The night hung heavy over the city, a thick, inky blanket punctuated by the neon glow of distant billboards. Rain lashed down, turning the forgotten alleyways of the industrial district into glistening, treacherous paths.
A man in slick form fitting suit had taken a path on a dark street, he heard them – a cacophony of metallic clangs, an unearthly shriek, and voices, hushed and urgent. Peeking around a rusted shipping container, his figure scanned the scene unfolding.
Three figures, moving with impossible speed, were locked in combat with a grotesque, shadowy creature. It reeked of decay and something far worse, its form shifting and writhing like smoke given nightmarish substance. One of the figures, striking with glowing katana, spun and caught the man's gaze. It was Mika, her eyes, usually so full of vibrant idol energy, now alight with a fierce, almost desperate intensity.
Just as she moved to shout a warning, the creature let out a deafening shriek, turning its malevolent gaze directly unto him. "Get back!" Mika's voice, raw and strained, cut through the night, but it was too late. The Spider Cryptid lunged, its shadowy claws extending, impossibly fast. Vivian and Reina moved in a blur, intercepting the attack, their own glowing weapons meeting the monster's assault with a crackling burst of energy.
The air vibrated with pure power, the ground beneath his feet shaking. Mika, momentarily distracted, saw his face, and for a fleeting second, the idol persona flickered through the Hunter, a flash of genuine concern."You shouldn't be here... None of this... you can't tell anyone what you see!" She hissed, her voice low and urgent, before turning back to the swirling vortex of combat. "Now tell me, what in the world are you doing out here, caught in a mess like this?"
"Aim for its underbelly. That spot is where its armor plating is most vulnerable." he replied in a hushes tone, his finger pointing towards the currently rampaging monster.
The creature lunged again, a mass of chitinous legs and weeping shadows, its screech echoing off the corrugated metal walls. Mika's grip tightened on her katana, her knuckles white. She looked at Kei, her eyes widening in a mixture of disbelief and irritation.
"The underbelly?" she snapped, her voice barely audible over the rain. "I'm a little busy trying not to get skewered here! How do you even—"
"Mika, shut it! He's right," Vivian's voice cut through, sharp and authoritative. The leader of MUSE didn't turn around; her focus was locked on the Cryptid through the glowing sights of her spectral bow. She had noticed it too—the way the creature protected its midsection with every swipe. She adjusted her stance, the rain sliding off her tactical gear. "The plates are thinner where the thorax meets the abdomen. Reina! Flip it!"
"On it, Viv!" Reina's voice was a burst of energy amidst the gloom. She didn't hesitate. With a surge of golden Aura, she slammed her gauntlets together, creating a shockwave that rattled the puddles. She sprinted forward, sliding beneath a sweeping leg and delivering a colossal upward thrust. "Up you go, big guy!"
The Spider Cryptid let out a guttural hiss as its front legs were forced upward, exposing a pale, pulsating underside.
Mika didn't need to be told twice. She blurred into motion, a streak of crimson and steel. With a singular, focused horizontal slash, she carved through the vulnerable underside. The creature let out a final, gurgling howl before its form began curl inward on the ground, signalling its successful extermination.
Silence returned to the warehouse, save for the rhythm of heavy breathing and the steady patter of rain. The three idols turned as one toward the man with the silver eyes.
Mika sheathed her katana with a sharp *clack*, her gaze narrowing. She stepped toward him, the rain slicking her dark red hair against her forehead. "You," she breathed out, her voice a mix of suspicion and intrigue. "Normal people faint or run when they see that. You just gave us a scouting report."
Vivian hopped down from the crate, her bow compacting back into her wrist. She studied his androgynous features, her analytical mind already racing. "Not just a report. He spotted a structural weakness even my Aura-sight missed in the heat of the moment."
Reina leaned over, her gauntlet's light fading as she looked at him with wide, curious eyes. "Whoa... are you like, a secret Hunter? Or just really, really brave?"
Hunters are 'Gifted' individuals that can harness 'Aura' to ehnance their bodies and weapons. They have a biology that is superior in almost every aspect compared to ordinary humans; may it be strength, stamina, speed, reflexes, recovery speed, etc. 'Gifted' humans are one in every few thousands which is why they are highly valued assets in the Hunter Association.
Mika stepped closer, her face inches from his, searching those calm silver eyes for a hint of fear—finding none. "Talk. How did you know where to strike it? And more importantly... who exactly are you, 'stranger'?"
"Taking into account that this is your team's first time encountering a Grade 2 Arachnoid: Jumping Spider, I'll give your performance a passable C. As for my name...it's Kei."
The air in the alleyway seemed to drop several degrees, and it wasn't just because of the rain. Mika's jaw practically hit the pavement before it snapped shut, her grip tightening on the hilt of her katana until her knuckles turned white.
"A 'C'?" Mika repeated, her voice rising in a dangerous octave. She stepped into his personal space, her fiery gaze clashing with his cool silver eyes. "We just saved your life from a creature that would've turned a 'normal' person into a snack in three seconds flat, and you're giving us a performance review?"
Reina, usually the one to diffuse tension, just blinked, her head tilting to the side. "Grade 2 Arachnoid: Jumping Spider? I just thought it was a really big, ugly bug with too many eyes. How do you even know the classification?" She looked between her sisters and Kei, her youthful curiosity overriding the exhaustion of the fight.
Vivian, however, didn't move. Her tactical mind was already spinning, discarding a dozen different theories a second. She didn't look offended; she looked wary. Her eyes narrowed as she studied Kei's calm demeanor. He wasn't shaking, his heart rate didn't seem elevated, and he had just used Hunter Association terminology that was strictly classified.
"That information isn't public, Kei," Vivian said, her voice low and level, cutting through Mika's brewing tantrum. "Only active-duty Hunters and Association analysts have access to the taxonomy of the Abyss. And I know every Hunter assigned to this sector."
She stepped forward, placing a hand on Mika's shoulder to keep her from doing something impulsive. "You didn't just stumble in here, did you? You knew exactly what we were fighting, and you knew its weak point better than a field manual."
Mika reached into her tactical vest, her fingers brushing against the cold glass of the memory-erasing serum. Normally, they would have injected a witness by now, but something about Kei made her hesitate. You don't wipe the memory of someone who talks like they're your superior.
The Hunter Association is a covert organization that operates across the world in secrecy, keeping the fear and knowledge about Cryptids away from ordinary people. In any situation where an ordinary person is involved, the Hunters are given an injectible serum that can safely erase any memory of that person about what happened in the last few hours.
"A 'C'..." Mika muttered again, her pride clearly stung. "I slashed that thing's gut open in one go."
"Because he told you where to aim, Mika," Vivian reminded her, never taking her eyes off Kei. She looked him up and down—the lean physique, the unshakable composure, those haunting silver eyes. "Who are you, Kei? Are you with the Association? Or are you one of those 'Unregistered' we've been warned about?"
The distant sound of a siren wailed, a reminder that the world of the living was still turning, oblivious to the war in the shadows.
"Answer the lady," Mika hissed, her katana still half-drawn. "Before I decide that 'C' stands for 'Caught' and take you in for questioning."
"To think that [Count Rank] Hunters like yourselves don't even have the basic knowledge about the Cryptid you're fighting. You're in much worse shape than I anticipated." Kei murmured, brushing his hair up with his fingers in disappointment. Pulling out a smartphone displaying the girls' Hunter information.
Hunters are divided into 6 ranks. Starting from the lowest; Baron, Viscount, Count, Duke, Archduke and the highest rank that can be bestowed upon a Hunter, King.
Mika's temper, already simmering, hit a flashpoint. She moved like a blur, the tip of her katana stopping a mere inch from Kei's throat. The rain sizzled as it hit the faint residue of Aura still clinging to her blade.
"Watch your mouth," she hissed, her eyes narrowed into dangerous slits. "Count Rank is nothing to scoff at. We've taken down threats that would turn this entire district into a graveyard while you were probably tucked away in bed."
However, her bravado faltered as her eyes dropped to the glowing screen in his hand. Her breath hitched. There it was—her official Association profile. Her real name, her rank, her kill count, and even her blood type. She glanced sideways; Vivian and Reina's profiles were there too, encrypted behind layers of security that should have been impenetrable to anyone without association clearance.
Vivian's composure finally cracked. Her hand went to her communicator, but she paused, her analytical mind screaming at her. If he had that data, he wasn't just some bystander. He was either a high-level mole or... something far more terrifying.
"That's internal Association data," Vivian said, her voice dropping to a deadly, cold whisper. She ignored Mika's blade and stepped closer to Kei, her eyes searching his silver ones. "Accessing those files is a federal offense, let alone having them on a personal device. Who gave you those credentials? Is the Association tracking us?"
"The Association just issued the deployment of a newly built operatives, the 'Overseers'. And I am one of them."
Kei showed them a hologram that emerged from his watch. The person in the hologram was none other than the chairwoman of the Association.
She explains that the death tolls of Hunters are increasing at an alarming rate these past year, mostly young Hunters. The analyzed causes of death are mostly blind confrontations with Cryptids above their class and recklessness in battle without a decisive plan and relevant information about the Cryptid. With some even going as far as not to request for backup to monopolize hunt credits.
Overseers are tasked to prevent just that, or at least minimize the casualties. They will serve as the tacticians and brains of the operations of Hunters as well as track their combat abilities and progress. Overseers are currently being deployed to every Hunter below [Archduke Rank]. May they be operating individually or in teams.
The rain continued to fall, but the atmosphere had shifted from a life-or-death struggle to something much more suffocating: a corporate evaluation.
The flickering blue light of the hologram illuminated the girls' shocked faces. The Chairwoman's voice, cold and authoritative, echoed through the damp warehouse, leaving no room for argument. Mika slowly lowered her katana, the tip scraping against the wet concrete with a harsh metallic screech. Her eyes were still narrowed, but the murderous intent had been replaced by a simmering, indignant frustration.
"An Overseer?" Mika spat the word like it was poison. "So the Association thinks we're just incompetent kids who can't handle a hunt without a babysitter? We've been MUSE for three years and Hunters for five. We know the risks."
Vivian, however, was staring at the hologram with a grim expression. Unlike Mika, she understood the data the Chairwoman was referencing. She had seen the reports of Hunter casualties rising—friends they had trained with who simply never came back from the midnight hour.
"The casualty rates... they've been suppressed in the public reports," Vivian murmured, her analytical mind recalibrating. She looked back at Kei, her gaze lingering on his silver eyes. "So you're not just a tactician. You're a leash. You're here to make sure we don't become another statistic."
Reina, meanwhile, looked between her sisters and then at Kei, her sunshine persona struggling to break through the tension. She wiped a smudge of black Cryptid ichor from her cheek. "Wait, wait. If you're our Overseer... does that mean you're going to be with us all the time? Even during our idol activities? Because our manager is going to have a literal heart attack if a random, incredibly handsome—" she coughed, "—I mean, a random stranger starts following us around 24/7."
Mika stepped closer to Kei, her height dwarfed by his, but her presence no less fiery. She ignored Reina's comment. "A 'C', Kei? You watched us for five minutes and decided that's all we're worth? We ended that thing before it could even touch the warehouse walls."
"Hunter Mika. Just like the data files say. Short tempered and quick to anger. That is going to cost you greatly sooner or later." Kei responded, his voice cold and indifferent. "Confidence without skill is merely arrogance, Hunter Mika."