For the last three years, kaizuki continued "since you started cleaning gear for hunters, I've known you as a good person. So what the hell is this, huh?"
Raito's voice was low, but sharp. "Kaizuki… get out of my way. Don't ever touch me again, you jerk."
Kaizuki froze at the venom in his tone.
"You think it was easy for me?" Raito continued, his voice trembling with anger. "All these years, faking my smile, smiling when I had no reason to. Do you know what I went through? The only thing Ayane ever did for me was let me work for her. The rest? Nothing. She treated me like trash… trash that I am. But I moved on a long time ago. Just a year ago, when I turned seventeen, I made up my mind. I would become strong, alone. I didn't need her anymore."
Raito's fists clenched, his eyes wet. "I found out back then. Ayane and Touzuki… they were dating. I saw it with my own eyes. And still, I pretended like I didn't know."
Kaizuki's grip loosened, his eyes wide. "So… you knew? You knew they were together all this time?"
Raito laughed bitterly, wiping his tears. "Of course I knew. You think I'm stupid? They always tried to hide it, but Touzuki hated me, because I was her childhood friend, and he was her boyfriend. That's the truth. And I carried it alone. Even Ayane never knew I found out. No one could imagine that I knew."
Kaizuki let go and stepped back slowly, staring at Raito. He thought of all the years Raito had smiled, never showing the pain behind it. He realized those smiles weren't happiness, they were cracks in a mask, forced, hiding the weight of betrayal and loneliness.
Finally, Kaizuki lowered his head. "…I'm sorry. For what I said just now. And don't worry, I won't tell anyone about your powers. But listen… people are going to come and question you soon. Just say you don't know, or that you don't remember what happened. It's safer that way."
He turned toward the door. His hand was on the handle when Raito's voice stopped him.
"Wait… Kaizuki. Where's Sera? I haven't seen her since I woke up. When we brought her here, she fainted too, from exhaustion."
"She's resting. She'll be fine," Kaizuki answered softly.
"Good… I hope so," Raito murmured.
Kaizuki didn't reply. He only opened the door, stepped out, and closed it quietly behind him.
"I can't believe I said that to Ayane…" Raito muttered under his breath, gripping his blanket. "But… I already got it off my chest."
He stared at the ceiling, but his mind was still restless. What did they mean? His eyes narrowed. It vanished. No monster vanishes when it's defeated.
"Status… open."
A translucent box flickered before his eyes. The familiar weight of it caught in his throat. Then…
"You are finally awake."
A voice. Clear. Deep. Not his own.
Raito froze. His pulse quickened. So… it was you. That voice I kept hearing, back then… when I fought that monster.
"Yes," the voice answered calmly. "It was me. I guided you."
His brows furrowed. "But… what made me unlock my power? How? Why now?"
The voice didn't answer immediately. Silence lingered, cold and heavy, before it finally spoke.
"You are unique. In your family's bloodline lies power. Generations ago, they were the first hunters, beautiful, strong, chosen. The very first hunter in this world came from your ancestor. The blood of the 'Blue' flows within you. A rare power, a unique power. It manifests only when one of your line has made a true decision, to save the world, to protect someone, or… to become the strongest."
Raito sat up slowly, pressing a hand against his jaw. His mind was spinning. "What does this even mean…? Maybe it's right. Maybe… this time I wanted to save someone." His voice trembled. "But the truth is, I was just scared all along that why my power didn't manifest. Scared I'd be left behind while the others kept moving forward…"
The glowing box shifted, its light refocusing. His eyes widened.
His Skills page opened.
He scrolled through them: Fire. Ice. Wind. All basic elemental categories. But then, something else caught his attention.
[Greed]
His breath hitched. "Greed… I've seen this before. Back when I fought that monster. It was there, but the gauge was empty… zero. Now…" His eyes widened. "It's thirty percent."
"Yes," the voice intoned. "Defeating monsters like the Inferno Speedster Demon accelerates it. Greed grows stronger with each kill. It is a unique skill, it is hunger."
Raito stared at the shimmering letters. His reflection looked back at him in the glassy surface of the box.
"I don't really get what 'Greed' means," Raito muttered, staring at the glowing option on his screen. "But… whatever. Let's see."
He tapped it.
The menu shifted, opening a new path of information. Letters appeared, glowing faintly:
[Greed: This ability absorbs rare skills from opponents defeated by the user.]
Raito's eyes widened. "Absorbs… rare skills? Wait… does that mean…?"
He quickly switched back to the skill path. His gaze swept over the list. "Fire wasn't here before… and even Ice… no, Ice was already there, but Fire wasn't. Could it be… Greed gave me that?"
Scrolling further, his breath caught.
[Flight]
"Wait—don't tell me… I actually absorbed one of the Inferno Speedster Demon's powers?"
A grin spread across his face. He tapped the skill with his finger.
In an instant, his body lifted from the bed. His stomach lurched as the ground fell away, and suddenly he was floating, weightless in the air.
"I-I'm flying…!" He laughed in disbelief. "This feels like a dream, I'm actually floating!"
Excited, he tapped [Flight] again. The energy vanished, and he dropped back down onto the mattress with a bounce.
"Wow…" He lay there grinning. "This Greed skill… it's insanely useful."
He closed the skill path and glanced at the bottom of the screen.
LP: 250
His smile faded. "It doesn't recover… why?"
Another tab caught his attention—[Weapons]. Curious, he tapped it, but a message flashed back:
[No weapon available]
"Well… true enough. I don't have a weapon yet. But how does this system really work?" He muttered.
Backing out, his eyes shifted to another glowing tab—[Materials].
When he tapped it, an item appeared in the box.
[Inferno Speedster Demon's Claw]
Raito froze, staring.