I swung the stainless steel ladle I'd brought with me when I went outside. It was definitely more durable than a green leek, so it wasn't a bad thing to have on hand just in case. As I continued to swing the ladle, I tried to think of places it could have gone.

I had to find Park Haeun and bring her home before it was too late. I closed my eyes with determination.

<Tracker's eyes!>

Two pupils glowed blue under my reopened eyelids. The landscape before me became as simple as lines and planes, like the structural diagram of a building, and soon I could see inside the building. Tracker's Eyes was a skill that allowed you to see someone's unique glow and was often useful when searching for someone, like now.

Instead of people, white lights rose and fell in the air like candles. A child's light was only slightly smaller than average. I scanned the area with all my attention, but there seemed to be no sign of Haeun in the area.

At that moment, I expanded the range of my skill a bit more.

I got it!

An intense purple flame blinded me. It was the brightest and largest flame I'd ever seen in my life, burning with a ferocity that threatened to engulf the surrounding area.

A flame?

I stopped for a moment. I walked quickly towards the flame.

The only beings that could appear in the form of flames, not just light, were the Awakened, including the Hunters. Even though the area around here was known to be full of hunters, a flame that burned so brightly that it glowed in a tangible way couldn't be an ordinary person. It was sharp and huge, more like a monster than a normal hunter.

So I had to find out for myself. Was it just a skilled hunter or a threat? If it was the latter... Haeun might be in danger. I tightened my grip on the pan.

The flames were burning in an alleyway not far from Haejang-guk's. Smack, smack, smack... as the distance from the flame grew, the dull thudding of footsteps and muffled groans grew louder. Someone was beating the crap out of someone.

I finally reached the end of the alley, bathed in moonlight.

In the midst of the raging purple flames, a large figure dressed in a sackcloth robe was mercilessly kicking someone cowering on the ground. The vicious aura emanating from it pierced his skin.

At the same time, my keen intuition flashed. I could instinctively feel it. The size of the flame, comparable to a monster, along with the sense of imposing power, shaping the surroundings with its mere presence. The figure in front of me...

was an S-class like me.

The figure that had kicked the man whipped its head in my direction. I hastily turned off my ability and stepped back, the blurred figure now clearly visible without the flames.

It was a man wearing a gas mask covering his face and black tech gear. His leather shoes were stained with blood. He was dressed like a hunter in every sense of the word. After a long moment of silence with his gaze fixed, the gas-masked man pointed a black-gloved hand at the garment.

"You."

"......."

I stood, unmoved by the voice calling to me. The gas mask man said in a languid voice, "I've seen it all, an apron like CherX."

"......."

I took a step back into the shadows and the gas mask man said, "And a ladle. Don't even think about running."

I hid the hand holding the ladle behind my back. You have good eyes, I'll have to start wearing a JinX apron tomorrow.

Just then, the man who had fallen wriggled and moved, and the man in the gas mask kicked him in the stomach again. His head was still facing me.

"Ugh!"

"This motherfucker gets all excited when he sees an opening and crawls out again..."

The gas-masked man muttered in an irritated tone, continuing to stomp on his stomach and glare at me.

"Normal person?"

"Yeah. I work late..."

The next words were dry, if only out of politeness. After a moment of silence, the gas masked man added a question.

"Then what are you doing outside with a ladle at this hour?"

"I'm looking for my niece, she wasn't home." I replied in a deliberately soft voice, waving my hand, palm down, around my waist. "Have you seen a girl about this high? She's a grade-schooler with her hair in a single bun."

The man in the gas mask shrugged at my shameless question. "I don't know."

"Okay, can I go now?"

"Wait. I'll ask him."

The foot that had been stomping on the man dropped for a moment, only to kick him in the side again. The man just groaned as if he was already unconscious.

"Sorry. This asshole doesn't know anything. His brain is drugged."

The man in the gas mask didn't sound very sorry either; at this point I think he just wanted to apologize and give the man another punch. Being more concerned about finding my niece than the fact that some all-black thug was beating people up, I shook my head.

"Thanks for the trouble, I'll go."

"Wait."

I turned and started to walk out of the alley, but the gas masked man grabbed me. After staring at my face for a long moment, the gas mask man tilted his head. His voice was slow and his movements seemed sluggish.

"This is strange."

"......."

"Have we met somewhere before?"

"No."

"Really?"

I stared at the gas masked man questioningly. There was no way I would forget someone wearing a gas mask so visibly. I assumed that this gas mask man was a newly awakened hunter while I was in the rift.

After studying me for a moment, the gas-masked man raised an index finger to the corner of his mouth. "Don't tell anyone what you just saw," he said, "and keep your mouth shut." Yes, getting involved with the police or the Bureau would complicate things.

I nodded willingly, not knowing what it was like to beat people up in the back alleys without being seen. There was nothing to say, so I could just pretend I hadn't seen them. The man with the gas mask waved me away.

That was it.

Gigigik... Kkigik...

Kwaak!

Sharp spikes protruded from the crouching man's back and flew towards me in a flash. I was not surprised by the violent lunge. Instead, I calmly stepped aside, readjusted my scoop, strengthened my arm, and...

Klaaang!

I hit the thorn in perfect position!

Maybe I should have been a baseball player. I didn't know what a home run was, but I'm pretty sure it was a triple. Inwardly, I beamed with pride, clenched and unclenched my hand a few times, and then looked at the gas-masked man impassively. I clutched the thorn I'd caught in my hand.

"......."

"......."

You... caught it?

Under the circumstances, it seemed so. A hunter's guiding principle was to protect civilians, and I was, by definition, a civilian, out in the middle of the night with a trowel looking for my niece, and even if I'd just swung at a thorn with a trowel, I deserved protection, and it was the gas-masked man who'd attacked.

A cold sweat ran down my back. The awkward silence continued.

"......."

"......"

Fuck.

What civilian in this world would take a swing at a thorn that was reaching for him like a madman? I wanted to punch myself in the face for not being able to play the role of the good citizen cowering in fear of the thorn.

Of course, it wasn't possible for me to jump out of here, so I'll just have to stun the gas mask man. How hard should I hit him on the head to make him lose his memory and be done with it? He should be able to take it a little harder.

The weapon I was holding was a scoop, so it was hard to gauge its strength. Judging by the way my bare hands gripped the spikes that had just changed direction so abruptly, the gas mask man was no match for me, and I was stuck like a malfunctioning robot, deep in thought.

Meanwhile, the Gas Mask Man shoved his gloves into his pockets and slowly crossed his arms, seemingly waiting for a reaction, so I came to my senses and turned to face him.

Ha....

Life is like X....

Now that it is, it's a frontal attack, no, a frontal escape. I stared into space, then bowed politely.

"...I'd better go, I have to find my niece in a hurry."

The flight from reality began.

"Hey-"

But the gas-masked man didn't back down easily. On the contrary, he leaned closer, his voice rising.

Don't talk to me anymore. I took two steps back, but the gas mask man, who was now almost in front of me, took a step forward and towered over me, completely covering me with a shadow as long as he was tall. The voice that came through the bars of the gas mask was a deep laugh.

"What's your name?"

"No name."

"Aha...I take it you haven't chosen a hunter name yet?"

"Nope. I just don't have a name."

"Well, do you want me to give you a name then?"

"Do you run a shop?"

"Trying to set one up temporarily."

It was a conversation like a swamp, where the more you try to get out, the more it grabs you. The more you struggle, the deeper you sink. I had no choice but to end this conversation somehow. I took a deep breath to calm my voice.