The Start After 4 Years

It was a normal day. I woke up, made breakfast for my little sister and my dad, went to the Dungeon Gate and met with my temporary party members who were all Independent Hunters, and entered the Dungeon.

It was supposed to be a normal day. The other Hunters and I were just supposed to clear out the first couple of areas in the Dungeon. It was something that I've done hundreds of times in the past 4 years. Not only that, but the Dungeon was only at the Green Level, the lowest difficulty, so despite being only an E-Rank Independent Hunter, I was confident that I could do this with ease. After all, I have 4 years of experience under my belt.

The Dungeon was judged by official Dungeon Measurers to be at the Green Level. They guaranteed it… They guaranteed it, so why? It was supposed to be a normal day, so why did this have to happen?

I stared at the corpses of my teammates, the ones who were alive just a couple minutes ago. They were all D-Rank and one of them was even C-Rank. I was the weakest one in the party, so how the hell was I the last one alive?

Then, it stepped towards me. The Monster that killed my party members. It stood over me. Its body looked human except for its long claw-like fingers. Its body was the color white and it had no face. It had two white horns on its forehead. Its eyeless face looked down at me.

My eyes widened. I was scared, but a wavering smile spread on my lips. It was a smile of frustration. I looked away from the Monster. My gaze shifted to each of my dead party members.

A feeling welled up inside of me. It was an emotion that I knew that I shouldn't be feeling, especially towards people who'd died. Despite knowing this, I couldn't help but feel envious.

I grit my teeth. Ever since I started being an Independent Hunter, I'd been at the E-Rank. It wasn't like I was a rookie or anything. I became a Hunter 4 years ago. For those 4 years, I've been at the bottom. As my peers continued to grow, I was stuck with my measly Stats and Skill-less state. Although I became more skilled as time went on, I hit the inevitable wall that technique and experience alone couldn't overcome. I was incapable of getting stronger no matter how much I fought. I thought that I'd accepted this fact, but now, all of a sudden, emotions of anger and jealousy flooded through me.

The Monster kept looking at me. I stared at the ground, the smile lingering on my face. It was all that I could think about. If only I'd been given the same talent as the people around me, then maybe I could actually get somewhere. Maybe my little sister wouldn't have to suffer so much having an incompetent older brother, and maybe my dad would get better. Maybe… I'd get to see Mother again…

Many emotions were flooding through me. There was envy for my peers. There was frustration over myself. Then, there was sadness and hopelessness. I didn't want to die. If I died, then there'd be no one to take care of my little sister, Marie, and Dad.

"How amusing," a distorted voice sounded.

My wide eyes widened further. My head snapped up towards the white being in front of me. On its face was a black curve shaped like a smile.

"How amusing," its distorted voice repeated, "A human whose heart is filled with both righteousness and selfishness at the same time."

I was confused. All I could do was continue staring.

"You give off a strange feeling, human," the Monster smiled, its words not matching its mouth, "Amuse me more."

It reached out to me. I couldn't move. Its long fingers curled around my hand, squeezing tightly. Its hand felt weird. It was impossible to articulate.

I froze. All I could do was watch as the Monster's face got close to mine, its ominous smile lingering on its completely white face.

"You're not cursing me, but rather, yourself and your teammates," its broken voice whispered into my ear, "Entertain me."

Then, it vanished. In a millisecond, it disappeared from my vision. For a moment, I wondered if I had hallucinated it, but I rejected the thought the moment I saw what was in my hand, the hand that the Monster held in its own.

In my hand, was a golden colored card. It looked like a game card. On it was a picture of what looked like teeth. I knew exactly what this was.

"A Skill Card?" I wondered aloud.

I knew what this was from watching TV. When news channels occasionally interviewed Hunters or Mercenaries after clearing a Dungeon, sometimes, the topic of Skill Cards would come up.

Skill Cards were classified as artifacts, or objects found in Dungeons and Towers, but they were a lot different from other artifacts. A Skill Card was an artifact that could grant the user a specific Skill. In other words, I, who had no Skills, could gain one by using this card. Not only that, the card was gold-colored, which meant that it would be at least a B-Rank Skill.

I glanced at the corpses around me. I felt weird. They just died, but now, I was celebrating the opportunity to finally grow after 4 years.

I decided to ignore my emotions. My eyes fell back onto the gold Skill Card in my hands. Taking a deep breath of the stuffy air, I contemplated what I should do. Should I just forget about this or should I risk using this Skill Card that was given to me by a suspicious Monster?