"We are tuning in this broadcast today to bring you news that Team Ragnarok…h-has failed in their subjugation… IHA h-has confirmed that every S-Rank hunter has been eliminated, and…the gates are still open…"
The anchor newsman struggled to finish his report. His eyes were filled with a sense of dread. His folded hand trembling visibly, shaken by the news just as the whole world was.
Ding!
[Bear Final Witness] <— Activated!
Noah felt all the heat drained out of him as he stared blankly at the news. His mind still reeling at the after image of another hunter's corpse before the feed was cut off. Right now, he didn't know what to feel. Everything that humanity had been fighting for has been for naught.
"The President is calling for America to go into a state of emergency, and an evacuation of the entire state of Nebraska is on the way… and possibly every other state close to it… God help us all."
God help us indeed, but Noah knew long ago that there was no God here to save them. He stopped believing in one when his family died on the day of the Dungeon Break. The world around him grew dimmer when he lost his teammates, was betrayed by others, and was tossed into 'slavery' before the government did anything to rescue him.
And even then, he was a useless F-rank.
But he believed.
He believed that humanity will win against the system forced upon their world.
And even right now, he knew this couldn't be the end. This just couldn't…!
[Last Hope For Earth] <— Activated!
"Move! We have to move!"
"You're hunter! There'll be monsters coming out soon, and we need to defend this place—!"
"Don't you get it, Janet?! It's over! Humanity has lost!"
Noah was brought back to reality as every hunter around him was starting to panic. Some had started running while others started setting up defensive barriers and traps to delay the inevitable invasion coming from the Armageddon Gate right above them.
As an F-rank, he shouldn't have been here in the first place. After all, he would be useless in a battle against monsters coming from an SSS-Rank Gate. What could he do in this situation?
He should be panicking.
But instead, he felt calm.
[Nevermore Despair] < — Activated!
Noah took out his bow and slowly drew an arrow as the first sign of teeth and claw started emerging from the massive swirling portal.
The world was coming to an end, and Noah only wished for one more chance to do this over. One more chance to make a difference in this world. One last hope to give humanity a fighting chance against this calamity.
He wished…
= = =
[Bear Final Witness] - Triggers upon the conclusion of Armageddon, host's subconsciousness will regress 10 years prior to the Final Day.
[Last Hope for Earth] - Host will be granted a special skill to assist humanity's survival against the prophesied calamity.
[Nevermore Despair] - Host has reached the lowest of despair and yet the candle continues to burn defiantly in this winter storm. Host will be gifted the following skills: [Lucky Coin], [Solitary Spirit], [Inspire Hope]...
=====
Noah's eyes flew open, and the first thing he noticed was how drenched his clothes were. He slowly rose from his bed while the faint golden rays of the early sun penetrated his room.
Then he realized this wasn't his room. This hasn't been his room for over ten years now, not since it was destroyed on the day of the Dungeon Break.
Did he die before he even realized it? Has he finally gone to heaven to reunite with his mother and his little brother?
His family…!
Hastily, he threw the sheets off of him and leaped off the bed, running out of his room just to get to the other bedroom across from him.
He banged on the door rapidly.
"Benjamin..?! Benjamin!!!"
Noah then grabbed the door knob and twisted it—and he must have turned it too hard because it came lose. Frustrated, he used his shoulder to slam against the door panel, and it flew right open. The door hung loosely with only the bottom hinge still attached, and there was Benjamin in the middle of the room. He was halfway putting on his shirt as he stared with a gaping mouth at Noah.
"Bruh. What the fuck—!"
"BENJI!"
Noah lunged right at him and grappled him into a forced embrace, not even noticing that his athlete-build of a younger brother was struggling his hardest to escape this death-like grip.
"Noah!"
"Benji, you're alive!!"
"Dude! What the fuck—what is wrong with you!? Let go of me already!" He exclaimed as he continued to struggle, and Noah noted that his little brother didn't seem as strong as he used to be when they were younger. Benjamin plays for his High School football team, and the last time Noah did anything sports-related was PE in freshman year.
Then Noah pulled away, grabbing his brother's bare shoulders.
"Mom. Where's mom?"
"I-I don't know! The kitchen? She usually makes use breakfast before she goes to work—"
Noah left him immediately, exiting the bedroom, and he ran down the corridor and the stairs, calling for her.
"Mom!? MOM!!"
"Noah? I'm in the kitchen! What's the emergency?"
Noah found her in their old house kitchen that looked the same as he remembered it before the day it was destroyed. His mother was there cracking eggs into a mixing bowl and there were a bunch of sardine cans already opened, showing some red tomato substance inside.
Yup. This was mom. Always trying new weird recipes.
"MOM!"
Noah rushed up to her and pulled her into his embrace. She let out a startled noise before she reciprocated and wrapped her arms around him too. Her hand rubbing his back up and down, and that was all it took to break down the dam that Noah had been building around his heart for a decade now.
"Noah…? Noah what's wrong…?"
Noah, in his mother's, let out a wail before becoming a sobbing mess. He still remembered even as he tried to suppress the images in the back of his mind: the mangled dead bodies of his family. They were battered and beaten to the point that their faces were unrecognizable, and he only knew it was them because of whatever clothing they had left wearing. The past ten years had been a trying time for him, trying to survive in a world that discriminated against F-rank hunters and monsters that ripped anyone's happiness apart. The worst is that those monsters could be their neighbor, or friend, or someone's idol. All hope for humanity was lost at that point.
And yet, impossibly, Noah was here. He had somehow gone back in time. Despite how undeserving he really is, he was given another chance, and hopefully, he could save his family from their fated demise.
**
"Are you sure you're fine now?" His mother asked him for the tenth time now.
"Yes, mom, I'm completely fine," Noah replied patiently as he walked his mother to her car, carrying her belongings. "Sorry I made you late to work, mom."
"It's fine, dear, I'm just really worried now," she said, her brows frowning deeply. "I haven't seen you cry like that since—well, not since your father passed away eight years ago. You really scared me. Are you sure I can't just stay home with you?"
"No, don't do that. I'm really fine," he said, smiling slightly. "Right now, I'm just so embarrassed over my behavior. Crying over a nightmare and all."
A very long nightmare that came without a happy ending.
"It's my day off," Noah said. "I'm just going to stay home and do some chores around the house. That will help me ease up and stuff."
She gave him one last look before sighing and nodding her head. "Alright. I'm letting you go now. Do you want me to bring you anything tonight? How about some Chinese food?"
"No, I'm okay mom, besides, we'll be having a feast tomorrow anyway," he said to her.
Tomorrow was Fourth of July, Independence Day, but to the rest of the world, it would be forever known as the Dungeon Break. Noah was beginning to wonder if it really was a dream, or if he was actually going crazy.
Once his move pulled out of the driveway and drove to work, Noah returned back inside his house. He stood at the entrance for a moment, staring at the painted hand markings on the wall next to the stairs. Two adult-size hand prints with names labeled next to them: Eleanor and Adam, and two more but smaller sizes belonging to Noah and Benjamin. This was a remembrance that their mother could never wash off, and promised that one day she'll have that part of the wall removed and have it framed.
Noah never did get to see these hand prints again.
He took a deep breath before he made his way back to the kitchen where Benjamin was struggling to finish the strange dish that their mother cooked up.
Benjamin paused from eating, "…Hey man…you good?"
Noah could feel his cheeks burning with embarrassment as his little brother did catch him crying in their mother's arms, like a toddler waking up from a nightmare. It must have been so cringe to witness that.
Swallowing his self-humiliation, Noah walked over to cut a lemon in half.
"Yeah, I'm good."
Then he walked over to his brother's dish and squeezed a bit of lemon juice over his bowl. He then added black pepper and salt.
Benjamin raised a brow at him as he watch his brother get a bowl for himself and added the same seasoning to his bowl. The little brother hesitated for a moment as he mixed in the ingredients, but after taking a bite, it was more tolerable now to eat the dish.
Noah knew this dish as ginisang sardinas, a common dish from the Philippines. His mother probably learned it from her co-workers, who are mostly Filipinos. Kaiser and all.
After they ate, Noah cleaned up the kitchen just as Benjamin was hurrying to leave the house.
"Hey, Noah, I'm gonna go now," Benjamin said. "If you need anything, or if something happened, just call me okay?"
Noah turned around to raise a brow at him. "Yeah, okay, but aren't I the one supposed to be asking you those questions?"
Benjamin shrugged. "I don't know. Today, you're kind of emotionally unstable, so…"
"I'm fine. Go do your morning routine. Shoo!" Noah insisted as he flicked dish water at his brother.
"Wow. That's what I get for caring for you!" he said as he made his way out. "You better fix my door before I get home!"
"Okay, okay!"
Then the entrance door slammed shut, and Noah turned off the water at the sink for a moment as he began to lament his current life.
If this isn't truly a dream…
"….Status!"
For a moment, nothing happened and Noah half-expected a bluish transparent screen to appear before him, but nothing came. Then, just as he was about to drop his guard, silver-colored border window appeared. Noah drew away as the translucent image before him began to glitch in and out of existence.
[L-Loading…!]
It couldn't be… this couldn't be happening…!
[U-Upd-dating i-infor-m-mation…!]
Noah watched with dread as the window actualized itself until it was solid as it displayed his profile right before him.
===
Hunter: Noah Vallance
F-rank
Age: 28 years old
HP (127/127)
MP (139/139)
STR 7 | DEX 15 | CON 10
INT 11 | WIS 12 | CHA 14
Mental-Save 12
Vital-Save 10
Dodge 15
Unique Skills:
[Monster Hunter System] - Click here for more information…
[Lucky Coin] - Host will experience a change of luck every now and then.
[Solitary Spirit] - Misery and Anxiety has a more difficult time to rattle host.
[Inspire Hope] - Grant +15 temporary HP to those that can hear and see the host, and are emboldened by host's words.
Skills:
[Precise Shot] - (10% precision added to range attacks)
[Aim for Weakness] - (30% bonus damage on hit)
Items:
Hunter Dire Wolf Armor = +15 HP, 20% Cold Resistance
Elven bow = +10% accuracy
20x steel head arrows = +5 damage pts.
1x healing potion = heals 50 hp
5,000 ⍟ <- usable only through the [Starlight Coin Shop]
===
Noah stood there gaping as he noticed three of his hidden skills were gone, and instead were replaced by other skills that he had never seen before.
One in particular piqued his curiosity.
Monster Hunter System?
***