“The Civilian Abyss Hunter Association?”
Gu Tong glanced at her phone screen, one eyebrow raised.
When she heard there was money to be made, Gu Tong asked Ding Ling for a link to its official website.
A search brought up a page with a light gray background and no flashy decorations, just a few lines of promotional copy and a recruitment notice at the bottom.
The slogans were mostly things like “Plenty of Orders,” “Steady Income,” and “Privacy Protected.”
Abyss hunters were the general term used in human society for people who made a profession of fighting Abyss Creatures. Whether they were Magical Girls, psychokinesis users, or all sorts of other strange people—even ordinary humans without superpowers—anyone in the line of work could be called an Abyss hunter.
But add the word “civilian” in front, and the meaning changed.
Despite the name, civilian Abyss hunters were closer to mercenaries.
The so-called civilian hunter association was really just a platform for offering jobs.
And to become a member, she needed a sponsor to recommend her?
“Tsk.”
Gu Tong put down her phone.
This was a real hassle.
She needed an introduction from someone in the profession.
As a private civilian platform, the association was bound to be a mixed bag, but most of its members probably held a grudge against Monsters.
How could a Monster like her get a recommendation and earn that money?
The departure announcement in the train car interrupted Gu Tong’s thoughts.
-Full Metal Plaza Station.
Passengers getting off, please…
The doors closed, and the hot wind from the departing train lifted the hem of Gu Tong’s coat.
Fine rain drifted down from the sky, and beneath it lay Sanshan’s most prosperous district.
The Core Zone.
Virtual projections floating in midair gleamed alongside reflections in the windows of skyscrapers.
Everywhere the girl looked, neon signs blazed in a riot of colors.
Their flickering lights mingled with the rain and mist and the hurrying crowds, creating a surreal illusion.
Even Ba Hui had only ever seen the Core Zone in ruins.
As Gu Tong, she’d only glimpsed its prosperous, towering skyscrapers through breaks in the crumbling walls and streets.
This was her first time actually entering the district.
The entire Inner Ring District was filled with traces of modern industry, like the jagged skeleton of a “monster” called industry—crude and utterly lacking in design. But here, that all came to an abrupt end.
The square metal structures gave way to smooth, intricate forms, and transparent glass was everywhere.
Every inch of this place was so alluring, its dazzling buildings reflecting luxury and the steady flow of wealth.
The city was huge, yet small. So small that not an inch of it could ever belong to someone born in the Inner Ring.
Watching it all with cold eyes, Gu Tong pulled up her hood and blended into the crowd, heading toward Full Metal Plaza.
As a Monster, Gu Tong didn’t particularly like this place.
There were too many checkpoints and too many cameras.
Almost every five hundred meters, she saw a police car parked by the street, with a Public Security Officer leaning against it and eating an energy bar for dinner while on duty.
There was noise everywhere: advertisements, horns, sirens.
Even the puddles on the ground reflected the colorful neon signs, making her feel irritated.
-Welcome back, viewers!
Thanks for tuning in to the year-round execution show, sponsored by Marlboro and Bridgeford Charcoal: Louis XVI’s Dead Man’s Lottery!
And it was absurd.
The giant screen showed the most popular betting show of the moment.
Gu Tong tilted her head slightly.
She hadn’t expected humans to use their own kind as betting stakes.
Standing in the center of the plaza, Gu Tong slowly released her senses.
She’d come here for one thing.
The Witch’s Legacy.
Legend had it that when the first Abyssal rift appeared, the ones who emerged from it alongside those mindless monsters were Witches.
There were no such things as Monsters back then.
The Witches wielded the greatest power, and almost nothing could stand against them.
But their existence was like a shooting star in the sky, lasting only a brief moment before they disappeared.
No one knew how those powerful beings had vanished or where they had gone.
The only proof they’d ever existed was the things they’d left behind, which came to be known as the “Witch’s Legacy.”
After many years of war, most of the legacies were lost.
Only a small number were preserved by major organizations, including the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau.
One of the legacies was sealed in Sanshan.
That was why Ba Hui would charge into Sanshan six years later.
It was something every Monster dreamed of possessing.
Monsters believed they were all degraded products of the Witches, and that whoever obtained the Witch’s Legacy would gain that primordial power, transform into a new Witch, and become the ruler of the world.
Before transmigrating, Ba Hui had managed to touch the Witch’s Legacy sealed in Sanshan, right before she performed the Soul Transfer Technique, despite being surrounded and pursued by countless Magical Girls.
Going by the memories from before her transmigration, Ba Hui was certain the legacy was sealed somewhere around here.
Though she hadn’t obtained it, even that brief contact had given Ba Hui the ability to sense its presence.
As her senses continued to expand, she could feel the thing somewhere beneath the plaza.
And the only place that connected the surface to the underground was…
Gu Tong slowly turned toward the gigantic building at the center of the plaza.
The Full Metal Arena was where the Full Metal Duel was held.
From the outside, it looked like an undecorated cube.
It was just that the cube looked a little too big.
She looked up information about the venue.
It seemed to be closed at the moment, and wouldn’t open again for twenty days.
Advertisements for the matches scrolled below.
[Welcome to the Full Metal Fighting Tournament]
[A celebration of machinery and savagery]
[20 days until the finals]
“Ring, ring—”
Just as Gu Tong was wondering how to get close to the Witch’s Legacy, her phone suddenly vibrated. She pulled it out and saw the caller ID: [Yao Yao’s Homeroom Teacher]
A teacher from school?
Gu Tong was a Monster, after all.
She knew a little about human society, but not the finer details.
For example, getting a call from your homeroom teacher usually wasn’t a good sign.
“Who is this?”
But the voice coming through the phone belonged to Chen Qinyao.
-Um… it’s me.
Can you come to Yuanshan Hospital?
The girl’s voice sounded… reluctant?
Was she hurt?
Gu Tong wondered instinctively, but that didn’t seem right.
She was a Magical Girl. Who could hurt her?
Had a Monster appeared at school too?
“Why do you need to go to the hospital?”
Gu Tong glanced at the street signs, searching for Yuanshan Hospital as she asked.
-“Nothing really happened. It’s just… Well, I hit someone. Just hurry over, and bring money.”
The girl hung up, leaving Gu Tong tilting her head.
What was wrong with her?
What did she mean, bring money?
Ba Hui wouldn’t get paid until the end of the month, and she barely had any money left.
Did humans have to pay compensation for hitting someone?
For a moment, though she’d only been human for a few days, Ba Hui felt the weight of life’s burdens.
It wasn’t the pressure of being unable to defeat a powerful enemy, nor the pressure of a failed scheme.
It was a slower, more helpless kind of pressure.
Even Ba Hui was stressed whenever money came up.
If she didn’t have to hide her identity, she’d have robbed a bank already.
Life wasn’t easy.
Ba Hui sighed.
At that moment, Ba Hui was already wondering if she could avoid paying by killing off the other party.