The last of the Ghouls dissolved, leaving only the sharp tang of sulfur and the ragged, unsteady breathing of the surviving Hunters. The Tutorial Floor, soaked in blood and the shattered remnants of hope, went silent.
[TUTORIAL COMPLETE. HUNTER CONTRIBUTION RANKINGS ARE BEING CALCULATED.]
Rin stood still, his hand hovering over the hilt of his sword. His heart rate, which had spiked only when Aiden interfered with the pebble, was now settling back to the calm, controlled rhythm of a seasoned warrior. The warmth he projected was a defensive barrier, masking the cold fury he felt at being reminded of Aiden's competence.
A blinding white light washed over all the participants, and the holographic System window flashed over Rin's vision, offering a choice only he could see.
[SELECTION REQUIRED: CHOOSE YOUR PRIMARY CLASS.]
Rin scrolled past the generic options like Warrior, Ranger, and Mage. He bypassed the standard legendary classes and scrolled to the one he had painstakingly unlocked through sacrifice in his previous life. He pressed the confirmation button, his jaw tight.
[CONGRATULATIONS! HUNTER 'RIN' HAS AWAKENED THE UNIQUE CLASS: BLADE OF THE RENDING GALE.]
A wave of pure, condensed wind energy surged into him, settling into his core. His swordsmanship, already honed by a lifetime of regret and rebirth, felt sharper, capable of cutting through the very concept of durability.
Ten feet away, Aiden received his own notification. He didn't look at it, his focus still fixed on the black gate they had been forced to enter. His mind was calculating the probability of Rin having retained his class—a probability that had just been confirmed by the brief, powerful surge of wind mana Rin couldn't quite suppress.
Aiden selected his own class, the one that perfectly complemented his strategic focus and his absolute need to manipulate outcomes.
[CONGRATULATIONS! HUNTER 'AIDEN' HAS AWAKENED THE UNIQUE CLASS: ARBITER OF CHRONOS.]
Internally, Aiden felt the crushing weight of time itself settle upon him. This power—the ability to slow, accelerate, and, at extreme cost, briefly rewind minor events—was the power he had used to execute his infamous betrayal. It was the only power that could save Rin, and it was the constant, screaming reminder of why Rin hated him.
I am the one who betrayed you. I am the one who orchestrated it all. Let him hate me, as long as he lives.
l
[ATTENTION, ALL HUNTERS.]
The System's voice returned, now laced with an authoritative, almost bored tone.
[NORMAL PROGRESSION FOR TOWER ASCENSION IS TOO SLOW. TO ENSURE HUMANITY'S OPTIMAL SURVIVAL, THE TOP 10 RANKED HUNTERS WILL FORM THE ADVANCE VANGUARD FOR THE FIRST PROPER FLOOR.]
A collective gasp went up from the surviving Hunters. Being first meant the greatest danger, but also the greatest potential rewards.
[RANK 1: RIN. RANK 2: AIDEN. RANK 3: (ETC.)… REPORT TO THE ASSEMBLY PLATFORM NOW.]
Rin's spine stiffened. The System was a merciless puppet master, and its strings had just yanked the two of them together. There was no avoiding it. The universe, it seemed, was obsessed with their reunion.
He walked stiffly toward the designated glowing platform.
Aiden arrived simultaneously, moving with such efficiency that his steps were nearly silent. He didn't spare Rin a glance, instead focusing on the other eight Hunters who joined them—a mix of powerful warriors, a nervous but promising healer, and a few raw talents.
Aiden spoke, his voice low and clinical, directed at the entire group, yet piercing Rin alone.
"The tutorial was a test of basic survival. The next floor is a test of cooperation. I suggest everyone reviews their Class skills immediately. We move as a unit."
Rin leaned against the glowing barrier separating them from the crowd, his sword already half an inch out of its sheath. He met Aiden's cold gaze across the platform, and for the first time, he let a shard of true frost leak through his warm persona.
"The unit will move as fast as its fastest member," Rin countered, his voice smooth as silk but carrying the weight of a dropped anvil. "Don't slow us down with strategy, Arbiter. Just point to what you want killed."
The eight other Hunters exchanged wide-eyed looks. The top two Hunters, clearly both immensely powerful, already had bad blood.
Aiden's expression didn't change, but his right hand twitched, a gesture Rin instantly recognized as the precursor to a complex time-altering spell. Aiden suppressed it, merely nodding curtly. "Understood, Blade. Efficiency is paramount."
Before the animosity could escalate, the platform beneath them shimmered.
[VANGUARD TEAM: TELEPORTING TO FLOOR 1 NOW.]
In a flash of blinding purple light, they were transported. The air instantly changed from the clinical sterility of the tutorial to the oppressive decay of a dying world.
They stood on a crumbling street of grey cobblestones, hemmed in by the silhouettes of impossibly tall, ruined buildings. The sky above was not twilight, but a perpetual, swirling indigo storm. This was a pocket dimension of endless urban blight, ruled by the Tower.
"Initial report," Aiden murmured, already scanning the rooftops, his Arbiter vision likely mapping the movement of shadows.
Rin, however, wasn't looking at the crumbling architecture. His eyes were fixed on the far wall of a collapsed bank. Spray-painted in fresh, vivid red, was a symbol: a stylized, multi-horned beast consuming a heart—the ancient, unmistakable sigil of the Cult of Mephistopheles.
Rin felt a jolt of ice water hit his core. This wasn't just a monster floor; it was a trap. He knew this sign. He had fought this cult. And Aiden—Aiden was already moving towards the symbol, his movements no longer calculating the terrain, but hunting for something specific.
He remembers, Rin thought, the carefully constructed wall around his past cracking. He remembers the cults, the devil pacts, the way this all went wrong.
Aiden stopped directly in front of the sigil, his hand resting on the cold, ruined stone. He didn't turn around, but his voice, though still formal, dropped to an almost silent whisper that Rin's enhanced senses easily caught.
"The first threat is not the monsters. It's the corrupted. Stay close, Rin."
He used Rin's name. Just his name. And Rin felt the cold burn of a shared secret.
Rin closed his eyes for a beat, re-sheathing his blade with a final snap. When he opened them, the warm smile was back, utterly fake, utterly lethal.
"My name is Hunter Rin, Arbiter. And I don't follow directions." He walked past Aiden, his shoulder brushing his. "But if you're coming, hurry up. I don't like waiting for the executioner to catch up."
The unspoken history hung between them—a chain forged of betrayal and undying devotion. The ascent had begun.
This chapter establishes their forced partnership, reveals their powerful classes, and introduces the first major antagonist threat—the Devil's Cult—which links directly back to the past they are trying to escape.
Would you like to focus the next chapter on the combat encounter with the Mephistopheles Cult, or explore a brief flashback to the time of Aiden's betrayal.