The woman held her breath and reported with a hush, her voice shaky.

"C-captain. Emergency."

"Zzzt. What— "

"A-at three o’clock...there is a house."

The captain hiding behind another building blinked. He subconsciously tapped his helmet and murmured,

"Is the signal bad? Even the information is distorted— "

"No, captain! It’s real! A house came out of the void!"

The woman gritted her teeth and another hunter spoke in the voice channel, his voice soft.

"I-I have a vision sharing skill..."

"I’ll share the vision with you guys."

"Huh? Wait, there’s no need— "

Before the captain could finish, the timid young man chanted and an invisible force crawled like roots, extending to the other hunters.

In just a few seconds, everyone’s vision flickered and what they saw was what the young man saw—

A road that had turned into mud.

Traces of scratches, burns and cracks splattered everywhere.

Behind the mess, a white fog moved slowly, like breathing.

Hidden beyond the fog was a blurry, black silhouette— of a house.

The channel fell silent for a split second before someone yelped in disbelief.

"Is that a mirage?? An illusion? Must be the red fog’s doing!"

"The fog is white...is this a different fog or something?"

"Dude, can your vision see beyond the fog?"

"I-I’ll try."

The young man’s vision zoomed in, penetrating the fog with a needle-like gaze.

But then— an invisible energy blocked the needle.

All he could see is white...and the black shadow behind it.

The other hunters saw the same vision and they subconsciously inhaled sharply.

How come?

This guy’s vision can see beyond barriers and even gates.

But he couldn’t see through this fog??

Something...is not right!

The hunters’ instinct blared and the captain swallowed, his voice stern as he spoke in the voice channel.

"Alert. Alert. All hunters on standby! An unknown target detected— "

"Captain! The giant worms are moving!"

A hunter observing the worm gate saw the worms’ huge movements and hurriedly reported, cutting off the captain’s speech once again.

The captain was speechless as he murmured,

"Vision guy, look at the gate."

"O-okay." The vision hunter shifted his vision towards the giant worms.

Thump. Thump.

Huge bodies slammed against the ground.

One, three, five.

"Where are they going?"

Someone asked in the voice channel and soon, the hunters saw it.

The giant worms all approached the same place—

That house.

The hunters’ breath stilled, their hearts drummed.

"W-why are the worms heading there?"

They had never seen so many thumpers targeting the same target at once!

Is there...something special with that house?

The hunters were racking their brains when the giant worms abruptly stiffened.

Thump. Thump.

Their bodies slithered anxiously, tails thumping the road, yet none of them moved even an inch.

When the vision hunter zoomed in, all hunters clearly saw it.

The thumpers— were trembling.

That giant worm that everyone painstakingly avoided.

The ruler of this street.

Trembling?

"What...? What the hell..."

Before the captain could curse, the ground shook and a faint, humming noise sounded.

Hummmm.

The tough asphalt melted into mud.

Something moved underneath— heading straight to the house.

Hearing the familiar humming noise, the hunters’ faces changed.

"A- a digger!" The captain clutched his chest.

"W-what? A digger? Here??"

Just the mention of the name made the hunters’ faces pale.

The image of their comrades’ gruesome death flashed in their minds.

Some hunters covered their mouths tightly, their bodies trembling.

If a thumper was a lion— the digger was a t-rex.

It was impossible to fight.

But...why is it here?

While the hunters were crouching down, holding their breaths carefully, eyes shaking—

Inside the house, Lucien’s 360° vision caught sight of the moving ground around his house.

Hummmm.

Lurenzo flinched and he hurriedly rolled out, his face pale.

"T-that sound!"

That monster is here!

Lurenzo felt like fainting, but he saw the corner of Lucien’s lips curled up.

...?

Did that guy just...smile?

"Lurenzo."

Lucien spoke as he walked to the small living room, his 360° vision kept track of the ground movement.

"W-what is it??"

"Come."

Lucien slowly sat on the sofa, his legs crossed.

In his eyes, the image of his house appeared and so did the purple-ish barrier that no one could see.

Hummmm.

The sound was getting louder.

Mumu trembled and hurriedly hid in Lucien’s arms, his voice shaking.

"Muuu!"

Mumu...afraid!

"Shhhh. Don’t be afraid."

Lucien patted Mumu’s head calmly, but his inner soul was biting his thumb, eyes on the invisible barrier.

This has to work!

Lucien’s inner soul gulped, slowly hiding under a blanket.

If it doesn’t work...

Hummmm.

The humming sound was already right next to the ear.

Lucien’s finger hovered over the 3D barrier image, his breath faint.

Calm. Wait.

The humming sound suddenly disappeared.

Lucien’s eyes instantly sharpened.

Now!

The invisible purple barrier twisted, the energy formed a beast’s jaw, wide open.

At the same time—

A huge shadow burst out of the ground, about to pierce the tile like before, but—

Bang!

Its body hit something hard.

"Hissss!"

The thing quickly reacted, about to dive back into the ground when...

Plop.

An invisible jaw chomped down.

Crack.

The digger’s body split into two.

The lower half quickly disappeared into the purple barrier while the other half pounced out, the body trembling from head to toe.

Hummmm.

The humming noise was urgent, desperate...

But it had only moved for a split second and then—

Chomp.

The open jaw swallowed the other half.

Chew. Chew. Chew.

The sound of munching came from the barrier and the system popped up.

[-5% energy]

[Main dungeon’s energy reserve: 65%]

A few seconds later, the sound of munching disappeared and the purple barrier slowly stilled, as if it never moved before.

DING! [Barrier durability +10]

The digger’s body turned into the barrier’s durability.

Unfortunately, that 1% chance wasn’t triggered.

Ah. What a pity.

Lucien shook his head, not knowing that outside, a group of hunters stared at his house, eyes wide.

What...was that...?

Did the digger just...

Disappear?