack or spiderweb with fissures. So what did happen? More importantly, what was I hoping would happen?

Oh.

This was it. The Glass Butterfly's buff effect: an increase to Attack Power, Durability, Recovery, and Agility. The key stat here was Agility. The entire reason I attached the butterfly to myself was to slip past the imp's incoming strike.

Fortunately, the skill recognized me as an ally. The buff had taken hold perfectly.

Alright, come at me…!

The silence stretched taut once more.

Then—

Tap.

A sound came from behind me—a faint, infinitesimal footfall that I would have missed entirely had I not been straining every nerve to listen.

The instant I registered it, I threw myself forward at a speed I could hardly believe my own body could muster.

Shhk!

The imp's dagger carved through the empty air where I had been standing an instant before. My intuition had been dead-on. If I hadn't enhanced my physical capabilities with the butterfly, that blade would have plunged straight between my shoulder blades before I could even flinch.

"Heheheh."

The imp let out an unpleasantly human chuckle before immediately fading into the air again.

Ugh, again?

There were bound to be skills out there specifically designed to detect invisible targets, but unfortunately, I possessed nothing of the sort. In the end, it was just going to be a replay of what just happened: focus all my senses, wait for the slightest disturbance, and dodge like hell the millisecond I caught it.

Tap.

Now!

This time, the sound came from the front. Seeing that its ambush from behind had failed, the little bastard thought it was being clever by switching angles. Too bad for him—my hearing didn't lie.

I executed a smooth, effortless backstep. For a split second, I felt like one of those high-rank hunters pulling off slick evasions in flashy video clips.

Whoosh!

Another wild swing hit nothing but air. That was just an afterimage, pal. Better luck next time.

"Krk."

Emitting that raspy rasp, the imp began to blur into transparency once more. But this time, I had no intention of letting it play hide-and-seek. Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me; fool me three times, we're practically accomplices.

Go, butterfly.

The moment I landed my backstep, I detached the glass butterfly from my shoulder and fired it straight ahead.

"K-Kwek?!"

Panicking, the imp scrambled to dodge, but the butterfly was faster. Before the creature could fully vanish into thin air, the crystalline wings settled squarely upon its pointed skull.

That left only one final question: Would the butterfly's destructive force, which had so handily pulverized a steel mannequin, work just as effectively against an actual monster?

I didn't even need to wait for an answer.

"Krk, skrr—krrkgh—!"

A choked death rattle tore from its throat, eclipsed almost instantly by the gruesome, rapid fracturing of its flesh.

Crack, crackle—shatter!

Like brittle glass struck by a sledgehammer, the imp's body exploded into thousands of brilliant, glittering fragments. It took barely three seconds. An anticlimactically swift and easy conclusion.

……Whew.

Watching a living creature burst into shards like that left my stomach feeling distinctly unsettled. Well, look ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠at that—another lovely topic to unpack in therapy tomorrow. Still, I supposed I'd get used to it eventually if I kept doing this.

The slight dip in my mood vanished the instant the status windows materialized before my eyes. Ah, the sweet joy of payday.

Right out of the gate, this place was built different. Three full level-ups from clearing a single floor? As far as I knew, that was practically unheard of.

The other two rewards were equally eye-catching.

They said rewards earned in the Abyss are stored directly in your inventory, right?

Inventory.

The moment the thought crossed my mind, the status screen responded, smoothly shifting to a new display.

I already knew what Skill EXP Fragments were for—they raised the level of growth-type skills. Without a moment's hesitation, I dumped both fragments straight into my skill.

Shared Vision?

Not bad at all. Simple, but tremendously versatile. I could send a butterfly soaring high into the sky to scout the terrain, or send it ahead into suspect areas to check for traps and ambushes.

That took care of the skill. Now then…

Ring of Black Glass… What is this?

I withdrew the item from my inventory. It was a slender band, seemingly crafted from crystal or glass, yet dyed an uncanny, pitch-black hue.

Equipment effects couldn't be checked until you wore them, right? I tried slipping it onto various fingers until I found a comfortable fit on my left ring finger.

Oh my god.

I yanked the ring off my finger like it was on fire and tossed it straight back into my dimensional inventory. Contaminated?! Here I thought it was just naturally black!

Oh, perfect timing.

Was 28,590 high? The system answered immediately.

Wait, what?!

This was far higher than anything I could have reasonably hoped for. Across the entire globe, among every single support-class hunter in existence, not a single soul stood above me.

Yeah, that's me—just don't go saying it backward.

Curious, I checked who sat above me on the overall leaderboard.

Well, that lineup was entirely within expectations.

Red Bow: South Korea's Rank 2 Hunter. An extreme glass cannon whose shortcomings were glaring, but whose raw damage output ranked among the very pinnacle of the world.

Ga Jin-ho: South Korea's Rank 1 Hunter. Though his sheer explosive firepower trailed slightly behind Red Bow's, he was a peerless all-rounder in every conceivable domain. Losing to him by a measly ten points stung more than a little, though.

Out of the top seven global spots, three were held by South Koreans. That fact carried massive implications: it proved that modern South Korea was one of the premier hunter superpowers of the era, and that I had just planted my own two feet squarely among that elite vanguard.

I would be heading home with my head held remarkably high.

Tonight, I'm treating myself to something amazing for dinner…!

Ah, and I couldn't forget: once I got back, I still had to check that direct message on the Hunter Forum.

Hmm. Is it really that bad?

I had arrived home, and it was dinner time.

Tonight, I splurged. A boneless Kyochon Honey Combo chicken set with an ice-cold Coke, plus a side of golden cheese balls. Utter bliss.

Savoring the sweet and savory crunch that tasted especially heavenly today, I finished reading the rest of the message I'd left unopened before entering the Abyss.

The message was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠fairly lengthy, but could be summarized quite neatly:

"I saw the post you put up on the board. You seem like a rookie support, and you know how impossible it is for supports to solo, right? So how about I carry you through some dungeons? Think of it as an investment in your future, sound good? Hit me up if you're interested."

Something along those lines.

If the person reading this had been any ordinary support who couldn't accomplish a single thing on their own, it would have been an enticing proposal. But who was I? The world's first (probably) fully self-reliant supporter. The future GOAT of support classes in human history (someday, at least).

Thanks to that, I was able to evaluate the contents of the message with cold, objective scrutiny.

First and foremost, people like this warranted caution: the kind who approached with a smile, declaring, "I'm here to help you." Although the message cited "an investment" as the motive, it provided zero concrete details on what kind of investment, for whose benefit, or under what conditions.

Let's entertain a worse-case scenario: if this person had reached out with malicious intent, what could their goal possibly be?

……Well, I wasn't entirely sure. Running a scam to shake me down for cash? Impossible, considering I didn't have a single dime to my name yet. A predatory cult? Did those even exist anymore? I'd heard they practically went extinct before the advent of the Hunter Era.

The most realistic possibility was that they were trying to recruit me into their guild or regular raid party. And if that was the case, there was no harm in hearing out their terms before making up my mind—especially given how desperately I needed employment right now.

I typed out a brief reply, asking whether this "investment" pertained to joining their guild or party.

The response came back astonishingly fast.

The follow-up message included a brief introduction to their guild, the terms they had in mind, and the perks they offered. I ran a quick search on the Hunter Forum.

While not overwhelmingly lavish, the terms were surprisingly solid.

Right. Decision made. Let's go meet them once.

They promised to carry me through a dungeon for free to evaluate my talent, so I could just consider it a complimentary sample. A few more messages flew back and forth, and we locked in an appointment for tomorrow afternoon.

A morning visit to the psychiatric clinic, a quick lunch, and then straight to the meeting—the schedule lined up seamlessly.

For some reason, everything felt like it was falling into place a little too smoothly.

Almost suspiciously so.

At the very same hour Gyeoul was happily munching on fried chicken and chatting over direct messages…

The entire hunter industry and the Hunter Association were plunged into utter turmoil.