In the morning inside Riko's house, he sat at the breakfast table with his mother Selena, his sister, and his brother. He ate quietly.
'Last night inside the gate, I was on the verge of death several times.'
'And I felt something strange I had never felt before.'
'Was that fear?'
A broken cough came from Selena. Riko turned toward her.
"What's wrong, Mom?"
Selena smiled tiredly.
"Don't worry, just finish your food."
Riko felt something abnormal. He focused his gaze on her. A dark yellow aura appeared around her. At the same moment, a red system window appeared above her head:
[Danger! This woman is extremely exhausted]
The coughing suddenly worsened. Blood came out of her mouth. Riko stood up quickly and placed his hand on her shoulder.
"What's happening to you?"
Selena lost consciousness and closed her eyes. Her body collapsed without strength.
"Mom!"
In a bar, Reina Kagami sat at a drink table. She wore a black dress open at the top. She raised a glass of alcohol and drank.
Her phone rang. She picked it up and answered.
"Who is this?"
The director's angry voice came through.
"Have you lost your mind? An S-Rank hunter drinking alcohol in a bar!"
He paused briefly, then continued.
"We have an A-Rank gate purification mission. You will participate immediately."
"Understood."
She ended the call and stood up from her seat, heading toward the back exit of the bar.
Outside, she found three men cornering an underage girl pressed against a wall, trembling in fear. One of them noticed Reina and approached her.
"Come with us. We'll have fun together."
He stepped closer.
"We don't want a virgin girl anymore. We want a woman like you."
He turned to his companions.
"Leave the girl. Let's take this one."
The two moved away from the girl, who ran away at full speed.
The three men approached Reina.
"Come with us."
Reina calmly raised her hand.
"Love Sleep."
Their expressions changed instantly. Their movements stopped.
'This technique makes the target obey my commands.'
'It doesn't affect those stronger than me.'
'And if used on someone stronger, it consumes a massive amount of mana.'
"Bark like dogs, and don't move from your places."
The three began barking unconsciously. Reina jumped high over them and left the area.
In the hospital, Riko sat beside his mother's bed. The medical devices operated quietly. His expression was cold.
'The doctor said the illness is rare and affects the heart.'
'After leaving the last gate, my emotions became clearer.'
'Ice King technique… can it help me?'
A system window appeared:
[A loved one of the player is gradually losing their life]
His eyes widened.
Another window appeared:
[C-Rank gate detected]
Then a third window:
[Gate completion reward: Elixir that cures all diseases]
Riko froze in place.
'An elixir that cures all diseases?'
He looked at his sleeping mother.
'I won't let you die.'
Tsuma Tsukura stood inside a destroyed classroom in a completely ruined school.
The walls were cracked, the floor covered with debris, and no sound existed except his breathing.
His body looked younger than usual, resembling a high school student.
He stood behind two students, his body stiff, eyes fixed forward.
In front of them stood a massive orc, dark green skin, holding a giant axe stained with blood.
The orc slowly raised the axe.
One strike was enough.
The two students' heads separated and fell to the ground.
Blood burst outward, splattering across Tsuma's face and clothes.
His body froze in place.
He screamed at the top of his lungs.
He suddenly opened his eyes.
He was sitting on his bed inside his private villa.
His upper body was raised, chest rising and falling rapidly, breaths uneven.
'Why do I see this dream every time?'
'If I had been stronger that day… I could have saved them.'
A moment of silence passed.
A faint sound reached his ears from the villa's first-floor hall.
An unnatural movement.
Tsuma sighed and spoke coldly:
"These insects… that poor woman never stops sending them."
He got out of bed and left his room.
He walked through the long corridor leading to the hall.
He suddenly stopped.
He turned backward.
"How much did she pay you this time?"
"An S-Rank assassin like you… how much did you take?"
A masked man stood before him holding two daggers, body steady.
The assassin spoke in a low voice:
"You mean your mother?"
Then he added mockingly:
"She paid one million dollars."
"Can you imagine how much that is in won?"
Tsuma replied without changing expression:
"She spends money without limit."
"She spends almost everything she owns trying to kill me."
He looked directly at the assassin.
"Are you afraid I'll kill her because she killed my father?"
The assassin suddenly rushed forward.
His body vanished as he launched consecutive attacks from different angles.
Tsuma blocked every strike easily.
His movements were steady, without hesitation.
Tsuma spoke while deflecting attacks:
"Your attacks are interesting."
"Your disappearance is refined."
Then he continued:
"Isn't it unfortunate to waste your talent in assassination?"
"But unfortunately… today is the day you die."
Chaos filled the assassin's mind.
'An S-Rank hunter blocking my attacks so easily?'
'This person isn't normal.'
'Now I understand why that woman paid so much.'
'I used my strongest attacks… and he blocks them like a child's strikes.'
In a single moment, Tsuma grabbed the assassin's neck with a powerful grip.
The assassin struggled, grabbing Tsuma's hand, but it was useless.
Tsuma looked into his eyes and said coldly:
"You wasted your talent easily."
The assassin's breathing stopped.
His body fell lifeless to the ground.
Tsuma approached the corpse and removed the mask.
A blond young man with American features.
Tsuma spoke coldly:
"Sending foreigners…"
"This will cause problems with America for the Black Scorpion Organization."
'S-Rank hunters are rare.'
'Why sacrifice himself for money?'
'The offer was tempting… but he was foolish for misjudging my strength.'
He turned toward his room, yawning as he spoke:
"Remove this body."
Inside an S-Rank gate.
Reina Kagami stood before a massive orc holding an axe.
Beside her was the S-Rank hunter, Takumi Raven.
The two moved in perfect coordination.
Precise strikes, no chaos.
The orc fell to the ground.
Reina paused to catch her breath.
"These orcs remind me of something bad from the past."
Takumi replied:
"Me too."
Reina looked at his sword and smiled.
"Your magic technique is strong."
"It clearly relates to ice."
Takumi answered:
"It's called Death Ice."
Then he asked:
"You're from the mage class, right?"
Reina replied:
"Yes."
"And you?"
He said:
"Yes, me too."
He hesitated slightly, then added:
"Since I'm a new hunter…"
"Aren't mages supposed to carry only staffs?"
Reina laughed.
"Do you think we're in a cartoon?"
Then she spoke seriously:
"Some mages use staffs."
"And some of us fight with swords."
"It depends on the technique."
She asked him:
"Understand?"
Takumi replied:
"Yes."
Reina said:
"Come on, the boss is waiting."
He answered:
"Understood."
At night, inside the forest.
Riko stood before a C-Rank gate.
A deadly red aura surrounded his body.
'I will save my mother no matter the cost.'
Riko stood before the C-Rank gate, staring at it with complete coldness, as if it were just another obstacle in his path.
'Mom… wait for me. I will save you.'
He took one step forward and entered the gate without hesitation.
In the next moment, the world around him changed.
A ruined forest stretched before him, its trees bare of leaves and flowers withered as if life had been forcibly drained from them.
In the middle of the devastation, a clear straight path appeared, as if deliberately drawn.
Riko began walking.
'Strange… this is the first time I've seen a gate like this.'
He paused briefly, then narrowed his eyes.
'Could this be a gate higher than C-Rank?'
Suddenly, a window appeared before him:
[Danger detected within 100 meters]
[Proceed with caution]
Riko continued walking while staring at the windows, his surprise growing.
'Is my assumption actually correct?'
They suddenly emerged from between the trees.
Five human skeletons wearing rusted armor, two riding skeletal horses.
The moment he focused on them, a window appeared above their heads:
[Slave Skeletons – C-Rank]
Riko's eyes widened.
"How? Ordinary monsters inside a C-Rank gate… and the same rank as the gate?"
He fell silent for a second, then spoke quietly.
"That means the boss is a higher rank than them."
One of the mounted skeletons suddenly charged, sword raised.
"Storage."
In a flash, two daggers appeared in Riko's hands.
He dashed forward at incredible speed, severed the skeleton's head in one strike, then cut all four legs of the horse.
Both collapsed and shattered.
He wasn't given time to celebrate.
The remaining three rushed toward him, swords raining down from every direction.
He barely dodged, stepped back, and said while breathing slightly heavily:
"They're… like that wolf."
In a moment of distraction, one skeleton approached quickly, its sword thrust toward Riko's neck.
He dodged at the last second, but stepped back as a scratch appeared on his neck, a drop of blood flowing.
Riko stood facing them.
Three skeletons in front of him in attack stance, and behind them the final rider.
He said coldly:
"You four are C-Rank… against one D-Rank. That's not fair."
He raised his hand toward them.
"Ice King Technique: Ice Army."
The air cracked behind him, and ice wolves appeared, their eyes glowing and bodies formed from pure ice.
[Ice Wolves – D-Rank]
"Attack."
The wolves rushed forward without hesitation.
Swords clashed against ice, bones exploded, and the sound of shattering filled the area.
Riko stood watching the battle, a calm confident smile on his face.
Elsewhere…
Inside Reina's villa, she stood under warm water in the bathroom, lost in thought.
'An S-Rank boss… that was truly difficult.'
Then she added while closing her eyes.
'But with that new hunter's help, the battle became much easier.'
'He's truly talented.'
After finishing her shower, she sat at the edge of the bed drying her hair.
Her phone rang.
The director… the director of the Black Scorpion Organization.
"Hello, Director."
"Reina, did you speak with Riko? That talented boy?"
"No… I forgot, Director. I was on an S-Rank gate purification mission."
"I told you before you went to the bar. I thought you spoke to him first."
"Sorry… I was upset."
The director sighed.
"Fine. I want you to speak with this young man."
"Understood, Director."
The call ended.
Reina looked at the phone calmly.
"I'll see Riko soon."
Inside the C-Rank gate…
The skeletons lay shattered on the ground.
Riko sat breathing heavily, his body exhausted.
'Honestly… fighting those skeletons was harder than the wolf soldiers.'
'They're all dead… all the wolves too.'
A window appeared before him:
[Slave Skeletons defeated]
[Reward: Automatic recovery]
A comfortable refresh spread through his body, and the fatigue gradually disappeared.
He raised his head and looked at the long road stretching ahead.
'Wait for me, Mom… I will save you.'
End of Chapter (Six)