✦☀✦──────────────────────⚔──────────────────────✦☾✦
— Switch to black code immediately!
Shouting orders as he vanished from the spot, Thomas didn't wait for a response.
— …Ah, shit. This is way more serious than I thought.
In the blink of an eye, he materialized back inside the black market facility and rushed toward the emergency panel, pressing the button without hesitation.
The entire installation was bathed in red.
Daaaang!
Daaaang!
Daaaang!
Alarms echoed through every corridor. Thomas grabbed the phone and dialed a number, his fingers tense.
Ring!
Ring!
Ring!
— …Hello?
On the other end of the line, a cold, mechanical voice answered.
— Boss, we have a situation.
— …Explain.
— Dungeon Gate 756. Black code. Possible dungeon desynchronization.
There was a brief pause.
— …I see.
— You have full authority over this matter.
— Understood.
The call ended. Thomas stood there for a second, unmoving.
— Damn it…
Cursing out loud, he stomped his foot and immediately dialed another number.
Ring!
Ring!
Ring!
— Yes?
A male voice answered.
— Call all Alpha units ranked F or lower.
— …Excuse me?
— Do it now. That's an order.
— Y-yes!
The desperation in Thomas's voice left no room for doubt.
— Understood.
After hanging up, Thomas looked around. The entire facility was under total lockdown, corridors drowned in red light, alarms relentlessly echoing through the air.
He pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a deep sigh.
— …I sincerely hope this isn't as bad as I think it is.
✦☀✦──────────────────────⚔──────────────────────✦☾✦
Inside a large sealed room, twenty massive tables filled the space, each covered in monitors. Technicians worked side by side, exchanging data at a frantic pace.
At the front of the room, a gigantic screen displayed endless columns of information.
Along the side walls, dozens of clocks showed everything from the current time to the exact duration each participant had remained inside a dungeon. Obsessive control… but necessary.
At one of the central tables, an operator wearing a headset placed his hands on the surface and turned to the side.
— Report: Alpha units have entered Dungeon 756 [Red Desolation].
Thomas, arms crossed, stared at the monitor in front of him, where several cameras waited for a signal.
— Request a status report.
— Roger!
…
A devastated world revealed itself.
The sky, a deep and oppressive red, covered the landscape like an open wound. The only sound was the wind cutting through twisted trees and dried bushes.
Vum!
Vum!
Vum!
Figures dressed in white materialized across the desolate terrain.
— Alpha teams, report status.
— Alpha Unit 70154, confirmed.
— Alpha Unit 62584, confirmed.
— Alpha Unit 75894, confirmed.
— Alpha Unit 48334, confirmed.
…
— All teams confirmed.
— Alpha Operation Captain, activate your camera and report the environment.
Click!
A white-clad individual, a golden ring around his arm, activated the camera positioned above his chest.
— Camera activated. Initiating measurements.
— Attempting contact with dungeon guardians who entered earlier.
Khhhhhh…
Only static replied.
The captain frowned.
— Orders received. All Alpha teams, advance.
— Alpha teams, moving!
Marching in organized formation, the agents disappeared into the depths of the dungeon.
✦☀✦──────────────────────⚔──────────────────────✦☾✦
— If you're going to die… then die quietly!
As the last fragments of Everblood's clone turned to ash, a strange peace settled over the hall.
By a thread… I was still standing.
My body was shredded by cuts and puncture wounds. The haori, once blue, was now completely red. The fox mask was cracked and soaked in blood, a massive gash running across the right side.
My lungs burned. Breathing hurt.
My mind was hazy, but I was still conscious.
— Thud.
The sound of impact pulled me from my thoughts.
Ren collapsed beside me, unconscious.
His body didn't show many external wounds, but the direct blow to the solar plexus had been nearly fatal. Broken ribs… possibly internal bleeding.
In this state, we would both be dead within a few hours.
But…
If everything went according to plan, I wouldn't need to worry.
My legs finally gave out. I dropped to my knees, using my sword's sheath as support to keep from collapsing completely. The world spun slowly.
I don't know how long I stayed like that.
Minutes? Maybe more.
But just before everything faded to black, I heard a distant voice, soft, almost comforting.
— We found survivors! Prepare medical support!
A weak smile formed on my face.
Then… everything went dark.
✦☀✦──────────────────────⚔──────────────────────✦☾✦
Slowly, a pair of deep blue eyes opened, staring at an unfamiliar ceiling.
A strong, pungent smell of alcohol invaded his nostrils. The room was silent, and aside from his heavy breathing, only the rhythmic beep of an electrocardiogram in the corner broke the stillness.
A throbbing pain struck his abdomen when Ren tried to move.
Lowering his gaze, he saw himself covered in thick bandages. Long metallic wires extended from his chest and arms, connected to the monitor beside the bed.
He tried to sit up.
The instant he moved his upper body, the pain swallowed him whole. A pulsing shock ran through his torso, knocking the air from his lungs.
Ren sank back into the large white mattress.
— …Tsc.
A bitter laugh escaped his lips. All he could do was lie there, pathetically motionless, waiting for the pain to subside.
Looking back at the ceiling illuminated by fluorescent light, a flood of questions began forming in his mind.
How long have I been here? Where am I? What happened after…?
He closed his eyes, trying to pull back the memories leading up to his awakening.
Clank!
Before he could organize his thoughts, the sound of the door opening echoed through the room.
A doctor entered, wearing a short-sleeved blue shirt under a white coat, with matching trousers. Right behind him, a blond, rough-looking man sat in a chair, legs crossed, a newspaper open in his hands.
— Mr. Thomas?
— …Hm?
Noticing the call, Thomas folded the newspaper and stood up, stepping into the room.
He looked the same as before, but now he wore a visibly wrinkled brown suit, as if he hadn't rested in days.
— How are you feeling?
— …Fine, I think.
— That's a relief.
Thomas sat beside the bed, loosened his tie, and pulled a pack of cigarettes from his jacket pocket.
— Do you mind?
Ren shook his head and turned his face toward the window. Outside, it was night in the city of Ashton. Urban lights spread like artificial stars around the hospital.
— Puff… Ah, exactly what I needed.
Exhaling a cloud of smoke, Thomas leaned back in the chair and also gazed at the nightscape.
— You're a tough kid.
— Hm?
— You made it out alive after fighting that damn demon. And thanks to that, we managed to prevent a possible dungeon desynchronization… which would've caused us some serious losses.
Ren remained silent for a moment, eyes fixed on the dark sky dotted with stars.
— …I didn't do it alone.
Thomas turned toward him and let out a dry chuckle.
— Well… we already know that. We found another brat with you, barely alive.
Releasing another cloud of smoke, he continued.
— Based on the analysis of the combat site, it's very likely he did most of the work.
Ren already knew that.
Even so, a strange weight settled in his chest.
He remembered how arrogant he'd been to put himself in that situation. How he could barely keep up with the fight… and how he'd nearly died from a single blow.
He felt useless.
Sensing the heavy silence, Thomas cleared his throat.
— But don't get the wrong idea, kid.
— The other guy made it very clear that you were essential in several parts of the fight. You even saved his life twice.
Adjusting his wrinkled jacket, Thomas settled more comfortably into the chair.
— Don't feel bad about it.
— You fought an opponent bordering rank D while being rank G. Just being here now is already something to be proud of.
Seen that way… it made sense.
Surviving a battle against a demon was already an absurd feat. Still, Ren's mind remained clouded with questions.
That figure… Small. Agile. Terrifyingly skilled with a sword.
He could keep up with Everblood at times, yet at the same time, it felt like he was only buying time, as if he were absolutely certain that Ren would be able to finish everything with a single decisive strike.
It was almost as if…
he knew something… something about the principles of the Keiki Style!
…
— …So, after a brief discussion with our superiors, a decision was made…
Pausing for a moment, Thomas turned his attention back to Ren and couldn't help but let out a dry laugh before continuing.
— Well… they decided to grant you a skill.
— A-a skill?
Ren was so shocked that he ended up stuttering. The surprise was unavoidable. That level of generosity was simply unheard of.
If someone were asked what the most desirable thing in that world was, most wouldn't hesitate before answering: skills.
Monster parts, martial manuals, combat techniques, cores… all of these had tremendous value. Still, in the eyes of most people, nothing compared to a skill.
Unlike martial arts or weapon mastery, which required years of training and discipline, skills could be acquired instantly.
Normally, someone would train their entire life before daring to say they had mastered a technique.
But with skills, all that was required was to learn them. In the very next instant, all the information would be engraved directly into the user's brain. There was no learning curve. No gradual adaptation.
Once obtained, a skill could be used immediately.
In a matter of seconds, it was possible to perform feats that would normally take years, sometimes decades, to master.
Who wouldn't want something like that?
Skills could be found inside dungeons and, like cores, were obtained from monsters. However, if the drop rate for cores was already low, the drop rate for skills was downright absurd.
Extremely rare.
And when the first skill was discovered, chaos followed immediately. Just like what had happened with cores in the past, the entire world began to covet them.
From that point on, whenever a skill appeared, massive auctions were held. Even the weakest ones started at millions of U.
— Hahaha… we're talking about preventing the loss of a dungeon that generates millions of U per day. Don't you think that's worth a skill?
Thomas commented dismissively.
— Besides, we're not giving anything high-level. Just a rank F skill.
— W-well… I guess you have a point… but a rank F skill is still a skill…
— Ah, don't worry about something so trivial.
Trivial…?
Ren almost frowned.
How could something ranked F be considered trivial?
Even at the bottom of the hierarchy, a skill of that level was still worth an absurd fortune. The fact that Thomas spoke of it as if it were nothing only highlighted how powerful the black market truly was.
It made him wonder…
How many skills did they have? Could it be… that they possessed rank S skills?
If that were true, then Ren had severely underestimated the influence of that organization.
Even as the novel's author, he didn't know much about the black market, since he never explored them deeply in the story. They were merely a convenient organization the protagonist used to speed up his growth.
But apparently… they were far bigger than they seemed.
As these thoughts piled up, one specific question stood out in his mind.
— …That guy… did he also receive a skill?
Straightening his wrinkled suit, Thomas brought the cigarette to his lips before answering.
— The fox brat? Yeah, it was offered. He calmly exhaled the smoke.
— But he chose to take only the money.
— W-what? Seriously…?
Refusing a skill was practically inconceivable.
Even receiving only the base value of a rank F skill, around five million U, it was still almost impossible to acquire one on the open market.
Most ended up in auctions, easily surpassing ten million, depending on the content.
The mere fact that that man had refused a skill caused the questions in Ren's mind to multiply. His head was already so overloaded that it felt like it was about to start smoking.
— That's enough. You should rest now.
Standing up, Thomas cut off the storm of thoughts. He dropped the cigarette to the floor and crushed it under his foot.
— Once you recover, I'll personally guide you to the place where you can collect your skill.
Without saying anything else, Thomas turned and left the room, leaving Ren alone with the constant beeping of the monitor… and with the image of a fox-masked figure that refused to leave his mind.