"BREAKING NEWS: Just tonight, the running politician, Mr. Stolin was found dead in his dwelling along with all the other people residing at that location."
The news reporter on the TV reported as Hayden watched in his room.
"The authorities have found that the cause of death of almost every victim was from physical injury done without lethal weapons except for one child who was shot dead. The National Bureau of Investigation is now taking the matter in hand and they've found missing jewellery, so they surmise that the motive of this tragic mass murder was robbery."
Hayden was somehow frustrated.
He was holding the remote as he listened to the news.
He's not just holding the remote, he's clenching it.
"The news's a fraud!" he barked.
Unable to suppress his temper, he launched the remote to the TV.
But he missed.
And that made him even angrier.
*Ring*
His phone rang in his pocket and he answered it as he got up from the couch.
The one calling was Franklin, the leader/owner/founder of the Headhunter. He's Hayden's boss.
Since Hayden missed the TV, he went towards it with heavy steps and treated his own TV like a punching bag.
He lifted it up like a wrestler and blasted it down before stomping it until the screen shattered and the frame bent.
Hayden was broke and he couldn't afford a new TV. But at least that calmed him down.
"Throwing tantrums again?" Franklin asked in a joking manner.
"It's a mission accomplished, Franky. I need my salary tomorrow."
"Mission accomplished my ass, you brat. The task was to eliminate Mr. Stolin, but what did you do? You massacred them. Even the kids."
"I only did what's best. Even if I let the kids live, they'd just end up wandering the street."
Franklin sighed. "I just heard the news. How do you even have the time to rob the place? Urgh…! I should've sent agent Cat instead."
"What's done is done, there's no undo. Anyways, I still need the payment tomorrow."
"Just get to the HQ tomorrow, 9a.m. Also, I have a new mission for you. I know you're in desperate need of financial support, so I'm letting you handle most of the missions to help your grandmother get out of the hospital."
"'kay."
*beep*
Hayden dropped the call.
Franklin was trying to show his sympathy to Hayden's situation yet he just ended the call without showing even a slight gratitude.
Hayden flumped down to the couch and looked over his shoulder to see a wolf's head hooked on the coat rack.
That's his mask.
"I dreamt of being a hunter when I was young." Hayden talked to himself. "Who would've thought I'd end up as a Headhunter."
"The saying is true… If you gaze into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you."
~~~~~~~~~~
Two thousand years prior present, gates from the demon realm emerged on earth. Thousand gates randomly appeared all across the globe and demons gained access to earth. In just a matter of seconds, pandemonium was rampant and demons plagued the earth.
However, as sudden as the unexpected opening of the gates, some people also just magically received unique abilities and enhanced physical capacity that is 10 times greater than a normal human.
Those who received the blessings were called "Demon Hunter" (or DH), and they held humanity against the demons.
Although some gates close over time, new gates appear elsewhere.
But even if chaos is found everywhere, the DHs never rest to protect the world as they pass their genes to their children and DHs amass a large number to fend off humanity.
~Hayden's POV~
9:03 a.m.
No breakfast, no dinner last night, and a rumbling stomach in magnitude 7 as I glided down the sidewalk.
I'm on my way to HQ and I'm starving.
I know that I'm broke, so I've been trying to save lately as the expenses I have to cover were 7 digits.
I stopped at an intersection waiting for the green light to turn red. I was a bit off-minded due to hunger, but I realized that the traffic light was on green for like a minute now.
I guessed it's broken.
Franky told me to be there at 9, and I'm running a bit late.
Unable to wait for the maybe-broken traffic light, I glanced over my left, right, up, down, back, and front and there was not a single vehicle. Well, except for the cop car parked at the coffee shop nearby.
The cops aren't that enthusiastic about the laws since most of them put more attention on surveillance for gate openings.
I'm pretty sure I won't get in trouble for crossing the road on a green light.
And since the road ain't busy, I took my chance and walked along the pedestrian lane.
*Squeal*
*CRASH*
When I'm right in the middle of the road, a black Mercedes-Benz accelerating at 180 mph crashes into me, sending me to oblivion.
I got yeeted 20 meters away from the collision, rolling like a sausage across the road.
After the impact, I get back up immediately and I'm perfectly fine.
The driver of the Mercedes gets out of his car.
And that's not good.
The traffic light was on green and I damaged his property. That car looks luxurious and I'm broke enough to even afford a bicycle.
To make matters worse, the guy who got out of the car was in a formal tuxedo. His smooth silver hair parted in the middle and he's wearing shades.
That attire gives me the vibe that he'll sue me.
My gut instinct tells me to bounce.
But it was a little too late. The two cops nearby heard the loud crash and were already behind me.
"You okay, kid?"
"Yea… But I really have to go," I said, trying to dip out.
"Not yet," the other cop said. He looked at me and scanned my body—specifically my elbow and face. "We have to check your condition first. Hmm… No bleeding and barely any scratches, huh?"
The man in the suit caught up to us. "Are you hurt, muffinhead?"
I didn't recognize him at first glance when he got out of the Mercedes. But on a closer look, this man actually looks familiar.
Froilan Esperanza, the country's wealthiest businessman, owns the renowned "Twilight" guild, which serves as an institute of Demon Hunters and offers military support when demon gates open.
Demon Hunters and the Headhunter corporation have a tense relationship: Demon Hunters eliminate demons, while Headhunters target humans.
We, the Headhunters are perceived as a notorious syndicate by the world and it got to the point that they put bounty above our heads.
Esperanza is an SSS-rank DH. If he knows that I'm a member of Headhunter, I'm screwed.
"Mr. Esperanza?" the cop gasped.
The man's a noble, after all.
"My apologies, I didn't mean to bump you," Esperanza apologized, scratching the back of his head.
"That's fine. I'm good anyways so we could just let it go," I replied, trying to end this and leave as quickly as possible.
"Hold on a sec," The assertive cop went over to Esperanza. "What do you mean bump, sir? You see the damage on your vehicle, right?"
"Yeah, it's a little dented."
"Dented?! Just look at the hood, sir. It's completely destroyed. There's no way the kid's alright."
"He seems alright to me."
"Yea, I was barely hurt," I affirmed.
"Look, kid, you might be tough but you got flung that far and you're definitely not okay."
"Can't you figure it, Chief? The muffinhead is a DH. That's why the accident was harmless to him." Esperanza said.
It seems that Esperanza has no intention of suing me.
But that doesn't change the fact that he could still kill me because I'm a Headhunter.
"You're free to go now, muffinhead." Esperanza slightly lifted his shades and secretly winked at me. "Right, Chief?"
The cop sighed. "Who am I to argue? You're superior to me, Mr. Esperanza. You may leave now, kid."
"Uh… sure."
I then get my ass out there because staying for longer is a risk.
I sprinted to the HQ and made it there by 9:13.
The HQ looks like a coffee shop that is near bankruptcy.
With this bland, antique-looking facade and the decaying wooden signage in front barely hanging on rusty nails atop the entrance, no customer is foolish enough to try this .5-star coffee shop.
I went through the creaky, old wooden door and found Franky behind the L-shaped counter filling the blender with excessive whey protein.
Franky is a middle-aged man with an incredibly buff physique. He's obsessed with getting bigger—way too obsessed that he forgot to shave his beard and it's now grown like a bush.
I walked over to him and sat on the counter stool as he blended his protein shake.
"It's weirdly quiet today. Are they out on a mission?" I asked as I rested my arms on the table.
"Nope. There are less and less missions coming up these days, so I gave the other agents a short vacation."
"Wow… That's so biased. You let them rest while I shoulder all the missions. Talk about favoritism."
I'm aware that Franky left these missions for me so that I can profit.
I'm just prattling to tease him.
"Coffee?"
"You know I can't say no to that."
Franky served me my favorite coffee and it sufficed my hunger.
We sat on opposite sides of the counter table as we had our different drinks.
"So who's the target?"
Franky told me last night that he'll send me on a new mission, so I just straight up asked who I'll kill this time.
Franky was chugging his shake in the blender, but he paused and slammed the blender on the table after hearing my question.
He gave me an ominous glare while growling. "Try killing a person and I'll kill you myself, brat."
Spooked, I looked away and said, "I… I won't."
Franky's aura sends shivers down my spine. He's a former S-rank DH back in his younger days, after all. And he's probably even stronger now.
However, I'm still perplexed. The Headhunter kills humans, that's our job since the beginning.
We don't kill innocent humans though. The government is invested in saving the world against demons and they overlook that humans themself are a threat. Some are corrupt and some abuse their powers, and due to the government's lack of attention in those concerning matters, the Headhunter maintains world peace by eliminating those inimical people.
That's the reason why all of our missions are about assassinating a certain target.
But this time around, it's different.
If Franky said I'm not allowed to kill a human in this mission, then what's the objective?
It's confusing, so I can't help myself but ask.
"So what's this mission all about?"
*Knock-Knock*
"That's probably our client." Franky let out a short laugh. "Check it out yourself," he replied to my question.
Wanting to know more, I got up and went to meet our client.
However, I was petrified to where I stood the moment I opened the door.
A man with silver hair, and tinted shades, and he's wearing a black tuxedo.
His arm was raised in a striking position where he held a long metal cylinder with a pointy edge.
"Found your nest, muffinheads!"
He then plunges the nail-like thing down my chest, impaling me to death.