The next morning, after some surprise bonding time making and eating breakfast together with the inn lady, the group set off to find the rift manager. Thankfully, just as the inn lady had told them, his house lay pretty much next door.

  Dusk raised his hand, hesitated for a moment, then knocked three times on the stone door.

  Nothing. Not even an indication that anyone was home.

  “Maybe he’s in the rift?” Linza suggested.

  “What kind of rift manager wanders into his own rift…?” Dawn mumbled.

  “One that doesn’t have enough hunters on hand because they all left town?” Layna challenged.

  “…Okay, fair. Let’s try the big building then.”

  The Rift Gate building looked pretty imposing, though the twins couldn’t say whether that was because of what it housed—they still remembered the Saltglass Fortress’s Gate—or due to its size compared to everything else around it. Probably the former.

  Once again, Dusk lifted his hand—

  And before he could knock, the door swung open, revealing a blond catkin with slick hair dressed in a suit of all things. With how spotless he looked, the twins wouldn’t have believed he’d just come out of a rift, if not for the looming Gate right behind him.

  His eyes instantly narrowed and his posture went tense, as if getting ready to pounce.

  “Hello? Can I help you?”

  “Hi! Are you the rift’s manager?”

  “That’s me.” His calculating gaze flicked between the four. “Do you have business with me? I don’t recall seeing you around.”

  “Well, we heard you don’t have enough manpower to cull the rift. Are you looking for hired help?”

  “From you kids? Pwhe! I’m better off culling it myself.” The man scoffed, raising Dusk’s hackles.

  “Hey! We’re competent!”

  “Yeah, yeah. Sure. You can skedaddle before you get hurt, children.”

  The damn cat had the nerve to shoo them with a wave of a hand, already turning to leave as he closed the door behind him.

  “We’re no children!” Dawn growled. “We survived Anxia’s collapse!”

  The man paused and turned to her.

  “Really now? You somehow ran all the way here from there? Just to help with a managed rift?”

  “We–”

  “Well, I don’t care for the reason why you’re here. Even if you escaped Anxia, that doesn’t make you qualified.”

  “Then what does?”

  “Hunter badges?” He raised an eyebrow.

  The twins winced.

  “Well… we do have these.” They showed him their ‘E-rank’ badges.

  “...I don’t have one,” Layna admitted.

  “Me neither,” Linza finished.

  The manager’s eyebrow stayed raised as his unimpressed stare bored into them.

  “Look, we registered the day before everything went to shit! But we beat several Epic-tier monsters!”

  “Reaaally now? What about you two then?”

  “We’re not really hunters, but we can help too. I have a relic, and she has a high-tier skill,” Layna insisted, gesturing to Linza.

  The man hummed as he crossed his arms.

  “Show me the essences you got from the Elites, then.”

  Without hesitation, the twins pulled out ◆Core◆ and ◆Bastion◆, proudly showing him the purple lattice rims and pointedly not mentioning these used to be messed up—irrational, the sentry had said? – Legendaries.

  “Oh, ho? Epics, huh? Alright, fine. I’ll give you lot a chance.” He turned around and beckoned to them. “Follow me. Let’s do a few quick tests.”

  The party complied and let the man lead them away from the Gate building and further into the city. It was still as empty and eerie as ever, but the twins didn’t let it unnerve them.

  After following the man in silence for a couple of minutes, he led them to a wide building at the edge of this small town. He grabbed some keys from his pocket, unlocked the door, and walked in. The group followed.

  They expected to walk into some kind of battle arena, intending to test their combat skills. Instead, a theatre greeted them as they entered.

  “Umm… "A theater?" Dawn murmured.

  The manager shot them a condescending glance.

  “What? Do you not even know what the Crying Curtain rift is?”

  “Not exactly. We were told it was a monster rift, though?”

  “It’s technically a monster rift, but it plays a lot like a Challenge rift. Yes, there are monsters that need culling, but in general? You’re going to do a whole lot of acting to get around the rift.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “It means—" He hopped onto the stage. “—that the rift will require you to perform a skit to open its pathways.”

  The twins blinked, then exchanged a bewildered gaze with the others.

  A skit?

  “Come now, I don’t have all day!”

  The party complied and climbed onto the stage—Linza needed a helping hand—spread out and faced the manager.

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  He nodded to himself.

  “Alright. Don’t bother with the costumes. For now, give me a ‘farewell’ scene!”

  “W-What?”

  “You heard me!”

  The party froze, unsure of what the heck was even going on.

  Then the twins acted.

  They turned to each other, spread out their arms, and hugged each other as passionately as they could muster.

  “...Will we see each other again?” Dawn murmured, trying to feign sorrow.

  “I…” Dusk ‘hesitated’. “Yes, we will.”

  “Really?”

  “Don’t worry, Petra—" Both twins twitched at hearing the first name that came to their minds. “I will definitely return. It will be a treacherous journey, but one day, I’ll come back. You have my word.”

  Dawn swallowed, feigning trepidation.

  “Okay.”

  Dusk nodded, turned around, threw his invisible shawl around his shoulders, and marched away.

  “Please come back safely…” Dawn murmured.

  A moment of silence passed as Dusk walked away.

  Then the manager broke it.

  “Hmm, not bad. You two are theater kids?”

  The twins snapped out of their fake moment and turned back to the manager as Dusk walked back.

  “Kind of?”

  “We used to be part of a troupe.”

  “Ah, I see. Good, I like that.” He turned to the girls. “Now what about you two? Can you do that?”

  “I think so?”

  “Sure.”

  “Then give me a ‘betrayal’ scene!”

  The girls gave each other a glance that said, "Are you kidding me?"

  Then Linza relaxed with a sigh, letting her expression morph into a frown.

  “...It was you, wasn’t it?” she murmured, her tone low.

  Layna froze.

  “W-what are you talking about?”

  “Don’t play innocent!” the human shouted, in contrast to her usual behavior. “I did the calculations! I found the red hairs on the floor! You’re the only one who could have swapped out the relic for a fake!”

  This time, Layna seemed to stop breathing for a moment, as if that sentence hit her in her core.

  Seeing this, Linza’s serious expression faltered for a moment.

  Before she could apologize, though, the catkin recovered, and she let out an annoyed scoff.

  “So you figured it out, huh? Sure took you a while, dumb human.”

  “Wha–?!”

  “That’s right! It was me! I was the one who snuck in at night and took your precious Infinity diary!”

  “You…! Why?!”

  Layna laughed like a villain—a chill went down the twins' spines—and gave the other girl a condescending grin.

  “Why? So naive! Do you know how much I got paid for that thing?”

  “That’s it?” Linza ground her teeth. “You betrayed us for money?! Do you have no shame at all!”

  Layna scoffed again.

  “Money makes the world go around, little girl. But I guess that’s too complicated for you to understand…”

  Linza growled and pulled out her Mythical skill. In response, Layna clutched her [Icicle Bow].

  They stared each other down, and the twins found themselves surprisingly convinced that their teammates were going to start tearing each other apart at any second.

  The tense atmosphere shattered as the manager clapped his hands.

  “Alright! That’s enough. That was… acceptable.” The man nodded, subtly eyeing Linza’s card. “But remember that in the rift, you’ll have to actually finish the scene, including the fight. So I don’t recommend playing the scenes like that.”

  “Ah, yeah. Makes sense…”

  “What happens if you don’t finish a scene?”

  The man’s eyes narrowed.

  “The paths close and more monsters spawn. It’s quite nasty and creates more monsters that have to be culled—so avoid that.”

  Good thing the twins were pretty good at acting. Now the others just had to not mess up…

  “Still, not bad. Follow these guys’ lead—" He gestured to the twins. “—and you should be golden in the rift.”

  “So, that means…?”

  “Will you hire us?”

  “One last scene,” he announced with a feral smile.

  The group froze as he pulled out a card that turned into a very nasty-looking barbed rapier.

  “Looks brutal, but I can tune it so it won’t pierce skin,” he explained. “Now, give me a ‘rift hunters trying to survive a monster attack’ scene!”

  He lunged at them.

  Despite the reassurance, Dawn screamed as the rapier closed in on her and stomped with her foot to create a quick barrier with [Branching Rampart].

  The man dashed around the obstacle, but by then, the rest of the party had moved. Dusk dashed in with a stomp to create his [Terracotta Soldiers] and threw his [Iridion’s Shawl] in the rapier’s way.

  The rapier tore through soldier Green, and then the catkin backed off as a rain of ice arrows tore through the floor where he’d stood.

  “You’re too quiet!” he shouted as he changed targets and dashed toward Linza. “You have to sell it!”

  “Linza, stay back!” the other catkin in the room shouted as she continued her arrow barrage.

  Dusk grabbed [Tricky Flail] but faltered, remembering just how destructive this skill could be.

  “You’re hesitating! Don’t make it obvious you’re acting!” the man shouted as he dodged or deflected the incoming arrows.

  “We don’t want to kill you!” Dawn yelled as she used [Transfrogify] on him.

  To her surprise, he dodged the curse, causing it to hit a humanoid mannequin behind him and turn it into a frog-shaped mannequin.

  “Why not?!” he roared. “I’m a monster! You’re rift hunters!”

  Seriously?!

  The man finally closed the distance on the two girls, who kept backing off, and stabbed his weapon forward.

  It stopped dead in its tracks as a shadowy construct spawned from Linza’s card and locked his weapon in place.

  “Got you!”

  Meanwhile, Dusk dashed at him with his [Steel Flail], while Dawn snuck around his back with [Cliffhide Fist] and pulled out [Tricky Bale] with a grimace.

  The rapier turned back into a card, slipping away from the shadows’ grasp, and regrew into a rapier. Rather than pressing onward, the manager deflected Dusk’s spiky ball with his own weapon and kicked behind himself with perfect timing to slam Dawn in her stomach, sending her flying.

  She landed painfully on her back, cursing the guy.

  What the heck did he even want from them?! They weren’t used to sparring! Only fights to the death! But they didn’t want to kill their potential employer!

  Dusk’s remaining soldiers finally slithered their way to their target and began to hem him in while the others continued trying—and failing—to hit the guy.

  At least until Linza yelled in frustration, and then everything changed.

  The tiny shadow creature, who had only been acting as a makeshift weapon and shield in one, suddenly seeped into the ground and expanded. The manager saw this and tried backing off, but thanks to the combination of the [Terracotta Soldiers] and Dawn plopping another [Branching Rampart] at the perfect time, the shadows caught him.

  From one moment to the next, shadowy hands emerged from the ground and completely entangled the man from neck down, gripping his limbs, tail, and weapon alike.

  A moment of stunned silence followed.

  Then the twins looked at Linza, saw the manic grin on her face, and for a split second, thought she was about to tear the man to pieces.

  Without thinking, Dusk threw a [Transfrogify] at the girl, cutting off whatever she was about to do.

  The Linza-frog ribbited in surprise, and her shadows loosened for a moment. The manager made use of this opening to extricate himself from her skill’s grasp and dashed back to create distance.

  He eyed the girl even as she turned back into a human.

  “Wha– Why did you do that?!” Linza shouted, glaring at Dusk.

  “You… looked like you were about to murder him.”

  That brought Linza up short, and she went pale.

  “I… What? No! I wouldn’t do that!” she denied as her [Umbral Acolyte] hastily receded and turned back into a card in her hand and vanished, as if she were trying to hide her murder weapon.

  “...A mythical skill, huh? No wonder you could use it with the Null mark on your hand,” the manager drawled.

  Linza’s eyes went wide as she realized her screw-up.

  “Well, okay then. You lot are definitely stronger than some newbies and pretty decent actors.” He nodded to himself, his eyes flicking between the four before landing on Layna. “What’s the relic you have?”

  “...This backpack. I can fit more than I should inside it.”

  He nodded.

  “Useful. Alright! You’ve convinced me! I’ll hire you to cull the rift for me.”

  The twins grinned to themselves, and even Linza seemed to relax despite the earlier… event.

  “Let’s go to my office, and we can hash out the details of the contract. Ah, my name is Molduk Karz, by the way. You can call me Mr. Karz, or just Sir.”

  As if he hadn’t almost gotten choked to death by creepy shadows, the man turned on his heel, jumped off the damaged and messed up stage, and walked off.

  The party scrambled to follow him, awkwardly looking at all the ice arrows sticking out of the wood and the countless tears and holes.

  “One more thing,” Mr. Karz said, glancing back at Linza. “I don’t really care what that was, but just make sure you don’t get everyone killed. I would hate to scrape your bodies off the stage.”

  Linza stiffened and gave him a wooden nod.

  “Uh, by the way. Sorry about calling you a ‘stupid human’ earlier,” Layna apologized, breaking the tense atmosphere.

  The ‘stupid human’ blinked in surprise and gave her an awkward smile.

  “Ah, it’s okay. I know you didn’t mean it. I’m sorry for… uh…”

  “Going overboard?”

  “Yeah. That.”

  Layna just shrugged.

  “No worries. If I had a Mythical skill, I would want to flex it all the time as well.”

  “We forgive you! But in exchange, we expect you to crush all monsters in the rift,” Dawn quipped.

  Linza snorted.

  “You got it! They won’t know what hit them!”