The next day, Kaido woke up to a strange sensation... It wasn't pain, but a suffocating lightness, as if his body no longer fully belonged to this world. It was as if the very air around him had changed; every particle seemed to watch him, breathe with him—or against him.
He looked at his hand. The mark was still there, wrapped around his wrist like a glowing red tattoo, pulsing slowly, like a tiny heart under his skin, separate from his real heartbeat. He remembered the white void, the pillars, the deep voice that called him to choose blood, and the moment he said, "I accept."
"You chose... blood." The echo repeated in his mind, not as a memory, but as a living resonance that returned every time the world went quiet.
He stood slowly, feeling the ground as if it might slip from beneath him. His steps were steady, though he wasn't sure of anything anymore. He didn't know if he was still Kaido Shin... or something else born from his remains.
He left his apartment in silence. The rain fell softly, washing the streets of the ash left behind by the past three days. Everything looked cleaner, but colder. As if the city itself was trying to erase what had happened... but failing.
He saw his reflection in the window of a closed shop. His eyes… they weren't the same. There was a faint glow in them, red like fire in ash. People couldn't see it, but Kaido felt it deep inside. A new power—but it didn't entirely belong to him.
He passed by a massive screen on a building showing reports on the Shibuya Gate incident. His face appeared for a moment—blurry, captured by a hospital surveillance camera.
"Hunter Kaido Shin, the lone... and mysterious survivor."
"Weird…" he murmured. "Like I'm dead, but still breathing."
That evening, he received a message on his phone from an unknown number: "A D-rank gate has appeared in Nishi-Shinjuku. You are invited to attend as a field observer. – The Hunter Association."
He hesitated. He could've ignored it, but something inside pushed him to respond and attend. He wasn't ready to fight—but he wanted to understand. To see with his own eyes if he was still human… or something else.
At the Nishi-Shinjuku gate, the air shimmered. The energy rippled like heat above asphalt. The gate—a glowing emerald-green circle—rotated slowly in the air, emitting vibrations like an inaudible moan felt in the bones.
Kaido wasn't alone. A small team of young hunters waited for him. Their leader, an energetic young man named "Taku," ranked C, had a smiling face and cautious eyes. He greeted Kaido warmly, but Kaido sensed something wary behind the smile.
"I heard about what happened in Shibuya… Strange they only sent you as an observer."
"Maybe because I'm no longer fit to fight," Kaido replied flatly.
Taku laughed, but didn't comment further. He seemed to be weighing Kaido's words with some invisible scale.
They entered the gate. Inside was a distorted forest, its trees black and the ground bleeding faint green light. The air was unnaturally cold, and shadows moved even when nothing stirred them.
It didn't take long for the first monster to appear—a creature like a wolf, eyes glinting like knives, and poisoned fur like thorns.
The team launched into battle. The hunters moved in trained coordination, attacking from multiple angles. Kaido held back, observing. He wasn't afraid—but something within him resisted joining in… as if the power inside was waiting for the right moment, the moment it would erupt uninvited.
Then the unexpected happened. One of the monsters moved from behind, unnaturally silent, and leapt at one of the hunters from a blind spot. No one saw it—except Kaido.
He moved without thinking.
He leapt. His hand extended instinctively, and the tattoo on his wrist ignited. Red energy burst from his body, like a living pulse, shaking the ground with its force. The monster flew into the air, slammed into a black tree trunk, and exploded like dust.
Everyone fell silent.
Even Kaido was stunned. He hadn't felt like he used his power… it felt like the power had used him.
"What... is this?" he murmured.
Taku said quietly, "That's not E-rank energy…"
But there was no time for questions. More monsters appeared, as if the gate had responded to Kaido's power. As if his presence had awakened it to a strange force—or a threat beyond the norm.
The monsters were different this time. Their limbs were longer, their eyes wilder, and they moved faster. The real battle had begun.
This time, Kaido didn't hesitate. He fought.
His movements were instinctive, as if his body remembered techniques he never learned. His fists burned, his eyes locked onto the hearts of monsters, and his strikes were not human—they were something else, a mix of rage and regret, and blood.
One hunter screamed, "Is that… some kind of Pact?!"
Kaido heard him—but didn't answer. He didn't know the answer himself.
The more he fought, the brighter the tattoo burned. And with each pulse, he saw flashes in his mind: a blood-soaked hand… a door closing behind him… and a voice whispering in his ear, "You chose the path. Do not look back."
And when the battle ended, everyone was exhausted… except Kaido.
He stood, breathing slowly, his eyes glowing brighter than ever.
Taku approached him, hesitant: "Who are you, really?"
Kaido didn't reply. He just looked up at the green sky above them, where the gate began to fade—like it was swallowing a new secret.