The Masked Man (2)

“Kuwaaaaaagh…!”

As I wrenched the spear free from deep in its flesh, blood came gushing out, and the creature's massive frame crashed to the ground.

A B-rank gate boss — the King Troll.

The beast itself wasn't all that strong, but it was an irritating boss monster that always dragged a legion's worth of troll minions along wherever it went. For me, though, it was hardly a problem.

“Rir, all finished cleaning up?”

“Woof!”

Rir, who had felled every last troll underling, wagged his tail for all he was worth.

Rir's level-up — something I'd kept putting off thanks to everything else on my plate. I was using this opportunity to raise it nice and steady.

“B-rank gate cleared… call it forty hours, give or take?”

Solo, that was a remarkably fast time. All the more so considering I'd burned extra hours tracking down monsters for Rir to grind experience on.

I've been doing nothing but running gates for days now.

Sleep was the only break I took; otherwise I was slaughtering monsters inside gates. Most of the hunting fell to Rir, so it wasn't exactly grueling. If anything, being outside the gates was what drained me.

“Can't be helped.”

If a B-rank hunter appeared out of nowhere and started clearing gates of every rank, one after another, even I would sit up and take notice.

I pulled my hunter license out of my pocket.

The Japanese hunter license Manato had handed me that day. Astonishingly, it was no clever counterfeit but the genuine article, officially issued by the Japanese Hunter Bureau.

“Plenty of people abandon the hunter life for one reason or another. Some of them sell off their licenses.”

For a man so deeply rooted in Japan's underworld, procuring one such license had been no trouble at all.

And then, through high-tier illusion magic that gnawed away at his own lifespan, he had temporarily remade my appearance.

Once the various other preparations were seen to…

…this was how the mysterious genius hunter “Yamamoto Shuya” came to be.

For the record, I hadn't chosen this name myself. As it happened, Yamamoto was a more common surname than I'd expected — there were already several of them around.

Still.

Yamamoto itself was my pick. Nothing drew attention in Japan quite like that name right now.

“This new face… honestly, I'm not sold on it.”

It sat far too far from my real appearance. No — the face itself was similar, but pull each feature apart and scrutinize it, and it was an entirely different animal. In a word, the whole aura was too boyishly innocent.

“Round eyes, drooping lids, a soft expression. I look weak.”

That said, the caliber of the illusion itself had startled even me. Well, it was an illusion polished by an awakened one of Manato's stature, burning his own life to do it. For all practical purposes, until the illusion shattered, this face was reality.

At this level, nobody should recognize me.

Sure enough, not one person had looked at me so far and thought Lee Tae-hyun. I was simply Yamamoto Shuya, the new B-rank hunter.

“Woof woof!”

Even with my face changed, Rir seemed to know me all the same. As I ran my hand through his thick, plush mane, a welcome window materialized before my eyes.

“Already? That was fast.”

“Arf!”

Thanks to our relentless gate-clearing of late, Rir had already hit level 20.

The efficiency is nowhere near the hunting we did inside the Fragment, but…

Even so, this pace wasn't bad. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠It was common sense that the experience demanded climbed with every level. Just look at my own status window — the requirement had already swollen into five figures.

I'd gained a chunk of experience smashing a few more Moon Fragments at Deep Night, but the next level was still a long climb away. Not that it mattered at the moment — I hadn't even reached my A-Rank growth limit yet.

“Hahh… hahh…”

Rir stamped his front paws against the ground, gazing up at me with naked longing.

He wants me to praise him, doesn't he.

He was, in theory, a divine wolf beast. His behavior, however, was pure puppy. I rubbed his belly and looked over his changed form. His frame had grown a full size larger, his coat gleaming with luster, and his fangs had sharpened as well, jutting out keener than most daggers.

Losing the cub look is a little bittersweet, but every ounce of Rir's growth raises my combat power right along with it.

There was still a great deal I didn't understand about “spirit bodies.” With no one to turn to for advice, figuring it out myself was the only option.

Upon reaching level 20, another message blinked to life.

“Oh.”

It felt like I'd just been handed an enormous clue.

“Awakening, and an Awakening Skill, hm.”

I didn't know the details, but something big appeared to await Rir at level 50. Presumably any other spirit bodies I saved down the line would pass through this stage called Awakening at the same threshold.

Now I'm curious.

If this were a game, it would be a masterfully designed growth system, no question. One look at it and I was itching to go hunt something.

So the reward is a choice.

At level 10, the skill had simply been granted, no choosing involved. Now I had to pick one of the two.

“Hmm…”

After a moment's deliberation —

I went with enhancing an existing skill.

His skill balance is already superb.

“Soul Sprint,” a mobility skill that doubled as an evasion tool, and “Bleeding Strike” for raw offense. Even now, those two were flawless.

But “Wind Blade” left something to be desired.

The power is respectable, the speed decent.

For his primary attack skill, though, it offered nothing beyond being a well-balanced strike. “Jewel of the Storm” had patched up its power somewhat, but that wasn't the same as the skill itself growing stronger.

“Enhance Wind Blade.”

The moment I made the selection, a faint light shimmered across Rir's body.

Unlike “Wind Blade,” which had been a projectile-type skill, the enhanced “Storm Slash” wrapped the body itself in a tempest to shred enemies apart. It looked like it would mesh beautifully with “Soul Sprint.”

Best of all —

any skill Rir could use, I could use too. Where “Wind Blade” had been awkward for me to put to work…

…this one looked genuinely useful.

Whoooooosh!

The instant I activated it, a storm came howling up around my body. Blades of grass brushed by the wind were sheared clean off and sent spinning into the air.

“This could serve for defense, too.”

The bladed storm formed a small dome, walling off the surroundings. Most monsters would have a hard time pushing through that wind to get anywhere near me.

And from here —

I fed power into my legs and drove a foot into the ground.

FWOOOOOM—!

The bladed storm surged forward in a straight line right along with me, as if it had been fired. Everything it passed over was torn half to pieces and left in ruins.

Carve through them!

I condensed the storm into my spear and swung in one great arc.

Shshshshshak!

The wind hurled itself along the path of the cut, slashing wildly at everything around it. Wound-like scars carved themselves into the ground in a chaotic lattice, splitting and shattering the earth.

And I swung exactly once.

The marks of hundreds of simultaneous slashes.

“This goes well past 'merely useful.'”

Was this what the power of a divine beast amounted to? It was a skill impressive enough to wring admiration even out of me.

Around that time, in the Japanese hunter world.

For the first time in ages, red lights were flashing across the industry.

“We must secure that B-rank hunter. At any cost.”

It was all because of the hunter who had materialized out of nowhere and was bulldozing through every gate in sight, solo and at a blistering pace.

“He's only a B-rank hunter, isn't he? Why on earth are your eyes blazing like—”

“You fool! What kind of vice guild master can't even read the market these days?!”

The guild master of Amaterasu, Japan's number one guild, bellowed.

“You know full well what I'm talking about! Hunters who have shattered the limits of their potential!”

“You… you mean an Irregular?”

The vice guild master swallowed hard.

“But an Irregular isn't a precisely codified classification, sir.”

“Which is precisely what makes them so valuable!”

Not long ago, Japan's own Irregular — the “Sword Demon,” Fujiwara Manabu — had been arrested in a sordid scandal. Ever since, the whole country had been aching for a monster rookie to fill the vacancy.

Worse still, in neighboring Korea, Lee Tae-hyun — hailed as the greatest Irregular in history — was busy stirring up one upheaval ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠after another. Amaterasu, the guild perched at the very summit of Japan's hunter industry, could not afford to let this chance slip by.

Even if he isn't an Irregular, there must be a reason behind that abnormal gate-clearing speed!

It was the finest prospect to surface since Ayase Karin — and it had been a very long time indeed. Naturally, the hyenas that had caught the scent early were already at work.

“Kachou Fuugetsu and Orion Guild have already made contact, I'm told. They've set up camp inside the Hunter Bureau itself, lying in wait for him…?”

“Those bastards never miss a beat!”

“It appears even 'New World' is preparing to move.”

Hunters were already classified as the supreme resource of the modern age. Of course, the more capable the hunter, the more unimaginably fierce the courtship — from major guilds approaching in earnest, to small and mid-sized outfits tossing out offers just to poke at a prize they had no hope of landing.

“But they underestimate our Amaterasu far too much. When we want a hunter, we take them. Without exception!”

To survive the raging tide of guild recruitment, exactly two things were required: reputation and terms.

Amaterasu was Japan's finest guild — a mega-guild ranked 43rd in the worldwide guild power rankings. Few hunters could keep a straight face after being handed that card.

And then —

“Make the contract terms the best in the industry… no. Scrap that. Rewrite it.”

“Sir?”

“Amend the contract exactly as I dictate.”

Beyond the industry's best — all the way to ultra-luxurious contract terms reserved for Irregulars.

“I-isn't this a bit excessive?!”

“The potential returns from signing this hunter will be greater still.”

The Saintess, Veronica. The Strongest of Primates, Victor. Even the Scoundrel, Lee Tae-hyun. Irregulars had always left indelible marks on hunter history. True, Manabu had stained the legacy with his pathetic collapse — but that one had been rotten from the very start, so it hardly counted.

If they cultivated this new star well, Amaterasu might step beyond Japan and into the ranks of the world's greatest guilds.

“Now then, take these terms and go straight to—”

Knock knock knock!

Just then, a knock sounded from beyond the door. It opened, and a woman of breathtaking beauty entered with a respectful bow.

“Guild Master.”

“Ayase? What brings you here?”

The face of Amaterasu — a hunter who might as well have been the living symbol of modern Japan. Ayase Karin stepped into the guild master's office, her expression resolute.

“Forgive me, but I couldn't help overhearing a little. Are you… planning to recruit that hunter?”

“I am. A prospect like that is ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠one we must raise with our own hands — if not for our sake, then for Japan's future.”

“……”

Ayase's expression shifted, ever so slightly. Could she be feeling slighted — worried her own treatment might grow neglectful? The guild master broke into a cold sweat and scrambled to smooth things over.

“He's, ah, only B-rank, after all. No hunter in our guild will ever surpass y—”

“The recruitment of that hunter.”

Ayase cut him off and stated her piece.

“Might I be the one to do it?”

“…Hm?”

“Allow me to personally bring that hunter into our Amaterasu.”

Looking at her properly now, it wasn't wounded pride after all. It was closer to relief — or to excitement. Her face radiated something unmistakably positive.

“Y-you? You'd personally run the recruitment of a B-rank hunter?”

“Oh… is that not allowed…?”

“No, there's nothing against it, but…”

There was no precedent for this. Recruitment was the work of a guild's scouts, not of its hunters. And this was Ayase Karin, of all people — she had absolutely no reason to volunteer for such an errand…

“…Very well.”

“Yay! Thank you!”

When he finally granted permission after a moment's hesitation, Ayase lit up like a child on a holiday.

It's a little strange, but.

If anyone could reel in that Irregular, it was her. The finest guild, offering the finest contract terms, presented in person by their finest hunter.

How could he possibly refuse?

A faint smile crept across the guild master's lips.