He showered in the locker room. Under the water, he thought of the fog clearing. Of the nest. Of the chicks with blood on their beaks.
Without realizing, he started scratching his head with the shampoo so hard, he accidentally pulled his hair.
Ouch!
He knocked the empty bottle out of the shower onto the floor.
When done, he picked it up.
He sat on the bench, towel around his neck. He felt restless. The locker room was empty. Quiet. He inhaled deeply and opened his stats screen.
.
[ STATS ]
[ Strength: 15 ]
[ Agility: 20 ]
[ Vitality: 5 ]
[ Stamina: 40 ]
[ Mana: 30 ]
[ Synergy: 30 ]
.
[ Performance: 0 ]
[ Charisma: 1 ]
[ Visuals: 0 ]
[ Fandom: 46 ]
[ Growth Potential: 629 ]
.
[ POINTS AVAILABLE: +153 ]
.
He observed the screen.
Hmm. So it seems anything I did awkwardly and without intention lowered points. Like I did that stupid thing and broke my fingers, which cost me Strength points. What can I say? I always wondered if that was possible...
He shrugged, palms up.
While I almost died and froze, which cost me Vitality points. Let's see, Agility... I guess I wasn't focused on improving my climbing skills. I mean, who would in that situation? Anyway, I endured, so my Stamina went up. And I didn't use the rest, so those didn't change.
He glanced further down at his Idol Stats.
I better concentrate all my points in the Hunter category. The Duke was adamant about improving my form.
"Stats, add points."
Strength value was blinking.
His eyes went back up.
I have 153 points. What should I do with them? They sound like a lot. Are they, though?
I should add first to Vitality. I don't want to die easily. And I just need a stronger body.
After he was done, he looked one more time to make sure everything was in order.
.
[ STATS ]
[ Strength: 65 ]
[ Agility: 48 ]
[ Vitality: 80 ]
[ Stamina: 40 ]
[ Mana: 30 ]
[ Synergy: 30 ]
.
[ Performance: 0 ]
[ Charisma: 1 ]
[ Visuals: 0 ]
[ Fandom: 46 ]
[ Growth Potential: 629 ]
.
[ POINTS AVAILABLE: 0 ]
.
He wanted to get his Strength up to 80 like Vitality, but he remembered how swiftly the Duke propelled her lance. That smoothness gave it control. He needed to acquire that.
I mean, it's not like the Duke needs someone simply strong in her team...
And he realized then he was still clueless as to why Entre put him in her team.
He gave a last look.
That should do for now.
He patted his hands together. Done.
The screen blinked in front of him. His eye caught the Idol categories.
He already had used all his points, but didn't mind. He wasn't clear on how the idol categories quantified. They didn't feel real.
What are 'Fandom' and 'Growth Potential'?
.
[ FANDOM: "Number of people who have officially joined your official fanclub." ]
[ GROWTH POTENTIAL: "Combined number of people online who have expressed interest in joining your official fanclub and the prediction of growth by the algorithm." ]
.
Seungho stared. He wasn't sure he understood.
"Forty-six people." He laughed. "That's not a fandom. That's a study group." He said it out loud, amused.
And Growth Potential—629? I simply have no idea what that means.
His eyes moved up, dismissing what he had just read.
I got one point for Charisma!
Seungho smiled widely from excitement. The locker room was empty. He went wild for a minute. Enjoying every moment. Then calmed down. He needed to dry his hair and get some food.
The warmth he had experienced during the simulation was uncanny. The more he thought about it, the more he became convinced it was related to the fog.
I want to be grateful for it. But somehow something feels off. What hides behind the fog?
Later, he found Sangmin in the courtyard.
Seungho was in a better mood. He focused on the points he'd earned.
"They said the Duke's team uses that climb. I thought—"
Sangmin's face went still. "Who told you that?"
Seungho described the trainer. The gray uniform. The sharp eyes. The way she'd giggled.
Sangmin thought hard, trying to figure out who it was. The gray uniform was throwing him off.
When he spoke, his voice was careful.
"That lady doesn't work with the Duke's team. But the gray uniform... I have no idea who that might be."
Seungho had a thought. "UEC. Could that be them?"
First the woman with red hair, now this older lady... what's with all these mysterious people?
"Hyung!" Sangmin called to the Mask, who was on his way to the dining hall.
Sangmin explained briefly.
"You've been in there fifty-three minutes?"
The Mask leaned against a bench. He opened his screen and searched for Seungho's profile. "You actually did it…" He cocked his head back in surprise. He turned to Seungho while waving off his screen. "Not that I didn't believe you. But there's a lot of competition among rookies trying to impress more established hunters. You know they lie, the little freaks."
He stayed silent, then quickly stepped away, eager to leave.
Sangmin swiftly opened Seungho's profile.
"Good!" followed by "That's why…" He twisted his lips uncomfortably.
"What is it?" Seungho asked cautiously. He didn't dare open his screen.
Sangmin nodded, encouraging him to.
.
[ STATUS: TRAINEE ]
[ COMBAT HUNTER RANK: — ]
[ IDOL RANK: E ]
[ AURA LEVEL: 1 ]
[ POSITION: UNAVAILABLE ]
[ COMBAT WEAPONS: UNAVAILABLE ]
[ TEAM: DUKE'S (PROVISIONAL) ]
.
Seungho read it. After a minute of silence, he snorted a laugh.
"I'm sorry, I don't know what I was expecting, but I'm a trainee now! Isn't that good news?"
Sangmin realized Seungho knew a lot less about this world than was good for him.
"You haven't been accepted by the Duke yet. If she doesn't accept you, no other team will. You're screwed."
***
.
Seungho went home after dinner and threw himself on the couch, his hands interlaced behind his head. He needed to think. A lot of things had happened that day of which he understood very little. And it was only Monday.
He pushed his hands forward and looked at them. Both were fine. The broken bones had repaired rather quickly, no abscesses, no gushing blood, just like the system had predicted. He had seen the bones and tissue repair bit by bit, like he did once before, but faster and more efficiently. That alone was uncanny. But the birds, those little creatures with blood dripping off their beaks... and that leg being chewed...
His face twisted into disgust. Something was hitting deep down, even now that the nightmare was over. Exactly, like a nightmare... why would I have a nightmare like that? In that room? Is the system trying to scare off hunters?
He turned to one side. The smell of metal and rot he had pursued during the climb—convinced it would lead him to the eggs—pervaded his nose.
What are those rooms? Why is it that sometimes Entre seems to know what happens inside them and other times it doesn't?
At dinner, sitting in the dining hall with the rest of the team, he had asked the same question. Nobody seemed worried or concerned.
"You just get used to things being different." Jung Cheondoong-hyung, the mask, had said. "Don't overthink it. The hunters' world is different from the humans'. It is normal to expect different things to happen too. Rules are different. Haven't you noticed that already?"
Yes, it wasn't a question. A suggestion. I need to accept things are different here, or I will have a hard time adjusting. Only a week to make the Duke accept me.
He checked his screen.
[ NEXT OFFICIAL EVENT: 5 DAYS ]
[ TEAM: DUKE'S (PENDING ACCEPTANCE) ]
He dismissed it with a thought and the display folded back into his wrist.
Rules in the world for hunters were terribly different. Cheondoong-hyung was younger, barely over a year, enough not to be a chingu, but other hunters on the team, much older, called him hyung too because their Hunter Age was younger. Hunter Age determined when you first became a hunter. The aura generally matched the value in Hunter Age, but not always. And top-ranking hunters made sure not to be the case. Like the Duke's aura was above a hundred, while her Hunter Age was what? Seven.
Minjun's aura was already at four.
"Minjun has an attitude problem. Why compare your stats to his? Pick a better example if you really cannot help but need someone to chase after."
Bae Ara had said that, holding her chopsticks close to her mouth in the cutest possible manner. Looking at her like that, it was crazy to think her aura level was already close to seventy. And she was just a three-year-old in Hunter Age.
How can they accumulate and unlock mana to reach such levels?
He rolled again, to his other side on the couch.
"Just do the work. You will get there."
They did have a point. Maybe he should compare his stats to Sangmin's instead—he was in his team after all. Whatever. Easy to say for someone who already got it.
He humphed. He knew he was being unfair, but the pressure was great.
"Pst. If you can work on your aura, eventually that is what attracts fans the most. But first you really need to get your strength up."
She had said it, sizing him up and down. Park Sooyoung-sunbae. A hunter specialized in precision shooting. Like a sniper. A cold shook down Seungho's spine.
There are assassins in this group...
He had slurped his soup, optimal for hunter's repair and strength.