Buji clenched his fists tightly beneath the sheets of the bed he lay on, forcing himself to look away.
Then, her voice broke the silence, and attracted his attention once more.
"You're awake."
He turned back to her, eting her piercing gaze.
For a mont, neither of them spoke.
Then, she closed the book she was reading and leaned forward slightly, resting her elbow on the bed.
"You were out for a while," she said, with an unreadable tone.
'Did she knows already?' Buji thought.
"It's being two days you were rushed to this clinic as a very sick person," she said and looked at him. "But I know there's more beyond being sick."
Buji forced a smirk. "Make understand what you're saying. Go straight to the point."
"The point I'm trying to make is that you are a different person now."
Buji grinned slightly, showing his white teeth. "Guess I'm just built to be always different."
Maybe he had expected Kira to laugh.
But she didn't.
Instead, her eyes studied him, too perceptive, and too sharp.
"You changed," she murmured. "That's the point I'm trying to make."
Buji's breath caught in his throat.
She knew. Right?
Maybe not everything, maybe not about the system, but she could sense sothing.
His mind raced, searching for a way to shift the conversation—
And then Kira did sothing unexpected.
She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small, folded piece of paper.
Without a word, she placed it on his lap.
Buji frowned. "What's this?"
Kira stood up, brushing her skirt into place. "I picked it up on my way here. I guess it fell from Instructor Hay's files cause he was the only one in the passageway as at that ti."
"I advise you read it when you're alone." She said and raised her head. "Also, you can help return it to your Instructor when you're done."
And with that, she turned on her heel and walked out of the room, her movents as graceful as ever.
Buji watched her leave, his fingers slowly tightening around the note.
His pulse was still racing—from the system, from the transformation, from her.
He exhaled sharply, forcing himself to focus.
Then, he called upon the system's screen again.
[Optional Quest received—Unlock the Full Power of the Emberheart's Core!]
[Due to the Player's condition, and involvent in the raid, he missed two daily quests and is offered this optional Quest as a way of refilling them as they will also affect his physique.]
[Alternative Quest—survive as long as you can until the expiration of six hours!]
[Warning—One of the quests must be accepted!]
"Uhm...accept the alternative quest."
"..."
"..."
"..."
[Alternative Quest activated!]
"Hmm," Buji humd, his heart pounded but he kept his cool.
But it wasn't right anyway. He had missed the daily quests not because of his own doing, but because of the situation he had been in—the solo raid. So, the system should let him rest a bit.
'I wonder how this quest will turn out to be. Good enough, it isn't a punishnt—maybe a refilnt quest.
His blood ran cold as the notification flashed once again in front of him.
[Quest: Survival Mode Initiated.]
[You will be transported to an unknown environnt for six hours.]
[Survive!]
"Uhm. Is this what it had an by I will need to survive for six hours?"
But he was answered by a swirling force which suddenly gripped his entire body.
"Wait... I'm still sick!" Buji cried out, the paper Kira gave him falling off his hand to the ground.
A violent pull yanked him off his bed, his stomach flipping as his surroundings swirled circularly, and his sight blurred into nothingness.
The last thing he saw was the bed he has been lying on in the hospital fading away—
Then, darkness.
---
[Unknown Location – Hellscape!]
Buji landed hard.
His body slamd against rough, cracked earth, the force knocking the air from his lungs. He groaned, coughing as he rolled onto his hands and knees.
'Hellscape? Why does it always have to do with sothing that has heat in it.' his thoughts complained. 'The system should simply send to hell...'
The heat of the environnt was Intense, overwhelming as it pressed against Buji's skin. The air was thick, heavy, burning. Each breath felt like inhaling molten fire.
Slowly, he pushed himself up, his gaze sweeping across his surroundings.
It was a hellscape.
The sky above was a swirling red abyss, as if reality itself had been torn apart and stitched back together with fire. Jagged, obsidian-like cliffs rose in the distance, their edges glowing with lava veins pulsing beneath.
The ground was blackened rock, cracked and splintered, with rivers of molten lava slithering through the gaps like living veins of fire.
Buji's stomach twisted.
"Hellscape? No!" He didn't want to believe yet. "Where the hell am I?"
Then, the system screen appeared for the last ti in his front.
[Quest Initiated.]
[Survive for 6 Hours.]
Before he could process it further, a deep, rumbling growl shook the air.
Buji froze.
A shadow lood over the jagged ridges ahead.
Then, it stepped into view.
A monster.
Towering, monstrous, and wreathed in flas.
It was at least twenty feet tall, a hulking beast of molten rock and searing fire. Its body burned like a living furnace, lava dripping from its jagged arms like molten blood. Its eyes were made of two burning embers, and, it locked onto Buji with pure, primal hunger.
[Lava Titan Detected.]
[Rank: Reg Flag Class.]
Buji's blood turned to ice.
'Re Flag Class? No way I will be going against this monster. I'm only still in the beginner class.'
That monster was just beyond S-rank of the Hunter's world.
It was the type of monster the entire elite squads will struggle to take down if they were to et it during any dungeon raid.
And—but he was alone.
The Lava Titan let out a roar. The sheer force of it rattled the air, sending a blast of heated wind in all directions. The very ground beneath it cracked and lted under its weight.
Then—
It moved.
Faster than sothing that large had any right to.
>>BOOM!!!>BOOM!!!
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