The system chimes again. Hunter lurking in the shadows. Build your infamy. Greater rewards await beyond your imagination.
Your spreading infamy has unlocked a partial hunter ability. Mark. You can mark a target to strike its weak point. Marked targets suffer negative status effects. Potency scales with the gap in power between you and the target. A single mark lasts one second only. Activating it consumes stamina. This ability may reveal your position. A target that detects and pursues the mark will receive a combat boost. If the target successfully hunts you down, one of your own attributes will increase as a result.
Jang Yu scratches his head. A new ability from infamy? When did I even get infamy?
He notices the viewer count on his stream. Wait. Is it because of the broadcast?
A grin spreads across his face. Hunt aberrants. Post the clips. Unlock new abilities. This whole system shoots both money and power through the roof. In that case, time to put in some overtime.
He gets to his feet. He activates Mark through his eyes and immediately lets out a sharp breath. He can see the aberrant's stats and a glowing red point on its body. The weak spot.
He shifts his weight and moves. He drops from the street lamp straight toward the aberrant. The rush is electric.
The hunt begins.
Back in the real world, Jang Yu's apartment.
Jang Yu gets smacked hard by something white and unidentified. Pain explodes across his head. He drops onto the floor, yelping, "Hey, that actually hurts."
Lu Yaoyao, pink hair and zero patience, glares down at him. "Can't stay home for five minutes without picking a fight with someone."
Her words are sharp, but her hands are already opening the first aid kit.
Jang Yu winces. "Easy. I was out there being a hero. Okay? Don't talk about things you don't understand."
Lu Yaoyao looks at him sideways, completely unconvinced. "Really? Name one hero who comes home scraped up like this every single day. No ability and all the attitude."
She shoves a cotton ball up his nostril without further comment.
Jang Yu turns his head and mutters just loud enough for no one. "These scratches. Shadow form would clear them up in minutes. I only left them so she could do this."
Lu Yaoyao stares at him. "What are you mumbling about over there?"
Jang Yu takes a quick gulp of water to steady himself and pivots hard. "Nothing. Hey, any good movies out lately? We should go see one."
Lu Yaoyao pulls out her phone and scrolls. "Nothing worth watching. All trash lately. Though there is this one streamer." Her eyes light up despite herself.
Jang Yu blinks. "What streamer?"
Lu Yaoyao leans in and pulls up the video, holding it out for him to see. On screen, himself in shadow form, delivering the most painfully cringe self-introduction he has ever heard in his life.
Jang Yu spits out his sparkling water. He is cringing so hard he nearly curls through the floor.
Lu Yaoyao pulls the phone back with a look of disgust. "It's just a video. Why are you choking?"
Jang Yu wipes his face. "Nothing. Nothing. You've been watching this guy?"
A pleased little smile crosses her face. "Obviously. Two days and he's already trending. He's the biggest awakened content creator right now."
A cold feeling creeps over him. Night Watch might already be watching.
He keeps his voice carefully casual. "Huh. Pretty impressive. Is it even legal to post awakened content like that? Could I make videos explaining the awakened world?"
Jang Yu's eyes go distant, already calculating.
Lu Yaoyao spreads her hands with an amused look. "You don't actually think reading a few articles makes you a match for veterans with years of field experience, do you?"
Then he points at her skirt hem and adds, "Also, don't go out dressed like that. You'll attract the wrong kind of attention. Last time I lost one."
A sly grin creeps onto his face before he can stop it.
Lu Yaoyao's expression goes flat. "You said you lost one."
She steps behind him in an instant. Gun already in hand, appearing from nowhere. She presses it against his back. "Those injuries of yours. Don't tell me you got them stalking some poor girl."
Jang Yu's hands go straight up. "Okay, okay. That was a joke."
Lu Yaoyao doesn't lower the gun. "Who's to say?"
"Have mercy, Officer Lu."
Lu Yaoyao shoves him forward. "Not a chance. Your punishment. You're cooking dinner."
Later, Jang Yu collapses onto the couch, completely worn out. He's finally managed to see Lu Yaoyao's brother off. And the moment he opens his phone, a flood of messages.
He starts feeling good about it. He must be blowing up.
Then he spots the tone of the messages. Not friendly. A wave of them, all pointing him to the same account. Someone called Daer.
Already confirmed fake.
Come out and face it.
Stop hiding.
Jang Yu stares at his screen. What? What do you mean fake?
He taps the link. A middle-aged man's voice fills his speakers. "No restaurant reviews today, folks. Today we're calling out a fake."
A man fans himself on camera, talking with total confidence. "You've all seen the video. Some Shadow taking on an aberrant, claims he's some anonymous assassin. Does this look real to you? Let's go through it frame by frame. Look at these two still frames. There's a break in continuity right here. Clearly edited, and the background post-processed. They covered up the inconsistencies."
Jang Yu's face twists with outrage. Isn't this guy a food blogger? And now he's riding my clout wave. Besides, I only cut out the embarrassing parts. That's editing. That's not fake.
Daer continues on screen. "Why am I calling this out? Because I am a legitimate, certified Night Watch contractor. In my day I've taken down more aberrants than I can count. Someone like this, I can spot a fake immediately. I'd advise a certain someone to consider their choices."
Jang Yu opens the comment section. Half believe it, half don't.
Jang Yu rakes a hand through his hair. Fine. Come at me. Back when I was drawing comics, people stirred up drama constantly. As it turned out, you only see who's swimming naked when the tide goes out.
He stretches. "But since they think it's fake, I'll just go hunt another one. Stack some more time on the clock. First, though, I need to handle Daer properly."
He switches to his alt account and starts posting videos calling himself out. A full self-roast campaign, throwing shade at himself from every angle.