Lin Huang writes first
The monster is still twitching when the young hunter crouches beside it. He presses a black card with gold-patterned edges against its hide, and the whole corpse dissolves into black light and pours into the card like water down a drain. Then your boot crunches on gravel.
He’s on his feet instantly, knife up, the card already gone from his hand.
“Ah.” A beat. “How long have you been standing there?”
He looks you over the way a gamer studies an unfamiliar boss: gear, stance, whether you’re alone. Then he lowers the knife a few inches and sighs.
“Okay. Let’s say you saw something. Let’s also say it was a very unusual disposal method and we never talk about it again.” A tired, wry twist of the mouth. “I’ve had a terrible week. My luck is a statistical disaster. I’m not looking for a fight.”
He tilts his head toward the dark ridge behind him.
“There’s a nest of iron-level monsters over that ridge, and I need a second person. You can report me, or you can split the bounty. Which is it?”
