In the end, after just a couple of hours, the sun began to set, so Natasha shrugged and said to Ryan that was the perfect excuse for Irina to ignore them for several more hours. Ryan got impatient, but when morning came, the fucking bitch finally showed herself.

"It is so unpleasant to see your face so early in the morning, Natasha," Irina said. "What do you want? Be quick. I am a busy person."

"You know what we want. We want to use the dungeon," Natasha said. "Let us use it already, and we will be on our way as soon as we clear it. That will be the best for you and for us."

"Even if you pay to use the dungeon, I can't just let you use it as soon as possible," Irina said. "I am the leader here, but I am reasonable, and I can't let my gains interfere with the progress of my subordinates."

"Bullshit, as if you care about such a thing," Natasha said. "We will pay you five hundred thousand coins to use the dungeon today. If you let us use the dungeon alone, we will pay the double of that amount."

After hearing that, Irina stopped walking and faced Natasha with a frown. She couldn't believe that she had so many coins to spare. Besides, what is the point of paying the double of that ridiculous amount just to clear the dungeon alone and waste more time-fighting?

"Who are you, and what are you doing here?" Irina asked, finally looking at Ryan.

"My name is Ryan, and I am in a quest to become a Pokémon master," Ryan replied.

"Wow, we have a joker here," Irina said. "If you really want to use this dungeon, you might want to choose your words more carefully."

"Is that so? I might consider that in the future," Ryan shrugged.

Irina clicked her tongue in annoyance, but she didn't do anything aside from that. Regardless, gaining that many coins wasn't something she could easily do nowadays since many people worked for her and used the dungeon. Besides, she liked her current life, where many obeyed her commands without a second thought. So, she couldn't be unreasonable without… a reason.

"If you pay those two million, I can let you use the dungeon today alongside some other survivors," Irina said after thinking for a few minutes. "But after this, you will have to give me a hand with something. Apparently, you grew stronger since the last time, so I want to check your growth."

"We are in a hurry here, so we can't help you with anything," Natasha said. "Besides, who is going to help someone as unpleasant as you?"

"Is that so? Then, you won't have access to the dungeon," Irina said and then turned around.

Natasha clenched her teeth and fists in anger. While she did have more coins, it would be crazy to offer any more to clear a single dungeon. Not only that, it would make her and Ryan appear too suspicious.

"Just accept her offer," Ryan said. "She is probably going to ask us to fight some monsters or clear a dungeon or two that she is having a hard time guarding. This is nothing."

After a long sigh, Natasha nodded. As far as Ryan was concerned, wasting a few days hunting monsters wasn't a total waste of time. There was also the fact that Irina wanted to see what Ryan could do, but that wasn't much of a problem either. He just had to stick with his fighting style that relies on a single crossbow. Besides, that was a good chance for him to recover the coins that he was going to spend.

"That was the correct decision," Irina smiled after Ryan and Natasha paid her. "It has been a while, so it will be fun to fight alongside you again."

"Yeah, right," Natasha said while looking away.

"The operation to clear the dungeon will start in two hours. Stay close and prepare yourself accordingly," Irina said.

Even after Irina left, Natasha's mood didn't improve. It looked like they had a story together, but Ryan wasn't interested enough to ask. However, unlike Ryan, Natasha wasn't someone who enjoyed too much silence.

"Irina, Victor, and I were acquaintances before the monsters' arrival, we fought together for many weeks, but eventually, we divided our group in three to clear those difficult dungeons," Natasha said.

"Who is Victor?" Ryan asked.

"The other leader who has a level three dungeon under his control," Natasha replied. "We weren't that close, but I thought we could consider ourselves brothers in arms, but then those assholes changed when they got lucky and obtained some skills and weapons. They used that to gain influence, and, in the end, they tried to become the only leader of a group of thousands. That didn't work, and they didn't dare to fight among themselves and cause casualties, so we split into three groups. The most difficult dungeon that we found was left to me, and they used the others that seemed easier to clear to increase their power and influence."

"That is a common modus operandi. I can't imagine why you were surprised when that happened," Ryan said.

"Didn't you fight together with some people when the monsters' arrived?" Natasha asked.

"I fought now and then to clear some dungeon, but only that," Ryan replied.

"Well… no wonder you so easily left your country to obtain more power," Natasha said.

Natasha wanted to ask if Ryan had left someone behind, but that was a difficult topic. With the world in such a state, it wasn't hard to find survivors that lost all their families and friends. Most of the time, touching those subjects could cause more problems as well. So, she decided to stay quiet about it. Besides, even though it wasn't much, Natasha had some preparations to make.

Class: Hunter Lv 72 (+ 02 UP / Elementalist Lv 55 / Monk Lv 16 (--)

Race: Night Demon /Reptilian/ Ice Fox (--)

Rank: 145th

Health: 1449/1449 (4,11/s)

Mana: 2185/2185 (4,11/s)

Stamina: 2051/2051 (4,11/s)

Strength: 31 (+166) (+130)

Dexterity: 2300 (+1612) (+95)

Speed: 140 (+759) (+48)

Intelligence: 81 (+662) (+33)

Endurance: 28 (+131) (+160)

Control: 06 (+812) (+10)

Mentality: 08 (+46) (+70)

Luck: 74 (+15)

Recovery: 900 (+1167) (+360)

Willpower: 30 (+46) (+40)

Coins: 26.985.441

Status: 00

Skill List

Offensive Physical Skills: Power Shot Lv 93 (+ 03 UP), Sonic Blade Lv 01,

Passive Physical Skills: Eagle Eyes Lv 70 (+ 02 UP), Concentration Lv 70 (+ 02 UP), Archery Lv 70 (+ 02 UP), Accuracy Lv 70 (+ 02 UP), Stealth Lv 57 (+ 04 UP), Alchemy Lv 11 (+ 10 UP), Auto-Medication Lv 10 (+ 09 UP), Motivation Lv 01,

Spells: Magic Upgrade Lv 14 (+ 03 UP), Silence Lv 01, Potion Creation Lv 08 (+ 07 UP), Hunt Lv 01,

Support Skills: Petrification Resistance Lv 18 (+ 17 UP),

Classes:

Combat: Beastmaster Lv 37 (+ 01 UP), Archer Lv 64 (+ 02 UP), Combat Archer Lv 49 (+ 03 UP), Weapons Master Lv 22 (+ 03 UP), Sentinel Lv 14 (+ 01 UP), Enchanter Lv 05 (+ 04 UP), Demon Hunter Lv 15 (+ 03 UP), Ranger Lv 12 (+ 03 UP), Magehunter Lv 01, Dark Slayer Lv 01,

Non-Combatant: Blacksmith Lv 31 (+ 03 UP), Teacher Lv 05 (+02 UP), Merchant Lv 15 (+ 03 UP), Whitesmith Lv 14 (+ 03 UP), Alchemist Lv 07 (+ 06 UP)

Race: Centaur, Lesser Dragon