Renji poured hot water into the cup of noodles. He opened his fridge, took out a plate of leftover boiled chicken, and dumped it into the cup.
This was his daily sustenance—anything more, and he'd go broke within a few days; anything less, and he'd have no energy left for hunting.
He had been discharged from the hospital almost a week ago, and he had spent all that time recuperating his strength. Today was finally the day he would start diving into dungeons again.
He changed into a cleaner pair of garments and covered his fists with a new set of gauntlets, which gave off the impression of being crafted from expensive material. He had bought the set using the entirety of the reparations from the Hunters' Association. Maybe he could have spent the sizeable amount of money on something more sensible, but he felt these gauntlets were the best investment. They would keep him alive while doing his job.
Renji jumped over the barricade meant to keep civilians away from the dungeon zone. The sight of several hunters gathering near the gate made him freeze for a second, a wave of déjà vu crashing into him. He shook it off and walked straight to the entrance, waiting with the others.
There was no leader assigned to today's squad. The gate was of the lowest possible rank—an E-Rank—and the participants matched it. All were E-Ranks except for two D-Rank hunters, including Renji.
He had intentionally chosen an easy dungeon. He wanted to get a feel for his new power. And he had spent the past week at home, turning over thoughts about the man who had left him with cryptic messages in the hospital... and the visions he'd experienced after blacking out in the dungeon.
His mind had concocted countless possibilities—but none of them mattered now. He needed a fight to clear his head.
The interior of the dungeon was a vast icy wilderness. Puffs of snow blanketed the trees and ground, with more snow drifting down from the sky. Fortunately for the hunters, their enhanced bodies weren't too affected by the cold, which mitigated any immediate risk of frostbite.
The hunters scanned their surroundings, looking for monsters to subjugate. They found paw prints in the snow and small caves hidden in the white drifts. The more experienced among them could already tell what type of creature lived here. The less experienced didn't have to guess for long.
From the shadows of the caves, several pairs of glowing red eyes glared at them. A pack of large white wolves pounced from the darkness, their jaws wide open, aiming for the hunters' throats.
But even if the hunters were low-ranked, they weren't helpless. They raised their defenses and withstood the initial onslaught. Mages began their incantations, gradually picking off the monsters one by one.
The team began to relax, satisfied with their performance, already calculating their share of the loot—until they heard the death throes of a monster somewhere deeper in the forest.
Assuming it was just infighting among monsters, they approached the source quietly, only to be stunned by the sight.
In the center of a clearing, surrounded by nearly two dozen white wolf corpses, stood Renji. He was strangling one wolf while kicking away another. Small sparks of lightning flickered from his fists as he twisted the creature's neck until it gave a sickening crack. Without pausing, he flung the body aside and launched himself at the remaining enemies, a crazed smile etched across his face.
None of the hunters dared approach. They weren't sure if Renji could even distinguish friend from foe at this point.
The other D-Rank hunter, a fellow close-range fighter, looked on in shock. No matter how much mana he used, no matter how good his equipment was, he knew he'd never move like Renji, or hit that hard. A terrifying thought crossed his mind.
Was Renji a false ranker?
The hair on his neck stood up. Everyone knew false rankers were usually criminals—violent people who entered low-level dungeons to satisfy their bloodlust.
Some of the hunters considered fleeing the gate then and there. But they stayed—leaving now would mean forfeiting their reward for the dungeon clear.
.
Renji felt ecstatic.
His body felt alive. It was like he had been living underwater all his life—and only now had he surfaced to breathe air for the first time.
The control he had over his movements was beyond anything he'd known before. If his brain ordered his left arm to shoot out and parry the jaws of an incoming wolf, the limb obeyed instantly.
Looking back, it was clear—his body used to move in slow motion. Before, every sensation, every signal had to be interpreted by his brain, and only then would a command be sent back to his limbs. Even if his mind could keep up in a fight, his body had always lagged behind.
But now… now his mind and body were one. Perfect harmony. Complete unity.
The feeling was intoxicating.
He didn't even realize how carelessly he was killing the monsters, without any thought to preserving the corpses or retrieving their essence stones. He wasn't fighting because he needed to. He was fighting because he wanted to.
He enjoyed it.
A trail of blood, torn flesh, and mangled wolf corpses followed in his wake. His senses were hunting, hungry for more targets. His very existence screamed for battle.
And why would he deny it?