Chapter 4
The morning air was thick damp with fog, heavy with silence. The world felt muted, as if the earth itself held its breath before the storm.
Before them yawned the Gate a swirling vortex of deep violet, pulsing faintly like a heartbeat. It rose from the cracked ground like a wound torn into the fabric of reality, edges rippling with light that shimmered between beauty and horror. Every few seconds, a low hum escaped it, vibrating through the soil and into their bones.
All around, the Hunter Bureau's staging grounds roared with chaos.
Engines growled. Metal clanged. Workers shouted over the hiss of mana-fueled machinery. Crates of rations, weapons, and mana packs were stacked in trembling towers. Miners in dusty uniforms stood in clusters, some clutching their helmets, others whispering silent prayers.
But even amid the noise, a single voice carried like a blade slicing through mist.
"Attention!"
Commander Wang Chi stood before them a man carved from stone and silence. The insignia of the Bureau gleamed on his long coat, but it was his presence that drew every eye. His aura was restrained yet immense, like a mountain hidden behind fog. They said he was once an S-Rank Hunter, a man who had single-handedly crushed entire raids. Yet he chose this the bureaucratic stillness of command, far from blood and glory.
"Shallow Guild," he called, his tone cold and precise. "Your task is simple and unforgiving. Enter the dungeon. Secure it. Eliminate the boss-class beast. Prevent any breach from touching the city. We will not lose another district to carelessness. Understood?"
"Yes, Commander!" the guild roared back in unison.
At the front of their formation stood Tang Shi, the Guild's leader tall, sharp, immaculate. His armor caught the dim morning light, a mirror of the authority he carried. His aura pressed against the crowd like invisible chains; the air itself seemed to bend around him.
He was the kind of man who didn't need to prove he was strong the world simply knew.
Behind him stood his squad: five A-Rank Hunters, their mana signatures flickering like blue flames, and three B-Ranks among them, Choji Namikaze. His armor was rough, patched and scratched, but his eyes were bright with familiar fire.
To the side, the miners waited mere silhouettes against the Gate's glow. Among them, Renji gripped his pickaxe, trying to steady his trembling hands. The rough wood bit into his palms, his heart thundering against his ribs. Every breath felt like inhaling fog and fear.
Then a voice broke through the noise.
"Hey, Renji-san!"
Choji's familiar grin appeared through the mist. His stride was casual, confident. He slung an arm around Renji's shoulders like they were walking to a tavern, not a deathtrap. "You look like a corpse before the mission even starts. Relax, brother I'll protect you. I won't let the monsters eat your brain."
Renji exhaled a shaky laugh. "No thanks. I'll just make them eat yours first. That should buy me enough time to run."
Choji barked out a laugh so loud it turned heads. The sound cut through the grim atmosphere like sunlight through clouds. For a fleeting moment, Renji's fear eased a small, fragile spark of warmth in the cold.
But it didn't last.
A low, cutting voice sliced through the laughter.
"Are we here to joke," it asked, "or to work?"
The world seemed to quiet.
Tang Shi stood a few paces away, his gaze sharp enough to draw blood. Even the hum of mana engines seemed to dim under the weight of his presence. His eyes swept over the two men lingering on Renji.
"And what," Tang Shi said, the words slow, deliberate, venomous, "is this?"
Choji straightened immediately, but Tang Shi wasn't speaking to him. His attention was fixed on Renji on his simple, dirt-stained clothes, the worn pickaxe in his trembling hands.
"A stray dog?" Tang Shi continued. "Tell me, why is he here? I run a raid team, not a charity."
The insult landed like a blow.
Renji's throat constricted. He could feel the heat of humiliation crawling up his neck. Around them, whispers stirred nervous, pitying, but silent. No one would challenge an S-Rank.
Choji's grin vanished. His jaw clenched, eyes darkening. "Watch your mouth," he said quietly. "That 'stray dog' is my brother."
A dangerous silence followed. The kind that carried sparks. Choji's mana flared faint but visible, a blue shimmer rising around his fists.
Renji's pulse spiked. If Choji moved, Tang Shi would kill him. Instantly. Without hesitation.
Renji grabbed his friend's arm.
"Stop," he said, his voice barely above a whisper.
Choji turned, disbelief and anger warring in his eyes. "Renji"
"Please," Renji said firmly. "Don't."
His hands shook, but his voice did not. He bowed slightly, forcing himself to look up at Tang Shi. "If my presence is a problem, I'll stay out of your way. Just… allow me to do my job."
Tang Shi's expression twisted a flicker of disgust, like he was looking at something beneath him. "Do your job?" he repeated mockingly. "You'll be lucky if you're not a corpse in five minutes. And when that happens remember this I won't carry your body back."
A hush fell. The words hit harder than any punch. But Renji said nothing. He simply inhaled, slow and steady, and looked at the swirling Gate beyond them.
In his mind, he saw Lily her bright smile, her small hands clutching a pencil, the warmth in her eyes when she said, "You didn't give up today, right, Oni-chan?"
He saw her dream of becoming a doctor, of saving lives.
He saw his mother's face, pale and trembling in her final moments.
He saw his father's blood-stained hands reaching out through fire.
And he remembered his promise "I'll protect her. No matter what."
He could not afford pride.
He could not afford anger.
All he had was purpose fragile, flickering, but alive.
Renji gripped his pickaxe tighter. "Let's go," he whispered.
Choji stared at him for a moment longer, jaw still tight, but finally nodded. "Yeah… let's."
The Guild and miners began to move. The fog parted as they marched toward the Gate step by step, breath by breath. The air grew colder, the hum louder.
Renji could feel the rift's pull now like gravity itself bending toward that violet storm. Mana brushed against his skin, electric and wrong. The surface of the Gate rippled like water, reflecting their faces in warped fragments.
Then, as the first Hunter stepped through, the world twisted.
Light bent. Sound died. The ground disappeared.
And as Renji crossed the threshold, he felt the world change.
The Gate swallowed them whole.