Death of Hazelin and the beginning of Sophia's Hate.

“This night, I must win this competition. I need to be with my family. I've been in this hunting game for too long, and this time I must be promoted to the leader of the hunting team," he muttered to himself as their truck started moving.

The hunting leader doesn't go hunting but only watches over them, giving instructions and setting up the hunting map.

After a while, they reached the Naminsa forest, where their hunt would start that night. Everyone got out, nodded to themselves, remembering their instructions, and headed straight into the city's most terrifying bush. They entered Naminsa bush with their guns fully loaded, and the hunt began.

After some time hunting, seeing no prey to catch, Zathrion continued searching. Suddenly, his head spun, and everything seemed to move in cycles. His world started spinning rapidly.

"What's happening? Why am I getting dizzy all of a sudden? Gosh!" he exclaimed, sitting behind a tree and holding his head.

"There’s no way I will not win this competition. I have to. It’s very important."

"My family needs me, and this is the only way to spend time with them. I can't go back now, I shouldn’t," Zathrion said, determined.

‘How did I even forgot my BP drugs?’ he thought.

He stood up from behind the tree, staggered, then steadied himself. As he bent down to pick up his bullets, he spotted a huge wild animal and smiled to himself.

"Finally, I’ve got hold of a big one. I’m sure I’ve won, yes!" he said excitedly.

But then what he saw was the most dangerous and heavily warned against animal: a wolf.

Unfortunately for him, he aimed his gun at her direction and shot the wolf in the deadliest spot.

It howled in pain and collapsed breathlessly on the ground.

"What was that sound? It seems someone shot a wolf. Who is this person in such a hurry? Did he get blinded by the competition? The wolves will not let us out of here alive today," the hunters whispered among themselves.

"Wait, was that a wolf?"

"Gosh! What have I done!" Zathrion exclaimed.

According to what they were taught, when a wolf is mistakenly killed, they must find a spiny leaf, insert it in the mouth, and hide in a leafy tree. But before they could do that, they heard the stumbles of approaching wolves.

The hunters had no choice but to hide and save themselves. Zathrion couldn’t even reach the leaf and hid behind a dense plant, where he was tightly squeezed but managed to stay hidden. They all hoped to escape even if injured.

"Thud!"

The wolves’ approaching steps grew louder. They ran full speed toward where the shot wolf lay.

Reaching the spot, they transformed into human forms.

"Humans are at it again!" their leader Bryan muttered, boiling with rage.

Though the youngest wolf in their pack, Bryan

become the pack leader through hard work. His father, the former leader, stepped down in his favor after recognizing his capability.

"Yes, Bryan, I heard the gunshot," Tracin, Bryan’s cousin, responded, her chest rising and falling with anger. She had lived with Bryan's family since losing her own parents in the first human-wolf battle.

"They must pay for this!" she declared...

"Tracin, take 20 subordinates and search for them. You must not miss them. Zul, check who she is and try to identify her so we can report to her family," Bryan ordered.

"Yes, Bryan. Yes, master," Tracin and Zul answered.

Tracin left with her team of 20 to find the humans, while Zul circled the wolf to examine it carefully.

He collapsed to his knees immediately with a distressed expression.

"Master, I'm sorry, but.. this is your sister, Hazelin," he said.

"What! My what?" Bryan trembled as he rushed to Hazelin’s lifeless body.

"What! Hazelin, Hazelin, wake up!" he begged, checking her pulse, but she was gone.

"Hazelin, please wake up!" he yelled, panic-stricken.

"What am I going to tell father? That I failed to protect you?! Please wake up! You can't leave me alone in this world. You are my only sister. Please wake up!" he continued crying.

This was his greatest fear, especially after noticing a familiar ring on the wolf’s tail earlier, but he couldn't believe it. He asked Zul to check the wolf.

He also wished he had kept his sister back, even if he had to tie her up, because wolves usually hunt in groups and she often detached herself without informing him, which now led to this.

He wished he had never let her come along.

After a while, he stopped crying.

"Rega, take her to the pack," he ordered one of his subordinates without hesitation. All he thought about was revenge for his sister's death, and Rega bringing home the dead princess could get him killed.

"Master, please have mercy," Rega begged on his knees, knowing what awaited him if he carried Hazelin’s body to the pack.

Even with his grief, Bryan realized what he was saying—he had always been a just and kind leader, but at that moment he wasn't thinking clearly.

Rega could be killed by his father.

"I will take my sister home myself," Bryan said, breaking down in tears again. He couldn't stop crying.

His playmate and fighting partner was gone. He wailed in agony.

"Watch over her. I know humans always come in groups," he commanded Rega.

"I will search for them myself and I will eat them all," he threatened, his blood boiling with pain and rage.

"No bush will be left unscathed today," he muttered, transforming into his wolf form.

They all searched the bush, uncovering every corner.

The wolves sent messages to their packs, and soon the number of wolves in the bush multiplied into thousands.