[Dungeon breach raid registration has now closed.]

  The white text dissolved into pixels before fading entirely into the gray morning air, and silence fell over the cracked pavement of the Brownsville street.

  The narrow staging area, wedged between the looking red-brick housing projects, was dotted with activity. Dozens of hunters stood in tight clusters of parties, forming isolated islands of armor and gear amidst the debris-strewn asphalt.

  Shane swept his gaze over his temporary alliance.

  With two A-ranks and two B-ranks, the group centered around Josh Miller boasted more raw firepower than the other parties shivering and huddled near the collapsed service yard.

  Furthermore, Josh’s party seemed to have gained a bit of confidence thanks to the delusion that Shane himself was an S-rank powerhouse.

  They looked at Shane with a terrifying amount of faith.

  He wished they’d stop looking at him like that, but [Behavior Lock] kept his face masked in indifference.

  Because it was way too early to feel safe.

  [Time remaining until A-rank Breach: 00:14:58]

  [When the timer reaches 10 minutes, the class and rank of the monsters will be revealed.]

  Shane did a quick, discreet headcount.

  One, two... thirty-two. And, shit, thirty-three...

  His stomach dropped.

  The total number of hunters was well over thirty-two, the cap that the System had stated. It wasn’t like the exceeding number of hunters wouldn’t be able to join in the raid.

  But they would be hit with a penalty regarding party members. Party buffs usually scaled with the number of members within it, which meant their stats were about to take a hit.

  Shane’s eyes darted around the grim surroundings. Who were the best hunters to pick when the parties got reassigned?

  Honestly, saying the options weren’t great was a mild statement.

  It was a ragtag crew of whoever was in the tri-state area and available on short notice.

  But he had to keep Josh. The man was the original leader here and, for some inexplicable reason, trusted Shane completely. That made him easy to manage.

  [Recommended number of hunters has been exceeded.]

  The veteran hunters seemed to have expected this announcement too. They just stood there silently, waiting for the next pop-up.

  In a situation this dire—an A-rank breach in a populated residential zone—they couldn’t afford to kick people out. So there was an unspoken agreement to simply accept the party size reduction penalty.

  [As a result, a new limit will be placed on the number of members in each party.]

  “Knew it,” someone grumbled from the other team.

  “It's probably gonna drop to twelve,” another chimed in.

  The hunters were chatting among themselves, but they were also exchanging silent glances, calculating how to redistribute their members to maximize their survival rates.

  But before anyone could come to a decision, the air above their heads shimmered.

  An icon representing their new party assignment flashed above everyone’s head. For Shane, it was a bright, glowing emblem of a yellow wolf head.

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  [The maximum party size has been reduced from 16 to 8.]

  [As a penalty, the System will randomly reassign the existing party members.]

  [Randomization is restricted to members of existing parties. Unassigned hunters remain unaffected.]

  [The raid will now consist of four parties and the remaining unassigned hunters.]

  [Warning: Hunters not assigned to a party will be ineligible for party buffs.]

  A wave of panic ripped through the crowd.

  “Wait, the System is making the parties? Since when did it do that?”

  “Goddammit! Are you kidding me?”

  “No, wait! We have to be in the same party!” someone yelled, frantically grabbing their partner’s arm. “Our buffs don’t stack otherwise!”

  Shane quickly checked his new party members.

  A gloved hand clapped down on Shane’s shoulder.

  “Looks like we’re still together, even after the shuffle.”

  Shane turned to see Luke Hinton’s handsome, confident face.

  Damn it.

  Shane had been hoping to get rid of the guy.

  Luke was an A-rank, which was good for survival, but far too observant.

  He ignored the grin and scanned the rest of the crowd. With the chaotic sea of neon icons floating above heads against the backdrop of the darkened housing towers, it was hard to see at a glance.

  First, the B-rank tank, Henry Stone.

  Thank god.

  Shane casually brushed Luke’s hand off his shoulder and signaled Henry to stand next to him with a sharp jerk of his chin.

  “Stay close.”

  Shane meant for Henry to guard him, but the dense kid looked genuinely touched for some reason, his expression softening into one of fierce loyalty.

  He nodded solemnly, moving to stand at Shane’s side.

  “I won’t let anything past me, sir.”

  Shane searched the kid’s face and voice for any hint of betrayal. He seemed to be telling the truth. Strange.

  Was this because he hadn’t decided to make a deal with the Seraphim yet?

  Or was it simply because he wasn’t the one that became the SS-rank monster, but that other random kid Shane had met while registering for his hunter license?

  He checked for the rest of the party, hoping for at least one decent B-rank damage dealer.

  He found the other yellow icons.

  And… we’re screwed.

  It was Whitley Barlowe, the C-rank swordsman with a bow, staring awkwardly in their direction like a deer in headlights. He looked like he was about to vomit.

  Shane looked past him.

  Josh Miller had a blue bear icon over his head. He was already giving out orders at his new squad, too busy to notice Shane’s predicament.

  Damn it.

  The others were C-ranks and D-ranks he didn’t recognize and… the A-rank minor. The final nail in the coffin.

  Leaning against a concrete planter, completely detached from the panic around him, was Kit McKay.

  The kid was bobbing his head to whatever was blasting in his wireless earbuds with his eyes closed.

  We’re dead. We’re all so incredibly dead.

  Of course, to everyone else, this party looked stacked.

  Half of them were all high-rankers. Two A-ranks, a solid B-rank tank, and a guy they all thought was an S-rank powerhouse—him.

  “We actually got a decent party,” Luke Hinton said, trying to hype everyone up. “We’ve got a lot of high-rankers, and even the ones who aren’t are experienced veterans.”

  The mood lifted a fraction.

  At this point, faking a bit of confidence was all they had. It was a good try; Shane had to give him that.

  Luke looked over at the A-rank teenager, who was still lost in his own world.

  “Forgive the interruption,” Luke said, stepping toward the boy. “But we should make a plan. Mind taking out your earbuds?”

  An older hunter next to him chimed in. “Come on, son. Time to focus up.”

  Kit didn’t move.

  The older hunter chuckled to get rid of the awkward tension.

  “Reminds me of you back in the day, Hunter Hinton.”

  “Oh? Me? Was I really like that? I guess awakening young does that to you. Right, young man?”

  As he spoke, Luke smoothly slipped off the leather glove on his right hand.

  Shane’s eyes narrowed.

  Before the kid could react, Luke reached out with his bare hand and plucked one of the wireless earbuds from Kit’s ear.

  The teenager scowled instantly.

  “It’s called ambient mode. I can hear you just fine.” He held out his hand. “And don’t touch my stuff without asking.”

  The air got heavy. Even the older hunter flinched from the pressure. An A-rank Awakened wasn’t a joke. Only Shane kept a composed face thanks to his [Behavior Lock].

  Luke, who was the least affected, being also an A-rank, tossed the earbud back to Kit with an apologetic smile.

  “My bad. Guess the nerves are getting to me. My hand moved before I could think.”

  Some forced a laugh, trying to salvage the rapidly souring mood.

  “Tell me about it! I’m sweating bullets over here!”

  Shane didn’t laugh, knowing exactly what Luke had just done.

  Luke had taken off his glove before touching the boy’s ear.

  He had a signature skill, a rare one he kept secret, that allowed him to read surface thoughts, memories, and a rough appraisal of a person’s status, but it required direct skin-on-skin contact.

  The kid was clearly uncooperative, so Luke must have been checking how best to handle him. Shane made a mental note to keep his distance from Luke, while the sly man put his glove back on with a smile.

  Suddenly, the ground trembled and a red text popped up in front of every hunter present.

  [The dungeon breach will occur in less than 10 minutes!]

  “Please let the monsters be something easy to pin down…” one of the C-rank party members whispered, clutching his staff.

  Fat chance we’d be that lucky, thought Shane, considering how he’d ended up in this situation in the first place.

  But perhaps it was only him that fate hated.

  Because the next text flickered, before shifting into a lurid gold.

  [Your combined desperation has unlocked a special event!]

  [You get one chance to roll... for your BOSS MONSTER!]

  [That’s right! It’s too soon to give up! Choose your opponent from the list below! (flexed biceps emoji) (sparkles emoji)]

  A giant holographic wheel materlized, hanging ominously between the red-brick buildings.

  It was segmented into dozens of colorful slices, each bearing the name of a monster.

  [Spin to win! Select your opponent!]