I stabbed the last prey and rushed to the exit. I was too familiar with the way back to the monitoring room that I got back there even before the computer could repeat its boring and scary words. Yoonjie looked at me and chuckled.

   “Ah, you are starting to be tired with hand-to-hand combat. Since you are almost at Level Seven already, I’ll give you what I owe you: your official weapon. Now you are moving on to the next stage of a legal hunter: choosing your outfit and weapons.”

   “But I’ve got my outfit here already.” I pointed at myself and Yoonjie rolled her eyes mumbling something about my intelligence. Hot blood began to stream on my head, but I relaxed and exhaled deeply. Yeah, I was used to it.

   “Listen,” She growled. “What you are wearing is only your Judgement, and your basic class will be judged by that. Every Judgement is the same, but I think that they are getting worse lately. It is also something you wear in your training in your first four levels, and that’s all. After you’ve reached Level Five, you will be able to choose your oufit-in-combat and your official weapon. Here’s how it’ll work.” She pressed a yellow button and the walls of the maze lowered down. “You’ll go there and show those punching bags what you’ve got. The computer will automatically analyze your movements and select the best stuff for you. This is the easiest part in your whole process, so relax.”

   “Okay. I’m coming there.” I walked through the door and got near the punching bags. The dagger was going to sacrifice under my hand soon after the test. I comforted myself thinking that I took the best use of it.

   “Ready, Mysterie?” Yoseob replaced the spot of Yoonjie’s on the controlling board. Hearing his voice made me feel so much comfortable. I looked at the camera and nodded.

“One, two, three… Go!” He ordered and I sprang ahead. Things were so much easy to me doing stuff like this after all of Yoonjie’s torturing sessions. I appreciated her silently in my heart and began to do elegant moves while stabbing the bags until a giant dummy popped up right under my feet. I lost my balance and staggered while still standing on his head. With one foot.

   Now what the is this?   

   In a blink of an eye, I grabbed its shoulder, flipped around and landed on the floor with my back facing the camera. I staggered a bit but hey, at least I was still safe.

   “Testing process finished.” The computer announced. A silver platform rose up from the ground and I got closer to have a nice look at it. There was there a gun there. I picked it up and saw some letters inscribed on it. Insane.

   “Ah, I see that you’ve got yourself a gun like many other hunters.” Yoonjie approached me with her smooth voice. “This is going to be worth shooting some bastards from a far away distance. Put it away and let me see your hand-to-hand weapon.”

   “This?” I held out some blades found on the platform. “How am I supposed to use these?”

   “Ah! Your new outfit’s there!” Yoonjie jumped around like a kid opening her Christmas present. “Go there and try it, quick! I wonder how the designing department dealt with it when I sent the report!” She pushed me into something that looked like a dressing room that had just appeared in a corner nearby. I reluctantly stepped in and saw my outfit hanging beside the mirror.

   What. The. Hell.

   I looked my outfit. My impractical, manga-like outfit freaked me out for a second.

   “Are you done with it, Mysterie?” Yoonjie shrieked my name excitingly. I gulped and put that riddiculous outfit on as fast I could. Then I turned around and looked at my reflection in the mirror. Well…

   The sleeves of my double-ed military-styled jacket were extremely long, covering my hands and reached over the length of the white pleated skirt, which was a bit above my knees. A big bow right on the collar finished the touch. May I present you a young vampire that had just been turned into a secondary student who couldn’t fit her giant feet into those cute black boots. I sighed and walked out with those boots on my hand, comforting myself about how the tight black shorts inside my skirt wouldn’t make me look y in the way Junhyung pointed out before. Yoonjie looked at me and squealed:

   “You are so cute!” She gave me a bear hug and spun around cheerfully. Back then I realized that she was just around my age, and grinned. “Why aren’t you wearing your boots?” She stopped spinning and asked me.

   “Well… I…” I said abruptly, pointing at the boots and my feet at the same time. At first, Yoonjie looked confused, but after that, she smirked mischieviously and pushed a button right on the door of the dressing room. “Hey, we have a problem here.” She said. “Please send us boots of a larger size, around 39 or 40.”

   “We’re on it.” A voice replied. “Please wait for a few moments.”

   “Meanwhile….” Yoonjie took the blades. “You can just hold them between your fingers and…” She turned around and swung her arm strongly, and the blades flew out like bullets before pinning on one of the dummies nearby. Wow, fantastic baby.

   “It’s hard to take them back, so don’t use it unless you are in an emergency.” Yoonjie pulled the blades out of the dummies and handed them to me. “I also suggest dipping them in poison. That will make things easier. You can give it a shot.”

   Here goes nothing… I gulped and put the blade between my fingers clumsily before swinging my arm at another dummy on the left. Almost every of them pinned on the dummy, leaving a scary noise.  I began to gather them and put them back into their small bag. The people sent another pair of boots for me and they fit perfectly. I also received another gift from Taeyoung-ssi, who I had just met for one time. It was a belt that had place for both of my gun and my blades. I secretly placed the broken dagger in the bag. After all, I spent all of my first training sessions with it.

   “Come on, complete hunter.” Yoonjie patted my back as we headed back to the monitoring room, where the knights were waiting. Hyunseung and Junhyung gaped at me for a few seconds as Yoseob beamed cheerfully.

   “It looks good on you.”

   My heart fluttered. I have never seen anything that beautiful in my entire mortal life. And my immortal life. I pretended to clear my throat with a small couch and turned away before any of them could spot my red face. Handsomeness can sometimes become dangerous.

   “You okay?” Yoseob asked me worriedly. I turned back with an over-enthusiastic attitude and soon regretted it. “Uhm… Yeah, sure, I’m fine.” I mumbled.

   “The Queen invited us to join her in dinner.” Junhyung adjusted his collar. “She read Yoonjie’s report and was quite impressed on what we have accomplished. We should have been there already.”

♥

   We opened the hall’s door and walked inside. All eyes were all us. After all, what could be more interesting than a troop of three top knights, an infamous free hunter and a Level Six A Class? The Queen was sitting on a luxurious dining chair on the other side of the room. She ordered a royal maid to lead us to her side. As my metal heels began to made clanks as they met the floor, the way next to the Queen felt like miles. I looked down to the floor, feeling others’ gaze pinning on my back. Finally, we got next to the Queen. I sighed in relief. Yoseob got into his seat, right next to the Queen’s right. Junhyung got next to him and sat down, followed by Hyunseung and nine more knights. One of them had familiar brown hair and sharp eyes, but I was too nervous to remember who he was. The Queen smiled at me secretly and pointed at a seat almost right next to her left. I sat there, leaving an awkward space between the Queen and I, which was immidiately filled by Yoonjie. She smiled at me encouragingly and looked at the Queen. She stood up and made a cheerful clatter with her spoon and glass. Everyone turned around.

   “As you all have probably known, we are very honored to have our two special guests here with us today. First, let me introduce Kim Yoonjie-ssi, our talented free hunter from the North of the kingdom!”

   Some people clapped reluctantly. Yoonjie smirked and stayed calm in her seat.

   “And, last but not least, please welcome Mysterie-ssi, the hunters’ newest member!”

   Yoonjie poked me with her elbow. I stood up with my eyes glued to the plate on the table. No one even clapped. I felt like I was going to cry anytime soon. Then I heard a loud clap. I looked up to see Yoseob, Junhyung and Hyunseung clapping while winking at me. Then Yoonjie clapped along, challenging anyone who dared to stop here. The short guy with black hair next to me joined them. So did the Queen. A few moments later, the whole hall seemed to burst with applause. I lifted my head and bowed at every direction before sitting down.

   Every place on this world is full of lies.

   “I’m Lee Taeil, A Class Level 126.” The short guy next to me sticked his and out. “You have been really famous lately. Anyway, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

   “Thank you. It’s my honor to meet you, sunbae. I’m Mysterie, A Class Level Six; but you can just call me __________.”

   He smiled at me cheerfully and began to eat the food that was served. I was feeling rather thirsty, so I picked up a glass nearby wanting to take a sip from it. Yoseob noticed it and he shook his head gently, just enough for me to see it. I put the glass down and pouted. He chuckled and turned around to have a casual chat with Junhyung. I stared at him unknowingly until Yoonjie poked my hip.

   “Stop staring at him like that. You still got plenty of time just to stare at him. Now eat something or you’ll starve to death later.”

   “Okay.” I looked down and faced a raw, bloody beefsteak. I chewed it slowly and tried to swallow, but it . All I could think about was Yoseob and the scent of his blood.