The system voice rang out.
Loud.
Clear.
Only inside the dungeon.
Only for those who carried the ability to hear it.
The cameraman heard nothing.
The broadcaster heard nothing.
Everyone watching from home, from work, from the road, heard nothing but silence and the sound of boots on strange ground.
The system spoke to hunters alone.
---
*Skill activated — Foreign Deal Shield.*
*Lesser skill — activated.*
*Flaming Resort Shield — activated.*
*Unpathered Shield — activated.*
*Lesser skill combination — completed.*
*Mana flow — acceptable.*
*High ranking skill — Crimson Crystal Gem Shield — activated.*
---
A circle formed around them.
Large.
Red gems materializing in the air.
Arranging themselves into a barrier.
Beautiful in the way dangerous things are sometimes beautiful.
---
In the dark forest beyond it—
Beams of red light burst outward.
Multiple directions at once.
Fast.
Searching.
---
Panic rippled through the formation.
Chaos at the edges.
---
Gun-woo stood at the center.
Calm.
Right beside the camera.
He looked into the lens.
Smiled.
---
"Do not be afraid."
His voice even.
Reassuring without performing reassurance.
"Many of you have asked how hunters operate. How our skills and abilities actually work."
A pause.
"This is a good opportunity to show you."
---
He gestured slightly toward the barrier around them.
---
"Hunters gain access to skills once they reach a certain level. For most that's level five. For others it might be level six. Or seven."
A breath.
"We don't fully understand why the threshold differs from person to person."
---
He continued, unhurried, even as the red light moved beyond the barrier.
---
"There's an important distinction to understand. Some defensive skills protect the body directly. Others require a weapon — like a shield — to activate. And some skills create a shield entirely on their own."
A pause.
"For multiple hunters to combine these skills successfully, they need to match."
He looked at the camera.
"If one hunter activates a body-based defense and another needs a physical shield to activate theirs, the two won't synchronize properly."
A breath.
"Most of the time compatibility is needed for smooth dual cultivation. But it depends on the individuals involved. And the circumstances."
---
He glanced toward the dark.
---
"As for what we're facing here."
A pause.
"The creatures in this particular dungeon — we've named them Cyclops."
His voice carrying the easy authority of someone who had said this before.
"Large. Black. Built like gorillas. A single eye. A horn extending from the forehead that concentrates red plasma energy."
A breath.
"Very effective hunters. Very effective killers."
---
He looked directly at the cameraman.
"Get the good angles."
A small smile.
"This is going to be a good show for everyone watching."
---
His face filled the frame for a moment longer.
Confident.
Composed.
Then the picture pulled back.
---
Somewhere far from the dungeon.
Far from the red light and the gem barrier and the dark trees bending in directions trees shouldn't bend.
A young man.
Thin.
A green t-shirt.
One hand reaching for a roll of toilet paper.
The other holding his phone.
Eyes locked on the screen.
His face caught somewhere between distraction and anticipation.
---
On the wall beside him.
A poster.
Red Phoenix.
Gun-woo's face printed across it in the same gentle smile he wore right now.
Unchanged.
Steady.
Looking out at a city that had no idea what was happening in the dark just beyond a rift none of them would ever walk through.