"We've taken care of the last monster of the fourth wave!"
"Injured to the rear! Teams 1 and 2, switch out!"
"Guildmaster, the rift's energy level has dropped significantly."
Kwon Taehyuk spun his blood-soaked blade once in his hand to shake off the blood and spoke.
"What's the percentage now?"
"Fourteen percent. The fifth wave will be the last."
"Don't get complacent just because it's the last one. Handle it thoroughly until the end. No monsters must slip past. Assign more guild members to the perimeter—"
"Guildmaster!"
Just as they were about to rearrange formation before the final wave, a guild member came running in, pale as a sheet, shouting.
"T-the rift... another rift just appeared!"
"What?"
Gasping for breath, the guild member struggled to continue.
"It's just been reported to the Bureau, and they contacted us immediately..."
Kwon Taehyuk's face froze cold. The other guild members who had come to report clamped their mouths shut in shock.
"But... the Bureau only detected one rift!"
"I-I don't know! It just... suddenly appeared!"
Before the two panicking Hunters could say more, Kwon Taehyuk regained his composure and pressed urgently.
"The location? Where is it?"
"That is..."
The guild member's face turned even paler. After hesitating for a moment, he squeezed his eyes shut and shouted, as if forcing the words out.
"Not far from here... Right above the subway station."
"......."
"Fortunately, there haven't been any casualties yet. Some unknown Hunter is handling the monsters—"
The rest of the words barely registered.
The first rift with its final wave still ahead, and now a sudden second rift. Kwon Taehyuk quickly assessed the situation and issued orders.
"Teams 2 and 3 will handle the last wave. Team 1, follow me. We're going to block the second rift."
"Understood!"
"Share the location of the second rift with everyone. As soon as this rift is cleared, move all guild members over there. Also, contact the support team."
"Yes, sir!"
Snapping out of their daze, the guild members rushed into action. Leaving them behind, Kwon Taehyuk pulled something from his inventory.
It was a tiny model of a bike, looking {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} even smaller against his large hand. He casually tossed the model onto the ground, and with a clattering of mechanical clicks, it rapidly expanded.
In the blink of an eye, the miniature became a sleek black sports bike. As Kwon Taehyuk mounted it, his secretary hurried over.
"All orders have been carried out. Shall we depart immediately?"
"Yeah."
"Before you go, please check this."
The secretary handed over a tablet. Frowning, Kwon Taehyuk glanced at the screen.
"It's CCTV footage we secured immediately after hearing the report. The Hunter captured in it is..."
The secretary trailed off, but there was no need to hear the rest.
Beneath a deeply pulled cap, golden blond hair fluttered. A familiar denim jacket.
The Hunter who had defeated Kwon Taehyuk and taken the number one rank — Cover. He was holding off the rift all by himself.
Clicking his tongue inwardly, Kwon Taehyuk returned the tablet and revved the bike.
The floating blades behind him sliced through the air as they followed their master.
'Why the hell is that guy there?'
He had thought Cover was connected to the lab somehow, but maybe he was wrong. Or maybe he just happened to get caught up in the suddenly appearing rift.
Whatever was going on, this was the first time encountering Cover since that suspicious ranking match. No matter how desperately they had tried to find him before, there had been no leads—yet now, of all times, he shows up?
He was still a deeply unsettling figure. Kwon Taehyuk's black eyes grew cold.
The instant I sliced off the giant head of a snake-like monster, I turned and launched myself from the ground.
Barely managing to get there first, I grabbed the waist of a civilian and yanked them away just as the monster snapped its jaws in empty air.
"Ah, aahhh!"
Kiaaaaah!
The monster, furious at losing its prey right in front of it, shrieked viciously. Setting the person down on a more stable sidewalk, I slashed my sword horizontally.
Slash!
The monster's upper body split open, blood pouring out in sheets.
The person behind me, trembling violently, gagged and stumbled away, scrambling to flee.
"Haaah..."
I gasped for breath and lifted my head.
Collapsed buildings and roads. Monster corpses littering the ground. And the still-open rift in the sky.
"When the hell are they coming?"
By now, news should have reached them.
Maybe because I was struggling alone, time felt excruciatingly slow. I understood intellectually that it took time to move across distances, but emotionally, my chest tightened with frustration.
I sighed heavily, staring at the new monsters sluggishly sticking their heads out of the rift.
'...Forget it. This isn't Kwon Taehyuk's fault. It's because I'm weak.'
If Kwon Taehyuk had been here instead of me, it wouldn't be this hard. He could control dozens of blades freely — he wasn't someone who needed to run around like me.
Even if it wasn't Kwon Taehyuk, a typical S-rank Hunter like Ryu Sunghyun or even Eun Woojeong wouldn't have been exhausted like this. They all had offensive skills.
"This is why I wanted a decent attack skill so badly."
Swallowing down my frustration, I clenched my trembling hands and raised my sword again.
Grkrkrk!
A heavy beastly growl shook the earth.
A monster with a long neck and spiky mane emerged from the rift, baring its fangs as it roared.
The first wave had been led by two gargoyles and snake-like monsters. The second wave — now — consisted of monsters called Inogs, which looked similar to hyenas.
The Inogs had hyena-like faces and necks, but their bodies were towering over two meters, bulky and humanoid. They resembled werewolves but were even more vicious.
Grk.
Five Inogs tumbled out of the rift and hit the ground.
Thud!
The one standing before me had massive hands, wide as pot lids, tipped with long claws — sharp enough to pierce my heart if I was careless even once.
One faced me directly, while the other four fanned out to surround me. Like wolves cornering prey, the Inogs tightened their formation.
Suppressing a curse, I lunged toward the Inog in the center.
In a fight against multiple enemies, it was safer to attack first. If I waited for them to fully organize and charge together, I wouldn't even have time to counterattack before being torn apart.
Clang! Crack!
"Ugh!"
My blade clashed against the Inog's thick black claws with a screeching impact.
The strength behind it made my hand tremble uncontrollably. Gritting my teeth, I knocked aside the claws and swung again — but my blade only sheared off tufts of its bristly mane.
Exhaustion dragged at my body, making it impossible to swing properly.
And then, while I struggled, another Inog barreled in from the side.
"Hhk, kuh!"
It clamped onto my thigh and suddenly leapt upward.
Dragged helplessly, I was hurled onto the rooftop of a nearby building.
Boom!
A deafening crash rattled my eardrums, and my vision went black for a moment. Thrown through the air, I blacked out briefly, my eyes fluttering.
Grkrk, The snarls of the Inogs grew closer.
I reached out, fumbling to brace myself against broken concrete rubble, but my body barely moved. Unlike during the gargoyle fight, my limbs felt sluggish and disobedient.
"Ugh..."
If I didn't snap out of it, I would die. Pure, primal fear roared inside me.
Panting heavily, I forced my hand to tighten around my sword.
Even if my body got ripped apart, I had to move. I had to survive.
Focusing all my strength into my fading vision, I braced to cut down the first Inog that lunged.
Then—
Ching!
A sharp metallic sound rang through the air.
A pure white trail split the darkness — and something pierced clean through the Inog rushing at me.
Kyaaaah! Kyaaaak!
Multiple blades tore through the air at frightening speed, shredding the Inogs into chunks of meat before they could even react.
Even the one closest to me — its head flew clean off.
Boom!
The headless body crashed down beside me.
As the giant corpse toppled, the one who had come into view at last—
With wind-blown dark navy hair and a face annoyingly handsome — It was Kwon Taehyuk, the man I had been desperately waiting for.
[Main Quest: Endure the Second Rift. (Remaining Time: 7 hours 34 minutes)]

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