“WELCOME, NEW HUNTERS!”

The new hunters were called in the main entrance of WHA Itaport Headquarters the following week. There were a total of 10 newbies. Four of them are still in high school or the university, while 6 are adults either bored with their lives and want to seek thrills, or just don't give a damn about living or dying anymore.

The short, black-haired woman at the front, wearing a navy trench coat and a cigarette between her fingers, gave them all a welcoming, sleepy smile. The small, vertical scar on her nose just added to her sex appeal.

“The name’s Maxi,” she introduced in her natural small voice, giving off a peace sign and a wink. The two male university students and one newbie in his 30s sheepishly grinned. “Captain of one of the teams in this branch. As you already know, I am here to guide you on your first day as a wraith hunter. First, I’ll tour you inside the headquarters, then show you the training room, and inform you about what you’re supposed to do as newbies for your very first raid. Let’s go in!”

Kino found himself lined up with the other new hunters as soon as he left school. They were the third batch taking the late afternoon slot. According to Maxi, the first and second batches were each trained by different captains.

From afar, the building of the WHA Itaport Headquarters could easily be separated from the other typical Itaport buildings usually made with either red or yellow bricks on that old, quiet street. The WHA building in its dull colors of brown and black ducked out like a sore thumb. The plants and trees aren’t well taken care of. The lawns aren’t trimmed well, and the sidewalks are filled with pools of rainwater and dried mud from yesterday’s rain. The eastern walls have some sort of graffiti and two lamp posts that haven’t worked in 3 years. If there was no WHA signboard posted above the entrance doors, people wouldn’t even guess it was a Hunters’ Association building.

The automatic doors opened for Maxi, her thighs slipping out of her unbuttoned trench coat with each stride. “Careful! These doors are highly secured!”

“Don’t you just wanna die between those thighs?” Kino looked weirdly at the university student beside him when he muttered those words under his breath. He thought the guy was the studious type based on how decent he looked with his neat, slicked-back hair and formal attire until he went and opened his mouth. When the guy noticed him looking at him, he glared at Kino. “The fuck are you looking at? Mind your own business, high school boy.”

“Oh, yeah I definitely will.” He gave off a fake cringe smile.

What a weirdo.

The newbies entered one by one. It was an ordinary Monday afternoon. The setting sun bathed the buildings in an orange hue, and the birds were finding shelter before the upcoming darkness. Everyone was tired from the day, just like any other day.

Not until one of the newbies' heads exploded in front of everyone. Chunks of brain and flesh splattered, painting their faces and uniforms. Kino caught the most of it for being the last one before the man.

Complete silence followed.

As the buildings bathed in the orange hue of the setting sun, the new hunters were bathed in red blood, flesh, and skull bones.

“...”

“Oh my god, his head just exploded,” said a high school girl newbie. “It e-e-exploded!” The girl was shoved on the shoulders by the neat university guy pulling his hair hysterically.

“HIS HEAD JUST E-EXPLODED AND NOW HE’S DEAD!” Then it was followed by the screams of the newbies who weren't able to process the gruesome incident they’d just witnessed.

Kino’s legs trembled, stumbling weakly on the ground. The rest of the newbies were hysterically screaming and crying. Some even threw up, especially the youngsters. Kino’s screams were one of the loudest.

It was a very horrific scene, yet Maxi still had the urge to laugh like a maniac in the middle of chaos, leaving them all confused. Kino looked up at her. He noticed some of the hunters passing by behind her would take a glance at the exploded body and then proceed with what they were doing. It was as if it was just an ordinary thing they see in everyday life.

“He’s a wraith,” Maxi muttered, still smiling. “These doors have an anti-wraith system, whenever a wraith tries to pass it, their cores automatically get detected and destroyed using laser technology. If you’re human, you can step inside quickly, but if you’re a wraith,” she glanced at everyone, yet her eyes remained on Kino’s, who was the last one remaining outside. “And if you’re planning to turn back from these doors after what you’ve witnessed,” she swiftly took the Glock from the holster on her waist and pointed it at him, the smile on her face never leaving. “You’ll end up the same way.”

Why is she pointing it at me? Is she accusing me?

“I’m not a wraith! W-Why are you pointing that at me?” He instinctively raised his arms teary-eyed from the fear. His heart wouldn’t stop pounding; he felt like he was dying from a heart attack at any moment. He looked at everyone. He was the only male who had tears in their eyes after what they’d seen. It made him feel embarrassed but he couldn’t help it. It was the most gruesome scene he had ever seen in his life. The blood and flesh scattered across his body were enough for him to pass out, and never come back, yet he didn’t think of doing that at all.

“Oh, sorry.” Maxi put her gun back in her holster. “It became a hobby whenever I did this demo. Now everyone, let’s get moving.”

“W-What about the body?”

“Oh, you can leave that for the cleaners. Let’s go. I’ll show you the departments.”

A group of hunters wearing white lab gowns topped with transparent, plastic coats walked into the corridor opposite them to dispose of the headless body. They politely greeted Maxi and the newbies. “Can you bring spare suits for the newbies after you clean the body outside? Thanks.” The cleaners nodded and waved their hands. “They’re the nicest hunters in the Association.” Maxi complimented.

“Is it okay to roam the whole headquarters looking like this? It’s disgusting!” Said the high school girl, throwing up for the fourth time on the floor.

“Of course! That’s nothing compared to what we experience every day. You’ll get used to it eventually.” Maxi assured.

The female captain brought them to every department. Kino couldn’t even remember them all. Some hunters are just working in cubicles all day, typing at their computers, some are coming out of conference rooms, and others have just finished training in the training room. For their one-hour break, they were allowed to shower and change into their spare uniforms, which are the same types of expensive suits the association gives them for free. Kino was relieved to finally clean himself after walking around the whole headquarters for 2 hours stinking of flesh and blood.

“For our last stop, the training room, and then we are done for today. Everyone who applied for the enforcer position will train under me in Block A, where I will teach you how to use the enforcers’ assigned weapons and guns. Those who applied for the ergo-herald positions are to go to Block B, where you will meet a herald instructor to teach you energy manipulation.” The high school girl and one of the university students went in the direction of Block B. “And finally, those who applied for the dealer position, go to Block C to meet your instructor.” The neat university student called Calix was the only one who wandered off to Block C, looking clueless. The rest, including Kino, remained with Maxi where they all headed to Block A for their gun training.

It was an exhausting first day on the job. Kino looked like a limp noodle when he leaped to his bed as soon as he got home. He had no energy left to cook dinner, so he just bought take-out for Reno. His whole body was sore. He doesn’t work out, so the training which wasn’t even that intense, overwhelmed him to the core.

“From now on, you and I are one.”

Kino groaned, covering his head with the pillow as if it could block the voice in his head that wouldn’t stop talking whenever he was alone with his thoughts. For the following days since the questionable stabbing incident happened, the voice of someone who never stopped bothering his mind, yet he didn’t know, continued to pester him.

He doesn’t believe in the paranormal, but if it’s indeed the work of something paranormal, he’s ready to face it–just so he can talk it out of his head. Day by day, Kino thinks the voice will eventually make him insane. He doesn’t want to get to the point where he will turn crazy over something he finds absurd.