Fusing
After an exhausting day with the three idiots.
Lanz was glued to the couch like melted cheese, wrapped in a blanket and curled in just the right position that made standing up physically impossible.
His legs still hated him from yesterday's chaos, his back complained with every shift, and there was a laptop on his chest like a lazy cat. A bag of unopened snacks balanced dangerously on his stomach, as if daring gravity to ruin his night.
Somewhere nearby, Miko was snorting at her tablet. Hunter prank videos were on full blast — one particularly dumb clip showed a guy trying to show off an explosive skill inside a laundry room. He succeeded, then immediately set off a sprinkler system and broke a table.
"That's what you get for naming your combo 'Blazing Justice,' idiot," Miko laughed, her voice just as annoying as the auto-tuned voiceover reacting to the footage.
In the kitchen, their mom hummed quietly while grinding beans into the coffee machine, already halfway through her evening ritual.
The rich smell of brewing caffeine slowly filled the apartment, blending with the faint scent of rice from earlier and whatever oil their dad had used as cologne this earlier in the morning.
The door creaked open a few seconds later, and Kaz stepped in like he lived there, which, to be fair, he technically still did. Hair damp from a rinse, one glove already on, courier jacket halfway zipped. "Yo," he muttered in that too-cool-to-be-loud tone of his.
Lanz raised a hand in greeting without looking up. Kaz plopped down beside him, reached for the snack bag on Lanz's chest like it was public property, and grabbed one without asking.
"You ever think about how insane Century Tuna is?" Kaz asked while chewing, expression weirdly thoughtful.
Lanz blinked. "Like... the canned kind?"
Kaz nodded. "It's shelf-stable for years. Years, man. You pop the lid, and it's still perfectly moist, salty, and delicious. That's not food. That's preserved alchemy."
Lanz gave a slow nod. "It's like, wet... but not gross wet. And the oil? Elite tier."
"I would trade both kidneys for the spicy variant," Kaz declared solemnly.
"You're insane. You know flakes and oil is clearly the superior version."
"Insanely correct," he said, already standing back up and zipping his jacket the rest of the way. "Alright, late shift tonight. Don't wait up."
"I never do."
They bumped fists before Kaz stepped out. A moment later, their dad appeared behind him, lacing his boots and muttering something about a busted drone sensor.
He kissed their mom twice — once on the cheek, once on the lips — then smacked her ass like he was sealing in flavor. Miko gagged dramatically.
"Get a dungeon," she said, waving her hand in the air like the sight had physically burned her eyes.
"Romance is a young man's stat," their dad replied with pride, adjusting his collar and grinning at Lanz. "Which, judging by your love life, you still haven't unlocked."
Lanz stared at him. "Goodnight, father."
"You'll understand when you stop scaring women with that FFF-rank aura," he called, stepping out behind Kaz.
Miko burst into another fit of laughter. "No way bro just got roasted by his own DNA."
"I'm going to my room," Lanz muttered, standing with the grace of a very old man and shuffling toward the hallway like the moment physically pained him.
Once inside his room, he shut the door, let the noise fade, and dropped into his chair. The glow of his laptop screen lit the room in soft blue. He had a dozen hunter forums open in different tabs, all of them bleeding the same tired complaints.
One thread asked why progression slowed down so hard after Level 5. Another was filled with screenshots of denied gate requests. A third was just someone ranting about sync rates.
Random dude No. 1: "still stuck at Level 5. Two months in."
Random dude No. 2: "guilds don't take anyone under 60% sync. I'm 41% ggs🥀"
Random dude No. 3: "spent 5 hours in the sim and got 2 EXP. I'm gonna f*cking cry."
Lanz scrolled silently, eyes flicking over the same complaints his friends had voiced earlier. Hiro was stuck, Leo too. Even Kenji didn't bring up his level because he probably already knew it wasn't worth saying.
The system had wrapped them all up in red tape, delay loops, and endless simulation grinds.
And then there was him.
He was Level 10.
Ten!! Like, the f*ck?
He'd killed goblins, wolves, vultures, and f*cking boars. He then lured boars into traps, proceeds to pull off an aura-farm kill combo in a real dungeon, nearly died to a hobgoblin, and survived with only a scar and some nasty foot bruises. With no bullsh*ts like permits, SIM credits, handler, safety warnings or confirmation prompts.
He had reached Level 10 in under a short time span, all alone.
The weird part was, he didn't feel all that special.
Just... ahead. Uncomfortably ahead. Like the system had dropped a ladder under his feet while everyone else was stuck building stairs out of spare parts.
He hadn't even used the skill slot from Level 7. Still hadn't touched the "Skill Fusion" menu either, which, to be fair, sounded like something out of a broken mod.
Even his EXP gains felt suspiciously high. The whole thing felt less like the standard hunter UI and more like a dev kit someone forgot to lock.
And for the first time, the thought that had been dancing at the edge of his awareness finally took form.
"Where the hell did my System even come from?"
Lanz sat up straighter, rolled his shoulders, and pulled the Alt System into view with a thought. It slid into place like second skin — smoother than anything his friends had described, and darker too, but not sinister, just... clean.
The Skill Fusion menu unfolded with an almost eerie smoothness, like it had just been waiting behind the curtain this whole time.
Faint lines connected his active skills, each thread pulsing lightly with compatibility, and the interface itself had this strange, quiet patience to it.
There were no dramatic effects, no glitchy visuals or loading screens — just clean, deliberate movement, as if the system already knew what he'd pick before he did. Lanz stared at the glowing pairings.
[Feint Step + Basic Footwork] → Fusion Available
[Parry Timing + Combat Awareness] → Fusion Available
He leaned back in his chair, resting his elbows on his thighs, eyes narrowed in thought. The second one was tempting, but the first one caught his attention harder. It felt more physical.
Feint Step had already saved his ass a few times, and Basic Footwork had been the quiet backbone of every dodge he pulled off. Putting the two together felt less like theorycraft and more like common sense.
"Maybe I can fake someone out," he muttered, a small smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth, "and actually be fast enough to land it this time."
He tapped on the pairing without second-guessing, and the moment he did, the system pulsed a soft, efficient glow that spread through the skill tree like a ripple moving across still water.
A new window appeared, edges faintly illuminated, and a fresh skill slid into existence like it had been hiding there all along.
[Fusion Confirmed]
Feint Step + Basic Footwork → Phantom Stride Lv.1 Unlocked
(Active Skill – Short-range dash. Leaves behind a fading afterimage. Slight stamina cost. Inherits momentum and dodge pattern.)
Lanz raised both eyebrows. "So… it's an anime blur trail? That's hype."
He stood, feeling the low pull of curiosity start to win out. It wasn't enough just to read the skill description, he needed to try it, needed to see what it felt like in real motion.
With a thought, he opened the simulation portal, and in one blink and he was in. Same empty stone floor, white walls, and that damn eerie silence that reminded him he was probably the only person in the world with access to this place.
He stretched his legs briefly, shook out the stiffness from the long day, then positioned himself near the center of the room.
The activation was instinctive now — a simple thought, paired with movement. He imagined lunging to the right, a quick sidestep packed with intent.
He then triggered it.
The world tilted, his body shot forward in a short, blinding burst in just pure acceleration. For a split second, it felt like his spine detached from the rest of him. The stone floor blurred underfoot, and he landed five meters away in a staggered skid, legs struggling to keep up with the rest of him.
He stumbled, arms flailing for balance, and barely avoided slamming into the nearby wall.
"Okay—" he wheezed, half laughing, "—definitely not something to bust out in tight hallways."
His heart was racing a little, more from the rush than the stumble. The afterimage hadn't been just for show, it actually distorted the light behind him for a second.
Lanz took a breath, wiped his palms on his jeans, and was about to reset for another test run when something else caught his eye.
In the top-right corner of his interface, almost like it was trying not to be seen, a tiny symbol flickered once, then again. This time, it stayed on.
[DEV TREE]
End of Chapter 16.
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ALT SYSTEM — USER PROFILE: ZERO
Level: 10
EXP: 2 / 100
Next Unlock: Skill — Crimson Slash
Global System Tracking: DISABLED
World Rank Association: UNLINKED
Stats:
STR: 8 | AGI: 8 (Affinity) | VIT: 3 | DEX: 1 | INT: 7 | WIS: 0
[Available Stat Points: 0]
[Derived Stat — MANA: 35 / 35]
Skills:
[Phantom Stride Lv.1] (Active Skill – Short-range dash with blur trail. Slight stamina cost.) — (NEW)
[Blade Control Lv.1]
[Parry Timing Lv.1]
[Reflex Sync Lv.1] (Passive Skill)
[Combat Awareness Lv.2] (Passive Skill)
[Skill Fusion Menu: Active]
[Dev Tree: Tier 0 Access Granted]
[Developer Node – Fusion Core Anchor: Active]
[Skill Slot Available — Unassigned]
[Dev Tree: Tier 0 Access Granted]
Equipment:
Aged Blade Fragment (??? Rarity) (Bound)
Goblin Dagger (Looted – Rusted, Jagged, Minor Bonus to DEX when equipped)
Spiked Boar Tusk Shard (Trophy Item – No bonus, kept as memento)
Lightweight Chest Padding
Boots of Basic Mobility
Fingerless Gloves (Basic)
Starter Cloak: Faded Black
Training Ring (+1 VIT)