The morning air was sharp and cool, brushing against Renji's face as he walked through the academy's outer district. His boots crunched over gravel, his new combat gear fitting snug around his frame. The knuckle weapons Mr. Ain had given him glinted faintly under the pale sun.
Today was different.
His instincts told him so.
He stopped near the cracked dome of the portal chamber. Students were coming and going in small groups, most heading toward beginner gates—safe, predictable hunts. None of them paid him any mind, and that was fine.
He didn't need attention.
He needed strength.
The faint chime echoed in his mind.
[System Notification]
New Gate Detected: F-Rank (Hard) – "Savage Grounds"
Recommended Beast Type: Pack Hunter
Estimated Beasts: 25+
Threat Assessment: Extreme
Renji exhaled slowly, his lips curling into a small grin.
"Hard mode, huh? Guess it's about time."
He adjusted his gloves and stepped toward the gate. The shimmering portal pulsed like a living wound in the air, its violet hue rippling with whispers of laughter—or maybe that was just the wind.
Behind him, a few cadets stopped to stare.
"Is he… going in alone?"
"Into a Hard-tier F gate? That guy's insane."
Renji didn't turn. He didn't care.
The system pulsed again.
[Warning: Entering this gate solo significantly increases mortality risk.]
[Confirm Entry?]
"Like hell I'm backing out now." His voice was calm, almost amused. "Open it."
The world warped.
Heat slammed into his skin as he stepped through. The smell hit first—rot and iron, heavy and suffocating. The ground beneath his boots was cracked and littered with bones, some fresh, some long gnawed to splinters. The sky overhead was bruised red, clouds swirling like blood in water.
The sound came next.
Laughter.
Not human laughter—but high-pitched, broken, echoing across the jagged plains. It wasn't one voice. It was many. Overlapping. Hungry.
Hyenas.
Dozens of them.
Renji flexed his hands, feeling the weight of his new knuckles. The Viper Aura Armor shimmered faintly around his frame, like a predator's warning. His heart thudded once, hard, then steadied.
The system chimed again.
> [Gate Objectives:]
Eliminate: Bonefang Hyenas (0/25)
Additional Threat Detected: Alpha Bonefang – Status: Unknown
Renji tilted his head slightly as his eyes adjusted to the crimson haze. Shadows slinked between shattered rocks. Bone fragments crunched under clawed paws. Eyes gleamed in the distance—yellow, wild, feral.
He muttered under his breath, voice sharp as steel.
"Let's see how crazy I really am."
A shape darted to the left. Another to the right.
The laughter grew louder. Closer.
The hunt had begun.