Kael stood frozen, mind racing in circles. His legs trembled so badly he could hardly keep himself standing. Think. Come on, think. He repeated it in his head like a desperate prayer.
"Snake Eyes!" the A-rank roared. His voice cut through the cave like a blade. "If I lose even one of my hunters to these ugly monsters, I will make your death so painful you will wish you were never born."
Kael hissed in his thoughts. For someone that strong, the man talked too much.
But he could not ignore the reality creeping in. If the orcs killed the hunters, they would come for him next. And unlike these people, he had the battle strength of a damp leaf. Whether he killed them or did nothing, the system wanted them dead. The problem was he might get crushed in the process.
A soft chime rang in his head.
[Ding]
[You have been rewarded with an active skill. Your quest time remaining: 1 hour.]
"What the hell…" Kael whispered under his breath. "Now? Really?"
What kind of skill could possibly save him here? Unless the system was about to turn him into something stronger than the A-rank, this was nothing but a cruel joke. Still, his curiosity won. He opened his status screen.
His heart dropped a little at what he saw.
[ STATUS ]
[ Name: Kael Yorkshire ]
[ Rank: E ]
[ Title: Weakest Hunter ]
[ Class: Pending ]
[ Level: 11 (3%) ]
[ HP: 100 / 100% ]
[ MP: 100 / 100% ]
[ FATIGUE: 10% ]
[ ATTRIBUTES ]
[ Strength: 21% ]
[ Agility: 12% ]
[ Vitality: 10% ]
[ Intelligence: 15% ]
[ Sense: 30% ]
[SKILLS]
[ Active Skills ]
[ Stealth (Lv. 2) ]
Description: Become undetected by enemies for 30 seconds.
[ Passive Skills ]
[ Echo Dominion (Lv. 2) ]
Description: Detects whispers, footsteps, and heartbeats up to 2 km away.
[ Unique Skills ]
None
[Unused Points: 10]
(1 Point = 1000 Exp)
Kael stared at the glowing screen, mouth slightly open.
"That's it?" he muttered, half offended. "Stealth? How am I supposed to fight with this?"
Around him, the cave shook with the clash of steel and the roaring of orcs. The hunters were being pushed harder by the second. The flames, the wind, the violent echoes of battle… everything thundered louder in his ears.
One hour left.
Kael forced himself to look past the chaos and study the orcs properly. The numbers floating above their heads made his stomach twist. Every single one of them was [ level 41 ], and their levels kept climbing each time they took damage and regenerated. It was like they were leveling up just by getting hit.
Then his eyes landed on the mage . Its level bar glowed a deep, angry red. That alone was enough to set it apart from the others, whose screens shone the same calm blue as his system window. The mage stood at [ level 50 ].
Kael felt his throat tighten. That was not just out of his league. That was a different sport entirely.
Still, something clicked in his mind. He had unused points. Ten of them. And each point came with a free one thousand exp. That was far more than what he earned through his exercises and almost dying in the process.
He snapped open his system again and dumped all ten points straight into Strength without a second thought.
[Ding]
[Congrats. You are no longer the weakest hunter.]
The window shifted.
[ STATUS ]
[ Name: Kael Yorkshire ]
[ Rank: D ]
[ Title: Amateur Hunter ]
[ Class: Pending ]
[ Level: 38 (21%) ]
[ HP: 100 / 100% ]
[ MP: 100 / 100% ]
[ FATIGUE: 0% ]
[ ATTRIBUTES ]
[ Strength: 31% ]
[ Agility: 12% ]
[ Vitality: 10% ]
[ Intelligence: 15% ]
[ Sense: 30% ]
[ SKILLS ]
[ Active Skills ]
[Stealth (Lv. 2)]
Description: Become undetected by enemies for 30 seconds.
[ Passive Skills ]
[ Echo Dominion (Lv. 2) ]
Description: Detects whispers, footsteps, and heartbeats up to 2 km away.
[Unique Skills]
None
Kael stared at the new numbers, trying his best not to smile like an idiot in the middle of a battlefield.
"Okay, that's new," he muttered. His body felt lighter. Stronger. Almost… reliable. "I might not be anywhere close to those orcs, but at least I'm not a walking insult anymore."
The ground shook as a massive orc slammed its club into a hunter. Kael took a quick breath and willed his shaky hands to relax. With a single thought, he activated Stealth.
His body vanished into the dim air.
The water elementor spun around in confusion, eyes wide and glowing.
"Where the hell is he?" he shouted after losing sight of Kael.
Kael moved quietly through the chaos, slipping between roaring orcs and clashing hunters without anyone noticing. Every step felt unreal, like he was gliding through smoke. The hunters kept searching around with sharp, frantic eyes, but he might as well have been a ghost.
The A rank paused mid-swing. He could still feel Kael somewhere in the field, but the boy's body had vanished. A strange thought slipped into his mind.
"Does he have a hidden skill he kept from us? No… that idiot is too clueless for that. Something isn't adding up."
Kael, meanwhile, had already reached the glowing barrier around the mage. He lifted his hand to steady himself, trying not to breathe too loud. But the moment he stepped close, the mage's red eyes snapped toward him.
The creature saw him instantly.
Its glare hit Kael so hard he flinched. His balance wobbled, and he reached out without thinking. His fingers brushed the barrier. The moment he touched it, something shifted in the air.
The mage scanned him.
And whatever it saw inside Kael made the monster step back like it had been struck. The same fear it forced into Kael bounced right back at it. The creature's eyes widened. Its staff trembled. The mighty level 50 mage actually staggered.
That tiny moment of fear ruined its focus.
The barrier flickered.
The A rank noticed at once.
He launched forward with a burst of force, his blade carving through the flickering shield like it was thin glass. A single clean strike followed, and the mage's head dropped to the cold floor with a dull thud.
Kael's stealth expired right then, his body fading back into sight as if he had always been standing there.
With the mage dead, the orcs stopped regenerating. Their strength fell apart, and the hunters cut through them in only a few minutes. The battlefield grew quiet again… except for the A rank's suspicious stare.
He had seen it. Every tiny detail before the barrier collapsed. The way the mage's face twisted in fear. As if it had sensed something terrifying from Kael.
"That was him… Snake Eyes," the A rank muttered under his breath. "But he is only a D rank now. How is he evolving like this?"
Kael stood still, looking as lost as ever. He had seen the fear in the mage's eyes, but he had no idea why it happened. He was not even trying to understand it. He just wanted the shaking in his hands to stop.
The A rank kept his eyes on him a little longer, the suspicion only growing stronger, before turning away as the team pushed deeper into the dungeon.
The group had barely walked a few steps deeper when a heavy roar rolled through the cave. It shook the ground under their feet and sent dust drifting down from the ceiling. Everyone froze for a heartbeat.
They stepped forward again and the tunnel opened into a wide chamber lit by a faint red glow. This was the boss room.
Standing at the center was a massive orc. Four arms. Muscles stacked like slabs of stone. Its height scraped close to fifteen feet, and each breath it took sounded like a boulder grinding against metal. A bright red level bar hovered above its head.
[ Level 60 ].
Kael's stomach dropped the moment he saw it.
The A rank, however, grinned like someone had just handed him a new toy. "Finally. Something cute to play with."
Kael stared at him, horrified. Cute? The thing looked like it could tear a building in half. Its roar alone was enough to make any sane man reconsider all his life choices. Kael could already feel his legs shaking, and he had not even taken a step forward.
While the hunters braced for battle, Kael glanced at the glowing timer above his own head.
Twenty-five minutes left.
His face went pale. If this monster delayed them even a little, the system would be the least of his problems. The boss might squash him before the timer even hits zero.
He swallowed hard, trying not to imagine himself being used as a chew toy, and muttered quietly, "Why is it always me?"