SWIIISH.

Hide blurred through the humid air, his boots launching off the trunk of a fallen, tropical palm tree as he closed the distance from behind a massive, armor-plated reptile.

The D-Rank crocodile-like beast let out a low, wet hiss, its segmented tail thrashing violently against the black volcanic sand, but its situational awareness was already far too late.

BAM!

From front... Sora punched the beast so hard that a few of its jagged teeth blew out in the air and the beast almost lost its mind for a second.

Mid-air, Hide executed a smooth, high-velocity rotation. His fingers clamped tightly around the hilt wraps of his Twin Viper Blades, the A-Rank blades caught the dim, smoky glare of the almost set out sun.

SHHHHK.

The twin steel blades carved a clean, intersecting horizontal arc through the air. The specialized steel sheared flawlessly through the iron-hard hide and dense neck muscle of the reptile, cleanly decapitating the beast in a single, fluid motion before its heavy torso collapsed limp into the sand.

[Calamity Beast (Mire Breeder) — Eliminated]

Experience points gained: 300

Hide landed gracefully on his feet, the dark-steel scales of his Abyssal Scale Carapace smoothly retracting back beneath his skin as he shook the blood from his blades. He dismissed the weapons into his inventory and reached down into the carcass to harvest the glowing D-Rank core.

"Nice execution," Sora commented from a few paces away, sheathing her own serrated daggers with a crisp click. She was now wearing an armor that she had materialized not long ago as her cloths were getting dirty from all the fights, her dark eyes scanning the perimeter with calm efficiency.

"That makes the third reptile we’ve killed together," Hide noted flatly.

They had been dropping coordinates and running squad maneuvers across the southern half of the volcanic island for almost four hours now. Combined, their agile teamwork had systematically eradicated around twenty Calamity beasts, with three of those high-density reptiles requiring joint participation to cleanly suppress.

"Let’s move back to the beach," Hide muttered, his eyes narrowing as he glared toward the eastern tree line.

Sitting comfortably under the thick shade of a widespread tropical tree near the shoreline was Commander James Maddox. The S-Rank legend was currently lying flat on his back, his arms tucked lazily behind his auburn hair as he took a casual afternoon nap, completely indifferent to the hostile entities roaming the island.

Looking at the old man’s ridiculous outfit—the loose beach shorts and lightweight summer shirt—a sudden surge of deep, unadulterated irritation flared inside Hide’s chest. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

Only now did the truth click within his mind. He finally realized why the Commander had dressed like a tourist on a beach vacation this morning. The sly, bureaucratic bastard had known the exact geographical parameters and internal climate of this gate before he even got there. He had explicitly lied to them, branding this place as a standard indoor facility test.

"Hey," Sora’s voice cut through his internal scowl as they walked side-by-side across the black sand, dragging a large, edible carcasses they had harvested for sustenance. "I’ve been meaning to ask you since this morning... why the hell were you lying out there in the plaza? Telling me you were just a ’cosplayer’ trying to look like Black Justice?"

Hide’s cheek twitched slightly, a flash of social awkwardness making his posture rigid. He had spent his entire life talking to only a few people or killing monsters; he had absolutely zero experience maintaining normal, casual conversations with teenagers his own age.

"It was a defensive cover story," Hide muttered dryly, scratching the back of his neck in profound confusion. "The media networks are full of idiots. I mean... uh, I had some pretty bad experience before that and I just, you know, didn’t want to have another..."

Sora let out a bright, amused laugh. "Fair enough. But your lying technique needs serious work."

Hide shifted the weight of the edible carcass on his shoulder, deciding to redirect the conversation. "More importantly... you called the Commander your uncle back at the steps. You’re actually related to that old monster?"

Sora’s smile tamed slightly, her gaze drifting toward the horizon where the sun was beginning its slow, dramatic descent beneath the dark ocean waves. "Grand-uncle, technically. I’m the daughter of his younger brother’s son."

She adjusted her cap, her tone dropping into a quiet, sturdier register. "My dad wasn’t an Awakened. He chose to remain a human, working as a structural researcher for the gate perimeters. Twelve years ago... there was a sudden administrative tracking failure during a scan. A gate was supposed to be a loop gate because no beast had come out... but the gate just blasted out a few monsters, while his research team was inside the grid. He didn’t have the physical traits to survive the backblast."

Hide remained silent, his blue eyes softening by a microscopic fraction. He understood that specific brand of grief. The tragic reality of baseline humans getting torn to shreds because they lacked the arbitrary power to defend their own parameters.

He knew it all too well.

Sora shook off the heavy shadow with practiced ease, turning her sharp gaze back onto Hide. "What about you? Your class registry lists you as a Unique infinity-type, but your combat metrics are entirely abnormal. When exactly did you awaken?"

"Just two weeks ago," Hide answered honestly.

Sora stopped dead in her tracks on the black sand, her jaw dropping slightly as she stared at him in pure, unadulterated disbelief. "Two weeks?! Are you serious? You fought and defeated an A-Rank Exterminator with a body that hasn’t even been active for twenty days? What the hell is your age anyway?"

"I’m eighteen," Hide said, his tone entirely deadpan. "When did you clear your assessment?"

"A year ago, when I turned sixteen," Sora replied, still looking at him as if he were an undocumented species of Calamity monster. "Jeez... no wonder Uncle James brought you all the way to Area 5. Your growth is genuinely terrifying."

As they continued walking, the conversation naturally drifted into lighter, mundane topics. To Hide’s internal confusion, he realized that despite their wildly different upbringings, their core personalities were remarkably alike.

They both possessed a sharp, zero-tolerance attitude toward corporate nonsense, and they got around each other’s operational boundaries surprisingly well.

Yet, the sheer length of the conversation kept Hide in a state of continuous, awkward hesitation; he had simply never talked this much to a stranger before without a blade being drawn.

By the time they reached the tree line, darkness had slowly, aggressively begun to creep across the island. The brilliant blue of the tropical sky vanished, replaced by an ominous, ink-black canopy that lacked a moon or visible stars.

Hide’s eyes narrowed as he analyzed the shifting atmospheric mana density. His Dark Abyssal Core was quietly humming, tracking a deep, suffocating vibration bleeding straight from the volcano’s roots.

This gate was not going to be cleared easily. Because by his calculation... this place was absolutely not a three-star loop gate.

THUD.

They dropped the edible avian carcasses onto the black sand beside the resting Commander. Maddox didn’t even twitch, a loud, comical snore escaping his lips as he remained deeply asleep under the tropical leaves.

A few minutes later, heavy, exhausted footsteps crunched against the sand from the western side of the island. Ryan and Gideon Vance emerged from the dark jungle trails. The dark-skinned giant was dripping with sweat, his massive shoulders hauling the heavy, blood-soaked carcass of a large, baboon-like Calamity beast.

Gideon dropped the baboon corpse with a loud groan.

"Man, screw this jungle!" Gideon barked, wiping sweat from his forehead as he collapsed onto a fallen log near Hide. "How many cores did you guys harvest? We managed to clear around fifteen of those weird agile stalkers on the cliffs, but the whole layout felt completely messed up!"

Gideon leaned forward, his loud voice dropping into a serious, tight whisper as his eyes darted toward the sleeping Commander. "Listen... something is seriously wrong with this place. There’s no way this is a Three-Star loop gate. The beasts we fought weren’t acting like mindless animals. They were testing our spacing, executing tactical group retreats, and showing actual, coordinated intelligence. The whole atmosphere feels incredibly weird."

"The chitter-chatter of hatchlings always ruins a perfectly good nap," a cheerful voice suddenly chirped from the sand.

Maddox sat up smoothly, stretching his arms above his auburn hair as his distinctive brown eyes locked onto the four teenagers with an amused glint. "So, how was the hunt, children? Did you manage to learn how not to trip over each other’s toes?"

Without waiting for an answer, Maddox raised a single hand and casually snapped his fingers.

CRACK.

There were already some tree logs set up at the center, which were set up by Maddox himself when all of them were gone.

A wave of raw energy compressed in the center of their circle, instantly setting up a perfect camp arrangement and igniting a roaring, brilliant campfire. Hide’s eyes flashed with a subtle ring of violet as he watched the manipulation.

He realized right then that his own Abyssal Flame could achieve the exact same structural output, but he kept his palms firmly inside his pockets, refusing to display his magical affinity to the group.

Following Maddox’s blunt instructions, they began butchering and cooking the edible beast meat over the open flames. The savory scent of roasting meat filled the dark camp, but the atmosphere remained heavily strained.

Midway through dinner, while Ryan and Gideon were quietly arguing over something, Hide shifted his position. He moved silently to the edge of the log, leaning directly into Maddox’s immediate perimeter.

"Why did you lie to us, old man?" Hide asked in a silent, bone-chilling whisper that barely carried over the crackle of the wood. His cold blue eyes locked tightly onto the Commander’s profile.

James Maddox paused mid-bite, his expression showing a flicker of feigned confusion before he tilted his head back. A low, delighted chuckle escaped his throat as he turned his brown eyes toward the silver-haired boy.

"Oh?" Maddox whispered back, his smile widening into a sharp, dangerous line. "So you actually managed to figure out, huh? Impressive situational awareness, kid."