Zhen felt his palm grow lighter. A lingering warmth remained there, like the trace of a hand that had just slipped from his grasp.
[Healing dimension will open in countdown.]
The System's voice echoed in his head.
[3…]
[2…]
[1…]
The world around him dimmed.
When a single point of light touched his skin, he felt something strange. Every wound, every tear in his flesh, even the dull aches in his joints he had ignored for years—all of them were forced to remember their pain.
The agony sharpened, becoming almost unbearable, before vanishing in an instant, as if his body had been taken apart, cleansed, and rebuilt with tighter, stronger threads.
Now he stood in a place that should not exist. A transparent glass floor stretched beneath him, revealing an ocean of stars. The walls flowed like liquid silver, and hooded figures in black drifted without legs.
At the center of the room stood a low table carved from black jade. Behind it sat a man in silver robes, his eyes reflecting a serene light. Long fingers rolled a crystal sphere between them, its interior swirling with crimson mist that moved like freshly spilled blood.
"Welcome, Zhen," he said, his deep voice striving for calm.
"I am Rumi, the chief healer of this dimension. And you… have brought something that unsettles the healers here."
Zhen narrowed his eyes.
"What do you mean?"
Rumi set a small cup of potion on the stone table. "You ate it. Which means you now carry a fragment of its original owner's fate."
The air thickened, as though the entire room waited for the next words to fall from Rumi's mouth.
"The question is… can you bear it?"
Hearing the healer speak only made Zhen feel restless. He drew in a long breath and exhaled slowly.
"When can I leave this place?"
Yet the healer's expression seemed far from pleased, perhaps because Zhen had ignored his question.
"The System will guide you. We healers have no knowledge of how hunters enter or leave this healing dimension."
"And one more thing—this particular healing ward you're in… it was the very first chamber, the beginning of all the terrible undersea halls that exist now. Do you know who first slept in that bed?"
The healer's eyes settled on the bed Zhen was occupying, as if waiting for the hunter's inevitable answer of ignorance.
"The former Official Blood Hunters of the Central Clan," Zhen replied. "Judging from the kind of architecture that could never have been crafted by ordinary workers or artisans. The Central Clan has a signature style wherever they are."
The Northern Hunter's certainty made the healer roll his eyes.
"You're correct. But the uniqueness you mean—"
"Is that they defy the universe no matter where they stand. That's what I meant by unique."
The healer's face tightened, his expression darkening as the words sank in. Slowly, his cheeks began to flush red with suppressed irritation.
He cleared his throat, coughing lightly. "But I am from the Central Region, and… not every individual has that trait. We healers dedicate our lives—our deaths, even—to tending and mending the Hunters in this dreadful dimension. We give up our lives in service to the clan, and we—"
"I don't care. Go find a whore if you want someone to warm your bed."
The healer's mouth snapped shut. His face puffed up, turning the shade of a blue-spotted pufferfish. Without another word, he hastily packed up his tools and strode away from the foul-mouthed hunter.
Zhen glanced indifferently at the healer's fading silhouette, almost in pity.
"People from the Western Clan Academy often said that to me. Even if it was just seven days. Sometimes you have to treat nonsense as an art form. Because art is the lightest beauty I can still enjoy without facing heavy punishment."
"Still, the hunting grounds will always be my favorite blood. Nothing can replace that."
[Hell Hunting System activated.]
[Northern Hunter's body restored.]
[You have obtained the Thief Demon's memories.]
[Now, missions, targets, goldi, levels, and many other mysterious memories will be unlocked.]
[You can know everything about hunting in the Western Region.]
[However, your magic cannot be used while in the Western Region.]
"DAMN BASTARD!!!"
The hilt of his sword smashed through the thick glass window with brutal force. He kept striking the clear surface again and again until cracks spread like spiderwebs, letting jets of water pour into his ward.
His magic was gone. His body felt like it didn't belong to him. Something had been pulled from deep inside his organs—light at first, but stranger the longer it lingered. Then a new, mad idea formed in his mind.
Zhen locked the door tightly, leaving the soon-to-be flooded room behind as he moved toward the other wards. He was hunting for someone in robes to make his target. But every door was shut tight, which only made his fury burn hotter.
Then one door across the hall seemed to beckon him, as if waving him closer. Suspicious, he stepped toward it slowly. A faint green vapor curled out into his vision.
Inside, a hunter in moss-green robes lay sound asleep. On his right wrist gleamed the bracelet of an Official Blood Hunter, etched with a different marking—"Soul Binder."
"He's the perfect vessel."
Zhen entered the room and approached the bed.
"Since you surely command Broukirakh magic, destroy this healing dimension with my pets."
"Sono, Dono, Mono, go—possess him. Tear this cursed place apart!"
Two of his pets, like streams of hot vapor, slipped into the hunter's crown. But the third refused to leave Zhen's body.
"Why are you hiding, Sono?"
"We cannot all leave our master's body. If the other two take on the task, one must remain to guard the vessel we live in."
The body on the bed stirred, eyes opening in a cloudy haze. His irises had transformed into the skull mark that meant full possession.
Zhen's lips curled in a vicious smile. "Perfect."
The wail of a Siren from the depths of the dimension signaled destruction.
Sono quickly warned his master. "Master, Rumi is hunting you!"