Long ago, towers erupted from the ground, bringing dungeons with them. Every continent bore a tower of its own. In total, seven towers were erected across the world.
From these dungeons, monsters poured forth, slaughtering countless people.
Yet humanity did not fall. Hunters awakened, individuals gifted with power who could hunt and kill these monsters.
In the present day, I was a nameless hunter, an E-Rank newbie without any awakened abilities. Still, I believed that would soon change. The Awakening Orb had finally reached my doorstep.
Today, I turned eighteen. Today, I could legally become a hunter.
I touched the orb.
Nothing happened.
"What's wrong? Why isn't it working?"
Something was wrong with the orb sent to me. I did not awaken. I wrote a letter to the Hunter Association and returned the supposedly defective orb. A few days later, I received their reply.
They stated that the orb's power had already been depleted and that my quota was over. I would not receive a replacement. I would not be given another chance.
I protested. I argued. I even went to their embassy in person.
Nothing changed.
Now, I was deep in the jungle.
I had taken a job as a lumberjack in the mana-infused forest near a dungeon. Ever since the dungeons came into existence, they leaked mana into their surroundings, warping everything nearby and imbuing it with strange properties.
The trees here were valuable. Their wood could burn for years without extinguishing, and when crafted into furniture, it was sturdy enough to rival armored vehicles.
I sighed at my situation.
My manager and coworkers had already left for lunch. I could not afford to join them. I needed the extra money. The more wood I collected, the more I would be paid.
So I remained alone, chopping.
"I hope they come back soon."
There was a saying among the loggers.
A monster lived in these woods.
They called it Hidebehind.
It struck from behind, silently, dragging loggers into the forest depths. There, it disemboweled them and feasted on their offal, especially the intestines and the colon.
There was only one surefire way to escape it.
Drink alcohol.
I thought it was absurd, but I was in the vicinity of a dungeon. That alone made it a possibility in itself.
I was striking the wood, cleaving the lower trunk, each swing biting deeper. Just then, I heard something whistle behind me.
"Curse it!" I regretted not drinking.
I slowly turned, fear shaking me, but there was nothing.
I exhaled a sigh.
Then suddenly, through the corner of my eye, I saw something. There was a man, around six feet in length, looking straight at me. I hardened my grip on the axe as I shouted, "Who are you?! Show yourself. I am not alone. My friends are already on their way!"
The man remained hidden within the darkness of the trees, so I could not even tell if it was human.
It did not budge a single muscle, still staring toward me.
Then suddenly, tentacles began forming from his body.
It was going to pounce on me.
I turned and ran toward the van. If I was lucky, they both would have returned from the restaurant close by.
I could hear the wailing of that abomination behind me.
It was chasing me.
I ran faster. After awakening, I did not gain any skills or a window like normal hunters, but still I was much faster than any unawakened human.
Thrash.
A whip-like tentacle lashed my back, tearing fabric and flesh together. I was thrown forward by the momentum. I cried out, the pain unbearable. My blood seared the ground, enveloping the leaves beneath me.
I tried to get up, but before I could, something grabbed my leg and began dragging me across the forest floor. I cried for help, but no matter how much I screamed, the forest stayed silent. As if it already knew what was going to happen and chose not to answer.
I had lost too much blood.
It kept dragging me deeper, toward its hidden lair.
Then I heard the crunch and felt my abdomen split open. I was being eaten alive, I felt my inside being embowled out.
The End.