“Here’s your discharge paperwork, Hunter Stone.”

  The nurse slid a thick stack of stapled documents across the counter.

  “Oh, thank you,” Henry said, as he took the papers from the nurse.

  “Thanks for stepping up during the breach,” she added, softly. “I saw the news. Not a lot of hunters would stay behind to fight like that.”

  Henry froze, caught off guard by the sudden praise.

  He opened his mouth to say something. But by the time he thought of a proper reply, the nurse had already walked off.

  He stood there for a moment, holding the paperwork, then let out a sigh.

  He walked slowly toward the changing rooms, his hand drifting unconsciously to his left side.

  In his own way, he had plenty on his mind. The praise felt unearned, since it was Shane that had saved them, but that wasn’t his major concern.

  He paused, lifting the hem of his gown when he arrived in the room, and stared at the bandage on his ribs.

  As a tank, where his entire job was about getting hit, he knew the difference between a blunt impact, a slash, and a puncture.

  And he was absolutely sure that during the fight, he’d been hit squarely by a fragment from the exploding tombstone.

  He had felt the stone pierce his body like a bullet. The hot gush of blood and the strength leaving his legs.

  But when he was being treated, the doctors said he just had a burn. No hole, no internal bleeding, maybe some nasty bruises.

  Henry’s brow furrowed in deep confusion.

  After finishing changing, he looked in his inventory holding his personal effects.

  He’d even dug his ruined undershirt out of the inventory earlier, checking it for holes on both sides, but it was so shredded from the fight that it was impossible to tell.

  Did I just panic?

  Henry wondered, rubbing the back of his neck. Or did the fear curse make him imagine the puncture?

  It seemed like the only logical explanation.

  Well, if it had been a real penetrating wound, he wouldn’t have been able to run like that. It had to be his imagination.

  For some reason, Shane’s bloody face crossed his mind.

  Henry frowned, his step faltering, but soon shook his head and brushed it off.

  Shane had looked like he was at death’s door, and then he’d vanished without a trace. It was natural to be concerned.

  Pushing the confusing thoughts aside, Henry walked toward the exit. The sliding glass doors parted, and as he stepped out onto the sidewalk, squinting against the afternoon sun was when his system screen dinged.

  [Luke Hinton: I got Hunter Ashwell’s contact info.]

  Henry stopped dead on the sidewalk, nearly causing a businessman to bump into him.

  “His number?”

  Henry’s eyes went wide. Luke had posted a full phone number right there in the group chat.

  A huge grin spread across Henry’s face, a weight he didn’t even know he was carrying lifting off his shoulders.

  Because if Shane had died from his injuries, he wouldn’t exactly have an active phone number. Of course, it had only been a day. The number would be working no matter what condition Shane was in.

  But Henry was grasping at anything as proof that the man was still alive.

  [Luke Hinton: From what I hear... he’s not fully recovered.]

  [Luke Hinton: Maybe… we should each send a quick “get well soon” message…? :-)]

  Luke’s messages looked like they belonged to someone twice his age.

  Henry stared at the digits floating in the group chat. His thumb hovered over his phone screen.

  Was it weird to text someone when they hadn’t given him their number themselves?

  But his fingers were already typing out a long, rambling message before he could second-guess himself.

  He stopped typing when a nagging feeling crept in.

  Shane had left without a word as soon as the battle was over. So how did Luke get his number?

  He remembered that Luke was the son of the Hunter’s Association Director.

  Hmm…

  Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  It was a weird reminder that any personal info you gave the government wasn’t really all that personal.

  [Josh Miller: Not recovered yet… that’s troubling.]

  [Henry Stone: Yeah I’m worried too]

  Henry closed the System group chat.

  And pocketed his phone before heading for the bus stop.

  It was the first text he would send to his Captain. He couldn’t just type something out on a sidewalk.

  Deciding to write it all out on his computer first when he got home, he waited for the crosstown bus.

  ***

  Meanwhile, a surprising number of people had witnessed the battle from inside their apartment buildings.

  For their own reasons, a lot of them either hadn’t evacuated… or, to be precise, couldn’t.

  They had watched the apocalypse unfold from their living room windows.

  And thanks to them, the internet was on fire.

  [General Discussion > Northeast]

  Posted by: BK_Resident

  Next rookie rankings are gonna be wild. I know everyone is talking about the police arresting Whitley, but can we talk about the party that held the line before the cops even showed up?

  -Oh god not the Luke Hinton Party propaganda again

  ? Don’t take the bait

  ? The hinton family is working overtime today

  ? Ngl it was cinematic af

  ? Dude never even hit rookie top 100 and now people’re saying his crew stopped a celestial breach? Lmao what

  Josh Miller, the HR manager of the Wynn Guild, sat in his sterile office, scrolling the hunter forums on his tablet, a frown creasing his brow.

  The rumors were unavoidable.

  After an event like that, even outside a dungeon where the System wasn’t automatically recording footage, word was bound to get out.

  Half the people posting were probably just trolls hating on the S-rank hunters who arrived late, not actual witnesses.

  But it seemed the people who had actually seen the fight were starting to get fed up being called liars.

  [General Discussion > Incident Reports]

  Posted by: TowerClimber_88 (Verified Hunter)

  Hey all, I was there in person, fought during the breach.

  …

  Endgame squad was LH’s party. Crazy synergy for a team that new. Their A-rank was sloppy in spots, but his raw stats probs carried him through.

  Still not sure who was actually calling the shots. Didn’t look like LH.

  And no, the kill wasn’t stolen by the S-ranks who showed up late. It went to one of LH’s members, the one paired with HS.

  Attached: [Image_003.jpg]

  -OP’s pic looks like they were taken with a potato

  -Try to get less of the interesting stuff in frame OP I can almost see something

  -So who actually killed the boss? Contribution logs literally show names, how can you not know who it was?

  ? Privacy matters. I think the pic is enough proof

  - Funny how OP skipped over the Wynn Party. They lasted to the end too. Josh Miller’s analyst class, but the dude’s got leadership. Wynn picked him up for a reason.

  - Still don’t buy the “one guy soloed the boss” story. Even S-ranks struggle against celestials.

  ? he was an s-rank fire caster

  ? what

  ? Nah, I saw him blink short distances. That’s a spatial class skill.

  ? Bro he just sprinted fast he’s a fire caster

  ? it was explosions not fire. that’s transmutation

  ? Explosions were just a sword enchant. Definitely a swordsman class.

  ? No he used tentacles, definitely cthulhu

  ? If you’re gonna claim a new s-rank rookie exists at least get your stories straight you bastards lmao

  ? He had wings on his back. Definitely a celestial.

  “Another thread killed by trolls.”

  Josh Miller sighed and tossed the tablet onto his desk.

  The screen went dark, cutting off the heated argument about whether the mystery hero was a swordsman, a mage, or an eldritch horror.

  The other posts Josh had checked had all been derailed by the same kind of nonsense.

  Josh rubbed his eyes and leaned back in his chair.

  These rumors would probably keep spreading until an official press conference was held, which was actually good news.

  It meant Shane’s identity was safe, for now. He clearly didn’t want the attention.

  Of course, the Hunter’s Association and the government in general weren’t stupid. They knew what the public was clamoring for.

  They’d want to parade their new hero around.

  Shane’s plan to stay anonymous was probably going to fall apart, and soon.

  In that case, I should get ready to send the guild contract to the number I got from Hunter Hinton…

  ***

  Meanwhile, oblivious to the internet fame, the manhunt, and the conspiracy theories spinning out of control, Shane Ashwell groaned as he peeled his face off the floor.

  He sat up slowly. That forced shutdown had actually let him get a solid night’s sleep for the first time in forever, his [Insomnia] quirk be damned.

  The moment his consciousness returned, so did the withdrawal.

  Fighting off the headache from his [Chain Smoker] quirk—he’d smoke when he’s outside—and checked his rewards first.

  He had one last achievement to check.

  [Achievement Unlocked – Save 500 People]

  You can’t make a legend without breaking a sweat.

  Reward: Rare Upgrade Roulette x1 spin

  Rare Upgrade Roulette?

  The System operated on a meritocracy. The higher the rank of the dungeon and the higher his contribution, the better the reward. The upgrade rewards he’d gotten last time from standard roulettes were already pretty sweet.

  Well, he thought, stretching his stiff neck, I do have a Cataclysm to stop. This much is the least the system could give me.

  But the satisfaction evaporated almost instantly.

  He had just crawled out of fire, barely surviving an A-rank breach, and now he was being handed a better bucket for the inferno waiting ahead.

  Shane sighed, letting his head hang back against his bed mattress.

  It was a familiar feeling. He was getting burned out.

  Why the hell am I in this mess?

  He didn’t ask to be ripped from his life and tossed into a game.

  ...He’d have a few choice words for his friend if they ever met again.

  The three skill points he’d gotten from the other achievements would be saved for later. It was safer to see which skill would be most useful in the next major dungeon rather than spending it blindly, because currently, he had multiple paths to choose from.

  Alright, let’s see what this Rare Upgrade Roulette gives me.

  He used the reward, and a gaudy wheel appeared in the center of his studio apartment.

  Trumpets blared from nowhere and holographic confetti exploded into the air. Shane didn’t even flinch. He was used to the tacky casino aesthetic by now and was grateful he wouldn’t have to clean his room up when this was all over.

  The wheel spun rapidly, then stopped on a green slot.

  There were a few blue slots, but of course it had to land there. Considering his luck, this was about right.

  Still, he wasn’t too disappointed. Even low-rank upgrades could be useful depending on their attribute.

  He checked the description of the upgrade.

  [Passive Skill: Hit Me Harder! (D-rank)]

  Increases recovery rate by 30%.