Takami walked with the team deeper into the dorm. Cracks hummed with pulsing black light. It wasn't the first dorm he'd been in, but this one appeared to be more complex.
Suddenly, a pack of beast-type spirits lunged from the shadows, about fifteen of them. Snarling, some with jagged bone-like blades, others with sharp claws. Takami instinctively looked for the system pop-up that usually displayed their color code threat levels.
Nothing.
No window. No glow. Just silence.
"What the…?" Takami murmured.
While the others sprang into formation, Wazahi dashing ahead, the tank clearing them, the two mages launching elemental strikes, and the healer prepping barriers. Takami took a step back, one foot sliding toward the corner. He opened his system interface.
And blinked.
"What the hell is this?" he muttered.
The interface was familiar, but not. It was like someone had scrambled the layout and removed critical functions like it was a half-finished update. His rank panel was gone, only level displayed. His stats had reverted from letter grades back to point values. The only highlight? His Intelligence and Instincts both showed a clean +10 boost. Not bad… but then he spotted something else at the top-left corner.
⟨Emt. Recovered – 2/8⟩
"Emt…?" he frowned, tapping it.
But just as a small window began to materialize, he sensed eyes on him.
He looked up and yeah. Everyone else had already finished off the spirit pack and were now standing there, expressions ranging from puzzled to concerned.
"Uh…"
One of the mages, a girl with short pinkish-blonde hair and way too much sarcastic energy for someone still catching her breath, snorted. "Was it that scary you blacked out and started monologuing to the wall? Hihihihiiii."
Takami blinked. "Um… no?"
"You good, bro?" Wazahi asked, walking closer. Still friendly but… skeptical.
"Yeah. Just… zoning out. Sorry."
"Alright… let's keep moving," Wazahi said, giving him a light pat on the shoulder before motioning the team forward.
Takami caught up, slightly embarrassed. The pink-haired mage slowed down to match Takami's, head barely above his shoulder.
She nudged him with her elbow. "Yo."
He looked at her. "Huh?"
"Didn't get on your nerves with that little thing back there, right?" she grinned.
"Not at all," Takami replied, half-smiling.
"Cool. Kiya." She pointed at herself with her thumb. "You're Takami, right? Heard it earlier."
"Yeah."
She nodded. "So…"
"…So?"
"So…" She paused dramatically, eyebrows raising. "…what class are you?"
"Slayer," he replied.
"Nice. Just like our captain here," she said, glancing toward Wazahi. "Slayers are hot, uh…I mean strong. Like deadly strong. Ahem."
Takami raised a brow.
Kiya cleared her throat, redirecting. "No offense but, how's it like at the bottom? Like being a Low Grant Rank-3?"
"Well…I can say it's somewhere you won't wanna be."
"A pain in the butt."
"Yeah," Takami nodded. "You guys complement each other while fighting. It's impressive."
"Pfft. We've been a team for sooo long, we basically finish each other's—"
"Sandwiches," Takami said dryly.
Kiya stared at him. Then burst into a snort-laugh. "Yo, you actually got jokes under all that deadpan look."
"I'm not a weirdo," Takami muttered, smirking despite himself.
"You sure?" she tilted her head dramatically. "Dork move, but I respect it."
Takami chuckled again.
"Okay hold up. Hold the spirit horses." She stopped mid-step. "You just laughed. Like, actually laughed. You look like the kind of guy who only laughs three times a month, and one of those is in his sleep."
From up ahead, the rest of the team snickered.
"Stop eavesdropping, idiots!" Kiya barked, spinning toward them.
"We can only hear you because you never shut up," Wazahi replied coolly, not even glancing back.
Kiya huffed. "Hmph."
Takami shook his head, grinning a little. But then his face tightened.
"They're close," he said, voice dropping.
Wazahi immediately pulled out his sword. "Thanks for the heads-up."
"Alright, radio tower, gotta go do some work," Kiya said with a playful wink. "Go be our early warning system, Takami the Antenna."
Takami blinked. "…Radio tower?"
"Look, if you're gonna keep sensing enemies like a walking radar, I have to give you a nickname. That's just how this works."
She jogged ahead to rejoin the others, waving for him to catch up. "Come on, walking WiFi, stay close!"
Takami followed, muttering under his breath, "What was that about…"
But he didn't mind.
In fact… it felt oddly good.
Warm, even.
For the first time in a long while, he wasn't being ridiculed, overlooked, or pushed aside for his low Grant status. They didn't baby him either, just gave him a spot and treated him like an actual person.
Just then, another ping from the system interface.
⟨Notifications now available...⟩
⟨Emt. Recovered – 3/8⟩
He tapped it again.
⟨•Emotions Recovered ~
| Player has to stabilize these 8 emotions by experiencing them again. Previous state has caused emotional instability.
| Note: Emotions cannot be forced and must be felt naturally. Failure to stabilize in time will cause system unavailability.
(Emotions cannot be shown due to pending punishment.) ⟩
"Are you kidding me? Giving me a task and a deadline without solid information. Great." He muttered. "And besides I don't feel emotionally unstable." He sighed and continued to walk.
Kyoto – Kameoka.
A gentle breeze brushed over the stone path as Jin, Matsuda, and Ken stood in front of the pulsing structures before them alongside the mages and healers they brought. Three dorms in a row, the one in the middle stood out. Not just by size, but by the thick, unsettling presence that seemed to press against them. That one had the highest Grant signature.
Jin narrowed his eyes at it while the others stayed alert.
Moments later, the low hum of car engines rolled through the clearing. Two black, reinforced SUVs pulled up and parked. Jin's men stepped out in full combat gear. With efficient movements, they closed the doors and made their way to him without needing a word.
Jin scanned their faces, and gave them commanding gestures. Without even a pause, he split them into two units. He pointed at one of the mages and a healer. "You two, with Team A. The rest, with Team B. Sweep the side dorms. Standard grid."
They nodded and moved out, heading into the side dorms.
"Now the big guy," Ken muttered, cracking his neck.
Jin's gaze remained fixed ahead, on the central dorm. "Let's go."
They stepped forward as one.
The air grew heavier with each step inside. Of course, it was big inside. That was normal. Dorms always had this strange spatial depth that defied their smaller exterior. Some even having long tunnels, divisions, or maze-like structures. But this one… this one was different.
Much bigger. And colder.
"Big as expected," Matsuda muttered, looking around.
"Yeah. And darker too." Ken added.
Matsuda raised a hand. A small white orb of light appeared, hovering like a firefly. Then, with a soft snap, it shattered silently, scattering hundreds of glimmering fragments like glass snow. The room bloomed in gentle light, illuminating the entire space in a calm white hue.
Jin gave a slow nod of approval as he scanned the now-visible surroundings.
Ken blinked, impressed. "Wow, you can cast without a chant too? You know, Michiko does that as well. Haven't seen her in forever though…" His smile dimmed for a moment, just a flicker.
But then his eyes sharpened. "...I think we've got company already."
They were surrounded.
Beast-type spirits, and over fifty of them, creeping from behind pillars. The silence shattered.
Without hesitation, Jin moved. In a glitch, he was gone, vanishing into a blur of motion as the spirits fell one after the other, cleaved in quick flashes with clean precision.
Ken laughed, pulling his gun and letting off clean shots with ease. The sounds echoed through the dorm. He twirled and ducked, firing with rhythm. "Oh, we're doing this? Let's go, freaks!"
Matsuda raised both hands now, ice cracking from his fingertips. Spikes shot forward, taking down ten in a single wave. Their roars were swallowed in the cold burst as they faded into nothing.
Less than sixty seconds later, silence returned. The last spirit let out a gurgle before dissolving into nothingness.
Ken lowered his gun. His expression didn't match the calm around them. "This doesn't add up. I thought this was listed as a High-class 2 dorm? What are high-class spirits doing here? Not to talk of their numbers,"
"Wish I had someone to ask." Jin muttered, rubbing his chin.
"I can feel it though," Matsuda said, stepping ahead with careful eyes. "Something worse… deeper in."
Ken's boots echoed against the floor as he caught up. "Yeah. There's something bigger waiting. No way this is the end of it."
They continued deeper into the dorm's belly, the walls seeming to grow closer the further they moved. Another wave hit them, but this time they were shadow-type spirits.
Jin disappeared again, his swords humming with energy. He moved like a breeze with blades. Ken provided cover while Matsuda froze any that tried to flank. It was clean, precise, and just as fast.
When it ended, there was a moment of silence for a while.
Ken lowered his weapon. "Okay, now things are getting more weird in here. Shadow-types and beast-types... in the same dorm?"
Matsuda's brows tightened. "It's not just weird, it's unnatural. Something feels... arranged."
Jin glanced at him. "You think they're being controlled?"
Matsuda nodded. "Exactly what I was thinking. The way they moved. It wasn't random. It was all timed and set perfectly."
Ken's face hardened now, the joking tone fading. "They're back, aren't they, Jin?"
Jin didn't answer right away. His grip on his sword tightened slightly. Then he nodded, slowly. "Yes indeed... The real terrors of the spirit world. After seven long years…"
Just then, something stirred.
From behind one of the wide, cracked pillars, a figure emerged. It walked with a slight hunch, its body shaped like a human, but completely wrong. Its flesh was pale and gray. Its face was twisted into a wide grin, a permanent, haunting smile that stretched too far across. Its eyes glowed faintly, twin orbs of darkness filled with something... excited. Almost joyful.
Swirling black mist leaving its body. Its footsteps were light, but they echoed inside the dorm.
The three of them stared at it. It stared back.
And then it smiled wider.
Jin's voice was cold now. "...Emotion-bound spirits… have returned."