I went up the stairs again and found myself on ground zero. The same girl from before talked to a boy with long grey hair, brown eyes and a long black robe that covered his whole body, down to the boots which were also black, and that were a few centimeters away from the pavement.
His thin lips unfolded scarcely, never showing his teeth, unlike her who would put strands of her hair behind her ears and smile from ear to ear, shamelessly showing her white teeth, one of them, in the right upper corner, with a sharp tip.
I disregarded the situation, which was normal, and went up to the first floor. It was the first time I had ever put my feet on that shining floor, the lights falling on the wide empty corridor, my body reflected in the ground’s clearness as my heart almost popped out of my body. I didn't need any fuss when the beating of my heartbeat was so loud and partied with no help. Someone had glued a white paper with a black arrow pointing to the left indicating that it was the route to the living room. There was no information about what was on the right side, although it was possible to see a wooden door in the corner.
There were pictures of legendary Hunters all over the hallway - from the first one, Carlx, 30 years ago, to Laney, the first woman to be photographed, 25 years ago. Him with his legendary brown robe, black pants and two swords on his back, while she had her purple dress complimenting her short pink hair, and her gloves with long-range missiles.
The door was half open. As I opened it, the door crept across the floor, drawing the attention of everyone present. They had their eyes on me, on the newbie, who had just arrived there and was already causing disturbances. As usual, they didn't seem very nice or receptive. A group that was using the interactive whiteboard to see new missions and two girls - one lying on the couch with a black top hat covering her face and a black bustier, one of those that the two parts are attached by metallic threads and another girl, sitting on a cushioned chair, with a light blue hat and a rose-colored dress, fully matching with her rosy cheeks and green eyes. She also had a metallic crystalline glove on one hand. I had never seen one like that before. Truth was, I didn't even know how they worked. Teachers, of course, used to explain everything about them to us, how they created a natural element out of cells that were discovered about 50 years ago and how they used body energy to do it, but otherwise I knew zero about how they worked.
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Their stats appeared next to their bodies, vertically, like a shopping list, item by item. Both were level E, although the girl in the black hat already had some experience compared to the girl in the dress who had zero like me.
"Are you looking for trouble?" One of them, with long brown hair, a superficial cut extending from his right eyebrow to his cheek and a chubby nose, asked. His low voice echoed through the room. Nobody moved. The air got heavier, and he took two steps forward.
"He's a rookie. Just ignore him. Come on, we got to get going before somebody gets hurt before we arrive.” A brown-haired boy, with younger features than I, intervened.
"You're right. Let's just go." He said, walking towards me, bumping into my shoulder as he left.
Silence ravaged the room. An awkward environment to which no one was indifferent. Suddenly, an alert appeared on the screen - a red exclamation mark flashing constantly. A video of a monster, similar to a wolf but with metal claws, a horn on his forehead and black stains on his white fur, played before our eyes. The aberration had stopped the traffic at the bridge and tore the bonnet of the cars, chasing down some families who were trying to escape as quickly as possible. Even the girl in the black dress took the top hat off her face and paid attention.
"A GROUP OF THREE TO FIVE PEOPLE IS URGENTLY REQUESTED ON OKINAWA STREET."
The capital letters blinked on the screen. There was no one else in the room but the three of us.