[B-Rank Gate Cleared: Gion Street]
[Bonus: 300 Gold Acquired]
Renji stood in the settling dust, the blue interface hovering before his face. He stared at the last line.
"Gold?"
He spoke the word to the empty cavern. It felt heavy. Real. A currency that didn't rely on the crumbling banks of Tokyo or the Hunter Association's tracked credits. He watched the numbers on his stat sheet climb, the air around him shimmering as his physical frame adjusted to the new density of his muscles and the sharpened thrum of his nerves.
[System Record: Renji Kurozawa]
* Strength: 29 (+17)
* Speed: 29 (+12)
* Agility: 29 (+19)
* Endurance: 20
* Vitality: 90%
[Skill Update: Bone Grasp (Tier 4)]
[Skill Update: Shadow Pulse (Tier 2)]
On the floor, half-buried in the cooling ash of the Knight, lay the Obsidian Greatsword. It was a massive, brutal slab of dark metal.
Renji reached down, his fingers closing around the leather-wrapped hilt. It should have been impossible to lift with one hand, but it rose easily, the weight balanced by his new Strength. With a thought, he sent it into his inventory.
The cavern groaned. A deep, tectonic shiver ran through the floor. The ceiling began to shed massive slabs of stone.
Renji moved. He didn't run; he blurred.
He reached the main chamber in seconds, his boots barely touching the blood-slicked ice. He passed the pile of his fallen "comrades." Their faces were masks of frozen terror, but Renji's eyes stayed on the patch of empty air where the invisible stalker had died.
He stopped. The ceiling was coming down, but he held his hand out over the shimmering distortion.
"Arise."
The green flame didn't just flicker; it roared. Out of the void stepped a lean, spectral figure draped in a tattered, light-eating hood. It didn't have a face, only a vacuum of shadow. It sank to one knee, the stone cracking under its weight.
"Kneel again under my will," Renji said.
The specter dissolved, flowing into Renji's own shadow like spilt ink.
[New Servant Acquired: Whisper]
[Rank: B]
[Skill Unlocked: Time Dilation]
Renji threw himself through the Gate just as the entrance imploded. He landed on the pavement of Gion Street, the blue portal behind him snapping shut and vanishing into the afternoon haze.
He stood up, brushing grey dust from a hoodie that was now more holes than fabric. His trousers were ribbons of denim. He looked at his hands, then at the spot where the Gate had been.
"The System saved me," he muttered. It wasn't a realization of luck, but of utility. "It doesn't want me dead."
He needed a change of clothes before finding Kenta. He looked like a man who had been through a woodchipper.
On the giant LED screens overlooking the intersection, a news ticker cut through the regular programming.
[Afternoon News: Gion Street Disaster. Ten Hunters entered. Nine confirmed dead. One survivor: E-Rank Renji Kurozawa cleared the Gate alone.]
Renji stood in the crowd, a piece of toffee in his cheek. He watched the screen, his expression unreadable. People around him were whispering, eyes wide with fear for the remaining four Gates, but no one looked at the dusty kid in the shredded hoodie. He turned and walked away.
The footsteps behind him were light. Rhythmic.
He walked for a block, then two. The steps stayed with him, persistent as a heartbeat. He stopped, eyes fixed on a shop window.
"Why are you following me?"
"Huh?"
Renji turned. The girl was young—maybe fifteen. She had black hair that looked like it hadn't seen a brush in days and green eyes that were far too sharp for a child. She was chewing gum, holding a cracked phone like a shield.
Renji walked toward her. He didn't rush. He placed a hand on her shoulder, his touch light but firm. "What's your name?"
"Hikari," she said. She didn't flinch.
"Why the tail, Hikari?"
"Tail? No. Just walking this way." She bit her lip and ducked past him, hurrying toward a clothing store.
Renji shook his head. "Stubborn."
He followed her into the shop. He was browsing the racks, looking for something that didn't scream 'homeless,' when he saw the top of her head poking out from behind a display of winter coats.
He reached back and pulled her into the aisle. "Thought you weren't spying."
Hikari looked at the floor, then snapped her head up. She didn't speak; she shouted. "I saw you! I saw you come out of that Gate! I'm going to be a Hunter! I've dreamed of it!"
Renji stared at her. He saw the heat in her eyes—it wasn't just ambition. It was a fever.
"It's a graveyard in there, kid. Go home to your parents."
The girl's face went hollow. The fire died, replaced by a cold, flat stare.
"Why?" he asked, his voice softening.
"My parents are dead."
The toffee in Renji's mouth felt like lead.
"How?"
"A beast. On the road to my grandparents'."
She talked like she was reading a police report. "It looked like a horse. Black horns. It hit the car... the glass... they were pierced through. I was in the back. Sleeping."
She didn't sob. The tears just fell, silent and heavy.
Renji exhaled. He looked at her. "How old?"
"Fifteen."
He rubbed the back of his neck. "Fifteen. Right." He gave her a small, tired smile. "I need clothes. My eyes are shot from the dungeon light. Help me pick something?"
The shift was instant. Hikari wiped her face with her sleeve and dove into the racks. She came back holding a long, white hoodie—an assassin's cut and reinforced black trousers.
Renji stripped off the rags. As he pulled the new shirt on, Hikari's eyes caught the web of scars across his back and chest. She looked away, a flush creeping up her neck.
The new gear fit. It felt like a second skin—fluid and silent.
"Looks great," she muttered. "Mr...?"
"Renji," he said.
"Renji."
He checked his reflection, then looked at the girl. Leaving her on the street felt like leaving a wounded bird in a storm.
"Where are you going now?"
She shrugged, her hands hanging limp at her sides. "I don't know."
Renji sighed. He started toward the door.
"Whatever. Follow me."
Hikari didn't hesitate. She ran to keep up.