My Class is Null, But I Always Get the Best Outcome

The celebration didn’t stop. It simply became more organized.

By morning, someone had dragged tables into one of Mythal’s wider streets. Then someone else brought food. Another group brought drinks. Someone found a few intact lanterns and hung them between damaged buildings.

Nobody had officially declared it a festival. Nobody needed to. It simply became one.

Hunters who had been fighting for their lives only hours ago were now sitting together on broken walls and overturned pieces of stone. Some still had bandages around their arms. Some had their armor half-destroyed. Some were covered in dried blood and dirt. But they were eating. Laughing. Talking. Alive.

One Hunter looked toward the ruined buildings around them. "Shouldn’t we be rebuilding?"

The Hunter beside him took another bite of food. "Tomorrow."

"What about the defensive walls?"

"Tomorrow."

"The hospital?"

He paused, took another bite. "Tomorrow."

His friend stared at him. "You can’t just keep saying tomorrow."

He swallowed. "Watch me."

A few people nearby laughed. Then he raised his cup. "Today we celebrate."

The Hunter beside him looked at the ruined city, then at the food, then at the people sitting around him. He smiled. "...Today we celebrate."

Someone immediately shouted, "That’s right!"

Another Hunter raised his cup. "To tomorrow!"

Someone corrected him. "No."

The Hunter looked confused. "What?"

"To today." He raised his cup higher. "Today we celebrate."

The surrounding Hunters cheered. "TODAY!"

Once everyone had food in their hands, the stories started. Of course they did. Hunters had spent hours fighting together, everyone had seen something ridiculous, everyone had nearly died at least once, and now that they were safe, they couldn’t stop talking about it.

A group of Hunters sat around one of the tables. One leaned back. "I still can’t believe the Red Storm."

Another immediately scoffed. "The Red Storm? You mean the thing that nearly threw you off the wall?"

"I wasn’t nearly thrown off."

Everyone looked at him. He paused. "...I was slightly moved."

Someone burst out laughing. "You flew twenty meters!"

"That was tactical movement."

"You were screaming."

"That was tactical screaming."

The table erupted. Another Hunter shook his head. "The Red Storm wasn’t even the worst part."

Someone pointed at him. "Black Flood?"

"Black Flood."

Everyone groaned. "That thing was horrible."

One Hunter raised his cup. "I lost my boots."

Another looked at him. "You lost your boots?"

"The flood took them."

"Both?"

"Both."

Someone laughed. "How do you lose both boots?"

The Hunter looked offended. "Very powerful water."

"Water doesn’t target boots."

"You weren’t there."

"I was there."

"Then you know how dangerous the water was."

The entire table started laughing again.

Another group had a completely different story. "The Burning Earth was worse."

A Hunter across the table immediately disagreed. "No."

"Yes."

"No."

"The ground literally opened beneath us!"

"At least you could still breathe."

"You couldn’t breathe during the flood either!"

"I could breathe."

"You were underwater!"

"Briefly."

"For thirty seconds!"

"That’s brief."

The Hunter beside him stared. "...You’re insane."

"I’m alive."

"Fair."

Then someone mentioned White Frost, and the laughter became slightly quieter. "That one was terrifying."

Another Hunter nodded. "My ability stopped working."

"Mine too."

"My weapon froze."

"Our mana conduits froze."

"The healing teams couldn’t reach us."

Someone leaned forward. "Do you remember when the entire eastern road froze?"

Another Hunter nodded. "I remember."

"I thought that was it."

"Me too."

For a brief moment, nobody spoke. Then one Hunter raised his cup. "But we got through it."

Another raised his. "We did."

The cups clinked together.

Then someone brought up the Black Swarm, and the entire table groaned. "No."

"What?"

"We’re not talking about that."

"Why?"

"Because I can still hear them."

Someone shuddered. "There were so many."

Another Hunter laughed. "I couldn’t even see the street anymore."

"I couldn’t see my own squad."

"I couldn’t see anything!"

A Hunter at the end of the table said, "At one point, I stabbed one and three more climbed over it."

Everyone went silent. "...That’s disgusting."

"Exactly."

Another Hunter raised his cup. "To Raze."

Everyone immediately raised theirs. "TO RAZE!"

Someone shouted across the street. "I HEARD THAT!"

Everyone turned. Raze was sitting several tables away, food in one hand and a drink in the other, looking offended. "Why are you thanking me like I’m dead?"

A Hunter shouted back. "We thought you were!"

Raze froze. "...What?"

The Hunter laughed. "You disappeared for twenty minutes!"

"Tactical disappearance."

"You were buried under a building!"

Raze pointed at him. "Exactly."

"How is that tactical?"

He took another bite. "It worked."

The Hunter stared at him. "...You were hiding."

"I was recovering."

"You were unconscious."

"Recovering."

The entire group burst into laughter, and Raze grinned. "See? You idiots appreciate me."

Eventually, someone brought up the last calamity. Falling Sky. That one made everyone look upward instinctively.

A Hunter noticed. "...Why did everyone just look at the sky?"

Nobody answered. Another Hunter slowly lowered his head. "Habit."

"Understandable."

Someone laughed. "I still can’t believe the anti-air defenses held that long."

Another Hunter nodded. "Elden."

A few Hunters looked toward the other side of the street, where Elden sat quietly with a drink. He immediately noticed everyone looking at him. "...What?"

A Hunter raised his cup. "You."

He blinked. "Me?"

"Your defense network."

Another Hunter joined in. "That thing saved hundreds of us."

"Maybe thousands."

Elden shook his head. "The Hunters operating it saved you."

Someone immediately answered, "They couldn’t have done it without the system."

Another added, "And you built the system."

He opened his mouth, then closed it, unsure how to respond.

A Hunter smiled. "Just take the compliment."

He looked down at his drink, and a small smile appeared. "...Thank you."

Someone immediately shouted, "HE SAID THANK YOU!"

The table erupted, and Elden sighed. "I shouldn’t have said anything."

Lily’s Predictions

It didn’t take long before Lily was pulled into the conversation too. A Hunter approached her. "Lily."

She looked up. "Yes?"

"Your prediction saved my squad."

She paused. "Which one?"

The Hunter laughed. "Exactly."

Another Hunter walked over. "She warned us about the flood."

"She warned us about the northern collapse."

"She warned us about the Swarm."

"She warned us about Falling Sky."

Lily became increasingly uncomfortable. "I was only doing my job."

Mira suddenly appeared beside her. "You were amazing!"

Lily looked at her. "...Thank you."

Mira smiled. "You’re welcome."

Another Hunter raised his cup. "To Lily!"

Everyone raised theirs. "TO LILY!"

Her face went slightly red. "You don’t have to—"

Too late. The cheer had already begun, and she smiled despite herself.

Then someone shouted, "Wait!" Everyone looked over. The Hunter pointed at Lily. "If you’re so smart..."

She narrowed her eyes. "What?"

"How did we pass the Third Disaster?"

The celebration quieted slightly, and everyone looked at Lily. Her smile disappeared. She looked at the notification, then sighed. "...I don’t know."

A Hunter shrugged. "Well, whatever happened worked."

She stared at him. "...That’s not very satisfying."

Mira immediately answered, "It is to me."

Lily looked at her. "Of course it is."

Mira smiled. "We’re alive."

She couldn’t argue with that.

...

Raze had become surrounded by younger Hunters, fascinated by him. "How strong was that monster?"

"Really strong."

"How strong?"

He thought about it. "...Really, really strong."

"That’s not a number."

"I don’t do numbers."

Another Hunter asked, "Were you scared?"

He immediately answered, "No."

The younger Hunters stared at him. Raze held the serious expression for three seconds, then grinned. "I was terrified."

They burst out laughing.

He leaned back. "Being scared doesn’t matter." The younger Hunters quieted. He looked toward the ruined city. "You think I wasn’t scared?" He pointed around them. "Look at this place. Everything was trying to kill us." He tapped his chest. "Of course I was scared."

One of the younger Hunters asked, "Then why did you keep fighting?"

He shrugged. "Because everyone else was."

The younger Hunter blinked. Raze looked toward the Hunters eating, laughing, and talking around them. "You don’t fight because you’re fearless." He smiled. "You fight because there’s someone behind you."

The younger Hunters became quiet. Then he lifted his cup. "And because quitting would be embarrassing."

The mood immediately broke. Everyone laughed. "There he is."

"I was worried he was becoming inspirational."

He pointed at them. "Shut up."

One of the younger Hunters suddenly remembered something. "Wait."

Raze looked at him. "What?"

"How did we pass the Third Disaster?"

He slowly looked toward the System notification, stared at it, then scratched his head. "...I have absolutely no idea."

The younger Hunters laughed.

He shrugged. "But I’m not complaining."

...

Eventually, the celebration grew quiet. Not because anyone ordered it. It simply happened.

Mayor Ko had climbed onto the remains of a damaged platform. He looked exhausted, his clothes dirty, his face showing the strain of the last few days. But he smiled. He looked across Mythal, at the Hunters, at the civilians, at the ruined streets, then at the strange System notification.

He shook his head. "I don’t know how we passed the Third Disaster."

Laughter spread through the crowd.

He smiled. "I don’t know why it passed."

More laughter. He raised one hand. "And frankly..." He looked around. "...I don’t care."

The crowd cheered. He waited until it quieted. "Because two days ago..." His voice became softer. "I was preparing myself to count the dead."

The laughter disappeared. Silence settled over the city.

He looked at the Hunters. "I was preparing reports. Preparing names. Preparing families." He swallowed. "I thought I’d be standing here today..." He paused. "...telling you how many people we lost." His eyes moved across the crowd. "Instead..." A smile appeared. "I’m looking at the living."

No one spoke.

His voice cracked slightly. "You’re injured. You’re exhausted. Half this city is broken." He laughed softly. "And some of you probably can’t feel your legs."

Several Hunters laughed.

He smiled. "But you’re here." He raised his hand. "You’re alive."

Then he said the words that had become almost sacred in Mythal. "Mythal survived."

The response came immediately. "MYTHAL SURVIVED!"

He smiled. "The First Disaster."

The crowd shouted, "WE SURVIVED!"

"The Second Disaster."

"WE SURVIVED!"

He pointed toward the System. "And apparently..." He laughed. "...the Third."

The city erupted. "WE PASSED THREE!"

He raised his cup. "Then let’s celebrate three."

...

Away from the largest celebration, Gabriel stood overlooking the city. The Astral Church members were celebrating as well, some had joined the Hunters, others were helping distribute food. But Gabriel remained quiet.

She opened an ancient record and let her eyes move across the old pages. Civilizations. Disasters. Failures. Again. And again. And again.

She closed the book, then looked toward Mythal. The city was damaged. But alive. Three Disasters, and somehow the third had simply disappeared.

She smiled faintly. "...What happened?"

No answer came.

Her eyes moved toward Kai, standing among the Hunters, laughing quietly. She watched him.

I’ll find out eventually.

She closed the book. For now, she let herself enjoy the sight.

...

Later, Lily and Elden finally found a quiet corner, the celebration continuing around them.

Lily looked toward the System notification. "Let’s list what we know."

Elden nodded. "We survived the Second Disaster."

"Yes."

"Then the System announced the Third Disaster."

"Yes."

"Then immediately announced that we passed."

"Yes."

She waited. He waited. She frowned. "...That’s everything."

"Pretty much."

She rubbed her forehead. "No evidence."

"None."

"No event."

"None."

"No monster."

"None."

"No objective."

"None."

"No trigger."

"None."

She sighed. "...I hate mysteries."

He looked toward Kai. "You’ll hate this one."

She followed his gaze, stared at Kai for a few seconds, then sighed again. "...Probably."

But neither of them moved. There would be time for questions. Not today.