"Okay. It’s good that we won’t get punished. I’ve always wanted to do this," one of the teenage boys said.

"Yeah. He always fought back, and we ended up getting called to the teacher’s office. Now that’s not happening again," another boy added.

The others nodded in agreement.

It was at this moment that Abel realised that this man was a teacher.

"Have fun," the teacher responded. He turned around and left.

The boys turned around and surrounded Abel.

Abel backed into the wall as terror gripped him.

"Stay back," he stretched his fists outward, showing that he wasn’t afraid of a fight.

Without responding, the boys charged at him, each with a strike aimed at various parts of his body.

His face...

BANGG!

His stomach...

BANGG!

His legs...

BANGG!

Abel tried to fight back, but the sequence of blows from all sides overwhelmed him and pushed him onto the defensive. He was knocked to the ground and then pummeled with their feet.

’Please stop!’ He wanted to say, but couldn’t utter a word.

Suddenly, a bright light flashed before Abel’s closed eyes.

A system interface appeared.

[Final Boss Persona found: Silverback Tyrant (Baneroot Forest Dungeon)]

[Do you wish to accept?]

[Yes/No.]

Memories of the Baneroot Forest Dungeon run emerged in his mind. He remembered that he could obtain a Dungeon’s Final Boss Persona.

Abel hurriedly clicked ’Yes.’

A bright flash of light shrouded Abel’s being.

Frightened, the boys distanced themselves from him.

"What’s happening?" one of the boys asked.

Their eyes widened in shock as the light died down, and in the position where Abel was supposed to be stood a massive 4-foot-tall, ferocious-looking wolf, about nine feet long, with blackish-grey fur and a silver stripe running across its back.

The wolf rose to its feet and stared at them with a fierce growl.

"RUNN!!" they shouted as they turned around to flee.

However, the monster appeared beside one of the boys in a blur and decapitated him with its jaws, before chasing after another with astonishing speed.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Within seconds, they all slumped to the ground, dead.

Suddenly, footsteps echoed from the other side of the corner.

"Are you guys done? Don’t go overboard. I don’t plan on explaining to the Principal why he was sent to the infirmary," said the familiar teacher as he appeared from around the corner.

He froze as he saw the gruesome scene before him, as well as the enormous wolf standing in the middle of it.

The Silverback Tyrant let out a terrifying howl.

"AAHHH!!" the teacher screamed in fear. He turned around and tried to flee, but another large wolf leapt from the shadows in the corner and clamped its jaws onto his neck, pinning him to the ground. Then, it decapitated him.

Three more Silverback wolves leapt from the shadows, joining the other one.

They strode towards the Silverback Tyrant, encircling him and positioning themselves on both sides before him. They unleashed terrifying howls to the sky.

***

Abel sat up in his hospital bed and opened his mouth toward the floor as though attempting to vomit.

"Gahh!!"

Upon realising that nothing was coming out, Abel hastily pressed his hand against his tongue and cleaned it, attempting to find anything that shouldn’t be there.

Soon, he realised that everything that had just transpired was a dream and seized his actions.

It was only a terrifying nightmare.

Beepp... Beepp... Beepp...

Abel slumped back onto his bed, attempting to catch his breath.

BEEPP!!! BEEEPP!! BEEEPP!!

The monitors which kept track of his condition continued to spike dramatically.

Suddenly, mana surged within Abel’s core. Unlike before, it didn’t flow outward, but remained within him.

The door burst open, and a nurse rushed into the room.

She quickly checked the monitors and Abel’s condition. Upon finding nothing wrong, she sighed in relief.

"I just had a bad dream," Abel said.

"It’s okay. Hunters usually have bad dreams. It’s a traumatic response that usually occurs upon awakening. We have procedures to deal with this. Rest easy while I go get the doctor," the nurse said.

Abel nodded.

However, she waited until the monitor system calmed down before exiting the room.

**

Thirty minutes later,

"That should do it. You should be feeling much better now," Dr Martha said. She was the same doctor who had previously attended to Abel.

"Although traumatic responses like this are common among Hunters, they are mostly present in Hunters with a rough past upon awakening, or after their first dungeon run. Judging from your report file, I guess that you fall into the former," Dr Martha added.

"We also run a mental health facility, mostly comprised of and made for Hunters like yourself. I suggest you join till you’re mentally stable enough to handle these traumatic dreams. It’s free. The expenses are covered by the government and the Hunter Association, so you don’t need to worry about payment. However, that decision is still left to you"

"I’ll think about it," Abel responded. He had just awakened his powers and didn’t want to end up in a mental health facility before entering a dungeon as a Hunter.

"That’s fine. You can check in whenever you’ve decided. We’ll try our best to delay the Hunter Association if they come looking for you," Dr Martha responded with a smile. "Thousands of lives are dependent on you from now on, so take the time to rest a little."

With a nod, she took her file and gestured for the nurses standing nearby to leave as she exited the room as well.

Abel crossed his arm over his face and sighed tiredly.

He remembered why a few things in his dream felt so familiar.

As a teenager, he was the equivalent of an ugly duckling and had suffered subtle bullying because of it in school. Fortunately, he came from a tough background, so while the bullying progressed, he had managed to stand his ground and fight back.

Unfortunately, it didn’t work the way he saw in movies.

One thing bullies hated more than their victims was a victim who fought back.

///////

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