THREE
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"Heh, it's your loss." Staring at the large Ghost that burst into smoke, Kazuko smiled widely.
Even though it had the power to crush his bones, the Ghost was unexpectedly slow enough for Kazuko to just focus on a Hit-and-Run tactic until it got defeated.
Sighing in relief, Kazuko decided to treasure the experience he had here. 'If this was like an Awakening or something, then I'm thankful I got to practice my skills here as a normal Human before fighting Monsters.'
Kazuko lived in a world were strong Hunters reigned supreme, and there were even instances in the News wherein the Government couldn't do anything to stop those Humans with special powers.
So because of that, and the fact that he lived with an S-Rank Hunter, Kazuko was well informed that Hunter Awakenings could happen anywhere, anytime, and in any form.
"I can only hope for the best."
And before he knew it, Kazuko's body started to shrink into that of an athletic 16 year old teenager, even his surroundings became brighter and brighter.
"Yes!" Kazuko punched the air in joy that he would finally be able to get out of this strange place.
However, what appeared infront of him was a large transparent screen with a few words written on it.
'What in the world?' Focusing his eyes on the words written on the white screen, Kazuko read it aloud. "Individual. Kazuko Hasane. Blessing of the Gacha Drops... Complete?"
Then all of a sudden, a blinding light engulfed Kazuko's entire body, sending him into a state of shock. "What!?"
It was soon followed by another transparent screen, although this one was as small as a large piece of Bond Paper.
"Another one?" And this time, there were a lot of words written on it.
[Skill:
•[Gacha Drops]: The User will receive Random Colored Crystals that drop out of a Dead Monster's Body. However, the Grade and Drop-rate of the Crystals will all be Random.
The Darker the Crystal is, the better the rewards it might give. Rewards can range from a Clean White Sock, to a One-Hit One-Kill Offensive Skill.
The Drop-rate of Dark Crystals will also increase based on how high the Rank of a Dungeon or a Gate is.
The User will have to crush the Crystal to obtain the Random reward.
Do note that there are also other Special Crystals that can raise the User's stats.
The User must also be aware of the following:
-This Skill is only applicable to Monsters that are killed by the User, not other Hunters.
-And only the User can pick up, or even see these Special Crystals.]
Reading the detailed explanation of this strange Skill, Kazuko was excited. "I knew it! So this really was an Awakening!"
After all was said and done, Kazuko laughed joyfully.
"Time to get out of here." And as if to react towards Kazuko's words, his surroundings began to fade away, and the voices of various people started to enter his ears.
----- -- -----
It has already been 10 months since Kazuko had entered a coma, and Kanae was starting to lose hope of him waking up any time soon.
However...
"Huh?" The black haired woman looked around the hospital, only to see people panicking as it shook violently.
"Ah!"
"The patients! The patients!"
"Uwaahh!! I'm gonna die!"
"Argh! My leg!!"
Various screams and loud sounds resounded in Kanae's ears, but she was too focused on rushing towards her cousin's hospital room to save him from impending disaster.
And as she arrived infront of the room's entrance, the building suddenly stopped shaking, making Kanae sigh in relief.
"Thank Go-" The young Hunter became speechless when she saw Kazuko standing on the sill of an open window.
"Just what are you doing!?" Shocked by the sudden stupidity of her cousin, Kanae seemed to have forgotten about the fact that Kazuko had a coma.
And instead of giving a proper answer, the 16-year old Kazuko turned his head and smiled as he asked a question of his own.
"How long have I been asleep?"
Hearing the word asleep, Kanae finally remembered something important. "Wha!? The coma! You were in a Coma!"
"Shouldn't an S-Rank Hunter know what an Awakening is?"
Hearing Kazuko's nonchalant reaction, Kanae was too flustered that she started to get angry instead. "Why you..."
"Ah... this is bad." Kazuko readied himself for his cousin's ranting.
----- -- -----
A few moments later...
Upon exiting the taxi, Kazuko scanned his surroundings, making sure that the incident wouldn't repeat itself.
"Uh huh, it's all good." He handed his fare towards the driver before focusing his eyes on the newly renovated house.
'10 months huh, I wonder what happened to that Bastard who hit me.' Kazuko didn't really want to admit it, but he was hoping that the drunk driver that bumped him would've died a tragic death.
"Well, if you look at the bright side, that guy basically helped me Awaken this power, but still..." He commented to no one in particular.
After a few hours of taking a shower and watching some horror movies, Kazuko pondered on whether or not he should join his cousin's Guild, the Draw Sword Guild.
'It doesn't look like a bad idea, but this feeling I have right now...' Kazuko clenched his fist, trying to determine how strong he was at the moment. "I see... so I'm currently a D-Rank?"
Despite saying that he had a low Rank, the long haired teenager smiled as he remembered his new Skill. The [Gacha Drops].
Laying his body down on the soft brown couch, Kazuko started to plan for his future.
"It's good for me that minors don't have any restrictions on being a Hunter. Now I don't need to tire myself from memorizing all those math problems and that damn chemical table or something."
Even though low Rank Hunters had little to no chance of entering a Top Guild, the Japanese Hunters Association were still kind enough to leave some E or D-Rank Gates for those weak Awakened Humans.
"I might even be lucky enough to even find some C-Rank Gates popping out somewhere."
It took a few minutes before Kazuko yawned and fell asleep, forgetting the fact that Kanae asked him to explain what had happened earlier when she arrives home.
"Haa... Incest... is..." Although it seems like the young man was currently having a rather... Juicy dream.
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