system:Reborn

Chapter 10: The First Hero

The Celestial Hunter moved first.

Its silver armor flashed beneath the burning sky as it launched itself toward Commander Ren.

Ren raised one hand.

A sphere of blue-white plasma formed in his palm.

"Get back!"

He released it.

BOOM!

The explosion sent the Hunter crashing through an abandoned vehicle.

Kai stared.

That was a B-rank ability?

Ren looked at him.

"You're staring."

Kai shook himself.

"Just figuring out how badly we're going to lose."

Ren laughed.

"Good. At least you're honest."

The Hunter emerged from the wreckage.

Its armor was damaged, but it was still standing.

[CELESTIAL HUNTER]

HP: 81%

Energy: 94%

Kai's System Vision immediately highlighted something.

[WEAK POINT DETECTED]

Location: Left shoulder

Armor instability: 8.2 seconds

Kai pointed.

"Hit its left shoulder!"

Ren didn't question him.

He fired.

The plasma struck exactly where Kai had indicated.

The Hunter staggered.

Mira moved instantly.

[SYSTEM OVERRIDE]

The creature's movements slowed.

Kai activated System Hack.

[TARGET LOCKED]

Success Probability: 72%

"Now!"

Kai and Mira attacked simultaneously.

The Hunter's energy weapons shut down.

Ren charged forward.

A concentrated blast struck the Hunter's chest.

CRACK!

The creature fell.

[CELESTIAL HUNTER DEFEATED]

Kai's interface flashed.

[ASSIST RECOGNIZED]

[EVOLUTION POINTS +120]

Kai smiled.

Then hundreds of red indicators appeared across his vision.

His smile vanished.

"Uh..."

Ren noticed his expression.

"What?"

Kai pointed toward the horizon.

"More."

The clouds split.

Thousands of Celestial Hunters descended from the fleet.

Ren's face hardened.

"Everyone!"

His voice echoed across the battlefield.

"Fall back to the eastern defense line!"

Heroes began retreating.

Kai didn't move.

Mira looked at him.

"We can't fight all of them."

"I know."

Kai opened his hidden System menu.

Something new had appeared.

[SYSTEM OVERRIDE]

[ACCESS LEVEL 3 REQUIREMENT]

Defeat 100 enemies.

Kai stared.

He currently had 31.

He needed sixty-nine more.

Then a second notification appeared.

[SECRET CONDITION DISCOVERED]

Defeat an enemy while exceeding your current rank.

Kai looked at the approaching army.

The Hunters were C-rank.

He was technically F-rank.

Kai slowly smiled.

"Maybe the System just gave me a challenge."

Mira looked concerned.

"Kai, what are you planning?"

He pointed toward the fleet.

"I'm going to level up."

Ren overheard him.

"You're insane."

Kai shrugged.

"Probably."

The Hunters began charging.

Kai activated System Vision.

Hundreds of weak points appeared.

His brain struggled to process them.

But then something unexpected happened.

His System began automatically organizing the information.

[COMBAT PATTERN GENERATED]

[MULTI-TARGET SYSTEM HACK AVAILABLE]

Kai froze.

"Multi-target?"

A new skill appeared.

[SYSTEM HACK: CHAIN]

Targets: 10

Range: 20 meters

Duration: 8 seconds

Energy Cost: 15%

Kai looked at his energy.

18%.

Using it would nearly empty him.

But ten enemies at once could change the battle.

Kai looked at Mira.

"Cover me."

Mira nodded.

Kai stepped forward.

The Hunters descended.

He raised his hand.

"System Hack..."

Blue symbols appeared across his vision.

"...Chain."

Ten Hunters suddenly froze in midair.

Their systems began malfunctioning.

Mira attacked.

Ren followed.

One by one, the Hunters fell.

[ENEMY DEFEATED]

[ENEMY DEFEATED]

[ENEMY DEFEATED]

Kai's experience counter climbed rapidly.

47.

58.

69.

Then—

[70 ENEMIES DEFEATED]

[ACCESS LEVEL REQUIREMENT MET]

Kai's interface turned black.

A final message appeared.

[SYSTEM OVERRIDE ACCESS LEVEL 3 UNLOCKED.]

But before Kai could open the new menu, every Hunter suddenly stopped.

All of them turned toward the sky.

The largest spacecraft began descending.

Something was coming out.

Commander Ren looked upward.

"What is that?"

Kai activated System Vision.

For the first time, the System didn't immediately provide an answer.

Instead, it displayed:

[WARNING]

[DO NOT ENGAGE.]

Then another line appeared.

[THREAT LEVEL: UNMEASURABLE.]

Kai's blood ran cold.

The spacecraft opened.

A single figure stepped out.

And every monster on the battlefield immediately bowed.