Chapter 10:

In a dimly lit room, Kenny sat on his chair, leaning back with boredom as he muttered:

"The Night Hunters, huh?"

There was no enthusiasm in his voice, just a passing curiosity, as if he still hadn't fully grasped what they were about to face.

Takeo, who was lying on the couch, raised an eyebrow and said sarcastically, "Alright, my friends, but before anything else, what exactly made our leader give us this mission?"

Kenny lifted his head and looked at him as if he were an absolute idiot before replying, "Are you stupid? Can't you see that we're just rookies who need to be tested? He wants to know if we have any value or if we're just dead weight."

Rin, who was sitting at the table reading the file, lifted her head and glanced at them with a cold expression before sighing and saying, "Stop being idiots. Mr. Kagiura gave us a file containing all the evidence that the investigation room has already gathered. All we need to do is read it."

Kenny chuckled lightly as he pointed at Takeo. "Alright, you idiot, bring the table so we can lay out the file."

Then he turned to Miko and said, "And you, go to the kitchen and make something for us to eat while we go through this."

Miko glared at him with pure annoyance.

Kenny: "Ahem... My bad."

Rin looked at him with a blank expression, but inside, she thought, "He talks as if he's known her for years... What kind of person is this?"

Takeo lazily got up and started dragging the table to the center, while Miko stared at Kenny for a moment before muttering to herself, "Ordering me around like I'm his servant... Damn him."

Takeo slowly opened the file, scanning through the pictures before saying, "Well, all we have here are some photos of transparent creatures wearing black hats... they look like mafia hats."

Kenny, who was chewing on a piece of bread he had sneakily taken from Rin, froze for a moment before shouting, "Whaaaaaat? Italian monsters?!"

Before he could finish his sentence, a swift fist from Miko landed directly on his face, making him stagger backward while holding his nose, yelling, "Damn it, why is it always violence with you?!"

Miko stared at him coldly and said, "Stop joking around."

Kenny raised his hands in surrender. "Alright, alright, I'm sorry. Last time."

Rin, rubbing her temples in exhaustion, decided to refocus everyone on something important: "Alright, if we want a logical answer, these creatures seem to have leaked from a gate... But what did Mr. Kagiura mean when he said: 'Maybe they're humans like us'?"

Silence filled the room.

Kenny studied the papers closely before mumbling, "Yeah, that caught my attention too... But how could humans harness their power into something like this against other humans?"

Takeo, now looking more serious, leaned back and said, "We have no choice but to go to those areas ourselves and gather new evidence."

Kenny jumped from his seat, shouting, "Damn Kagiura! We're Balancers, not detectives!"

Takeo smirked and said, "A Balancer's job isn't just about fighting. We need to go and start solving this case. It's part of our mission."

Before Kenny could respond, they heard knocks on the door.

Rin quickly got up and opened it, revealing Akito standing there, holding a set of clothes in his hands.

With an expressionless face, he walked into the room and placed the clothes on the table before saying in a dry tone, "These are the official uniforms of the Balancer Organization. Keeping them intact is the same as keeping your honor."

Kenny, who had been sulking the entire time, looked at the clothes with sparkling eyes, thinking, "New clothes! Finally! The last set I got was years ago..."

The uniforms consisted of a gray t-shirt, black pants, and a black formal jacket with the Balancer Organization's emblem printed on the left side.

Akito looked at all of them seriously and said, "Alright, everyone, go to your rooms and get changed. I'll be waiting outside. I'll be supervising your first mission."

(Kenny's Room)

Kenny looked at himself in the mirror as he put on his uniform, reflecting on everything that had happened and what was yet to come.

"I'm breaking the limits of power..." he murmured to himself, furrowing his brows.

Most likely, I'm the only phenomenon in this generation capable of doing something like this. I've been given a new chance to change the course of my life.

He ran his hand over his body, feeling his hardened muscles. He smirked, and his smirk deepened when he sensed a new power flowing through him.

Suddenly, a light burst from his left eye, signaling the system's activation.

(Ding)

New features appeared in the system: Skill Development Network, Market, Techniques, and Traits. But he didn't immediately understand any of them.

He saw a yellow coin icon.

"I guess this will be useful for buying things from the market," Kenny thought as he tapped it.

Entering the market, a screen full of combat equipment appeared:

Swords categorized by ranks.

Various armors.

Elixirs for enhancing strength, speed, and regeneration.

Kenny checked his balance, finding that he had 56 coins.

"Not bad."

He selected a white cloak called "Air Master," which granted him an additional 5 speed points.

Options appeared: Either take only the benefits of the cloak or wear it and take its advantages.

"It'll get in my way, so I'll just take the benefits," Kenny decided firmly.

He checked his stats and found that he had 13 points available for distribution, and his current level was 20.

"This is because I killed that B-rank boss," Kenny recalled as he reassessed his situation.

He had four options for distributing the points:

Attack.

Defense.

Speed.

Intelligence.

Then he looked at his weapon: "Morgula Sword," a B-rank weapon, but upgradeable.

"The strange thing is that this evolution doesn't just apply to me, but also to every weapon I hold... This defies logic. Weapons aren't supposed to evolve like humans."

He decided to distribute 7 points equally among all attributes while dedicating the remaining points to upgrading his sword.

A system message appeared:

Remaining points needed to upgrade the sword to High B-rank: 40.

For A-rank: 100.

For Mid A-rank: 150.

For S-rank: 300.

For High S-rank: 500.

"Damn, this is tough... I barely defeated a B-rank monster just to get 13 points."

Thinking for a moment, he said, "Getting an S-rank sword would make things way easier, but that's not the priority right now."

He closed the system, and the glow from his eye faded, returning to normal.

After taking a shower and putting on his new uniform, he left his hotel room, numbered 653.

He found Takeo waiting in the right hallway.

"Why did you take so long? We need to catch the morning."

Kenny, furrowing his brows: "What kind of logic is that? All the information in the file confirms that these creatures come out at night, so why are we going in the morning?"

Takeo: "Go ask Akito. I'm not in charge of that. All I was told is to drag your ass to the carriage waiting outside the hotel."

Kenny: "So far, I don't even know your ranks."

Takeo: "I'm a healing Balancer, A-rank."

Kenny: "And...?"

Takeo: "Rin is a summoner, D-rank. Miko is a supporter, C-rank."

Kenny (thinking): "So this is what Kagiura meant by rank balance."

Kenny: "So, logically, I'm the team's fighter."

Takeo: "Yeah."

Kenny shouted, "Then why do you call yourself the leader, you idiot?!"

Takeo, surprised, replied, "And do you think leadership is granted based on ranking, you fool?!"

As they argued, they noticed Miko buying a cup of coffee from the hotel cafeteria before heading toward the exit, where the carriage awaited them.

Inside the carriage, Rin sat alone while Miko, Kenny, and Takeo made their way to join her.

Upon their arrival, Akito smiled and said, "Alright, alright, everyone's here."

Then he asked, "Are you ready for your first mission?"

They looked at him for a moment before replying in unison, "No."