Chapter 79: Intense Malice

The guards at the apartment complex arranged a car for Lin Yan. A little over an hour later, he got out at the entrance to Blackpine Forest.

Barricades blocked the road into the forest, with military vehicles and several civilian SUVs parked nearby. Six young people were gathered at the registration desk, putting on their gear.

A ballistic vest paired with a round shield, chain mail over an outdoor jacket, and a battle-axe at the feet of a young man checking his rifle. They used whatever they could get their hands on. Given the scattered selection on the market, that made sense.

One of them wore a motorcycle helmet and held a spear. He was talking to the camera mounted on his companion’s chest.

"First B-Grade commission. Blackpine Forest. Target: a wendigo. Getting this on camera so I can show you guys when I make A-Grade."

"There are only a hundred or so worldwide. Dream big, huh?"

"No shit. Who wouldn’t want that?"

He gestured at the others, who laughed.

As Lin Yan approached, the young man wearing the camera spotted him first and raised his head. The others took in his build, then his left upper arm, their eyes following the scabbard all the way back.

Somehow, a two-meter nodachi strapped to him looked just right.

The young man with the spear stepped aside.

"Hey, man. Here for the wendigo too?"

"Yeah."

"We’re about to head in. Want to join us?" The one carrying the round shield gestured toward the registration desk. "We can add you."

"No thanks. I’m going in alone."

"You need A-Grade for that."

Lin Yan nodded and handed his phone to the soldier handling registration.

The soldier scanned his credentials. His photograph and account details appeared on the terminal.

[Account Grade: A.]

[Independent Participation Approved.]

"Mr. Lin, your authorization for independent participation has been verified."

The young man with the spear rose onto his toes to look over his companion’s shoulder. Right beside that letter was Lin Yan’s photograph.

"Holy shit. He really is A-Grade..."

The others left their gear checks and gathered around. The young man wearing the camera glanced down at its indicator light, made sure it was still recording, then looked back at Lin Yan.

The soldier returned his phone and pointed down the road beyond the barricade.

"Follow this road to the campsite where the attack happened. Please upload the target’s location if you find it. Contact the personnel stationed here if you need support."

"Got it."

As Lin Yan put his phone away, the young man with the round shield couldn’t help asking:

"How many Convergences have you been through?"

"Two."

"Just two?"

Lin Yan nodded.

They exchanged looks. They had all been through a Convergence and had some idea of how much a person could accomplish inside one. What the hell had he done to earn A-Grade after just two?

"Man, can I add you?"

The young man with the spear rested it against his shoulder and took out his phone.

"I’m Luke. Maybe we can run a commission together sometime."

Lin Yan opened his profile. They had been friendly enough to invite him along. No harm in adding them.

The others took out their phones and scanned his code in turn.

Looking at the new contact, Luke suddenly asked:

"You were in the recording just now. Is that okay? I can delete that part if you’d rather."

"It’s fine."

Lin Yan put his phone away and nodded to them.

"I’ll head in."

They made room and watched him cross the barricade alone. Only after the long blade had disappeared into the shade did Luke lean toward his companion.

"You got all that, right?"

"Yep."

"Send it to me right now."

Hearing them behind him, Lin Yan grinned.

Before leaving home, he’d been called a bot. Now he was a big shot.

Sunlight filtered through the canopy, and birds called every so often. Benches lined the path, with wooden signs pointing toward the campsite and walking trails. It looked like an ordinary forest park.

After walking for ten or fifteen minutes, Lin Yan stopped beside a tree.

Several claw marks slashed diagonally down its trunk. Large patches of bark had been stripped away, and the deepest groove sank several centimeters into the wood, its edges bristling with splinters.

He spread his right hand beside them. The marks spanned an area wider than his head. His palm barely covered the middle.

A swipe from claws like that could tear a chunk of flesh off a person.

Lin Yan brushed the wood dust from his hand and continued along the road. Broken railings began to appear, with torn fabric caught in the bushes. Beyond the next stretch of shade lay the campsite from the footage.

The car lay upside down at the edge of the clearing, its roof crushed and broken glass scattered everywhere. Several tents had been ripped open, their poles bent. Dried blood trailed from a tent entrance into the grass.

The moment he stepped into the clearing, vicious malice pressed against him.

It felt as though something lurked close by, glaring at him. The hair on the back of his neck rose. His right hand closed around the hilt as he scanned the tents and the bushes on either side.

That sense of being watched stayed with him, as if something might leap out at any moment.

He drew the nodachi.

"System, why haven’t I triggered a mission yet?"

[The target has already left.]

"Then what’s all this malice?"

[A residual effect.]

Lin Yan tightened his grip.

Just what it had left behind was enough to give him goose bumps?

Watching the footage, he’d figured it was strong, but probably something he could handle. Judging its strength solely by that flipped car had been a little overconfident.

He saved the commission’s support contact separately and checked the clearing before sheathing his blade and looking for the wendigo’s trail.

Drag marks led into the woods, flattening the grass along the way. He followed them for a few dozen meters to a bloodstain marked by the investigators. The trail ended there.

The nearby mud had been churned up, with shoe prints overlapping one another. He crouched to study them. The longer he looked, the more every mark seemed like a possible lead.

"System, which way?"

[Please locate the target yourself.]

"...Fine."

Lin Yan opened his map and began searching the trails around the campsite, one area at a time.

Over the next few hours, Lin Yan pushed through undergrowth, climbed over fallen trees, and followed every trail that looked even remotely promising. Grass seeds covered his pant legs, mud caked the soles of his shoes, and the two-meter scabbard kept catching on branches whenever the vegetation grew dense.

A few times, something rustled in the undergrowth. Each time he approached with a hand on the hilt, only for some small animal to dart out.

By the time the light began to fade between the trees, he’d searched every nearby trail and worked his way through a large stretch of the surrounding forest without catching so much as a glimpse of the wendigo.

There was nothing else he could do. He headed back the way he’d come.

The civilian SUVs at the entrance were gone. After signing out, he messaged Luke to ask whether they’d found anything.

"Nope. Searched all around the campsite. We left over half an hour ago. You still in there ?"

"Just got out."

Lin Yan felt a little better after reading the reply. Six of them had spent hours searching and come up empty too. No surprise that he’d had no luck on his own.

Next time, he’d take a job with a confirmed location. Go there, kill the thing, and be done with it. Save himself all this wandering through the woods.

He arranged a ride and sat by the road, picking burrs off his trousers. The little spiky things clung stubbornly. Every clump he pulled off revealed another beneath it. An entire afternoon’s work, no points earned, his stomach growling—and these things were all he had to show for it.

The more he thought about it, the less willing he was to let it go.

"Fuck this. I’m going to find you."

Lin Yan opened his browser and started looking up wendigo behavior. This was the first one to appear, and everything useful the Federation had was already in the commission attachments. All he could do was dig through online folklore and see whether any of it helped. Where did it like to roam? How did it hunt? Ideally, he’d find a way to lure it out and spare himself another day of searching the whole forest.

When the car arrived, Lin Yan undid the straps on his left upper arm, put the nodachi inside, and climbed into the back seat.

"Back to the city."

It was past nine by the time the car reached the city.