Chapter 7 – Gate Appearance

“What do уou meаn wеird?”

“I wаs lооking fоrward to sеeing yоu mаke еffесtivе usе of usеless itеms like befоrе.”

Fоr аn instant, an оminous light fliсkered in Amу’s еyes, then immediаtеly disappeаrеd.

If it had been a Huntеr whо trusted Angеls, theу wоuld hаvе missed it.

But there wаs no waу Аsutо, who knew thеir truе intеntions, would оverloоk it.

(Could this guy be рlаnning to sharе mу aсtions amоng the Angels?)

If infоrmatiоn сould be shared betwеen Аngеls, thаt would bе troublesоmе.

If hе carеlesslу triеd thе sреciаl “сhеat” tасtics that would be developed in the future, they might spread to other Hunters all at once.

If other Hunters copied them, Asuto’s advantage would disappear.

(I need to be careful.)

Unless it was a problem that could only be solved by that method, it seemed better to fight normally.

“If you use the explosion from when you defeated the Gray Wolf, you could easily take down Monsters.”

“If I kept using only that, my level might go up but I’d be hollow inside.”

“Hollow inside” referred to those whose Skill Proficiency was remarkably low compared to their Level.

It was a common condition among Hunters who had their levels boosted by Parties.

Such Hunters could sometimes lose to opponents with less than half their level.

Level was important, but Skill Proficiency was equally crucial.

It was around the time they finished their preparations.

Suddenly, the air around them changed.

—A sign that a Gate was about to appear.

With a crack, light flashed once.

The next moment, a blue Gate appeared in the empty space.

Gates could be roughly ranked by their size.

The Gate that appeared this time was large enough for two people to enter side by side.

(Good. As expected, it looks like F-Rank.)

“H-hey, could this be a Gate!?”

“Yeah, looks like it.”

Amy was blinking in confusion at the sudden appearance of the Gate.

In contrast, Asuto calmly took out his cell phone and contacted the Hunter Association.

“…Hey, you knew something, didn’t you?”

“What do you mean?”

“That a Gate would appear!”

“I didn’t know. I was just here by coincidence.”

“Don’t lie. You weren’t surprised at all when the Gate appeared.”

“I was surprised. But probably because I saw a lot of Gates appearing before, I was able to stay somewhat calm.”

“…Grr.”

Amy glared at him, and he shrugged.

(Since he’s the one deceiving, he probably thinks the other person is deceiving whenever something happens.)

(Well, it’s true that I am deceiving him…)

Until now, Asuto had been thinking of using future information to obtain rights to newly appearing Gates and conquer them one after another.

But now that Amy suspected him, that method had become difficult to use.

He never imagined he’d be suspected this much just from being present at one Gate appearance.

If this suspicion turned into certainty, he couldn’t predict what kind of action Amy might take.

(I might be killed in that form.)

Remembering the countless enemies floating in the sky on that day when Tokyo collapsed, Asuto’s spine went cold.

He didn’t know those enemies’ Physical Abilities.

But considering how even top-class Hunters were easily defeated, they must have had at least S-Rank level strength.

With his current power, Asuto would be vaporized in an instant without even leaving dust.

Or there were countless ways to completely seal his hand without killing him.

(My cards can only be revealed to the opponent after I’ve gained at least S-Rank level strength.)

Fortunately, whether due to System locks, no one—human or Angel—could peek at another’s Status.

(I have a trump card.)

If he used his trump card skillfully, he would surely be able to outwit Amy someday.

Until then, it would be wise to act carefully.

About thirty minutes later, a Hunter Association staff member arrived, and the Gate rights officially became Asuto’s.

After finishing the procedures, Asuto warmed up his body lightly.

This would be his first hunt in a Gate.

His heart rate increased.

His fingertips were cold.

In contrast, deep in his chest was hot.

He took a deep breath and composed himself.

Just as his consciousness focused deeply—

“—!?”

Asuto grasped it for the first time.

Memory Point Setting

Would you like to set a new Memory Point?

・Point A April 5, 2030 12:00

•Point B ——————

(Is this the Return Skill?)

Point A was the day before yesterday afternoon—the moment Asuto Awakened.

It was also the time he returned after dying in the future ten years later.

(I see, the day before yesterday I returned to this Point A. Since there’s a B, that means I can set a new point.)

There was a possibility that once set, it couldn’t be moved.

He hesitated slightly about setting the point, but more than that, the fatigue from the police interrogation and Hunter Registration won out.

(Going through all that again would be troublesome…)

Current time has been set as Point B.

・Point A April 5, 2030 12:00

・Point B April 7, 2030 12:51

“Hey, what are you doing? Let’s hurry up and enter the Gate.”

“—Hm, ah, yeah. Right.”

Now he was truly ready.

Asuto drew his dagger and stepped into the Gate.

○

Inside the Gate was a cave.

The walls were ordinary rock, but here and there, beautiful stones about two to three centimeters were embedded.

These stones were called magic crystals and served as lighting to illuminate the inside of the Gate.

The temperature was low. His body, warmed by the spring weather, rapidly cooled.

Before his body could get completely cold, Asuto moved forward.

He sharpened his nerves so as not to miss even the slightest anomaly.

Suddenly, he sensed a presence ahead.

He immediately took a stance.

He peered intently toward the other side.

Then, from the dimly lit passage ahead, a single Monster appeared.

(—Kobold. Good. It’s an F-Rank Monster.)

The moment he spotted the enemy, Asuto kicked strongly backward with his feet.

⟨Leap⟩

He advanced ten meters in one breath.

His jumping ability had increased tremendously.

It was thanks to allocating his Status points.

The Kobold, noticing Asuto’s approach, took a combat stance.

Fortunately, it wasn’t carrying a weapon.

It got on all fours, intending to intercept Asuto.

(Not if I can help it!)

Asuto increased his speed further.

In just three seconds, he closed the thirty-meter distance to zero.

Raising his dagger—

“—!”

He stopped abruptly.

Twisted his body and used ⟨Evasion⟩.

The Kobold’s claws passed through where Asuto had been.

If his judgment had been even a split second slower, he would surely be a lifeless corpse by now.

But he had avoided the dangerous attack.

The opponent’s stance was slightly disrupted.

—This was his chance.

He returned his twisted body to its original position.

Using that momentum, he attacked.

He thrust his dagger deep into the Kobold’s chest.

“—!!”

Twitch twitch twitch.

The Kobold’s body convulsed violently.

After about ten seconds, the movement stopped.

After counting another ten seconds, Asuto finally released his combat stance.

“…Phew.”

The battle time had been brief.

However, beads of sweat had formed on his forehead.

Daily life and the battlefield were different.

No matter how much image training he did, actual combat consumed far more stamina than imagined.

He cleaned the blood from his blade and sheathed his dagger.

“Instantly killing a Kobold—that’s amazing!”

“No, not really. The difference between me and the Kobold was minimal.”

“No no, you should have confidence! Being able to fight this well in your first battle is really amazing!”

“…”

He’s praising me quite enthusiastically.

Asuto was inwardly suspicious.

Last time, he might have been somewhat encouraged. But this time, Asuto knew Amy and the others’ true intentions.

Their goal was to destroy humanity.

In that case, there was no way they would genuinely praise Asuto’s fighting ability.

So what was their aim? He had no idea.

Since thinking about the hidden meaning behind every word would lead him into a trap, he cut off his thoughts for now.

○Name: Yuki Asuto (20)

Level: 11 Aptitude: Assassin

Rank: F SP: 10

Held G: 164

○Physical Ability

Strength: 15 Stamina: 12 Magic Power: 1

Spirit: 1 Agility: 25 Perception: 6

○Skills

・Basic Dagger Arts Lv1 (0%→1%)

・Evasion Lv1 (0%→1%)

・Leap Lv1 (51% to 52%)

・Memory Playback Lv1 (5%→6%)

・Return Lv1 (0%)

“Oh, the Proficiency increased quite a bit.”

The reason the Proficiency increased so much from just one battle was probably because he was fighting a Monster of the same rank solo.

“At this rate, it looks like I’ll reach Skill Level 2 soon.”

He could manage even by himself.

Just as he thought that, during the next battle, a completely unexpected situation occurred.