Your Trembling Form
While Cheon Ji-hoo watched X and W's antics, Cheon Ji-yoon waited in the shelter with Nok.
Nok was having a blast wandering among the people, soaking up all the pets and strokes. It was the first time seeing so many humans at once, and getting all that cuteness adoration on top? It was in heaven.
-Hehe! Hehe! Humans good!
No one could hear Nok's voice, though.
After wandering the shelter and getting petted here and there, Nok trotted back to Cheon Ji-yoon and rubbed its face against her. She reached out like her brother had, stroking its nape and smiling. It had been a bit scary at first, but with that fluffy fur and those cute antics, she'd gotten used to it now.
"So cute."
-Am I cute? Am I cute?
Cheon Ji-yoon couldn't understand Nok's words, but the spirit deer that did hear them went full aegyo mode, wrapping its neck around her in a hug.
As they waited for Cheon Ji-hoo to return, Nok suddenly perked up its ears, lifted its head, and headed toward the shelter door. Then it passed right through and went outside.
Startled, Cheon Ji-yoon rushed to the door. From beyond the thick shelter door came various noises: ghouls howling, skeleton soldiers' bones clattering.
Nok was clearly out there fighting the undead.
Cheon Ji-yoon jumped in shock, unlocked the shelter, and flung the door open. The heavy door swung lightly at her touch, and a guard came rushing over, but she darted through the gap.
Outside, a massive stag battled fearlessly. It smashed skeleton soldiers with its body, ripping ghouls apart with its antlers.
Cheon Ji-yoon gripped the wooden sword at her waist and shot forward like a bullet behind Nok. She swung the wooden sword. It traced a precise arc, faintly infused with mana, shattering a skeleton's skull and then severing a ghoul's head from its shoulders.
'When did the undead get this close?!'
There were about twenty undead approaching the shelter—quite a number. She considered using the ring's power but shook her head. She could handle this many without it. She couldn't rely on that force for every little thing.
Cheon Ji-yoon swung her wooden sword, thinning the undead ranks one by one. Nok kicked and headbutted furiously, smashing them too, until all the ones charging the shelter lay defeated.
Nok approached Cheon Ji-yoon as if to say good job, rubbing its face against her and lowering its body.
-You must be tired, so I'll give you a ride! Ji-hoo rides even when not tired, though!
"Y-you're giving me a ride? Thanks."
Cheon Ji-yoon hesitated for a second but couldn't refuse. She carefully climbed onto Nok's back, and it straightened its legs. Her view shot up instantly.
Nok carried her back to the shelter door. Vines sprouted from somewhere, prying open the thick door, and just like that, Cheon Ji-yoon returned inside astride Nok.
Applause poured toward her. The ghoul fluids staining her body announced her fierce battle.
Catching the crowd's cheers, she instinctively raised her wooden sword high.
And the next moment, Cheon Ji-hoo returned to the shelter.
He couldn't make sense of Cheon Ji-yoon riding Nok like a victorious general brandishing her wooden sword. What the hell had happened while he was killing X and W? He was curious but decided not to ask. Kids did inexplicable things sometimes.
"Get down. Nok, what are you doing?"
-Ji-hoo's little sis, good girl! She helped me!
"Yeah?"
"What'd Nok say?"
"Said you helped, calls you a good girl."
"Hehe."
Cheon Ji-yoon hopped down holding Cheon Ji-hoo's hand and ruffled Nok's nape wildly. Cheon Ji-hoo turned to the shelter guard in charge.
"We've dealt with the ringleaders of this mess. You should be able to contact the outside now, so handle the rest yourselves."
"Y-yes, sir."
The first SS-rank hunter. The guard was convinced it was true. No one would believe him if he told the others. Who'd buy that they'd taken out the culprits in just 30 minutes? Those bastards had overrun the entire Hunter Academy. It spoke to their skill, and the guards who'd gone after them first had all lost contact.
Biting his lip, the guard pulled out his radio and tried contacting the outside.
The response came.
-This is HCU. We've had to borrow your internal comms frequency. State your location, and we'll head there immediately.
"Uh, this is 2C shelter on basement level 2. No injuries."
-Confirmed. En route.
Soon after the radio cut off, HCU agents—all hunters—arrived. They helped the guard escort students out for dismissal.
Looked like the tournament was wrapping up here today.
"Ji-yoon."
"Yeah?"
"Honestly, doesn't it feel a bit unsatisfying to end it like this? You feel the same, right?"
"...Yeah, kinda. I really wanted to show everyone me winning the finals."
"Then I've got the perfect opponent."
"Who? Oppa?"
"You think I'm perfect?"
At his counterquestion, Cheon Ji-yoon shook her head.
Cheon Ji-hoo smiled faintly and extended his hand. She took it carefully, and in an instant, the shelter's view flipped.
It was the time of falling sunset glow. The two stood in the center of the gaping tournament arena at the heart of Hunter Academy, bathed in red twilight.
Cheon Ji-hoo's snow-white hair was dyed red by the sunset.
"Alright, I'll prepare your opponent."
He brushed his wind-tossed hair behind his ear and snapped his fingers. A black knight emerged from his shadow.
The golem made from a rift core knelt toward Cheon Ji-hoo.
He looked at Cheon Ji-yoon's wide-eyed surprise—she'd seen the crow before, but this knight was new.
"There. That's your finals opponent."
"Not undead?"
"Undead? No, it's a golem."
"That's a golem? The ones on YouTube didn't look like this..."
"It's shadow-composed, so it takes this form. Making golems from wood or stone? That's just basic golemcraft."
"Oh..."
"Anyway, get ready."
At Cheon Ji-hoo's words, Cheon Ji-yoon gripped her wooden sword tight. The black knight assumed a stance, poised to charge.
The 'knight' part of the knight golem drew from Cheon Ji-hoo's memories. Based on countless swordsmen he'd seen, it mimicked swordmaster techniques to a degree.
Hoping she'd gain some insight from this finals bout, he shouted.
"Begin!"
A small tournament for just the two of them, under the sunset.
No audience, but one to cap off the day.
Such a tournament.
* * *
"Ah, I wanna quit."
"If the commander quits, we'll get wrecked. Probably."
Hong Ji-hwa, slouched in her chair and grumbling, got a response from Lee Joo-hwan.
After asking Cheon Ji-hoo to protect the students, Lee Joo-hwan had split off with guards in two directions to clear undead and hunt the ringleaders.
Then contact with the guards who'd gone left—not his team—cut off on the 4th floor. His team rushed over, but someone had already been there: undead wiped out, hostages safe.
And they'd heard from Cheon Ji-hoo that he'd killed the ringleaders.
"A bit disappointing we didn't catch them ourselves, but expecting that much would be too greedy."
"Right? Without Hunter Cheon Ji-hoo inside, we might all be dead."
"Yes. He said they seemed DF. Names X and W match our intel."
"Alphabet codenames. Mid-cadre level."
While Cheon Ji-hoo handled X and W inside, Hong Ji-hwa had dismantled the barrier outside. With HCU agents, she'd searched the perimeter and found strange artifacts nearby: weird skulls, not human. Smashing them all lifted the barrier. Then they'd entered the academy for cleanup.
"Why the hell did those bastards come?"
"Looking for whoever killed their pals, I bet. Probably Hunter Cheon Ji-hoo. They took academy students hostage to get what they wanted. Idiots."
Without even knowing he was there.
The media had announced an SS-rank hunter, but not that it was him. Still, today's incident would expose his identity to the world.
And DF would learn too—who killed their alphabet mid-cadres X and W.
Of course, Cheon Ji-hoo wouldn't give a damn.
"Gotta amp up HCU recruitment hard."
"Korea might turn into a real warzone."
"Exactly. Worst case... Hunter Cheon Ji-hoo'll handle it."
As they chatted, a ding rang out.
Not just for them—for every hunter worldwide.
It was a System message.
[System: A quest has arrived.]
[Quest: Conquest of the 'Black Rift']
[Success Reward: Skill Selection Ticket]
Hong Ji-hwa and Lee Joo-hwan blinked.
What the hell was this?
Quests from the System inside rifts weren't rare: destroy this, kill that monster.
"Hey, you seeing this too, Joo-hwan?"
"Y-yeah... I see it."
Hong Ji-hwa's phone buzzed. Messages from HCU agents: weird quest popped up, help.
This wasn't just them.
"Black Rift? Ever seen one?"
"No, never."
"Then what the..."
Every hunter on Earth getting the same quest? Lee Joo-hwan checked hunter communities to verify.
They were flooded: quests everywhere, Korea and overseas.
"Fuck, they're really fucking around..."
Hong Ji-hwa sighed deeply, muttering.
Black Rift, reward a Skill Selection Ticket? Unheard of.
News articles were already exploding, experts summoned worldwide to decode the System's intent.
And a Skill Selection Ticket—pick any skill? Disaster if criminals got it.
"Joo-hwan, looks like today off's shot."
She shot up from her seat. Hunter Association would need another statement now.
Work multiplied like rabbits.
'If you're breeding, breed money in my wallet...'
Goddamn life. For real.