[Aki POV]
I should have known better. That stray devil wasn't weak. I misjudged its hatred, its speed, its will. It lunged, claws like cruel blades, and I staggered back, heat flaring as its claws gashed across my ribs. I clamp a hand over the wound—my fingers come away sticky. Pain poisons my lungs.
My Devil Hunter System screams in my mind:
Critical HP: 15%Nearby Entity: High‑Threat DevilEmergency Protocol Available
I grind my teeth. If I fall now… it's over. I can't let this be how I die — not in a dark alley, not alone, not without using everything.
Something deep in me recoils: a memory, a ghost. The avalanche. I close my eyes and see snow falling in slow motion, massive white waves crushing my home, burying my family, swallowing their screams. I was little. My brother, my sister—I watched them vanish beneath the white death in front of me. The roar of snow, the scream of branches snapping, the bitter cold… and then nothing but silence. That loss shaped me, haunted every reincarnated life.
I open my eyes, breath coming in painful ragged storms. Not again.
The system pulses, pulsing hope into my veins:
Gacha Available — Rare PullUse now or lose the chance.
This is it. My gamble. I stare at the mental icon floating in my mind, trembling. I summon the courage to pull.
"Go," I whisper. "Give me something … to survive."
Time stretches, and then… the pull resolves.
Result: Gun Devil Power Fragment
My blood roars in my ears. My aura twists, a dark metallic sheen crawling along my skin. The pain in my ribs sharpens, but underneath — something else burns. Power. Cold, lethal, raging.
Gun Devil Protocol Engaged.
I feel it: barrels where my arms were. Gunmetal flesh. Fingers morphing into trigger—no, not fingers, barrels. Shadow and steel coil around me. The stray devil snarls, taken aback.
My vision splits into system overlays: target vectors, bullet trajectories, reflex matrices. The world slows.
"Now," I hiss.
I fire. Spectral bullets, forged from this fragment, erupt from my arms in cascades. The sound is thunder in this tight alley. Each shot is precise, almost surgical. I spray the devil with a storm of bullets — spectral, dark, and heavier than death itself.
It howls, a terrible, ragged sound, but it doesn't dodge fast enough. Each bullet tears through its form, and I feel my system absorb demonic residue, registering every drop of dark energy.
XP +180Hunter Points +90New Ability: Bullet Projection (Gun Devil)Passive Buff: Regenerative Bullet Fragments
My arms hum with power, but I stagger under the strain. Using Gun Devil power is not free. It cuts into me like icy fire. But I kneel, bullets still sizzling in the air, the devil's form dissipating in puffs of shadow.
I gasp for air, my heart burning. My limbs tremble. I glance down at myself, half in disbelief: I have gun‑arms. The system chimes, calming, stabilizing:
Gun Devil Fragment Stabilized (Temporary)Cooldown: 120 seconds
I slump forward, blood and rain mingling on the ground. Two memories battle in my mind: the avalanche that stole my family, and this moment — the power that might have just saved my life.
I whisper into the dripping darkness: "Thank you … system."
A thunderclap of emotion rocks me: gratitude, fear, and a twisted kind of triumph. I press a trembling hand to my chest, feeling my heartbeat slow — but steady now. The haunting memory of snow and blood clashes with the raw, burning strength inside me.
The system hums softly, an almost-fatherly pulse:
Hunter Mode: ActiveGun Devil Fragment Use: ConfirmedStability: 75%
I test my arms again, flexing — and the barrels retract, folding back into my flesh with a faint hiss. The power doesn't vanish entirely; it lingers, a latent presence waiting for me to call on it again.
I close my eyes, leaning back against the wall. The alley is silent now, save for the patter of rain. My breathing slows; reality returns, sharp and raw.
I think back to my past life, that day on the mountain. The avalanche came without warning — roaring, devouring. I was powerless. I watched my parents, siblings, everything torn away. The guilt … the helplessness … it never left me. That memory, buried beneath years of reincarnation, resurfaces now, not as weakness but as fuel.
Because now I have a weapon — a fragment of the Gun Devil. And I won't lose like I once did. I won't watch innocents die. I won't let devils, or fate, crush me again.
Standing, I wipe the wet grit from my face. Rain drips from my hair, cold against my skin, but I feel warmth in my veins. The system flickers a summary:
Collateral Analysis: No civilians harmed. Enemy neutralized.Upgrade Available: Gacha Slot 1 refresh in 48 hours
I nod once, as if making a vow to the darkness itself. I will master this.
Walking away from the alley, I choose the rooftops, where no one else will see me. Up here, under the cold moon and flickering lights, I mutter to myself, voice soft:
"This power isn't just a salvage from death. It's a promise. A promise that I'll never be broken again. That whatever comes — devils, Sacred Gears, angels — I'll face them. And when I do … I'll bring judgment."
My shadow stretches long across the rooftop, gunmetal aura still pulsing under my skin. The system hums in resonance, clearly analyzing long-term risk and potential.
Projection Risk: Moderate — must regulate fragment usageOptimal Strategy: Train with Gacha fragment, unlock full control
I close my eyes, feeling the night wind, tasting gunpowder and rain.
I survived. Barely. But not by luck alone. The system saved me — and me, in turn, will wield this power as the apex of the hunter I'm meant to become.
No more ghosts. No more helplessness.
After a few minutes, I descend back down, sliding off the rooftop and into the wet streets. My body aches, but it's not broken. It's alive. I breathe deeply, tasting the cool air. My mind churns with possibility: what if this fragment is more than just a tool? What if it's part of a destiny I've never fully understood?
I don't know if I'll ever become a full Gun Devil. But right now — I don't care. I just need to survive. I need to be strong enough to change things, to protect what matters. To make sure no one has to watch everything they love disappear in a snowstorm again.
I whisper into the dark, where even devils might hear:
"This isn't the end. It's just the beginning."
The system responds with a soft, solid heartbeat:
Affirmed. Hunter Aki Hayakawa — Apex Potential Confirmed.
And in that moment, I feel something I haven't felt for a long time — hope.