『SYSTEM MESSAGE: WARNING! THE [STAR-SEED] HAS NOT BEEN PROVIDED WITH THE REQUIRED MINIMUM MANA SATIATION.』
『SYSTEM MESSAGE: THE [STAR-SEED] IS IN A STATE OF EXTREME HUNGER. EMANATION SUPPRESSION IS FAILING.』
The red boxes had been flickering in the corner of Kang Min's vision since the moment Park Woonhee knocked on his apartment door earlier that day.
He had been suppressing the noise, pushing the notifications to the back of his mind like a persistent migraine, but now, with a katana pressed against his throat, the ringing was deafening.
'Ah... of course...that ringing noise...'
Min looked into the cold, obsidian eyes of the girl pinning him.
'Is it because it's so hungry?
Is it emitting a scent so foul that this unknown girl was able to track it down to me in a station filled with the stench of death?'
The girl didn't loosen her grip.
Her forearm was like an iron bar across his windpipe.
"As a player..."
"...I have the right to kill anything that threatens human lives.
That includes a walking magnet that attracts monsters to a crowd of civilians."
Kang Min forced a raspy laugh, his eyes shifting toward the heaps of blue-blooded carcasses littering the platform.
"How do you know it's coming from me... when there are monster corpses all over this place?
This whole station reeks of the Abyss."
The girl's gaze didn't waver.
She leaned in closer, the platinum-blonde strands of her hair brushing against his forehead.
"Corpses smell like rot..."
"You smell like the source and I can assure you don't smell like a victim, Porter.
You smell like the reason the door was built in the first place."
Kang Min's heart skipped.
'But how? I don't even have my original power.'
"I'm just an awakened B-rank who became a Porter."
"That's what you're getting wrong.
The smell isn't because of your rank as an awakened. It's not about how much mana you've stored or what skill you've equipped."
She leaned in until her lips were right beside his ear.
"The smell I'm talking about is one only I can deduce.
And this one... it's all-natural.
It comes from your very being."
'Is that how she was able to make out where I was?'
Min wondered, his mind racing.
'Back at the Walker's Org... when our eyes met for that split second.'
With such an ability, he could finally see why the Big Three guilds were so desperate for her to join the expedition.
"The gate above your home..."
"I'm able to look back..."
She continued, her voice chillingly calm.
"Gates don't open in a vacuum by coincidence..."
She pulled back just enough to look him in the eye, a strange, knowing light in her pupils.
'Is she crazy?
What is she talking about...just randomly throwing words together to make a sentence...'
Before he could process the weight of her words, a sharp, metallic ring echoed through the platform.
A blade, shimmering with a pristine silver light, appeared out of the shadows, its tip pointed directly at the Variable X girl's temple.
"What are you doing?"
The girl didn't flinch, but she slowly turned her head.
Standing a few feet away was Kim Jin, flanked by several high-ranking players from the White Stars.
His expression was one of cold professionalism, his own sword drawn and steady.
"This man is a calamity."
The girl stated, not removing her katana from Min's throat.
Kang Min took the opportunity to plant his hand against the pillar and shove.
He slid out from under her arm and stood up, dusting off hia clothes.
'Even in a situation like this, he's broadcasting?'
Min thought, noticing the small, high-tech drone hovering silently behind Kim Jin's shoulder, its red lens recording every second.
"Hey, don't worry about her."
One of the players behind Kim Jin said, stepping toward Kang Min.
He was a veteran hunter with a sympathetic smile.
"She's said to have a few screws loose.
'Well I can tell that.'
Thinks she can see ghosts...
Just don't mind her."
Kim Jin didn't lower his sword.
He looked at the Variable X girl, his eyes narrowing.
"Attacking someone who is expected to be in an official expedition is against the coalition charter.
He is under the protection of the White Stars."
"If you had killed him... I would have made sure your head wasn't intact with your neck."
The girl stared at Kim Jin for a long moment, the tension thick enough to suffocate.
Then, she let out a sharp, derisive snort.
She sheathed her katana in a single, blurring motion and spat on the blood-stained concrete.
"Suit yourselves!"
She muttered, cussing under her breath.
"Keep your pet disaster.
Just don't cry when it eats you."
She turned on her heel and walked away, her tactical boots clicking sharply as she led her small group back toward the other side of the platform.
Woonhee rushed to Kang Min's side, her face pale.
"Don't give her much mind... it's to the point people even rumor that she's a 'Returner.'
That she survived a floor clear that wiped out everyone else...in the old world."
'A Returner?'
Min watched her retreating back.
Suddenly, simultaneous ping of every player's system interface appeared.
『SYSTEM MESSAGE: ANOMALOUS INTEREST DETECTED!』
『SYSTEM MESSAGE: MULTIPLE "STARS" HAVE JOINED [KIM JIN'S] BROADCAST CHANNEL!』
『THE [BUTCHER OF THE CELESTIAL ALTAR] HAS ENTERED!』
『THE [ONE WHO CRIMSONS THE SNOW] HAS ENTERED!』
『THE [MONARCH OF THE ETERNAL FEAST] HAS ENTERED!』
『SYSTEM MESSAGE: THE CONSTELLATIONS ARE DISSATISFIED WITH THE LACK OF MOVEMENT!』
『SYSTEM MESSAGE: THE CONSTELLATIONS HAVE SPONSORED COINS TO INFLUENCE THE "DIRECTION" OF THE BREACH!』
The ground beneath the station suddenly groaned.
A massive, violent rumble shook the pillars, sending cracks spider-webbing through the ceiling.
Above them, the concrete was obliterated.
A massive, wet, purple tentacle, covered in barbed suckers and dripping with corrosive slime, smashed through the ceiling like a falling pillar.
The tentacle wrapped around Woonhee's waist, the barbs sinking into her Porter gear.
Before Kim Jin or any of the Rankers could move, the tentacle retracted with terrifying force, hauling a screaming Woonhee upward through the hole, straight toward the swirling black-red gate in the sky.
A new, massive system window ignited in the air, glowing with a blood-red light.
『EMERGENCY SUB-MISSION: THE HUNGER OF THE DEEP.』
『OBJECTIVE: DEFEAT THE CALAMITY [KRAKEN OF THE VOID] BEFORE THE GATE CLOSES AND THE TIMER ENDS.
『FAILURE CONDITION: THE CAPTURED ENTITY WILL BE CONSUMED AS A SACRIFICE.』
『REMAINING TIME: 00:29:59』