PR training began bright and early the next morning. The room was pin, with mirrored walls, cameras, and a few scattered chairs. To Ava, however, it might as well have been a torture chamber. She was too active for things of this sort.

  Emma took to it quickly. She sat tall, smiled just enough, and repeated phrases like she meant them. “I’m proud to represent the Guild,” she said, polished as a diamond. Ava was an entirely different story.

  “I’m excited to exterminate the magic beasts," Ava said, doing finger guns at the mirror.

  Laura stared at her from behind the gss. “She thinks this is a joke.”

  The trainer, a middle-aged woman with short bck hair and the patience of Buddha, didn’t even react. “Again.”

  Ava sighed, slumped in the chair like a misbehaving teen. “I’m thrilled to be here and- ugh- serve the community. And stuff.”

  “Sounds less like you’re reading off a hostage note,” the trainer deadpanned.

  Ava slowly turned to Emma. “Trade bodies with me.”

  Emma didn’t even look up. “Nope.”

  Next was posture. Ava sat with one leg tossed over the other, her arms draped zily as she chewed gum she definitely wasn’t supposed to have. The trainer nudged her with a pointer stick. “Sit up.”

  “I am up,” Ava said, her voice muffled. “This is peak sitting form."

  “No, this is ‘I'm an undesirable’ form.”

  When it came time for facial expressions, Ava grinned like a devil. “What about this one?” she asked, baring her teeth.

  “You look like a terrorist," Emma muttered, fixing her sister’s hair mid-pose.

  "Maybe I am," Ava said, tossing her hair dramatically just to ruin the fix.

  Then, finally, came the mock interview. Ava spun in her chair before the “reporter” finished introducing himself.

  “So Ava,” he said carefully, “what do you think you bring to the guild that others don’t?”

  “Myself,” she answered, without missing a beat.

  There was a long pause.

  “And,” she added, tilting her head, “incredible thighs.” While it was probably inappropriate to say in this scenario, it didn't change the fact that she truly did have some incredible thighs.

  Emma pinched the bridge of her nose. “We’re going to be bcklisted.”

  “We’re going to be iconic.” Ava beamed, throwing her legs up on the table. She knocked over a cup of water and didn’t even notice.

  They took a break after the third hour. Ava colpsed onto the hallway bench like she’d been through hell.

  Emma sat beside her, hair still immacute, drinking from a water bottle.

  “Why is this harder than fighting the damn direfang?”

  Emma shrugged. "Maybe you're just stupid. But, who knows?"

  "Whatever," Ava grumbled under her breath.

  Laura walked by, phone to her ear, and gnced down at them. “Round two in twenty. Be ready.”

  Ava groaned so loudly that it echoed down the hall.

  By the time the afternoon rolled around, Ava had at least partially gotten her act together. She still had the faint aura of someone one mistake away from being a menace, but the gum was gone, and her shirt wasn’t wrinkled. That was something.

  The twins were guided into a sleek, high-rise room on the twentieth floor of the Scavenger building. Cameras lined the walls, soft lights glowed overhead, and a towering screen dispyed the Herald’s live feed in HD. It was all very professional.

  On the screen, a striking woman with a sharp bck bob and wine-colored lips smiled at them, exuding confidence developed over years of public-facing work. She was a charismatic work of art.

  “I’m already hyped for this one,” she said into the mic, leaning forward like she was sitting across from them in person. “Good afternoon, everyone watching! I’m Yvonne Locke, and today we have the privilege of speaking with not one, but two of America’s newest S-rank hunters, Emma and Ava Smith. That’s right. Not only are they both newly awakened, but they’re twins. Identical. S-rank. Born and raised in the U.S., and this? This has never happened. Not once. Anywhere.”

  She cpped her hands softly. “I mean, I’ve been in this game a while, and I’ve never even heard rumors of it. So first of all, thank you for joining us. And second, can I just say that this is wildly exciting for me, both as a journalist and as an A-rank hunter myself. You two are like walking myths that showed up out of nowhere.”

  Emma smiled politely. “Thank you for having us. It’s been a crazy couple of days, but we’re grateful for the opportunity.”

  Ava nodded with mild discomfort. “It’s been... something.”

  Yvonne grinned. “I’ll take that. Now, let’s get into it. What does it feel like to make history? Because that’s what you’ve done. Your names are going in books. The whole hunter world is watching, and from what I can tell, half of them don’t know whether to worship you or pce you in a research facility. But between us, and everybody watching, of course, I'm like your number one fan!"

  Emma went first. “It’s surreal. The attention is a lot, but we’re trying to stay focused on what matters. Like doing the job well and helping people, for instance.”

  Ava leaned back slightly. “I didn’t think I’d be in history books unless I accidentally destroyed a national monument, so you know. This is a better outcome.”

  Yvonne ughed. “Better for you, maybe. Anyways~"

  There was something electric about her energy. It was unfiltered and controlled all at the same time. She flipped to a fresh page of notes. “Now let’s talk about your awakenings. Were they simultaneous? Did one of you go first? I want details.”

  Emma answered. “It was the same day. Ava went first.”

  Yvonne’s eyes widened. “Wait. Hold on. Ava's happened first?”

  Ava raised her hand. “The older twin, yep. By, like, a few minutes."

  “Suddenly, everything makes sense,” Yvonne muttered jokingly to herself. “But seriously, same day awakenings, same S-rank status? That’s terrifying. Do you have any idea why?”

  Emma paused. “There’s no definitive answer. It could be genetics, environment, or timing. We’ve been asking ourselves this question as well."

  Ava leaned forward, her eyes shining. “Or maybe the universe just wanted two instances of perfection."

  Yvonne’s grin split wider. “God, I love you two already.”

  She gave them both a once-over. “Now, you debuted yesterday, and the news of that dungeon run is everywhere. I read it over six times st night. Ava, did you really manage to defeat an alpha direfang without so much as an active skill?"

  Ava raised her chin with a smug look on her face. "Yep~"

  Yvonne clicked her tongue. “Just incredible. So, here’s a more personal one. What do you each bring to the Guild, beyond raw power? What makes you you in the field?”

  Emma answered calmly. "Efficiency.”

  Ava sat up straight, then slouched again halfway through. “I punch good."

  Yvonne blinked. Then started ughing. “You punch good, huh?"

  Ava shrugged. “I’ve got excellent leg power, too. Not really relevant to my answer, but important to the record.”

  Emma quietly tilted her head toward her sister. “Please ignore her.”

  “I would never ignore this energy,” Yvonne said, delighted. “Okay, let’s pivot a bit. What are you like when you’re not fighting magic beasts?”

  Emma answered first once more. "I study, train, read. I like to keep busy.”

  Ava yawned without covering her mouth. “I like snacks. I like naps. I like killing monsters, which I guess I’m not supposed to mention here, but that’s the truth.”

  Yvonne leaned even closer to the screen. “So basically, you’re yin and yang, wrapped in matching DNA. I love this dynamic.”

  “You’re not the first person to say that,” Emma murmured.

  Yvonne nodded sagely. “So, tell me this. Let’s say a monster shows up in your living room. Who handles it first?”

  “In our living room?” Ava asked. “I’d tell Emma to handle it."

  Emma looked ahead at the screen. "And then she’d yell at me if I got blood anywhere."

  Yvonne let out a full ugh, tapping her pen against her notepad. “You know, I was expecting to be impressed by your profiles. I wasn’t expecting to enjoy this as much as I am.”

  She flipped to the st page. “Alright, st question. The world’s watching. You’re the first. You’re young. You’re twins. What should people know about you going forward?”

  Emma sat up a little straighter. “That we’ll keep working hard. Titles are one thing, responsibility is another. We want to live up to it.”

  Ava leaned her chin on her hand. “And we’re going to do it well.

  Yvonne gave them a proud, satisfied smile. “Perfect answers. Thank you both, this has been an absolute joy. I’m Yvonne Locke with The Herald, and you’ve just met the future of America’s hunter force. Get used to their names. You’ll be hearing them a lot.”

  The feed cut out, and the lights dimmed.

  Laura stepped out from behind one of the panels, arms folded, tablet in hand. “Not bad.”

  Ava immediately flopped sideways in her chair. “I nailed that.”

  Emma looked at her. “You said 'punch good.’”

  “Iconic,” Ava said.

  Laura didn’t argue. “You’re trending. Again. Comments are calling you 'Yin and Yang.' Others are asking if you were grown in a b.”

  “I mean,” Ava said, “maybe.”

  “Definitely not,” Emma said at the same time.

  That was the most interesting part of their day, while the rest was filled with the usual post-debut chaos: paperwork, scheduling, and security briefings, none of which Ava paid attention to.

  They were moved from room to room in the Scavenger Guild headquarters, shaking hands with people they didn’t know, listening to people they wouldn’t remember, and smiling just enough to keep Laura from doing something to them.

  By te evening, they finally returned to their temporary apartment, the one Scavenger had arranged for them until their permanent housing was ready. Ava flopped onto the couch as if gravity pressed her into the cushions.

  Emma took her shoes off at the door and combed her fingers through her shoulder-length hair. "We need to work on your speech filter.”

  Ava muttered into a pillow, "I could feel the internet falling in love with me after every word."

  “Hey,” Ava said, voice still muffled. "We're really here, huh?"

  Emma stood still for a second, then nodded. “Yeah. We are."

  Ava nestled into the cushion as she kicked her feet in the air behind her. In just a bit more time, Sun Jin Woo would be ripe for the picking.