CHAPTER 1

"Stay away, you monster!" A middle age lady screamed as she pushed a kid away. Her expression was full of fear. She have nothing else inside her head at the time besides fear for the kid in front of her. And it was not just her. There were also some other children around them that were moving away from the kid that was pushed and slowly get behind the lady. They were terrified.

The kid was looking at them with blank expression and a little bit confused. He didn't seems to know the reason why they were terrified of him. "T-teach..."

"You- Don't you dare come closer...!" The lady threatened him with a broken wooden ruler. She was afraid- terribly afraid that she almost cry. But she had to protect the other children from the danger.

Fear and confusion began to consume his heart. He was totally didn't know anything about what just happened that made the others feared him. But suddenly, an eerie feeling came up behinds him. Breathing of something big could be felt on his nape. Growling of a beast could be heard from his back. He was petrified by the presence for a moment. Though terrified but curious, he slowly turned his head around to see what was behinds him. That was the moment that terror completely taken over him.

The beast behinds him took an appearance of shadow that crawls on four legs. Couple set of glowing red eyes were staring right at him- straight into his soul, instilled terror in him. Saliva was dripping of it's mouth as it was craving for flesh. Strange enough, even the saliva was shadow dripping like a liquid. "Pros..." Deep and hoarse voice was spoken. The monster opened his mouth wide and jerked it's head towards the kid.

Eyes were opened in surprise, heart beating fast. Alarm clock was ringing loud just besides him. Sunshine shone across the room through the windows. Mikoto was just staring at the ceiling for a moment before he reached out for the alarm clock to shut it off and rose up. A deep breath was taken and released slowly to calm his heart down. 'It was a dream...'

. . .

2102, seventy-two years had passed since the first calamity that started it all. Dungeons and awakeners have been very common throughout the world. And peace have returned to the land of humans. People could now have a normal daily life without needing to worry about monsters.

"Haah... It's so hard to find a job nowadays even if you have a degree..." A man was walking on the street while mumbling. Kageyama Mikoto, a twenty-six years old man who has been hunting for job applications for all week. But not a single one accept to employ him. Now, he is an official job hunter for life and currently heading home. "Living like this is sucks..."

While walking down the street in gloomy, an advertisement on the big screen made him looked up to it. A woman was interviewed on the screen. Honey blonde hair color, flawless skin, a set of bright green eyes, cheerful. Mikoto stares at her face through the screen for a while and released a sigh. 'She already became a successful hunter now eh...?' A faint smile shaped on his face. 'She might get the chance to become one of the top hero soon.' The smile gone as he continued his walk.

Not long after, he reached the front door of his apartment. "I'm home." The door was opened. 

"Nii-saaan~" A little girl ran towards him from inside and hugs him. 

"Hey there, Risa." Mikoto lifts the girl up. "How's your day in school? Anything unusual happened? Or is it you that made the unusual?" He asked in teasing tone.

"What are you talking about?! I'm a good girl!" She grunts.

"Yeah, right..." He mumbles. "Anyway, where's Shinji? He should've been home by now." Eyes wander around the apartment.

"I don't know. Shinji-nii hasn't returned yet." She jumps onto a couch.

"He might be working still. So, let me cook for you. Go do you homework or something."

The little girl went back to her bedroom and continue her works while the big brother went to the kitchen to cook them dinners. He only got a little ingredients to cook. Therefore he just made simple dishes for them to eat. 

Somewhere in a dungeon, a clash between an awakener and an orc was happening non-stop for almost half an hour. An epic clash of a young awakener against the boss of a dungeon. Both the orc and the awakener movements were little by little, getting slower and more sloppy as they were getting tired with how long the fight was prolonged. One time, the orc throw a slash at the awakener but he managed to evade and counter attacked. The other time, the awakener dealt a direct cut to the orc but it's skin was just too tough even for his sword to cut through. It has been going like that for almost an hour straight. The awakener dealt a little damage to the orc with his skill and accuracy while the orc has not dealt even a little scratch to the awakener due to his speed on evading it's attacks.

As they were fighting, the awakener saw a loophole towards the orc's neck. Because of it, he decided to take the chance and cut off the orc's throat. He leapt towards the loophole but it turned out to be a trick. The prolonged fight actually made the orc to finally adapt with his movements. At once, the orc's club appear right before his eyes. 'Shit...!' And hit.

"That was dangerous~" A man in black armor caught the club right before it hit the awakener's face. "I told you not to went and fight alone." He looks at the young one with sarcastic worried face.

"Benimaru-san..." He voiced.

"Listen here, Shin. When dealing with an ogre," The club in his hand was pulled off of the orc's grip and was thrown away, leaving the orc itself in surprise. "either you have insane amount of stamina like me, or..." He throw his hand onto the orc's chest and thrusted into it's heart. "You're strong enough to penetrate their skin." Crushed it's heart. As soon he pulled back his hand, the dead body dropped to the ground, lifeless.

Shin was looking at him with unfazed face.

"Why're you not giving any reaction? You're heartless." The man whines like a kid.

Shin lifts an eyebrow. "How do you even want me to react? Saying things like 'Oh, Benimaru-san. You killed the orc in one strike. You're really strong. Wow, so cool'. Things like that?" He spoke with sarcastic tone. "Wake up. You're not a kid, Benimaru-san."

"Geez. I just save your ass. And this is how you act towards your benefactor? You're cruel. Cruel Shin." He hissed.

Shin released a sigh of disappointment. "Whatever. I don't know what was in my head when I accepted your offer to join your guild." He intentionally spoke it out loud. "Now, I'm regretting it."

Those words struck Benimaru straight onto his heart like a lightning spear. 

"Stop acting so childish. Let's collect the mana stones before the dungeon closes. I have to return home soon before my family began to question my whereabout. Hurry up, Benimaru-san." The command was taken by him.

"I'm sorry. But I'm the captain here..." Benimaru could only mumbles in low tone.

They began their mana stones collecting activity with some other awakeners from the same guild as them that were under Benimaru for the dungeon raid. Not long after, they have collected most of the mana stones inside the dungeon. All their items have been packed and they were ready to exit the dungeon before it closed and trapped them inside.

Once outside, they went on separate ways. Benimaru and some of the lowest ranked members gone back to their guild to store the mana stones whilst some other members including Shinji went on their way to home. But before Shinji went straight to his home, he took a turn towards a restaurant that was closing.

"We're closed" An old lady said as she was sweeping the floor.

"Don't worry. I'm just here to change my clothes." Shin voice.

The old lady raised her face and saw Shinji. A smile shaped on her face "Oh, Shin-chan. Returning home already?"

"It's eight o' clock already. Of course I am. Don't want my brother to feel suspicious about my job." He heads towards the back of the restaurant and into the store room.

The old lady continue sweeping the floor. "You know that your brother isn't a stupid person. One day if not soon, he'll finds out about your work. It is better if you just be honest with him now."

"I can't do that. He'll be insanely mad and will not letting me work as an active awakener anymore." He came out of the store with another shirt and no weapons. "Can you please wash my clothes like usual? I'll pay next week."

She just nods to his request. Slowly, she heads towards the kitchen with her broom. And without looking at him she continue talking "Like I said. It's better if you just being honest about it. He's your brother after all. He must be worrying about you a lot." Her words left Shinji in thought for a while.

. . .

It was dark... Everything was dark. Darkness is everywhere. The surrounding can't be seen. Nothing is everywhere arounds him. No light, no smell, no sound. It was juts that at the moment. But right after, a loud growl of a hungry beast could be heard echoing throughout the space. Shivers ran down his spines. Mikoto was terrified of what was happening and what was there with him. Suddenly, the same red eyes that appeared in his previous dream appeared before him. But the eyes seems to be bigger than what it supposed to be and was staring straight into him.

Another growl was sounded. "Prost..." The deep and hoarse voice could be heard once again but this time, it was more like ringing in his head. 

His reaction towards the beast was the same as before. Couldn't think of anything and almost couldn't breath. The terror that the beast was emitting was making him petrified on his own two feet without moving. Freezing up by the cold.

Soon after, Mikoto woke up by the sound of alarm clock besides him yet again. Staring at the empty ceiling yet again like there was nothing else to do. He got no job after all.

A heavy sigh was released. 'That dream again... Two nights in a row...' He got up and went to the bathroom to take a bath and prepare himself for another day of job hunting. 

After a while, he finished taking a shower. Long sleeve shirt was put on, tucked into his pants. Neck tie was tied neatly. And finally, grabs his blazer and went out of the room. A nice smell of food cooking hit his nose. Eyes looks at the kitchen, seeing Shinji was cooking their breakfast. The first thing he asked as soon he approached Shinji was about his job. "What did you do last night? You returned late."

Shinji was taken aback by the question as he didn't expect for Mikoto to ask that first thing in the morning. But he tried to keep his calm. "I... Was working." He simply answered without looking back at Mikoto.

"Pretty sure Kaoru obaa-chan's restaurant closed at seven p.m. So, what you've been doing?" 

"Doing... Nothing. I'm just doing extra chores like cleaning the kitchen and... The whole restaurant." He still trying to keep his calm. "That's why I'm a little late." An assured smile shaped on his face.

Mikoto stare at his brother while frowning and squinting his eyes. "Fine... I believe you." He sat by the dining table. "Hurry up. I have to go job hunting."

Sweat coming down his face. A sigh of relief was released. 'Thank god...'