High above the cratered street, the system projection expanded, ripples of white mana distorting the sky before solidifying into a giant scoreboard visible to every hunter in the district.

  [Top Contribution Candidate: Luke Hinton Party]

  [Your run has been flagged as a leading candidate for the top contribution in this dungeon clear.]

  Shane felt a corner of his mouth twitch, trying to curve upward, but his face remained stoic. Because of the [Behavior Lock] forcing him to maintain his composure, he could only smirk on the inside.

  Perfect.

  Luke Hinton, despite being a rogue class, was an analyst at heart. He had always operated in the shadows, pulling strings and crunching numbers while others took the credit. Being plastered on a billboard would probably tick him off a bit.

  But it was a necessary evil.

  Because it was infinitely better for Shane if people thought Luke was the one calling the shots. Shane had never liked being famous, and now that he was in a position where he had to monopolize the best dungeons and hidden rewards to survive, anonymity was a necessity.

  And, last but not least, Shane needed Luke off his back.

  Luke’s methods of gathering information relied heavily on his freedom of movement. If he was free to investigate, he would eventually peel back Shane’s secrets. But having news anchors track his every movement would restrict him for a while.

  The cameras will be Shane’s tank.

  It would buy him time. At least long enough for Shane to run some dungeons and secure the next few hidden pieces.

  Unlike hunters, Awakened journalists were specialized in stalking their targets. It wouldn’t be easy to shake them off once they locked on.

  Luke’s grimace was visible even from this distance. He probably didn’t know how to handle this level of scrutiny, because he had made sure to never be in the direct spotlight. He had curated his existence to be a “side character,” supporting his mother and other high-ranked hunters, while fading into the background.

  Besides, the lie was perfect.

  No one would question that Luke, an A-rank, had been the leader of Shane’s party.

  “I knew it!” someone yelled.

  “Congratulations, Hunter Hinton! You saved us!”

  Fortunately, the crowd bought the lie instantly.

  The parties that had bailed during the battle—the ones who had fled toward the intercontinental portal when things got tough—were just now trickling back into the street. Seeing the name on the board, they immediately flocked toward Luke, ignoring Shane entirely.

  Shane watched them go with a sense of relief.

  Good. Go bother him and keep him busy.

  Then, the text on the sky rippled again.

  [The other Top Contribution Candidate is…]

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  Shane’s eyes narrowed. He noticed the returning parties were twitching with anticipation. They were straightening their armor, looking hopeful.

  What were they twitching for? They’d bailed mid-fight.

  […the Wynn Party!]

  “Whoa!”

  A fresh wave of cheers erupted, this time directed at the awkwardly smiling Josh Miller.

  Of course the other candidate was Josh’s party. Other than Shane’s group, they were the only ones who hadn’t retreated when the boss started attacking.

  It was the natural choice.

  Josh had guts. But as he looked at the two names glowing in the sky, he knew the result already.

  Josh and his party fought bravely, but bravery alone wasn’t enough to secure the top spot.

  Then the blue sky started glitching red with the System text.

  [!! ERROR !!]

  [We ask that the ?????? of the system gather their opinions.]

  [Luke Hinton Party vs. Wynn Party]

  [A vote is underway to determine which party holds #1 in contribution….]

  A vote?

  Not just Shane, but the other hunters, too, started murmuring at the unfamiliar notification.

  So the system’s got more than one AI running it? Shane thought, watching the text flicker.

  In his world, high-level AIs sometimes exchanged information or debated protocols to resolve conflicts, so he let it go with a rough understanding. He could check on this later.

  [The voting process has now concluded.]

  [We are now examining each hunter’s actions, skills, and impact during the dungeon breach.]

  [Individual contribution scores are being calculated.]

  Perfect.

  If he slipped away now while everyone was distracted by the System notifications, no one would notice. It wasn’t like the System needed him to be physically present to calculate his score. Since it’s a breach, the rewards would go straight into his inventory anyway.

  He was suddenly very glad he’d drunkenly picked [Blink] during character creation.

  The S-rankers could handle the rest. He’d leave the cleanup to the nation’s heroes and the bureaucrats and get the hell out of here. He was dead tired.

  But then he saw Luke cutting through the crowd, walking quickly toward him. His gaze was locked onto Shane like a heat-seeking missile.

  “Ah, Captain,” Henry whispered, noticing the approach. “Hunter Hinton is coming this way.”

  I know.

  Shane was sure Luke started digging his background the second he appeared at the auction with the Number two rookie, Troy Winter.

  And what came back would’ve looked strange. A ghost with almost no records to speak of. No academy graduation, no guild history, just a blank slate that suddenly appeared and just stopped an A-rank threat.

  “Hunter Ashwell!” yelled Luke.

  “Captain, sounds like he’s calling you.”

  “You’re hearing things.”

  “Huh? No, he definitely said—”

  “Everyone’s exhausted, Stone. Hallucinations are a common symptom of mana depletion.”

  Shane didn’t wait for Henry to process the lie.

  The thought of collapsing here and ending up in a hospital was horrifying.

  Just imagining that adrenaline junkie Troy Winter hearing that Shane stopped an A-rank dungeon breach gave him a headache. Troy would probably camp out at his bedside and torment him for his entire hospital stay.

  Shane shuddered.

  And then there would be the media. And the stupid guild recruitment offers he couldn’t even accept because of his cursed backstory.

  And above all else... Shane hated the smell of hospitals. Those white gowns doctors wore.

  Luke reached out, his hand inches from Shane’s shoulder.

  “We need to—”

  Then space folded.

  When Luke’s hand closed, it grabbed nothing but empty air.

  *

  The world blurred and snapped back into focus.

  Shane leaned heavily against the cold brick wall of a deserted alleyway, about a dozen blocks away from Luke. He slid down until he hit the pavement, letting out long breaths.

  He couldn’t just spam [Blink] until he got home. Not in this pathetic state.

  Ding.

  The System didn’t give him a moment to rest.

  [Achievement Unlocked - First Dungeon Breach Raid]

  Home is the place the Boss Monster isn’t supposed to be.

  Reward: Skill Point +1

  [Achievement Unlocked - Temporarily Awakened an S-rank]

  Don’t judge a tank by his rank.

  Reward: Skill Point +1

  [Achievement Unlocked - Kill 1,000 enemies]

  You can’t make a legend without breaking a thousand necks.

  Reward: Skill Point +1

  [Achievement Unlocked - Save Five-Hundred People]

  You can’t make a legend without breaking a sweat.

  Achievement rewards, too?

  Shane raised a tired eyebrow. That would be a nice, hefty settlement from Heaven’s Executioner. After taking all the skill points, he checked the last achievement’s reward.