Gacha System: Reborn In The Hardest World
Chapter 59: Hidden In Plain Sight

Chapter 59: Hidden In Plain Sight

Though the land beneath the sea was deprived of water, fish still swam through the air as if it were natural. A school of clownfish passed right in front of Jae-Seong, stopping to see the flow of orange marine life go about their path.

"Fishies...Fishy, fishy," Esmeralda remarked quietly like an awestruck child, holding her finger out.

At the slightest touch by the gentle girl, the school of fish quickly dashed away.

Jae-Seong chuckled, "Pfft! You totally scared them off!"

"...Mm," Esmeralda silently hummed. "Say, do you hear that?"

For a moment, they both paused as a low hiss emitted through the isolated, subaquatic forest.

"Yup," Jae-Seong answered, holding his hand behind the two of them, expanding a shield of light.

At the same time, Esmeralda held her hand out in front, conjuring an ethereal barrier made of verdant flowers.

From both sides, swift, swimming creatures crashed into both barriers.

"—Barracudas," Jae-Seong observed the rows of sharp teeth pressing against the wall of light.

"Not any normal kind," Esmeralda clarified with a quiet huff.

As the dead-eyed, long fish were rejected, the pair immediately began to torpedo through the water. Each encircled the human trespassers, swimming as rings of aqua propelled at their tails.

"Look at them go. Want me to handle this?" Jae-Seong asked.

Esmeralda lightly shook her head, holding her hand out, "I’ll take care of this. Your way is too messy."

Jae-Seong held his hands up, leaving it all up to his companion as he resigned with a smile, "All yours."

As the barracudas swirled aggressively, the woman in the witch hat held her hands out—

Into her left, a pink-handled cleaver manifested ; the right, a pale rolling pin.

[Culinary System]

As one of the gray-skinned barracuda launched towards the woman with its jaws parted, it was met with the knife. With a tap of the blade’s edge, as gentle as a mother’s kiss on a baby’s forehead, the fish froze.

"Turn to sushi," Esmeralda commanded.

Down the length of its body, precise cuts left it split into a dozen, perfect segments. As it fell into circular slices, the second of the vicious, underwater predators torpedoed from behind the girl.

The thoughtless barracuda bared its teeth, though was greeted not by flesh, but by the rolling pin. It smacked right against the top of the hostile fish’s head.

"Roll up."

The stunning impact suddenly brought the serpentine creature’s body to flatten like a pancake. It rolled up, turning into a barracuda roll before dropping to the ground.

"All done," Esmeralda remarked, allowing her tools to vanish.

Jae-Seong whistled, "That system of yours is also scary to watch."

"Scary? I think it’s cute," Esmeralda huffed.

He led the way ahead, walking as he waved his hand, "Yeah, yeah, whatever you say."

Past the trees hidden from sunlight, he marched on for some strides before coming to a stop. There was no sound of footsteps alongside his own, bringing him to turn around, "Hey, what’re you waiting for–?"

What he discovered was nobody there; no sign of Esmeralda, besides the handled barracudas on the ground. Without needing to question what happened, he already knew what the sudden disappearance meant–an attack.

In that split-second he was in thought, glancing at his surroundings, a sharp sensation glided along his neck. He immediately stepped back, leaning his head away instinctively as he found a shallow cut left against his throat.

It took him by surprise, unable to sense the presence of any enemy nor magical attack, touching his neck as he glanced at the sparse blood left trickling.

’I was cut? What the hell is this?’ He questioned, looking around, only finding the sight of the subaquatic trees watching him.

As light was called into his hand, it was met with an immediate response–another cut ran across his forearm, once more drawing blood. Before he could draw any conclusions, he felt the sharp sensation slash his cheek, spilling more of his crimson fluid.

The only response he came to was lifting his foot, slamming it down with a pulse of light rippling through the ancient soil.

’No, I know what this is–it’s the work of a Venator. Cuts from seemingly nowhere, I’ve heard about this...’ Jae-Seong recalled.

It was amidst his confusion as he brought his gaze up from the eruption of dirt around him that his eyes finally discovered that which they sought. A man in a black cloak of a raven’s feathers, lacking the skull mask of the uniform, though undeniably of the Venator’s ranks.

He looked no older than his late teens, though with hollow, black irises that had long since forsaken the value of life. The youthful man with shaggy, pink hair and a scar-ridden neck held a smile, flipping the twin daggers in his hands.

"Yo, you’re Jae-Seong, aren’t you?" The peculiar hunter asked casually.

"What did you do with Esmeralda?" Jae-Seong asked, engulfing his fists in light.

The Venator laughed, waving his hand, "Oh, you think I killed her? No, no, I just got rid of her for the moment, so the two of us could get to know one another."

"Sorry, not interested in guys," Jae-Seong rejected, readying himself to strike.

"Bummer! Doesn’t mean we can’t have some fun, though," the hunter said with a laugh before suddenly gripping the handles of his blades. "I’m Klaus, by the way. I hope you remember it."

"Don’t count on it," Jae-Seong dismissed as he cocked his fist back, thrusting it forward.

As he punched the air, he sent a projection of his knuckles forward, violently burrowing through the wind with the blunt force of light. It crashed through trees, punching right through the trunks as soil was kicked up once more.

A quick glance to the left led his vision to find the vibrant assassin, who was crouched down, somehow having slipped out of his strike.

"You’re so cruel, Jae!" Klaus playfully shouted, dashing straight for the Outlander.

The nickname brought a twitch to Jae-Seong’s eyebrow as he slammed his foot down, incurring a shock wave of light to intercept the hunter’s path, "Has anybody told you that you’re way too damn annoying for an assassin?!"

As the flash dissipated, the assassin was nowhere to be found; there wasn’t so much as the scrape of a footstep, the exhale of a breath, nor the feeling of one’s presence. In that single moment of confusion, once more, the edge of a blade met his skin.

It left a gash on his forearm, forcing him to swing his fist as a roar of light crashed against the trees.

’This isn’t invisibility, at least that’s not all it is. I’d still be able to sense his mana signature, his presence–but I can’t. It’s like he doesn’t even exist,’ he analyzed.

As frustrating as it was, having him wish to just blow away the entire undersea forest, it wasn’t an option as he stood his ground.

’I don’t know where Esmeralda is or what he did to take her out of this. I can’t risk catching her with reckless magic,’ he thought.

[--Blessing of Draco–]

Across his back, the star-aligned symbol of a dragon manifested as he held his ground, pushing a sturdy breath out of his lungs.

As the edge of a blade connected with his chest, only the cloth was cut, leaving his torso unfazed. The moment that slash was attempted against his hardened body, he countered with a quick thrust of his fist.

—There was no feedback; the bludgeoning light disrupted nothing but the aquatic foliage. The immediate confusion was answered by a pair of slashes against his back.

He immediately turned around into another thundering strike, though found nothing.

’He’s having trouble getting through my body with Draco, at least. Still, what the hell is this ability? Are the blades able to be used regardless of range?’ He theorized.

The puzzle of the enemy’s power left him with his hands tied behind his back.

’I’ll have to take this further,’ he resolved.

Around his right arm, bands of light manifested, humming with power that swelled. Raising it above his head, the rings expanded, vast enough to encircle buildings—

"Ah, I think that’s enough for now."

—The nonchalant voice of the assassin arrived from seemingly nowhere. A single blink brought Jae-Seong’s vision to the dead-eyed man, just ahead of him.

"What’re you talking about?" He asked.

Klaus smiled, sheathing his twin blades as he planted his boot atop a rock, "My role here is only to keep interlopers from interfering with our mission."

"Stealing Marinus?" Jae-Seong accused, keeping the circles of humming light spinning.

"Stealing? Oh, you all haven’t figured it out yet? What’s going on in Atlantis?" Klaus lingered his words.

"—What’s going on? Spit it out!" Jae-Seong demanded, dismissing the coalescence of light.

Klaus shrugged, "I could...or, you might be more interested in helping your friend."

"Wait—Esmeralda?! What did you do to her?!" Jae-Seong shouted as the air around his body trembled.

"Oh, scary...the rumors aren’t exaggerated. I see how you handled one of the Impervious Seven," Klaus remarked. "Well, you’ll have to act quickly and find her before she bleeds out. I give it about...a minute?"

"Fuck!—"

Jae-Seong erupted towards the assassin, striking at him with a burst of light, though only hitting the air. As his ears rang, he breathed out, looking around with no sign of the elusive Venator.

["One minute."]

—Those words lingered in his mind as he moved desperately, aimlessly searching the forest miles beneath the sea’s surface.