"Tch, too late."
A Male Hunter stood before me, the same man I'd been running into inexplicably often since earlier.
His face showed displeasure, but his eyes burned with desire.
Seeing that look, I instinctively backed away.
The way he eyed me made my skin crawl with disgust.
I started wondering what this Hunter wanted.
His expression and movements made it clear it was nothing good.
"What do you want?"
"Heh, figure it out yourself."
Damn... Is he a Criminal?
I'd heard rumors like this on Hunter forums.
Some Trash would attack Female Hunters. What happens inside a Gate is hard to prove, and if they're caught, they just feed the victims to Monsters, urban myth type stories.
Could those myth be true?
My anxiety grew. I tightened my grip on the spear and took a defensive stance.
"No way..."
I hoped not. Please don't let him be that kind of Criminal.
I didn't know what Ability he had, but anyone bold enough to act alone here must be stronger than me.
If it came to a fight, my chances were slim.
"What if I am? Don't let appearances fool you, I'm C-Class."
A C-Class Hunter... No wonder he dared to wander alone in a D-Class Gate.
But why use that power for crime?
No time to dwell on it. I could never understand a criminal's mind anyway.
"This is a crime."
"You know, a crime only counts if you get caught. If no one catches you, it's not a crime."
"My Teammate is nearby."
A sudden gust of wind brushed past me.
Wind in a cave? This wasn't natural, someone was controlling it.
Could he manipulate wind?
"Counting on your Teammate? Too bad they won't hear a thing."
So he can block sound?
Even if I screamed, would that sleeping guy actually wake up?
My best bet was to catch him off guard, strike fast, and run.
"Why do this? With your strength, you could live well."
A C-Class Hunter stronger than me, why resort to this?
"Listening to you talk, you must be a new Rookie. Too bad being a Hunter isn't as great as you think. I lost my whole team because I failed to protect one Teammate."
The Criminal suddenly started sharing his past.
"Right, at first I tried to start over. But before I knew it, I was labeled 'Trash who can't even protect his Teammates.' Every team I applied to turned me down. In the end, one of my Teammates just quit altogether."
The Man's eyes grew darker, filled with rage.
"This is revenge. Heh, revenge! On the Hunters who ruined my life!"
Madman. What does any of that have to do with me?
I couldn't understand it at all.
"It's you Female Hunters who are the problem! Spreading rumors without knowing the truth, ruining people, that's what you Female Hunters do!"
From what this Madman said, it seemed Female Hunters had spread rumors about him.
A complete Madman. So why take it out on me? Just because I'm a woman?
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
This is bullshit. Only one thought crossed my mind: anyone who commits crimes was never sane to begin with.
"Our team worked so hard! It's all because of that trash woman's big mouth that ruined everything!"
"What does that have to do with me!"
Right, it wasn't me who did it, so why come after me?
"So I'm going to teach women a proper lesson. About men."
Completely insane.
His words made no sense, just nonsense driven by pure lust.
"You're just being controlled by your lust, aren't you?"
"Maybe. Heh, why don't you experience it too? I'll let you go if you agree."
He showed a sinister smile.
There's no way he'd actually let me go. I tightened my grip on my spear. Looks like I have to fight.
"Mad dog, trash controlled by lust. You never planned to let me go huh."
"Oh? Quite sharp. I was going to go easy on you."
No need to be polite with this beast. I don't know if my attacks will work, but I can't just wait to die.
"Fine, listening to your screams and watching you suffer sounds good too."
Damn! This kind of crazy villain only exists in novels, yet here he is real.
I charged forward with my spear.
But a strong gust of wind hit my body and pushed me back. Luckily I kept my balance, but this exchange made it clear I can't break through easily.
Should I force my way through with strength?
My brief hesitation gave him an opening.
His wind blade struck my abdomen. Though I maintained my stance, I was pushed back sliding.
Damn... Since I can't see where his attacks are coming from, it's hard to counter effectively.
I don't even know where the wind is coming from, completely helpless.
Several attempts to charge were blocked by the wind pressure from that madman, ending with me tumbling awkwardly on the ground.
"Ugh..."
"The equipment Oppa gave me is sturdy. Though it prevented direct injury, it couldn't fully absorb the impact. The accumulated damage keeps building, my body starting to creak."
"Lasting longer than I expected?"
The only answer is ambush.
Use the javelin throw to distract him, then immediately recall my spear and charge. Even if just once, it could create an opening.
With my poor form, I can't throw a precise or powerful javelin.
It's just a distraction attack anyway.
I knelt on one knee, prepared my spear, threw it underhand and charged immediately.
The madman deflected the thrown spear with a wind blade. I saw the spear get knocked away.
I instantly recalled the spear back into my hand.
Though brief, I successfully distracted him and entered spear range.
This is my chance. I thrust my spear with all my strength.
The spear aimed at his shoulder was pushed aside just before contact. Is he wrapped in wind blades? My vision went white. The ambush failed. Thinking the distance was closed, I swung the thrust spear downward.
Though I didn't feel it hit, the attack seemed effective as he dropped to one knee. I prepared to follow up-
This was a mistake.
My spear never touched him. Intense wind pressure swept through as the man who had already retreated dodged the attack.
Trying to close the distance again, my body lifted into the air.
"Damn, still struggling while dying."
Trapped by the wind, I struggled desperately but couldn't break free.
I shouldn't have continued attacking. I should have run when the ambush failed.
Brief regret surfaced just as sharp wind blades began cutting all over my body.
"Ahhh!"
My face burned with pain, blood spraying everywhere.
Pain made me struggle uselessly, completely unable to move. The man walked toward me, trapped midair by the wind.
Watching this bastard approach, I could barely contain my rage.
"Such a pretty face, what a shame. Why not just give up?"
"Spit!"
I spat at the approaching man's face, hitting him directly.
"Heh, got some fight in you?"
He wiped the spit from his face, smiling for some reason.
I was lifted to ceiling height, then slammed to the ground by a powerful downward gust.
Thud!
"Cough!"
The violent shock ran through my entire body. I tried to stand but my limbs wouldn't obey.
It hurt like my bones were breaking. Only my sturdy gear kept me from falling apart.
"If you'd just relaxed, it wouldn't hurt."
"Fuck... you..."
The pain began to fade, my vision blurring. In my daze, I saw the madman's sinister approaching figure.
Disgust. Fear. Revulsion.
When the pain vanished, consciousness sank into darkness.
The last thing I felt was the madman's hands tearing at my clothes.
You... bastard...
-
-
Opening my eyes, I saw nothing.
The companion who should have been keeping watch nearby was gone.
He jolted awake, checked his phone, and realized he'd slept over an hour.
"Where did she go?"
Scratching his head, he got up, haphazardly folded his blanket, packed his gear, and prepared to search.
The most likely place was the restroom.
But what if he ran into her while she was using it? That would be too awkward.
While hesitating, over ten minutes passed with no sign of her return.
"Did something happen?"
Then he remembered the male hunter they'd encountered before.
The way that guy had looked at his companion made him uncomfortable, though he'd initially dismissed it as her just being attractive.
That was his first thought.
But they kept running into him frequently, and each time the man would stare at her. The more he thought about it, the more suspicious it seemed.
Frequent encounters inside the Ant Nest were suspicious by themselves.
Coincidental routes? Normally, hunting hunters should avoid us. Unless... intentional stalking? For what purpose? A sense of unease grew.
Could he be a Gate criminal? It was possible. There were precedents of hunters involved in such cases. Rarely reported, evidence was hard to find, victims usually ended up dead or declared missing. If he really was a criminal, his companion would have screamed by now.
Despite this reasoning, his unease drove him to search for her.
Heading toward the nearest adjoining cave, he ran into a transparent wall. He could see the passage beyond but was blocked. Highly suspicious. Had they gotten caught up in something?
"Shit!"
The curse escaped his lips. An unprecedented situation. Only ant-type monsters were here, so the transparent wall had to be another Awakened's work.
He desperately tried to break through the transparent wall but failed.
His unease intensified. Maybe it's just a safety zone set up by others resting like us.
If it's just other hunters resting, I'll apologize. With this thought, he gathered his strength.
He took a deep breath, stomped his foot, and settled into a stance.
Then he threw a full-power straight punch.
Thump!
A sound echoed, and wind leaked from where his fist struck.
A wall made of wind. Clearly an Awakened's doing.
His heart pounding with growing dread, he charged inside. Those brief seconds felt unbearably long, fueling his urgency.
In the cave he reached stood the male hunter they'd encountered repeatedly.
The man stood poised to remove his trousers. At his feet lay her on the ground.
She's stripped bare, completely naked.
Understanding the situation took little time.
-
@support me on Patreon for early chapter ???