"It must be because this is the only place that isn't on fire," Shin Taemin observed. Shiwoon marvelled inwardly at how calm the man was - he didn't seem to be thrown off by anything. It was little surprise that Shin Taemin was the leader of his own team, though his team had apparently been decimated by retirements, leaving only him, the female frontliner and one of the healers.

"What do we do, team leader?" The bulky man with the greataxe asked. He was baring his teeth in a feral grin that spelled out his intentions to fight.

"What else," Shin Taemin said, "we'll have to punch through them." He thought for a moment before continuing, "If possible, we'll exterminate them. If not, we will get through the swarm and set up around the Portal and wait for the collapse."

Shiwoon agreed with the decision. It was the only logical one to make in the situation. He didn't like the idea of pushing too hard to deal with what appeared to be hundreds, if not thousands, of disgusting insects that he couldn't just step on to make them go splat.

The female frontliner - if he wasn't wrong, her name was Chae Eunsu - frowned but did not disagree. Everyone else seemed to be accepting of the team leader's judgement as well, given the resolute nods.

"Advance." Shin Taemin said calmly. They moved forward as a group, this time packed much more closely than before. Shiwoon couldn't tell if there would even be any space for the mages to throw their Skills.

In the end, he worried for nothing.

One of the mages, a man with a proud look and a fierce blonde mane, prepared a fireball, which he launched with frightening accuracy when the frontliners weren't even close to engaging. This bombardment of flames continued until Shiwoon and the other members of the vanguard came within melee range of the Birdbugs.

The mage wisely stopped with his fireballs and allowed Shiwoon and the others the unfortunate privilege of engaging the monsters in close quarters. Though they had already been softened by the Skills of the mage, Shiwoon still found it hard to pierce their carapace. He had to aim more precisely for the heads and necks of the repulsive insects, which were protected only by a layer of softer chitin.

It would not be so difficult to do so, if not for the smoke that blew into his eyes and nose and made it hard to see and breathe. With every swing, he could feel a sliver of his life leak out of him. Though they managed to kill a considerable amount of the Birdbugs, their sheer numbers made it seem like he was facing an unending ocean that continued to crash onto him despite his best efforts.

Birdbugs were hardly a D-rank threat on their own. Their weapons were the teeth they hid behind their beaks. Pecking at their enemies was something they did do, but it was hardly as dangerous as the circle of knives that dwelled within their beaks. They had no talons, only thin, fragile legs that seemed like they would snap like a tree branch.

What made them dangerous was not their individual combat strength but rather their impossible numbers. Shiwoon had heard from Minsik that there were too many stories of Hunters being unable to clear them out before the Portal collapsed. He hadn't thought too much of it then, but facing them now, he understood all too clearly why those Hunters could not manage to truly exterminate the hardy monsters.

“Push!”

He heard someone yelling - was it the team leader? - and he swung his sword as they finally crashed into the wave of Birdbugs rushing forward into them. It was not easy to kill the Birdbugs; unless he imbued his blade with Aether to sharpen its edge, he could not penetrate the tough carapace on their backs, and even focusing to the utmost didn’t mean his attacks would connect easily with the bugs’ soft spot, which started where their neck connected their heads to the carapace and ended at their heads. Stabbing their heads wasn’t enough. Like real life bugs, they seemed to continue crawling ahead without their brains. Or was it that their brains were not stored in the head?

Thought began to melt away, replaced with an inner flow that directed him to move here, swing there. Immersed completely in the battle, Shiwoon continued to push forward against the Birdbugs that continually tried to push him back. It was a dangerous balance and he was vaguely aware that if he messed up, he would be stranded in a crowd of hostile monsters. But he knew there was no such leeway for hesitation and fear. Those emotions would only drag him down. Anything less than one hundred percent of his effort would spell death. He could only trust in those beside him and behind him to support him well.

Engrossed in combat as he was, he could not avoid picking up injuries. Being hyper-focused didn’t mean he could avoid every single bite or peck and it would have destroyed their formations if he went about dodging the blows he could. He was slowly being chipped away, even if the healers were trying their best to support him.

A crisis predictably came as they sighted the Portal. One of the Hunters in the vanguard with him - which one he could not tell - was careless as they went about slaughtering their way forward, allowing a Birdbug to throw itself at Shiwoon in its dying frenzy. It took out a chunk of his flesh on his right forearm and all of a sudden, the delicate balance they had established collapsed. It was already difficult to swing his sword, but with the handicap he suddenly incurred to his sword arm, he could not wield the sword properly. He yelped in pain.

“Healers!” He growled as he tried to continue fending the monsters off while wielding the sword in his left hand. “Healers!”

They were slow. Had one of them been taken down? He turned his head, fearing the worst, and saw both healers busy healing two of the other frontliners.

“What are you doing?” He hollered, “I’m the one who needs healing here, you b*stards!”

It took a few moments before both healers directed their Skills towards him. They had only done so after seeing the swarm of insects that were beginning to spill past him, the hole in their formation unable to contain the monsters as a result of his injury. In the end, humans only cared about themselves, Shiwoon thought.

“One last push!” Someone said in the background. As he cursed the healers in his mind, Shiwoon gritted his teeth and swung his sword even more enthusiastically. They were about to reach the Portal; there, they would set up a defence perimeter and just hold out till the Portal was on the verge of collapsing.

They tore their way through the flooding monsters, making it to the area near the Portal. Using it as a marker, they set up a semicircular formation around it, allowing the monsters to crash into them and bombarding them with whatever spells they had. They continued doing this for an impossibly long time, downing potions to keep going, before finally leaving the Portal as they saw the signs of an impending collapse. They left the Portal at the last moment. They were not followed by the monsters, who had missed the window.

The Hunters separated again into their little groups. Shiwoon didn’t even want to talk to any of them. He could feel his temper boiling. If he spoke to the healers then, he was certain he would punch them in the face without hearing what they had to say.

The next issue came when it was time to divide up the spoils. They had only a single magic weapon, and as valuable as it surely was, it would not be worth the time and resources they had used in the Portal once it had been split ten ways. That was the issue with the Birdbugs this time; because they came in such large numbers, it became impossible to loot them properly after the battle. They were an obligation rather than a treasure. None of them had expected a swarm; the fires were supposed to have thinned their numbers. If it had, it wasn’t very effective at doing so.

The Bureau official was trying his best to smoothen the talks. Tension was running high between the members of the extermination team and every group was trying their best to carve out as much profit as they could from what had been a terrible loss.

“If not for us-”

“Back then, we-”

Shiwoon was tired of it. They were selfish in battle and they were selfish now. True, it was human instinct to look out for one’s own, but did it have to be done to such a degree? Were they not comrades who had just passed through a crisis together? Then again, considering none of them had Reawakened, perhaps it was not so much a crisis as a major inconvenience.

Han Sungoh suddenly spoke up while pointing at Shiwoon. “I think we should cut that guy out. He burdened us during the battle, getting a careless injury like that.”

It was a sudden attack from a man who had been pretending to be a friend. Shiwoon had thought so when they had first met, but Han Sungoh really wasn’t someone who could be trusted. Perhaps he was the one who caused Shiwoon to suffer that injury with his own oversight and was now trying to pin the blame on Shiwoon.

“That won’t-” Shin Taemin began saying, when Shiwoon interrupted him.

“No way.” Shiwoon glared at Han Sungoh, then at the two healers, then at the other members of the extermination team. “What reason do you have to take my share? Did I not do my job?”

One of the healers began to speak up indignantly. “You did it poorly! You needed us to-”

Shiwoon grabbed the man by the collar, putting his face close. “What? I did poorly? When you didn’t even support me properly?”

The other Hunters scrambled to hold him back. The man with the greataxe was especially forceful - perhaps he was teammates or friends with the healer - and pulled him off. Shiwoon brought out his sword, a savage snarl leaving his throat.

Bringing out a weapon in a situation that was already tense was akin to lighting a match in a room full of gas. Everyone drew theirs and there was a brief spark of hostility as they each looked at the others.

“This is not the way to settle things, Hunters,” the Bureau official said helplessly.

Shiwoon pointed at the healers and then at Han Sungoh. “Tell me, how did I do my job any more poorly than you b*tches? Huh?” His voice came out loud without him intending to. But that was fine, he thought.

Han Sungoh smirked. “You couldn’t even hold up on your side properly.”

“That’s because some b*stard couldn’t do his job and left a Birdbug to jump at me! Is that my fault? Should I have done the same so you could suffer too? HUH?”

“So you don’t deserve any share of the rewards.” Han Sungoh turned to the other Hunters. “See how this young punk raises his voice just because he’s not getting his way. Does he really think he’s all that because he Reawakened twice?” Han Sungoh spat. “You aren’t all that.”

Shiwoon pointed with his sword at Han Sungoh. “Then let’s go. Me and you, right now. We’ll see if I’m all that.”

Han Sungoh flinched for a second before returning to smirking and standing like a typical arrogant villain. “Can’t do your job and now you want to resort to violence? Why should I accept?”

“If you’ve got a pair, you’ll accept. If you beat me, I’ll give my share to you, happy?”

Han Sungoh’s malevolent smile widened. Unnaturally wide as it was, it seemed almost like a mask that a devil had put on. “Okay, let’s do it. No taking it back.”

The Bureau official was speaking in a low voice to Shin Taemin. He seemed concerned but Shin Taemin just shook his head. The Bureau official cleared his throat after seeing Shin Taemin shake his head. “I will stand as witness to this duel.”

Shiwoon felt like he was burning up on the inside. Every fiber of his being ached with the desire to hurt. And yet his head somehow seemed utterly clear. Everything in the world seemed just a little slower to him and he was ever so slightly more attuned to the world than usual. He clenched and unclenched his fist to confirm the sensation. Then he looked up at the happy face of Han Sungoh.

The Bureau official said loudly, “This will be a duel between Hunters Han Sungoh and Kim Shiwoon until one side yields. Are there any objections?” Hearing only silence, the Bureau official continued, “Then, we will begin on my count.”

“Three!”

Shiwoon could feel his breath. It was slowing, just like the world.

“Two!”

He could feel his muscles tensing. In that moment, it seemed as if they would completely respond to his will.

“One!”

He saw Han Sungoh tensing, his haughty expression fading into grimness.

“Start!”

Both men shot forward. Han Sungoh held up his shield while stabbing forward with his sword, while Shiwoon feinted a charge before running to the side. He ran diagonally before changing his path to charge at Han Sungoh’s flank.

Han Sungoh was not a monster; he could see Shiwoon’s movement and roughly predict what Shiwoon wanted to do. Seeing Shiwoon charge at him from the side, he had no reason to continue charging forward, and instead he changed his direction to shoot towards Shiwoon.

Sword met shield as Shiwoon executed his favoured downward slash and Shiwoon’s sword bounced off even as he narrowly backed away from the stab that Han Sungoh had included. His arms flailed upwards at the recoil from his slash. He freed up his left hand, holding the sword only with his right, praying that he wouldn’t mess up and send the sword flying away from him. He reached downwards with his now free hand and gripped the extended right wrist of Han Sungoh, who had been trying to stab him and had not yet pulled away. He then swung his sword downwards on the gripped wrist.

“AH!!!” Han Sungoh screamed in pain. The man stared at his severed right hand blankly. Shiwoon stared at the official, who was still not calling out that it was Shiwoon’s victory. He sighed. Was he going to have to kill Han Sungoh?

“Wait! Wait! He surrenders, he surrenders!”

One of the healers, a petite woman with brown hair cried out as she ran over to Han Sungoh. She held the hand up to the bleeding orifice and forced Han Sungoh to hold it there as she started using her Skill.

Shiwoon stared at her blankly.

Why had he done it? He couldn’t even come up with a decent reason now that it was all over.

Shiwoon wasn’t the type of hypocrite to say that he would never take a human’s life. After all the monsters he had killed, he was by now desensitised to death. To him, his life, and a human’s life, was no greater than that of the monsters he killed. They were just on different sides. But still…

Shiwoon felt guilty. Because he was not a monster and Han Sungoh was not a monster. He had known it. But his pride and his wrath had left him so blind to his own rationality. And he knew what he was doing. He had confidence that he would win too. He had no excuses to assuage his guilt. To cut off a man’s hand so coldly… A shiver ran down his spine. Without him knowing, he had changed somewhere along the way. He would continue to change along the way. But was he changing for the better? Was the path he was taking the right one? He couldn’t give an affirmative answer to any of those questions.

“You can take the share if you want,” he said, the bitter anger scattering, leaving him with only the hollowness of the unjustified, “I don’t want it.”

“Wait, Hunter Kim-”

Hunter Kim Shiwoon - was that what they were about to refer to him as? Right, it was his job now. The official title that he had so craved. Was it for this that he had chased a title? Was it for this that he had dreamed while watching those videos of the Empress? He could imagine her, a hero who fought for humanity, looking down on him with scornful eyes. While she was trying to save the world, he was here bullying another man. That the man had been deserving of it was one thing. That he had been the one doing the bullying was the main issue to Shiwoon.

“This isn’t what I wanted.” Shiwoon said dully. He turned his head to the Bureau official. “If this is what it means to be a Hunter,” he said, resolve finally creeping back into his voice.

“Then I quit.”