Chapter 2: The World of Hunters and Monsters

"You're… serious?" I asked again and watched my parents nod gravely. I sighed and tiredly rubbed my face. Komachi looked back and forth between our parents and me worriedly. 

After we finished our family hug, we all sat down and began to talk. It was awkward at first, but we slowly found our grove. We were, after all, a family. After the short round of small talk, I finally got around to asking about what would happen with me and school. "We're afraid so, son." My father said. "You've missed an entire year of school, and you'll have to pick up where you left off. So as soon as Doctor Watanabe releases you, you can rejoin Sobu as a first-year."

"I'll be a year behind." I said to myself. It made sense. I couldn't expect the education system to give me a pass and place me in the second year with the rest of my classmates, well, past classmates. "…okay." I never had a break as a kid, so why should I have expected one now? Komachi grabbed my hand gently, and I turned to her, a small smile on my face.

"I'll be fine, Komachi. I mean, technically, I was supposed to start my first year today. At least… from what I remember." I scratched the back of my head with my free hand and forced a chuckle. From my sister's expression, I could tell she didn't appreciate my dark humor. "So, has the Doc told you when I could be released?"

My mother rubbed her red, puffy eyes and smiled gently at me. I couldn't help but frown slightly. When was the last time she offered me such a warm expression? Between their constant work and preferential treatment of Komachi, they didn't exactly give me much love or attention. I always told myself that I didn't resent them for that. I couldn't. After all, it was thanks to all their hard work that I had a roof over my head and food to eat. But regardless of that fact, I couldn't help but hate them at times. How childish.

"Doctor Watanabe said that your physical showed that you've made a full r-recovery." My mother's voice became choked. "He said he would like to keep you for a few more days for observation but that you should be able to come home on Saturday."

I nodded at that. Today was Tuesday, so I only had to put up with this cold, sterile room a bit longer. My father looked down at his old black watch and frowned. "It seems that visiting hours are coming to close soon."

"No!" Komachi shouted. Her soft hands grabbed at my arm tightly. "I don't want to leave! Hachiman just woke up! C-Can't we ask the doctors if we can stay a bit longer?"

I felt my heart clench at my sister's display of affection and worry. "It's okay, Komachi." I said as I patted the top of her head softly. "I'll be alright. You have school in the morning. You can always visit your favorite brother tomorrow."

"Okay. I'll come visit as soon as school lets out." Komachi said with a small smile. I could have sworn she would have bantered with me as she always did, but the playful expression I had seen every day for the past couple of years was gone. It was then that I saw that her usually bright eyes were dull and tired. I worried my dear sister to death… I truly am the worst.

"I'll tell you all about everything you've missed tomorrow!" Komachi said as she and our parents stood up from their chairs. Her smiling face shifted into a panic as she realized what she said. "Ah! I mean-" I stopped her with a raised palm.

"It's okay. You don't have to tiptoe around the subject, Komachi." I then looked at my parents. "You two as well. It's true that I was in a coma. That's an undeniable fact, so the sooner we get past that, the faster we can return to our normal lives. Okay?" My parents looked at one another and then at Komachi. They seemed unsure of what I said but ultimately came to agree with me.

"We should get going then." My father said as he slid the room door open. My mother and sister were close behind him. "We'll have Komachi bring some of your stuff when she visits tomorrow. That should keep you from dying of boredom until we can bring you home."

"I'll also pack some clothes for you as well." My mother said quickly and looked at me worriedly. It reminded me of when she would fuzz over me before Komachi was born. "We'll try and visit on Wednesday. We practically had to run out of work when we got the call, so we have to make up the work tomorrow."

I nodded and watched them leave. Komachi waved at me as she closed the door, and I waved back with my own small smile. Soon enough, I was alone in the small white hospital room, and I couldn't help but feel better for it. Maybe something's wrong with my head.

I looked up and saw something that had been floating off to the side the entire time I was with my family. It was a large blue window you would most commonly find in a gaming interface. I kept waiting for someone to point it out, but they never did. Am I the only one that can see it?

[ This system was designed to assist the development of the Player. ]

[ Failure to comply with the system may result in a penalty. ]

[ MESSAGE]

[ Daily Quest: Strength Training has arrived. (UNREAD) ]

"That gaming interface is still there." I mumbled and waved my hand through the window. It was utterly intangible, and my touch hadn't bothered it at all. Back when I was in that pitch-black abyss, all I had to do was think of what I wanted. Open message.

[ (!) Quest Info ]

[ Daily Quest: Strength Training ]

[ GOAL ]

[ Push-Ups : 0/150 ]

[ Sit-Ups : 0/150 ]

[ Squats : 0/150 ]

[ Running : 0/15 Km ]

[ WARNING: Failure to complete the daily quest will result in an appropriate penalty. ]

What is this? Training from hell? I glared at the floating window in disbelief. At the bottom of the window was a small white clock icon. Yup, I definitely have some type of brain damage. 

"Whatever." I said with a sigh and dismissed the window with a thought. "I'll ask the Doc about that when I see him." I then stood up from the bed and braced myself. I've read about how comatose patients lose muscle after being bedridden for so long, so I was worried and curious about how badly my muscles had atrophied. But I was pleasantly surprised to find myself standing with no issues. Little victories.

I began a series of stretches and discovered that I felt no different from yesterday. Or should I say from a year ago? I then walked over to the small bathroom door and swung the door open. I walked into the clean bathroom and stopped in front of the mirror above the white porcelain sink. My hair was shorter than I remembered. I lifted my bangs and saw a small wide scar poking out from my scalp. I slid my hand down and tentatively touched the scar on the corner of my right lip. It spanned across both my bottom and upper lift. If my eyes weren't enough to make people think I was part of the Yakuza, then these scars definitely will.

I then took off my hospital gown and frowned deeply at the long, thin scar that traveled down my stomach. I then recalled the long list of injuries Doctor Watanabe told me I had received, and I couldn't help but start looking everywhere he mentioned. Two long scars ran down the front of both of my shins. Spinning around, I saw another scar on the small of my back. I'm lucky I can even walk right now.

A shaky grin grew on my face, and I quickly put on the gown over my skinny body. I didn't want to look at myself anymore. After washing my face, I walked out of the bathroom and was surprised to find two men in suits standing against the room's main door. Why are the men in black here? One of the men noticed my presence and bowed slightly.

"I apologize for walking into your room without your permission, Hachiman Hikigaya." The man rose from his bow and looked at me seriously. He had slicked-back black hair, and he had a pair of sharp green eyes. I couldn't help but feel intimidated by the man's green orbs. "But once we heard that the Awakened comatose patient had woken up, we rushed here as fast as we could. My name is Riku Uchida, and here is my colleague. Sousuke Inuzuka."

Inuzuka had short brown hair and bored black eyes. He nodded to me, and I finally noticed the black briefcase in his hand. I then turned back to Uchida. "We're with the Surveillance Team of the Japanese Hunters Association, and we're here to get a reading on your rank."

"Hold on!" I said abruptly, causing both men to pause and look at me oddly. "Surveillance Team? Hunters association? Awakened? I don't know what the hell you two are talking about!" 

"Ah, my apologies. It slipped my mind that you were asleep for an entire year and wouldn't be aware of what happened during that time." Uchida said and motioned for me to take a seat on my hospital bed. After a few seconds of deciding whether or not to listen to the complete stranger, I finally relented and sat down. Both men grabbed the chair my parents previously sat on and placed them far enough from my bed to set me at ease.

"Eleven months ago, a supernatural phenomenon occurred on Earth. A Gate, as we now call it, is a large blue portal that appears in random locations worldwide. These Gates contained another dimension within them, which we call dungeons. Powerful and deadly monsters lay inside these dungeons. So powerful that none of our modern weapons could leave even a scratch on them." Uchida said and crossed his legs. "The United States even tried to use a warhead within one of the Gates to defeat the monsters inside, but it ultimately failed. Now, this would have spelled utter doom and destruction to humanity, but we were given a fighting chance. Especially when they began to cross over into our world."

"Hunters." Inuzuka said, breaking his silence. I turned to him. "That is what we call those among us who had awakened. Hunters are humans who possess magical powers and use them to fight the magical beasts within the gates. They are also the only ones who can close a gate. Hunters are ranked by an international S-E system to show their strength, with E being the weakest and S being the strongest. They possess a wide range of abilities. A hunter's rank and stats are determined when they receive their powers and cannot be increased after they awaken. No matter what."

Inuzuka finished explaining and looked at me lazily. Silence hung in the air as they allowed me to absorb all the information. Are these guys absolutely nuts?! And I thought I was delusional in my middle school years! "That's enough." I whispered. "I don't know what television show you're both with, but do you honestly expect to believe all this?!"

I stood up from my bed and looked at both men angrily and annoyed. Just what was this hospital doing, letting these two nut jobs walk around and talk to the patients? Uchida sighed and motioned to Inuzuka. Inuzuka nodded, opened the briefcase in his hand, and held it out for Uchida. "These here is a mana meter. All you have to do is place your hand on this essence stone, and we'll be able to gauge your power level and rank."

"Didn't you hear me?!" I said frustratedly. Were they ignoring me? The nerve of them. "This isn't funny! I don't want to hear any more of-"

Fire. A small ball of fire danced lazily above Inuzuka's hand as he looked at me with an apathetic look. I stood stunned as I watched the ball of fire float in the air within the older man's hand. Holy shit. There, clear as day, was proof that magic was indeed real. No, it could be some time of trick-

The fireball shifted into a ball of water and then into lightning. All of it was in quick succession. Inuzuka sighed and dropped his hand, the magic disappearing alongside his lowered arm. "It may be hard for you to believe us, but once you're released from the hospital, you'll be able to see that the world as you knew it a year ago has changed. You live in a world dominated by Gates and Monsters. You should be quick to adapt. Otherwise, you might as well have stayed asleep."

"Inuzuka!" Uchida chastised Inuzuka with a slight glare, causing the brown-haired man to roll his eyes and look away. Uchida turned back to me with an apologetic look. "I apologize for my colleague's lack of understanding of your situation. But he was right when he said that once you look outside, you'll understand everything we've said is true."

Uchida then walked over to me and held the mana meter in front of me. "While you may find it hard to believe, you still are among the many Awakened alongside Inuzuka and me. Whether you pursue being a Hunter or not, we must gauge your rank. So if you could please lay a hand on the stone."

I numbly looked down at the purple stone and slowly laid my hand above it. To my amazement, the stone began to glow lightly and then became dull. Uchida raised a small square device and frowned. He flipped the device, and a small, grey screen showed me the number ten. Ten? Is that high? How do they determine a hunter's rank? From a scale of one to ten?

"The lowest ranked E-Rank hunter had a score of seventy. It's safe to assume you are within the E-Rank level of hunters." Uchida said offhandedly and handed the mana meter over to Inuzuka. Uchidas's once-patient expression had changed to that of uninterest and apathy. "I suggest you don't consider becoming a Hunter in the future. Your power level puts you no higher than that of a civilian."

I watched as both men stood up, approached the room door, and left. They didn't even give me so much as a goodbye. I couldn't help but be reminded of the times my classmates in middle school often dismissed me. Arrogant assholes. I looked over at the television remote and picked it up. I pointed it at the television and flipped through the channels until I saw the news station. 

"-two C-Rank Gates have opened in Nakano City and Setegaya City. While an A-Rank Gate is currently open in Kawaguchi near the Green Center." I watched an attractive female newscaster pointing at three small blue dots on the map, each showing off a Gate location. I clicked the television off, walked to the hospital room window, and gazed at the now-dark sky. It's real. All of what they said is real.

I sighed and turned to the table that held the flowers and cards. I picked one of the cards up and smiled when I read Komachi's handwriting. The card was that of a small orange cat in a hospital gown. The words' get better soon' floated above the drawing in bright white letters over the blue material of the card. I placed it down gently and picked up the next card. There was no signature to indicate who sent the card, but a handwritten note saying 'Get well, soon!' was clear on display in the center. The characters were written with a feminine touch, while a picture of a cartoon dog sat in the upper left corner. Maybe one of the nurses felt bad for me and wrote me a letter.

I placed the letter down and got back into bed. It was late, and I began to grow tired. I reached over to the wall switch and flicked the room lights off. I leaned into my cold pillow and closed my eyes. I'll figure out what happened to the world tomorrow. Slowly, I began to fall asleep.

Unbeknownst to me, the Strength Training Quest window popped up above me, and the small white clock icon slowly became a soft yellow. 

x x x

[ (!) NOTIFICATION ]

[ You have not completed the Daily Quest. You will be transported to the penalty zone for the allotted time. ]

I gasped awake as everything around me began to shake violently. I looked around in a panic and tried to figure out just what the hell was going on. "An earthquake?!" I yelled and got up from my bed. But my foot ended up being caught in a deep fold of my blanket, causing me to trip and fall. I closed my eyes and braced myself for the incoming pain.

The sound of soft rustling reached my ears. The familiar feeling of rough grass tickled my skin, and I opened my eyes to see that I was sprawled out in a bed of tall, green grass. I spun my body and looked up to see incredibly tall trees and sprawling foliage all above me. The bright blue sky cut through the small opening in the leaves, shooting down sharp lines of light. Where am I? A forest?

I stood up slowly and took in my surroundings. I was within a large and expansive forest filled with bushes and undergrowth. Off to my right was a vast dark swamp with flies and bugs flying above it. The sounds of frogs croaking and crickets chirping assaulted my ears as my skin became aware of the warm and humid air. I found myself struggling to breathe slightly as my lungs expanded quickly to intake oxygen. I feel heavy, too.

My body vibrated as a loud and bone-trembling tremor rocked the Earth beneath me. Every single survivor instinct my body evolved to have began yelling at me to run. Run as fast and as far as I possibly could, but my body refused to obey my instincts. The sounds of heavy, guttural breathing approached me from behind, and against my better wishes, I began to turn slowly. "…is that a FUCKING DINOSAUR!"

Standing thirty feet tall was a mountain of muscle and feathers standing on a pair of well-defined muscles and avian legs that led down to sharp claws that made deep impressions into the mud. A long, sharp tail moved back and forth as sharp, bony, protruding bones trailed up its tail to the base of the creature's massive skull. Long, sharp, yellow teeth moved alongside its jaws as long lines of saliva dropped down to the ground. Its small glowing yellow eyes stared into my own as it breathed heavily and hunched slightly. Above its head floated a red-colored title.

[ FLESH-EATER GIANT T-REX ]

[ Quest Info ]

[ Penalty Quest: Survival ]

[ GOAL ]

[ Survive the required time ]

[ Required time: 5 hours ]

[ Remaining time: 04:55:25 ]

You have to be shitting me. I looked at the blue window in horror as the heavily mutated tyrannosaurs loomed dangerously at me. Its jaws opened wide, and a loud, beastly roar was released from its throat. Shocking me out of my frozen stupor, I immediately started running away as fast as I could in the opposite direction from the prehistoric monster. Quick, heavy stomps bellowed behind me. I didn't dare even to look back. Sharp, stinging pain exploded out from my bare feet as I ran through the forest floor. I paid the pain from the sharp pebbles, sticks, foliage, and grass no mind as I continued sprinting through and around countless trees.

"FUCK!" I yelled as I dashed through two trees that were close together. My body barely squeezing through the small opening. A thunderous crash exploded out from behind me. I turned back and saw the tyrannosaur shake its head in pain as two broken trees lay in front of it. Splinters and wood dust stuck to the monster's snout. "HAH! Take that, you overgrown lizard!"

The monster looked at me and roared. Crap. I continued running through the forest, and the dinosaur's heavy footsteps reverberated through the forest once again. Why did I stop!? I just had to mock the two-ton prehistoric dinosaur! I looked at the floating window beside me and saw I still had over four and a half hours to go.

"WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME?!"

x x x

[ Quest Info ]

[ Penalty Quest: Survival ]

[ GOAL ]

[ Survive the required time ]

[ Required time: 5 hours ]

[ Remaining time: 00:00:55 ]

I can't run anymore! I screamed in my mind and turned back at the giant dinosaur that had been chasing me for five whole hours. It was a miracle in itself that I could keep running, be it from the adrenaline or the fact that I'm a so-called Awakened individual. It didn't matter. I was just thankful I lasted so long, but I feel like I'm about to collapse. 

A loud snap exploded out from behind me as the creature's awful breath assaulted my nose. Fuck, Tokage is right behind me! I pushed my legs to run even faster from Tokage, the name I gave to my new killer friend; any second now, I knew my knees would buckle under me, and I would be nothing but dinner for my scaly friend. I'm sorry, Komachi. Looks like I won't be able to keep my promise.

[ (!) NOTIFICATION ]

[ You have completed the penalty quest. ]

"GAH!" I grunted in pain as I ran into the hard wall of a white, plastered wall. I fell back and stared numbly at the dark ceiling as I panted deeply to try and gain control of my erratic breath. I felt something in my hair and pulled out a small green leaf. "T-that was real." I turned my head and saw a new notification.

[ MESSAGE ]

[ Your rewards for completing the penalty quest have been delivered. ]

[ Would you like to check your rewards? ]

[ ACCEPT ][DECLINE ]

I continued to pant and glared at the window. If it weren't for the fact that I couldn't touch this mysterious gaming window, I would have lit it on fire and buried it in my backyard. Just so I could spit on it every day.

Accept. Regardless, rewards were rewards. Before I could inspect my goodies, I felt my vision blur and the edges of my sight darken. Shit, not this again. Hopefully, I won't slip into another coma.

The next day, a female nurse screamed in shock when she found my still body sprawled out on the floor. A perfect imprint of my body on the white, broken wall of my hospital room welcomed Doctor Watanabe as he ran inside to inspect me.