— lincoln high school portland, oregon, september 2022

It truly was hell. In the video and in his memory. But these people who had appeared out of nowhere came to save them. They kept the monster from killing them. That's all they knew and all they cared about.

Back then, Ellen had held Isaac in a suffocating embrace. It was as if she had decided that they were going to die, so she preferred to die holding on to each other regardless of how far away they had gotten from the scene already.

He had only seen the Hunters in passing, as they had finally made it out in their car shortly after the two had jumped down from the Gate.

The end of the video was marked by a superimposed message that read: "I hope you liked it, I tried my best to commemorate the first appearance of our Sunbae."

From the looks of it, the video could have been made by the very person who showed it to them. "I haven't seen this in a while."

"Actually, I think I never saw the whole thing. Just a few parts." The comment was made by one of the girls around him.

"Why did you pull that one out?" It was Isaac who asked, wondering if he was even allowed to, since he was watching something of his own volition that wasn't exactly meant for him.

The blonde girl tugged at one of the three piercings in her ear, seemingly confused by his question. "You know it's been exactly twelve years, right?"

He was aware of that, as today was his sixteenth birthday. "Sure."

It was a busy day at school. Though not much busier than any other. Voices could be heard from every corner, whispers, laughter, and boisterous calls.

Meanwhile, she just blinked at him with her green eyes. "Did you not hear? That Choi In-Sung is coming from South Korea, I mean."

"All the way to Portland? No way!" another particularly excited freshman exclaimed in visible surprise.

He mentally noted that it wasn't just him that wasn't in on it.

She quickly searched for something on her phone. "Totally yes way!" Rue announced, proudly showing off her screen again, this time a social media site about how to meet the great In-Sung Choi.

"On that note, did you read the post on the Lincoln High forum yesterday?" the one from before asked.

"Does anyone ever read shit on that forum?" another freshman asked.

Rue cocked her head. "Our school has a forum?"

Laughter ensued, but they went on to talk about some random post claiming to be about an after-school study class. But none of the teachers approved it, so it was taken down.

"Apparently it was a scam or something? Maybe a joke, I don't know, but the poster talked about teaching protection from the vile of dark influences and stuff, like a real Chuunibyou wrote that."

Since the conversation had clearly moved on, Isaac just nodded and walked past them with an indifferent look on his face as he looked at his watch. Well, this was one way to pass time.

Only two more hours and he could go home. In reality, he couldn't care less about one or two Hunters.

The excited group didn't seem to care about his lack of enthusiasm either. He had been an arbitrary addition to them anyway.

A long yawn passed his lips as he stretched his arms a little before reaching for his locker to get his things for the next lesson.

Suddenly, with a crash, the locker door he had just opened slammed shut in front of him, narrowly missing his hand that was still trying to take a book out of the compartment.

He blinked slowly at the firmly closed door as an arm wrapped itself uncomfortably around his neck and shoulder.

"Hey, Layer, how are you today?" he grunted into his ear.

'Your breath stinks,' he thought. "As good as always."

"I was thinking, since we're such good friends, we could go up to the roof together. Share a smoke, drink some coke. How about it?" He made it sound like something fun.

Isaac hated the smell of cigarette smoke. "Sorry, I got a history lesson to catch. Maybe you should go too."

He didn't seem to take kindly to Isaac's answer, but pretended to be okay with it. "Sure, go learn about dinosaurs 'n crap, I'll wait upstairs. I trust you won't forget to come up later?"

The boy wanted to sigh in retaliation, but stopped himself. Instead, he nodded and finally retrieved the history book he had come to get in the first place.

Meanwhile, the upperclassman was on his way back to where he came from. He disappeared with one last punch against the metal, which buckled slightly under the force of his fist.

His name was Hayden Chace, an upperclassman asshole who was about to graduate from this ordinary high school, even though he wasn't. He had been an Awakened since his freshmen year.

Since then, he had acted like a king to the peasants, no matter where he went or who he talked to.

Even the staff, be it teachers or janitors, couldn't handle him. If it weren't for the compulsory education law, he wouldn't be there anymore.

It was only about five years ago that the government decided it was a shame that every run-of-the-mill Awakened was deluding themselves to make millions in the Hunter business.

That wasn't always the case, though - in fact, it often resulted in an early death. Especially those with very low ratings wouldn't get very far. It soon became common practice to check someone's Rank before allowing them to participate in any kind of Raid.

Just like in a video game, Ranks and Classes were assigned based on Mana output and Skill profession. You needed Mana to use the Skills you got from your supporting Authority. If you couldn't gather enough in your body, there would be no chance that you could survive a serious fight.

And even if you could, how strong could your opponent get before you were overpowered? They would tell you that according to your Rank - from Rank F all the way up to SSS.

Isaac sat in his seat and watched as a frantic middle-aged man tried to sort through the different colors of chalk he had at his disposal. He seemed to be trying to draw something on the blackboard to visualize what he was saying, while Isaac was busy tugging at his plain green shirt.

It was a little too baggy for him, but since his physique was so slender, he had to put up with it. Of course, he could just work out and make up for his lack of width with some muscle, but that would require him to... well, to work out.

He wasn't going to do that. Which led him back to tugging at the hem of his shirt to make it appear as if it fit.

No wonder his mother, Ellen Layer, kept joking that next time she would send him to a tailor to get something cut to his size. He didn't like that thought either; emphasizing his stature wouldn't make it any better.

Looking up, he saw the picture their teacher was trying to draw. It wasn't so much a picture as it was some kind of diagram.

Different colors were used to show the different ways in which power ran around the globe as it was. Who controlled whom? To what extent and for what purpose?

"For twelve years now, our society has adapted to this system and what it can give us," he explained as he finished drawing an archbow across the board, connecting what he had drawn to represent UNHA and the open world market, "and it has become both a crutch and a safety net for us. But what about the consequences? What do you think would happen if we weren't very careful with the peace it's given us?"

The classroom fell silent, replaced by murmurs, rustling, and the sound of chairs being constantly pushed and adjusted. The teacher scanned all the faces before settling on a girl in the second row.

He pointed to her with the chalk between his fingers. "Shirley, what do you think? Any ideas?" Poor Shirley.

She shrugged her petite shoulders after realizing she had to answer that one with something. Anything at all. "Uh, you know, I guess if there was a Dungeon Break..." Her voice got thinner and thinner.

"If the American UNHA was betrayed by a branch from another country, what could we do about it?" Mr. Bremer was on fire that day, he actually felt a little confident whenever he was in the middle of a lesson.

"Nothing?" mused Shirley.

"That's right. It would be almost impossible to do anything but declare all-out war. But that wouldn't help any of us, would it? Us normal people," he pointed out, "and I understand there are a few Awakened even among our students, since it's fairly normal to Awaken in childhood or adolescence. Still, most of us are ordinary people. What do we do when an organization like the Japanese National Hunters Association, for example, which is quite large, suddenly decides to go against the bylaws of the United Nations Hunters Association, causing a rift between these two large factions? Being privy to knowledge that no one even in the regular part of the government has, as well as all the power and material they have on their hands, they could start a war even without the approval of the country they are a part of."

"But they couldn't just do that. Hunters don't betray their homeland like that - why would they fight for their country at all, if they would just turn around and take a dump on it?" The one who chimed in was a boy with black hair who sat all the way at the back of the classroom.

"To be honest, there are a lot of Hunters who are just in it for the money. We all know that, Dean. What if you were someone who dreamed of a great fortune and even risked your life to get it, but didn't end up getting it? Of course, there's a lot of money to be made in Dungeons, but not every Hunter has the privilege of making it that far. In lower scoring Dungeons, what you get might support a mediocre lifestyle, but it won't make you extremely rich. There's no regular salary, you only get what you earn, and even that isn't paid out in full, considering taxes, merchants, and management percentages that have to be deducted. Now, what if someone who was in that situation was offered the real fortune he was looking for? What..."

Before he could get another word out, he was interrupted by a bell ringing loudly above their heads. It didn't take a minute for the first student to run out and find their freedom.

Mr. Bremer could only lament the fact that the bell had more authority over his students than he did, as he watched his audience thin out.

Isaac, too, would be one of those leaving. He gathered his things and headed for the door, where someone suddenly appeared and blocked his path.

"If it isn't little Isaac," the upperclassman greeted him, giving him a once-over.

"I didn't know I was considered small," was all he said in response. He had grown beyond 5'8" after all.

"Hayden wants you to go with me."

"What if I say no?"

"Well, I was just told to make sure you remembered your date."

"I don't remember ever agreeing to that." There was a unique irony in someone like him being threatened by someone like Hayden Chace, delivered by a boy who had barely been weaned. "Now, if you'll excuse me..."

Again, the student he did not even know was preventing him from leaving. "I don't", he said, "you gotta come up with me. I won't say it again."

'Somebody thinks himself wise', Isaac thought. "All right. But I don't have much time."

The ill-bred boy, Anton, scoffed at his remark. "That's not for you to worry about."

Yes, true, it would have been his mother who would have worried. "Just make it quick."

The entrance to the roof of this block of buildings was supposed to be locked. But that was almost never the case. That was why it was now crawling with students, all up to no good.