Chapter 259: Live from Mythal
Morning light spilled across the plaza in front of the Hunter Association as the camera faded in. Sora stood with the building rising behind her, hunters moving in and out through the main doors while guild members prepared for another day of work.
She smiled brightly at the lens. "Good morning everyone!"
"I’m Sora."
"And welcome back to another Mythal Live!"
The viewer count climbed immediately. Thousands. Then tens of thousands within the first minute. Comments began flooding the screen.
She’s live!
Morning!
Please tell me Kai cleared another dungeon.
Did another B-Rank disappear?
Sora laughed. "...You guys really only ask one question every stream."
More comments poured in.
Because the answer is always yes.
Show us Captain Kai!
Where’s Sera?
She shook her head. "They’re already busy. As usual."
The chat immediately spammed crying emojis.
Sora laughed. "I’ll show you what I can."
The stream cut to recorded footage from the past week. Kai. Sera. Raze. Lily. Elden. Mira. Different teams, different B-Rank Gates, clips flashing one after another.
Sora narrated over the footage. "Over the last several weeks, Mythal has continued clearing B-Rank Dungeons at an incredible pace."
Kai cut down a towering monster in one clean motion. Sera’s shield ricocheted through three enemies before curving back to her hand. Raze smashed straight through a stone giant’s chest. Lily’s Spirit Archers surrounded an entire battlefield in perfect formation. Elden turned a whole cavern into a single connected magic array. Mira stopped a charging beast dead with nothing but her shield.
Sora smiled. "One thing viewers keep asking is why the teams keep changing every dungeon."
She answered herself. "They’re sharing experience. Instead of one fixed party clearing everything, they’re helping everyone grow."
The chat exploded.
Kai’s using another weapon!
Lily’s prediction is unfair.
Mira is actually so strong.
Elden looks terrifying.
Raze only knows one strategy.
Sora read that last one aloud. "...Charge forward?"
Exactly.
She laughed. "I don’t think he’d disagree with that."
The stream moved toward the Hunter Market next, and unlike months earlier, the streets there were packed. Hunters browsed equipment stalls freely. Guild members negotiated over monster materials without the tension that used to hang over every trade. Shops displayed affordable beginner gear in their front windows.
Nothing about it felt desperate anymore.
Sora smiled. "...This place has changed so much."
She stopped at a weapon shop, and the owner recognized her instantly. "Back again?"
"I wanted to ask something."
"Shoot."
"Business?"
"Better than ever." He gestured around his shop. "Prices are lower. We’re selling more. Beginner hunters actually buy equipment now instead of just staring at it through the window."
Sora nodded. "So lowering prices helped."
"It helped everyone."
Another merchant leaned in from the next stall over. "And materials are easier to get now too. The Abyssal Guild keeps selling what they don’t need instead of hoarding all of it."
The comments came fast.
That’s actually smart.
Other cities should copy that.
No wonder beginners are progressing faster.
Sora spotted a few young hunters leaving a guild building nearby and walked over. "Mind if I ask a few questions?"
They nodded, clearly excited. One smiled nervously. "...We actually got accepted."
Sora blinked. "Into a guild already?"
He nodded. "Three months ago, we wouldn’t even have been considered for a spot."
Another laughed. "Our guild leader said everyone starts somewhere."
"What changed?" Sora asked.
The guild leader, standing nearby, overheard and answered himself. "The Abyssal Guild proved weaker hunters become valuable if someone actually bothers to teach them." He shrugged. "So we lowered our standards. We recruit potential now, not perfection."
One of the beginners grinned. "I actually feel like I belong somewhere."
The comment section reacted immediately.
I want that in my city.
That’s awesome.
Mythal sounds amazing.
Sora visited the Hunter Academy next, and students recognized her the moment she stepped through the gates.
One laughed. "You finally came."
Sora smiled. "How’s training?"
Everyone groaned dramatically.
"So much harder."
"Our instructors doubled everything," another student added.
"Because everyone wants to catch up to the Abyssal Guild," a third finished.
"We’re failing together," someone else said, and the whole group laughed.
A teacher approached, arms crossed but smiling. "They complain constantly. But attendance has never been higher." He looked genuinely proud. "They believe effort actually matters now."
Sora nodded quietly. "...That’s a wonderful problem to have."
She arrived outside Abyssal Guild headquarters next, and the building was constantly in motion, hunters entering and leaving, teams gathered around the mission board, mentors walking new recruits through dungeon routes on maps spread across several tables. Small groups discussed monster patterns off to one side.
Everything moved with quiet efficiency.
Sora spoke as she walked through it. "When this guild first appeared, many people wondered if such a young organization could really change Mythal."
She smiled. "I don’t hear that question anymore."
She caught a few quick interviews along the way. A healer: "They share medical supplies freely." A merchant: "They’re honest, every single time." A veteran hunter: "They actually answer your questions instead of brushing you off." A rookie: "They treated me like I mattered from day one."
The comments came faster now.
I wish my guild was like this.
Kai built something incredible.
This doesn’t even feel like the same city anymore.
Sora found a bench near the plaza and sat down, scrolling through the chat with a laugh building in her chest.
Kai fan club.
Sera fan club.
Raze fan club.
Lily supremacy.
Elden is underrated.
Mira deserves more attention.
Sora smiled. "...Looks like everyone has their favorites."
Who’s your favorite?
She pretended to think it over. "...The cameraman."
The chat exploded instantly.
BOOO!
That’s cheating.
She laughed. "...Fine." She thought about it more seriously this time. "I think everyone brings something different to the table. That’s probably why they work so well together."
The stream began winding down, and Sora walked slowly through the city as it did. Children practiced with wooden swords in a nearby courtyard. Hunters compared notes over coffee. Merchants laughed easily with their customers. Guilds cooperated openly in ways that would’ve been unthinkable a year ago.
People smiled everywhere she looked.
She stopped near the central plaza and looked around quietly before turning back to the camera.
"When I first started reporting, Mythal felt scared." A pause. "Nobody knew what tomorrow would bring."
"...Now," she said, smiling, "I think people still don’t know what tomorrow will bring."
"But they’re excited to face it anyway."
Silence held for a moment. Then, instead of jokes, the chat slowed into something quieter.
We’ll keep getting stronger.
Good luck Mythal.
Thank you for the report.
We’re cheering for everyone.
Sora smiled warmly at all of it. "That’s all for today’s stream."
"Thank you for joining me."
She waved, and the livestream ended.
The camera shut off, and she lowered her phone, looking out across the city one more time. In the distance, she spotted Kai, Lily, and Elden leaving the Association together, packs already loaded with fresh dungeon materials.
She smiled to herself. "...Already heading for another dungeon."
She shook her head, laughing quietly. "They really never stop."
The camera faded as the three of them disappeared into the crowd, the city continuing to move forward around them, completely unaware of everything still being quietly prepared beneath its surface.