March 2nd, six years ago. This was the day Beast's—no, Brooklyn Morgan's—husband was killed in an attack. She had never been one to count days or celebrate anniversaries, yet, strangely, March 2nd remained etched deeply in her mory.
"Hmm..."
Brooklyn had actually possessed two distinctly different personalities since her teenage years, as if she wore a mask that she could put on and take off at will. Because of this, she struggled to fit into society and spent long years alone in the deep mountains. But one day, an outsider appeared by chance, revealing affectation towards her.
Her abnormal childhood had left her with poor social skills. Unlike her first personality—kind and humorous—her other self was impulsive, the type who, given the right knowledge of weaponry, could commit a shooting spree at any mont.
How could that outsider have loved even the beast's monstrous side? The two won, who had been living quietly in their cabin, soon fell for the sa man. He understood and embraced Beast's true nature, which was why the three of them were able to share a peaceful married life.
No, it's not just about saying it was peaceful and leaving it at that. If that life had lasted a bit longer, there was a real possibility that Brooklyn's inner turmoil would have gradually stabilized, and the problematic personalities in her mind might have slowly faded away naturally.
"March 2nd."
That day finally ca.
The day when a certain outsider died. When the voice in her head grew clearer. And the day she gained supernatural abilities—yet couldn't bring back the corpse lying before her eyes.
***
Beep. Beep.
Let's continue the dream that soone used to have. One day, through Brooklyn Morgan's old cell phone, a call from the police arrives. The ssage informs her that her husband has been caught up in a random murder and has passed away. They ask her to co to the hospital to confirm the victim's identity.
And before long, Morgan ca face to face with the body—cold and still, just like the cadavers often shown in CSI dramas.
The body, stiff and with eyes wide open, was undeniably the stranger she had lived with. However, the appearance of the spouse she had loved so much had faded.
"Oh my."
I liked it when this man smiled. So does that an I'll never see that expression again? She felt a deep sorrow over the situation, but strangely, she didn't react beyond that. Unlike the other victims who had received the call, she didn't wail loudly or shed any tears; instead, she remained oddly indifferent.
In this way, Brooklyn often showed an unusual deanor when it ca to emotional expression. However, that didn't an she wasn't affected by the situation. It was just that her emotions didn't show easily. Brooklyn suffered such a great psychological trauma from her husband's death that one of her personalities was completely twisted as a result.
Still, whether there's a god in this world or not, Brooklyn was soon granted the gift of an S-class awakening after losing so much. Unfortunately, she felt no excitent or reaction to the sudden ergence of her superpowers. She had no desire to beco a superhero or anything of the sort. In the end, she quietly held her husband's funeral and confird that the young perpetrator, who had committed the indiscriminate killings, was sentenced to life in prison. By that ti, Brooklyn had returned to her previous life.
She lived a simple life, locked in a cabin deep in the forest, tending to her garden. She occasionally ate wild animals caught in traps.
Moreover, after her husband's death, strangely, the violent persona that had once been a problem never surfaced again. Brooklyn had never directly communicated with the part of herself that harbored that side, but she instinctively understood that this was likely a result of the exhaustion caused by her grief.
What a stupid response. It's not like grieving would bring her deceased spouse back. What aning could there possibly be in wasting emotions like that?
Thud!
Brooklyn struck the dry firewood with her axe. Life in the mountains was repetitive and tedious, but not exactly leisurely. Even preparing firewood for cooking kept her busy every day. The new S-class awakened in Arica lived a life of isolation, not revealing her identity to anyone, and not even watching a single TV show—living an old-fashioned lifestyle.
"Hmm."
Around four months had passed. Just when she thought her peace would last, another disturbance shook her life. One day, she discovered that all the rabbit traps she had set around her ho had been completely destroyed by soone.
But who the hell would do sothing like this? In the past, she had heard her husband's advice that laying traps like this could lead to a lawsuit, so she had clearly placed signs everywhere stating that the land was private property and that traps had been set...
It was at that mont. As Brooklyn was inspecting the damaged traps, sothing was thrown behind her. A bright red net, a unique-level binding item. It was an ambush.
In truth, Brooklyn had unknowingly been discovered living alone in her cabin, and because of this, she was about to get caught up in so kind of cri.
"Got you...!"
As the woman got caught in the net, a figure appeared from behind, lifting a weapon with a heavy breath. But what followed was an unexpected scene for the assailant. Brooklyn, with a burst of strength, tore through the net that bound her and swiftly struck the opponent's wrist with a wood axe.
"Gaaah!"
"— You can't kill people, honey.
— You'll never be able to return to this cabin again.
Brooklyn rembered the words of her late husband. So, she restrained her attacker without inflicting more pain than necessary. But she never expected that the criminal she had caught was actually a serial killer—one who had already committed the very 'Forbidden act' multiple tis.
"Aaah... ugh."
"Thank you so much for your cooperation in the arrest, ma'am."
The mysterious awakened individual who had attacked her was none other than a possessor of [Ambition], a scoundrel of the new era who repeatedly committed such acts in an attempt to steal the abilities of the strong. Several years ago, Brooklyn had personally captured a serial killer in Texas.
To be more precise, this incident occurred because the concept of S-rank awakeners had not yet been firmly established at the ti. The criminal, a B-rank awakener, had mistakenly assud that Brooklyn was at best a slightly stronger A-rank and recklessly attempted this hire. But as it turned out, she had simply never used her power before. Had she chosen to, she could have easily turned the entire state of Texas into a wasteland.
"Are you alright? You must have been quite surprised."
"I'm not sure."
"If you were able to subdue that murderer, you must be quite the powerful awakened. May I ask your na for a mont...?"
Brooklyn stood there as the victim of the incident, exchanging a few words with the officer. anwhile, the Texas murderer shouted from the side.
"Please spare ! I just wanted to see what kind of abilities she had. I wasn't planning to kill anyone this ti! I swear, I just wanted to ask her what she realized from the shock!"
After going through all the trouble of preparing an item and carefully planning the cri, now he was babbling excuses at the last minute.
"I just wanted a good skill. I just... I only wanted a good skill..."
Crack!
And right after that, an unexpected explosion echoed through the air of the blue mountains.
"Damn it!"
"What is this?"
"This is crazy...!"
The officers gathered in the cabin couldn't understand the situation. Brooklyn, too, took a long ti to process what had just happened. The Texas murderer, who had been tightly bound in a special restraint, was now lifeless, collapsed on the floor. It was as if she had swatted away a bug crawling on her without realizing it. With a lightning-fast clap of her hands, Brooklyn had struck the criminal's head—And that was how this disaster unfolded.
"Oh."
The real issue was—why had she suddenly resorted to such violence? It was then that Brooklyn finally beca aware of the hatred rooted deep within her.
The situation unfolding now wasn't the work of her second persona, the one that had been dormant all this ti. Brooklyn Morgan, who had so social skills, killed the murderer.
"Oh my God."
At so point, she had co to utterly despise the supernatural powers that had erged in this world. So when the ashes, had hesitated to desire a craving for magic, she found it repulsive—and unable to suppress her disgust, she ended up crushing the sorcerer's skull.
What followed was pure chaos. By killing the Texas Awakener, she inadvertently exposed herself as a being of imnse magical power. A high-ranking figure in Arican politics—the future Spectrum Guild Leader—soon approached her with an offer that they would cover up her cri in exchange for her loyalty. Brooklyn accepted. Perhaps thanks to the long years spent with her partner, she had beco sowhat socialized.
"Okay."
Of course, if the terms of the knight's oath had been too unreasonable, the world would have had another major news story that day. Fortunately, the demands were sothing the newly awakened S-rank Hunter could accept without much trouble.
[Do not harm non-Awakener without permission.]
Of course, that higher-up also imposed excessively low wages for an S-rank hire, along with various botherso orders—but what had she to do? One way or another, it was still less of a hassle than becoming an enemy of a powerful nation. And so, the U.S. authority succeeded in securing an S-rank healer under their command.
Moreover, the process that followed went more smoothly than expected. With her violent persona now dormant, leaving only two incomplete identities, she found that she could navigate social life with a surprising degree of gentleness.
"Well, I won't be bored anymore."
Brooklyn Morgan took on all the tasks that others hesitated to do without hesitation, as the dog of the Spectrum Guild Leader. This was the secret behind her rise to the top.
Unlike Jung Haseong, who volunteered to serve his country, Brooklyn was forced to raid nurous gates in exchange for avoiding a prison sentence for her face. Moreover, due to her oath, she had to surrender all items—even those that would make any ordinary hunter drool, such as [Dragon's Heart]—to her superior.
But even so, everything was fine.
Ironically, despite being an S-rank hunter favored by the world's mana, she despised anything magic more than anything else.
"Hmm."
She adapted to her new roles as if she were acting in a play, wearing the social mask of the "bright and competent Brooklyn Morgan." Since she rarely acted impulsively, her superiors gradually began to forget about her personality issues.
But one day, as the anniversary of her husband's death approached, she checked the calendar and suddenly heard a low voice whispering in her ear.
Brooklyn.
It was the voice of the one who had been asleep for so long. The woman in her mind who had loved the sa man.
"Aha."
It had beco much more articulate during the ti it had been dormant. Before, it only spoke awkwardly like a newborn baby. Now, isn't it expressing its desires in a polite and social way?
I want to go back.
This ant that it wanted to return to that blank slate of a ti—before superpowers, before her husband. Even though she had hesitated to send her 'slave' into the field. But upon reflection, she realized there was a way to go on a rampage herself missing the past when she could freely chase rabbits, listening to no one.
Yeah. Hunting. It would be great to hunt as she pleased.
But she could no longer run wild without a second thought. Too many years had passed, and now her acts of violence would no longer be dismissed as the reckless rebellion of a confused girl. If she recklessly wielded her dangerous S-rank powers, she would truly beco a death-row convict.
"Ah."
But then, a breaking news story ca on the TV that she had inadvertently turned on.
[Breaking news: A dangerous monster has escaped from the gate, causing panic...]
It was news report explaining the [Nuckelavee] incident in Hawaii. Spectrum's administrator, fearing the loss of his assets, had hesitated to send her 'slave' into the field. But upon reflection, she realized there was a way to go on a rampage while avoiding the scrutiny of her superiors.
Not by using the publicly known awakened abilities of 'Brooklyn Morgan', but rather...
Set free.
With the power of this thing with a great voice. It would be possible to pretend to be another awakened person.
What followed was nothing but a series of impulsive actions. Brooklyn Morgan, driven purely by the desire to wield violence at her whim, placed a new mask over her past, a trophy from the distant past, a trophy from who knows where—just an ordinary-grade facial ornant. And a piece of clothing made by stitching together various black animal hides she had collected over years of hunting as a hobby.
"It's done."
Disguising her face and body, she joined the battle against Nuckelavee.
Before long, she was rembered as the hero who evaded the Hawaii crisis and earned the nickna 'Beast.' At the ti, she had hesitated to send her 'slave' into the field. But upon reflection, she realized there was a way to go on a rampage, spiders, and even crash-landed aliens,
she was simply relieving stress through the novelty of a double life.
"Hmm?"
One day, while traveling the world with her hidden awakening abilities, Brooklyn ca across a new dungeon in a cave on a small, uninhabited island.
Wooong...
A bright-toned light, signifying an EX-rank. In a way, that was the root of all evil.
The reason Beast suddenly started committing murder. The reason Brooklyn beca obsessed with anonymity. And the reason she eventually crossed paths with a young hero and a con artist in a re C-rank dungeon.
In fact, if you look closely, all of this tragedy was caused by that one gate.
User Comments
0 comments from readers