The Hunter's Arrival

Startled by this, Kazami ran a scan ahead of him with his vision skill; however, there was nothing but a vast amount of water. 

"Crap," he muttered. "Is this a boss field? Did it say Mai-sama? No, it can't be. I checked for traps before we set up camp. Mobs can't speak... right?"

His focus narrowed, zooming in on the water. A figure—floating—hovered just above the surface. Features blurred, but distinct enough to send unease through his chest. Above its head, a health bar hovered ominously, crowned with a purple cursor.

There was also writing written in bold below the purple cursor.

There, hovering above the tranquil surface of the water behind them, was a figure cloaked in a grey colour. It was as if they were suspended in time; their cloaked form slowly as they stepped into the moonlight that came from the hole in the ceiling. 

"You two seem to be engaging in quite the intimate conversation," the figure continued. Their voice was melodious yet tinged with a devious edge. "Forgive me for eavesdropping. I couldn't resist the temptation of witnessing such a delicious drama."

Kazami's eyes widened in alarm, his hand instinctively reaching out to summon his Leere, while Ukiyo stood there in stillness, unable to turn around. 

Noticing that Ukiyo wore a panicked expression, Kazami knew that whoever this person was, it was bad news for them. 

"Who are you?" Kazami demanded, his voice trembling slightly with a mixture of fear and confusion. 

The figure chuckled, their laughter akin to the tinkling of wind chimes in a sinister breeze.

"Oh, my dear, I am but a humble food connoisseur," he replied, tilting his head as he inhaled sharply through his nose.

"Oh my! What is that I smell? Such a delectable aroma is coming from both of you," the figure said snakely."

Shivers went down to Kazami's spine as he could feel all the hair on his body slowly standing up.

"Stop playing around; who the hell are you?" Kazami demanded again, now pointing the edge of his elemental blade at the strange man who levitated seamlessly above the water. 

"Hehe," the cloaked man laughed.

"I am a wanderer of the night drawn to the succulent flavours of human suffering; you may call me Esmeray. The professor wants you back, Ukiyo, and I've been sent to collect you." 

At the mention of the name, a sense of bewilderment washed over Ukiyo's face. She began to tremble before slowly turning around to face her nightmare. 

"Father wants to see me?" 

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Without warning, a radiant veil was suddenly cast underneath Ukiyo as it quickly wrapped around her body like a snake strangling its prey. 

"Ukiyo!?" Kazami called, unable to react to the attack.

In an instant, the veil expanded and inflated around her, completely enveloping her in a strange bubble. With a flick of his wrist, Esmeray pulled the bubble towards his palm, catching its almost gummy surface in his hand.

"No!" Ukiyo cried. Let me go, you pig!" Ukiyo began smashing her knuckles against the walls of her prison to no avail.

'Was that a Technique Deployment? They didn't even move an inch. There's no way there's that much of a difference in our speed.' 

"I apologise, Mai-sama," Esmeray crooned, shrugging. "But I am simply following orders."

"Don't take it to heart, a maiden such as yourself shouldn't let pain and grudges weigh down your mind. You need to keep your mind clear from worries to maintain that beauty of yours~. We don't want you getting wrinkly now, do we?" 

"You creepy bastard! Let her go!" Kazami yelled out, preparing to jump towards the floating man.

Esmeray clicked his tongue and threw a disgusted glare at Kazami. "Silence, worm, you're too noisy." His blood-shot eyes honed straight at Kazami, causing his leg to give out. 

'This feeling, what is this feeling?' Kazami thought, feeling the numbness in his legs. He had almost let go of his Leere for a split second.

"That is fear." Esmeray replied with a smile, as if he read Kazami's mind. 

As if her captor had said something amusing, Ukiyo let out a light chuckle. She placed her hand on her face before laughing hysterically without care.

Esmeray raised an eyebrow, seemingly unusually concerned. "Uhm, did I say something you found amusing?" He questioned; however, Ukiyo ignored his remarks and continued to laugh wildly.

Esmeray gritted his teeth, somewhat offended by being ignored as he went completely red, as veins began popping on his head.

"Alright, that's enough... stop laughing…" His sweet tone now changed to a serious one. However, it would fall on deaf's ears as Ukiyo would continue on with her frantic laughs.

Ukiyo's laughter ceased as she began to speak. "You say I'm a maiden who shouldn't let pain and grudges weigh me down? To maintain my beauty? Why should I do that when everything in this world is drowned by the ugliness of people like you."

Esmeray clutched his chest mockingly, wounded.

"What do you know about pain? What do you know about true agony…" Ukiyo bit her lips hard—so hard that red particles began dripping down her chin.

"You're just an injured sheep following the shepherd's orders. Don't speak to me as if I'm an infant; you know nothing about me." She gave him a death glare.

"I don't care what happens to me; I won't let you kill these innocent people. Even if you bring me back to that place you call heaven disguised as hell, I will find a way to escape again." Ukiyo slammed her body against the sphere.

Esmeray stared at the girl, who had so fiercely shouted her dissatisfaction with him and clapped his hands. "Well done, young mistress. Well done, Mai-sama~" he congratulated.

"You truly are growing into a fine, strong woman... Anyway, I've got a job to do, so if you'd please remain quiet while I take you back to the Professor."

'At a distance as far as this, approximately 45 degrees, the distance travelled from the ground, not accounting for the uneven plain, should be around 20 metres.'

Using this moment to his advantage, Kazami had taken a fighting stance.

'Wind should be the perfect element for this; as for the blade, a katana should be most efficient.'

While Esmeray was distracted, Kazami had already strategically analysed the distance between him and his opponent. This was the unique skill that his Leere grants him—the ability to analyse not only his opponent's but also everything on the battle field. 

"Level 1 deployment, amplification technique: Matrix Shift." Kazami's blade began to alter, bending its shape like clay soaked in water.

The once long great sword curved its figure backwards, creating an arch in between the metal and the hilt. With the rectangular hand guard transforming into a circular one, his Leere now took the form of a jade-like katana.

"Level 6 deployment, rush technique: Vacuum Slash." 

An invisible current of wind shot out at high speed. He was sure that he had caught his opponent's off guard, however, what came after had him shook to the core. Esmeray stared down at the incoming attack and swatted it away, as if it were nothing more than a noisy fly. 

Kazami's eyes went wide. "No! Thats impossible!!!" 

"You call that a skill deployment?" Esmeray let out another cheerful giggle. "Your Leere is a mono offensive type that has the ability to change its shape depending on the user's imagination, correct?" 

Kazami's face went pale. 

"Such a straightforward Leere, much like its user, single minded incompetent who doesn't understand the situation he's in." Esmeray spoke with a low, mellifluous voice, admiring his fingernails.

"However, I do have to admit that it is a very effective weapon, having some weaknesses, including the long internal cooldown of each blade change and the limitation of only allowing the user to conjure blades' that they have seen multiple times." The man in grey looked back at Kazami, who was still reeling.

"I can sense your innate potential and, might I say, it's a pleasure to meet someone with such... delectable potential." 

"Bastard, how did you know?" Before Kazami could finish his sentence, he was taken back by the purple cursor hovering above Esmeray's health bar.

'An admin?!' 

'Usually, NPCs are adorned with a blue cursor above their heads, while mobs are distinguished by a red hue. Normal players, on the other hand, sport a green cursor, but the rare purple cursor signifies a high status— 'admin status.''

"Now then, onto the matter at hand." Esmeray continued, his voice smooth as honey.

"Since my only task is to bring Mai-sama back, which I've already done, I will now enjoy some free time here by indulging myself with you as my meal." 

"I haven't had dinner, you see, so I propose a challenge, if you will. A duel of flavours and finesse, with your friend's freedom hanging in the balance."

Ukiyo knew exactly what Esmeray was up to.

"No!" She yelled, her voice echoing in her floating prison.

"Run away, get yourself to the second Delve, I will find my way back to you."

Kazami's expression twisted into one of mild disgust at Esmeray's continued use of food analogies.

"Cut the sweet talk. You're proposing a duel, right? I see, so that's how it is." Kazami looked down, ignoring Ukiyo's warning as he let out a long sigh. 

"Let me get this straight, you want to duel with a mere mortal while you play god? How noble of you!" Kazami scoffed, his voice laced with disdain.

"What you're saying right now just shows me how much of a coward you are. If you really want a proper duel, why don't you turn off all your admin privileges and come down here to face me?"

He rolled his eyes at Esmeray's lofty proposal.

"Fight me using your own skills rather than hiding your disgusting self behind a digital wall of commands." 

"Hehe! Do you honestly think the professor would do such a thing to his own masterpiece?" Esmeray spoke, holding out his arms high above his head.

Kazami was confused, not expecting his reaction. 

"This world is the professor's life's work, a masterpiece that transcends all reason, revealing truths that stretch far beyond the confines of mere code. In this world, status means nothing; you can be a disabled person, a commoner, or a god like me.

"Under the sky of Yagami Kyuden, we are all bound by the one thing that no human can escape. The one and only thing that people tried desperately to escape from by entering this game, only to find themselves to be reminded again of their mortal body. Would you like to guess what that is?" 

Kazami stood still, with sweat dripping down his forehead, 'The one thing that no human can escape would be...' 

"Death." Kazami murmured. 

Esmeray gave a smirk, as if satisfied with Kazami's answer, before descending enough to still look down on Kazami from his levitated state.

The moonlight above poured through the crack above, casting a pale glow that reflected off the cavern lake below, flickering like a distant, fractured dream.

His voice dropped to a low, almost conspiratorial whisper. "You see, even a god like me can bleed. No one is immortal in this world." He let the silence hang in the air for a moment, savoring the tension.

"Special privileges? You must earn them with your own strength." His gaze shifted, and the air grew colder, the moonlight harsh against his figure.

"The Leere system is no ordinary combat system. Each person's Leere reflects their soul's colour... but," he paused, his eyes gleaming in the light, "if I were to describe it, it's more a curse than a blessing."

Kazami stood beneath Esmeray, eyes narrowed, frustration boiling beneath his calm exterior.

The cavern's oppressive silence was broken only by his words, sharp and accusing. The moonlight cast long shadows, making the atmosphere feel heavier with each passing moment.

"A curse?" he scoffed, his voice ringing through the cavern.

"What are you talking about? This system—it's just a way to access everyone's mind, isn't it? How else would you create weapons that cater to each of us so perfectly?"

He stepped forward, his stance firm, a challenge in his gaze.

"It's impossible to have millions of unique weapons without some deeper control. Your end goal... it's clear. You want to seize control of everyone's life, don't you?"

Esmeray remained silent, his smile unwavering as he hovered, the moonlight behind him giving him an almost ethereal quality. The stillness between them deepened.

Kazami grew more frustrated by the silence.

"Tell me, you bastard! You people are all sick fucks! You think it's alright to play with people's lives while you sit somewhere safe, watching people get massacred. And…" Kazami began to trail off, as he started to run out of breath.

Despite hearing it from Hoyeon herself, he refused to believe in what she said was true… If he really wanted to kill everyone, then he should have done it with a single command.

Why even give players the opportunity to fight back? He had a feeling that there was more to Kyushu's plan than just to save his daughter's life. 

Esmeray chuckled, ignoring the boy's demands, "Tell me, boy, do you know what it means to be hungry?" 

"Hungry? Like wanting food?" Kazami answered with a perplexed expression, not knowing what being hungry had to do with this conversation.

For a moment, Esmeray's cheery expression softened, almost as if in disappointment, before going back to his usual demeanour. 

"Hrm…" Esmeray clicked his fingers, and in an instant, a blue outline shimmered into being, writhing as though resisting form.

It twisted and coiled in the air like a serpent devouring its own tail before snapping into the solid shape of a fork—jagged, silver, and gleaming with unnatural sharpness.

Below him, the boy's figure stood motionless in the shadows, his face tilted upward, moonlight glinting across his eyes like wet glass.

His breath misted faintly in the cold, mingling with the silvery beams that poured down through the open cavern mouth above. Silent. Watching.

Esmeray hovered just above, his boots never touching the cragged stone nor the water.

The moon behind him was bloated and pale, like a fattened eye rolling in the sky—too full, too bright. His cloak hung in slow ripples, as if stirred by some unseen, sluggish current.

"Just as I thought," he said, voice smooth, almost indulgent. "There is no point in justifying my actions; a kid like you would never understand."

He twirled the translucent fork in his fingers—casual, like he was performing a magic show as it caught the moonlight with a flash like bone under skin.

Somewhere in the distance, water dripped steadily, a bloated rhythm echoing off the rock walls. Esmeray's grin curled with a satisfaction too deep, too sweet, like something fed on overripe fruit and fermented secrets.

"But let me tell you this—" he leaned forward, just enough for the light to carve hollows into his cheeks, "—you and many others probably think that Leere are nothing more than mere tools used to monitor and extract your private information."

His eyes—black-ringed, glistening—seemed to sink into his skull, as if the hunger behind them had begun to eat through from the inside out.

"To be honest, we couldn't care less about any of your worthless lives," he said, licking his lips as if the words themselves were a taste to savour. "If you think that is our true motive, then you are dumber than you look."

"You must have felt something odd about your Leere at some point. It reaches out to you in your dreams, deep within the depths of your heart."

Esmeray held up the glowing blue fork high, its eerie light casting ominous shadows across his face.

"The Leere is far more than your tiny brain can comprehend."

With a swift motion, he pointed the fork towards Kazami, its sharp prongs gleaming menacingly.

Kazami flinched, fully expecting an attack. 'What is he doing? Is that fork his Leere?' 

Esmeray closed his eyes.

"Right now, I can see it clearly—the colour of the void within your soul."

Esmeray flicked the fork back into his palm, revealing a strange black-and-white ball of energy pulsating in the air. Even at this distance, Kazami could see the faint glow. 

Esmeray pondered the orb, admiring its energy curiously.

Slowly, he brought the ball to his lip before consuming its energy.

"Mmm..." he sighed in satisfaction, licking his lips as if he were savouring its flavour.

"Wait! What did you just do? What did you do to me?" From below, Kazami's voice cracked, brittle.

Esmeray didn't look down. He let the question hang like steam from a boiling pot.

"It's my own unique ability, you see," he said, turning the empty air between his fingers as though swirling wine.

"I can fully analyse someone else's Leere by tasting it. Much like food, all humans have a distinct flavour—and as a connoisseur…" He grinned, teeth catching the moonlight. "…I must try all the delicious cuisine out there."

His chuckle dripped, light and velvet, like syrup over rotting fruit.

Kazami stood with a grim look in his eyes.

'Analysis? He's got similar powers to me then….' 

He looked past Esmeray to Ukiyo, catching the flicker of pain on her face. Despite everything he'd put her through, she was still here—still willing to trade her freedom for his, and everyone else's, lives.

Kazami looked back towards Esmeray and grit his teeth. "I accept the duel; if I win, you let Ukiyo go and…" Kazami paused, as if his words struggled to escape his lips.

"And?" Esmeray replied, raising an eyebrow. 

"And you will tell me how to get out of this game. Now tell me your conditions," he steeled his resolve.

"Sure, I'll gladly tell you how to escape this place. That is, of course, if you're able to make me kneel before you," he said sarcastically.

"As for a condition, my dear... How about this—a fight to death. We will feast on each other's corpses until there are nothing but bones and ashes left." Esmeray licked his lips in anticipation.