I took a long breath.
Fresh air — finally.
Yeah, sure. Fresh.
Still smelled like blood from a mile away. Guess my nose doesn't do "clean" anymore.
The wind hit my face, hair all over the place.
Without even thinking, I licked my finger and raised it up.
Old habit, I guess.
There was moisture.
I gave it a quick taste.
"…Huh." I muttered. "Yeah. Definitely superhuman blood."
A second later, I blinked. "Wait— what the hell am I doing?"
I smacked my forehead. "Right. Out of the Zone, genius. No monsters to track."
I sighed, a half-smile pulling at my mouth. "Still acting like a damn bloodhound. Figures."
I looked around.
People everywhere — some sitting, some lying flat, some forcing smiles like that'd hide the shaking in their hands.
Most of them were gathered around that big glowing crystal, waiting for it to spit out their rank like it actually mattered.
Every time it flashed, someone gasped, someone cheered, someone cried.
One guy started jumping, shouting like he'd just ascended to godhood.
A girl ran up and hugged him so hard they almost hit themselves.
I stared for a second. "Guess trauma makes people touchy," I muttered.
I didn't join in. Just stood there — hands in pockets, shoes half-buried in the dirt — watching everyone try to act alive again.
Too loud. Too bright. Too full of people pretending this wasn't hell five minutes ago.
And me?
I felt nothing.
Then I saw them.
Bai Shou and Chi Yan.
I actually laughed.
How the hell did I forget about those two?
Wait.
Why didn't I see them inside the Zone?
Not once.
No scent, no noise, nothing.
What… were they hiding the whole time?
I stared for a second, trying to piece it together, but my brain just gave up halfway.
Didn't matter.
There they were — standing in front of the crowd, all smiles and fake pride, acting like heroes who conquered hell.
Chi Yan even raised his arm like he'd just saved the damn world.
I smirked.
"Yeah, great," I muttered. "You survived. Must've been exhausting… doing absolutely nothing."
But still… why didn't I smell them?
I could smell blood from a kilometer away — hell, I could tell what kind it was just by the taste in the air.
So how the hell did those two slip past me?
Were they outside my range the whole time?
I rubbed my nose a little, thinking.
"No, that's bullshit… one kilometer, at least," I muttered.
Maybe they were hiding.
Maybe they had something that masked their scent.
The thought made me chuckle under my breath.
"Wouldn't surprise me," I said. "Those two were always good at staying alive… by doing nothing."
It didn't matter what kind of trick they pulled or where they hid.
Now that they were in front of me, I could finally see it for myself.
"Let's see your rank…" I muttered, narrowing my eyes at the crystal.
They were taking forever — talking, laughing, acting like some damn celebrities waiting for their turn to pose.
I sighed. "Forget it."
I stepped a bit closer, focusing on their faces instead of the crystal.
Didn't need to wait for the system to announce it — I could read it straight from here.
"Eh, whatever. I can see their status now. Who needs to wait for the announcer when I'm a walking, talking scanner?"
[Name: Chi Yan]
[Bloodline: Thunder Tiger (Rare)]
[Rank: F-5]
[Affinity: Lightning / Physical Amplification]
[Skills : Thunder Claw (F), Roaring Pounce (F), Storm Vein (E), Tempest Hide (E), Thunder Dominion (E) ]
[Name: Bai Shou]
[Bloodline: Dragonkin (Legendary Grade)]
[Rank: F-6]
[Affinity: Elemental Adaptation / Draconic Physique]
[Skills: Draconic Breath (E), Scale Fortress (E), Wing Ascension (D), Dragon Will (D),
Ancestral Resonance (C)]
I raised an eyebrow. "Huh. Not bad."
Then I smirked, muttering under my breath, "Still below me, though."
I blinked.
Reread it again just to be sure I wasn't seeing things.
"…E and D-rank skills? Already?" I muttered under my breath.
That didn't add up.
Even with cores or boost injections, that climb's too fast.
F to E takes time — months for normal people, years for the dumb ones.
But them? They were smiling like they just skipped the whole process.
I tilted my head, staring at Bai Shou screen — Dragon Will.
That's a D-rank bloodline skill.
Not something you unlock by swinging a sword and praying.
"How the hell did they…?" I whispered.
My system didn't lie.
So it had to be someone behind them — someone feeding them, pushing them up the ranks like puppets on a string.
A quiet laugh escaped me before I could stop it.
"Heh… must be nice. Climbing the food chain without ever tasting the blood."
I looked down at my hands — rough, blood-stained, scarred.
Theirs? Smooth. Clean. Maybe?
Yeah.
They might've climbed faster.
But I was the one who survived the fall.
Guess I'll stand in line too. Wouldn't want to miss the fun, right?
Still, no one noticed me. Not a single glance.
Figures. Who'd be waiting for someone everyone already wrote off as dead?
Just the "trash bloodline," right?
One by one, they moved forward, all excited to see their rank flash on that shiny crystal like it actually mattered.
I was stuck way at the back, watching their fake smiles, fake cheers.
I tilted my head, trying to peek past the crowd.
Couldn't see a damn thing.
"...Great," I muttered. "All this power, and I still can't see over people's heads."
I took a small step to the side, stretched my legs, stood on my toes a little.
"Ah—there. Now I can see it."
Then it hit me.
I blinked once. Twice. And snorted.
"Wait—what the hell am I doing?"
I rubbed my temple, shaking my head. "I literally have Predator Sense. I don't even need eyes for this."
I shut them for a second, just to prove the point.
And there it was — the noise, the breath, the pulse of everyone around me.
All of it painting itself in my head like a heat map I didn't ask for.
"Yeah… there it is," I muttered, half laughing. "Full radar mode. And I was out here standing on my toes."
I sighed, somewhere between amusement and shame.
"Peak evolution, huh. From devouring monsters to playing peekaboo in a crowd."