Unwanted Witness

The night air struck Kiaro’s face like a cold blessing.

He stepped out of the fading portal rift and onto the rocky outskirts of Aurelios. Behind him, the green-black swirl shrank, hissed, and disappeared entirely—leaving nothing behind except the faint scent of ozone and fresh blood.

Kiaro exhaled slowly.

Ten goblins.

His very first real hunt.

And he had survived.

[Quest Complete: First Step]

[Reward already distributed.]

He glanced at his status window one more time.

— Status —

Name: Kiaro

Rank: F (Hidden)

Level: 3

Strength: 7

Agility: 8

Endurance: 6

Mana: 3

Skills: Blade Precision (Active), Swift Strike (Active)

A small smile tugged at the corner of his lips.

This is only the beginning.

He wiped his dagger clean on a patch of grass and slid it back into its sheath. The walk back to Aurelios would take nearly an hour. He could already picture his cramped apartment, the cold floor, the heavy silence—

“You.”

Kiaro froze.

The voice came from behind a cluster of sharp rocks. Low. Rough. Uncertain.

Kiaro’s hand drifted back toward his dagger.

“Who’s there?”

A figure emerged from the shadows.

He was young. Maybe early twenties. Lean but not muscular, wearing dirt-smudged leather armor and a rusted shortsword hanging at his hip. His face was narrow, and his eyes held a mix of desperation and burning curiosity.

But what caught Kiaro’s attention was the small badge pinned to the man’s chest.

E-rank.

The stranger stared at Kiaro for a long moment. Then his gaze shifted to the spot where the portal had just vanished.

“You… you walked out of that portal alone,” the man said. His voice trembled slightly—not from fear, but from sheer disbelief. “I watched you go in. Two hours ago. By yourself.”

Kiaro’s chest tightened.

Someone had been watching.

“You’re mistaken,” Kiaro said flatly. “I was just passing through.”

The man laughed—a short, bitter sound. “Passing through? At this hour? In the monster zone?” He shook his head. “I know what I saw. You’re that F-rank from the Awakening Hall last week. Everyone was talking about you. The orphan who trained for years and got the lowest possible rank.”

Kiaro’s jaw clenched.

“What do you want?”

The man hesitated. He looked down at his own empty hands—trembling slightly. When he raised his gaze again, his eyes had changed.

Less accusation. More… hunger.

“I want to know how you survived.”

Silence stretched between them like a wire.

Kiaro’s mind raced. Deny everything? Attack? Flee? The system pulsed faintly in the corner of his vision, but no new quest appeared. No warning. Just cold, silent observation.

“I got lucky,” Kiaro said carefully. “The portal was almost empty. Three goblins. Weak ones.”

“Liar.”

The word cut through the night like a blade.

The man stepped closer. Kiaro’s fingers tightened on his dagger.

“My name is Renn,” the man said. “I’ve been an E-rank for four years. Do you know what that means? It means I’m strong enough to enter F-rank portals… but too weak to matter. No party wants me. No guild looks at me. I survive by scavenging leftover cores from portals after real hunters leave.”

He pointed at the ground where the portal had been.

“I was waiting for that one to collapse so I could pick through the remains. But you walked in. Alone. An F-rank. I thought you’d be dead in ten minutes.”

“Yet here I am,” Kiaro said coldly.

“Yet here you are,” Renn repeated. He tilted his head. “So either you’re the luckiest fool alive… or you’re hiding something.”

Kiaro said nothing.

Renn’s eyes narrowed. “I’m not here to fight you. I’m not even here to blackmail you. I just—” He stopped. Swallowed hard. His voice dropped to a near whisper. “I just want to stop being useless.”

For the first time, Kiaro saw past the desperation.

He’s like me.

Another low-rank nobody, trapped by a system that said he would never grow. Never matter. Never become anything.

Kiaro’s hand relaxed slightly.

“Even if I had a way to get stronger,” Kiaro said slowly, “why would I share it with a stranger?”

Renn’s face hardened. “Because if I wanted to ruin you, I’d already be on my way to the Hunter Guild. An F-rank clearing a portal alone? That’s illegal. They’d revoke your license. Jail you for reckless endangerment. Maybe even execute you if they thought you were hiding something dangerous.”

Kiaro felt ice crawl down his spine.

He was right.

F-ranks weren’t allowed to enter portals without supervision. It was a law meant to protect the weak—but in truth, it was designed to keep low-rank hunters in their place.

If Renn reported him…

“So that’s your angle?” Kiaro’s voice turned sharp. “Help me or I destroy you?”

“No.” Renn shook his head firmly. “I’m saying: I could have already reported you. But I didn’t. I waited. Because I want in.”

Kiaro studied him.

The man was desperate. Hungry. But not deceitful. At least, not obviously.

The system… can it read people?

He glanced at the interface.

No such skill. Not yet.

But then—

Ding.

[Optional Quest: Silence the Witness]

Objective: Ensure Renn does not expose your secret.

Methods: Kill him (0/1) OR Secure his loyalty (0/1)

Reward for Loyalty: +100 XP, New Ally Unlocked

Penalty for Exposure: Reputation loss, Hunter license revoked, possible imprisonment

Kiaro stared at the screen.

Kill him.

The option sat there like a cold stone.

He looked at Renn. The man was thin, exhausted, wearing armor that hadn’t been properly maintained in years. His sword had rust near the hilt. His hands bore the calluses of someone who trained alone, without guidance, without any hope.

Kiaro knew that face.

It was his own, from one week ago.

He made his choice.

“I’m not going to kill you,” Kiaro said.

Renn blinked. “What?”

“I said I’m not going to kill you. And I’m not going to let you report me.” Kiaro stepped closer. He was shorter than Renn, but something in his posture made the other man take a half-step back. “Here’s my offer. You keep my secret. You help me when I need it—information, supplies, a second pair of eyes. In return, I’ll help you get stronger.”

Renn’s lips parted. “You… you can do that? Make others stronger?”

Kiaro hesitated.

The system was his. Unique. Bound to him alone.

But could he share its benefits indirectly? Train Renn? Feed him cores? Push him past his supposed limit?

He didn’t know.

But he could find out.

“I can try,” Kiaro said. “That’s more than anyone else has ever offered you.”

Renn was silent for a long time.

The wind carried the distant howl of something in the hills. A reminder that monsters didn’t only live inside portals.

Finally, Renn extended his hand.

“You’ve got a deal.”

Kiaro looked at the offered hand.

Then he took it.

The moment their palms touched, the system flickered.

[New Ally Registered: Renn (E-rank)]

[Loyalty: Untested]

[Shared Objective: Survival and Growth]

Kiaro pulled his hand back.

“One more thing,” he said. “If you ever betray me…”

He let the sentence hang in the air.

Renn nodded slowly. “I understand.”

Kiaro turned and began walking toward Aurelios.

After a few steps, he heard Renn’s footsteps falling in behind him.

“Where are you going?” Renn asked.

“Home. I need to rest.”

“And then?”

Kiaro glanced over his shoulder. The faint glow of the system reflected in his eyes.

“Then we find another portal.”

Renn’s expression shifted—uncertainty mixed with something that looked almost like hope.

“You’re really not going to tell me how you do it?”

“Not yet,” Kiaro said. “Trust is earned. Not given.”

He faced forward again and kept walking.

Behind him, Renn followed.

Two low-rank hunters.

One impossible secret.

And a world that would soon learn to fear them both.

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