Chapter 22: Party Hunt V

“Listen here, you scrubs.” The masked man demanded everyone’s attention.

The ragged bunch got to their feet and formed a neat line in front of him. Their faces reflected nothing but fear and reverence for the man who hid almost a hundred percent of their appearance.

He nodded in satisfaction; at least these scrubs knew how to listen. The mysterious man cleared their throat, then clasped his hands behind his back. “Our captain may value you, but I could care less. Your pitiful lives should have ended in that hellhole, but we took pity on you. I rescued you. Now it is time to repay me.”

Silence ensued in the room as its occupants digested the words thrown at their faces. They had been rotting in the base camp as E-grade citizens, a class of people who were essentially slaves for all intent and purpose. Anything that could get them out of that dump yard was welcomed with open arms, even if it meant they’d have to sell their souls.

Now that they had gotten their freedom, the price must be paid.

Taking the silence as his signal to continue, the masked person began: “The goal is simple. Reach level ten before the twenty-four hours are up. Don’t bother coming back if you fail. You can’t go back anyway. Also—”

The ten E-grade citizens who had used awakening stones shrank back instinctively as they felt thick killing intent concentrating on them from behind the mask. Ten pairs of eyes were immediately thrown to the floor, as their owners couldn’t find the courage to keep staring at the devil in its face.

“—don’t put your points on anything other than strength and speed. If you try to be smart, I’ll end your useless life. Understood?”

“We understand, sir Blanka!” A collective roar echoed in the dome-roofed chamber. The group of E-grade citizens who were living a life of oppression in the base camps wore a determined face. Their eyes shone with a savage light. The chance had arrived for them to fight for their freedom, and they were determined to do so until their dying breath.

Blanka nodded his head in appreciation. He liked the enthusiasm shown by these scrubs pushed on him by his captain. “Good. You know what to do, right? Those guys should have briefed you on how to use the system.”

“Yes, sir.” Their collective roar echoed off the walls, causing mild tremors.

“Now scram. Remember, you only have twenty-four hours.”

The rag-tag group quickly poured out of the room, their footsteps echoing their unwavering determination. Leading them, in the forefront, was the man with the scar—their impromptu leader.

XXX

“Let’s go. I’ve restored all my mana.” Gloria stood up, then stretched. Her body bent over at a perfect right angle as she touched her toes.

Teo, who was about to get up, found himself in a trance as his lady partner did her routine. It’s not like he had never seen girls or didn’t know the pleasure of the flesh, still, he caught himself staring impolitely.

For some reason, it had eluded his attention until now, but Gloria’s attire was designed to be practical rather than fashionable. The spandex pants hugged her legs as if their life depended on them, almost like a second skin. There was a hint of white cotton fabric hidden underneath the leather jacket with a lot of straps. Her choice of clothing boasted superior flexibility and some defense.

She was different from the female [Players] he had seen.

Eyes honed from years of working at Gunt’s place were quick to uptake the uniqueness of the jacket. The leather seemed to have the same flexibility and shine as that of the hide from a monster.

Garments made from monster hides are expensive. As expected of a descendant of an elder frontier.

Usually, zombies, goblins, and occasional orcs were the monsters that thrived around the base camps. As far as crafting goes, their byproducts had zero value. The only usefulness they had was the experience points they provide for [Players] to level up.

The raw materials that were used most extensively for crafting leather armors were harvested from a monster called blind komodo and were popular among the [Players] below level fifty. Since the [Players] have to cross these goblin and zombie-infested areas to hunt the blind komodos, the prices for the armors were often in the thousands.

How is that possible? From what I heard, nothing more than clothes follow you into the dungeon. That gun too… How did she bring it inside?

Curiosity was killing him, but Teo couldn’t ask. Putting aside whether she would give a definitive answer or not, Teo didn’t want to come out as a nosey individual. She was from the family of a hero who had fought for humanity’s survival in the great war; they must have their means.

The [Dominator] shook himself awake from his reverie and got to his feet with the help of his wooden sword. The beginner weapon with infinite durability had been reduced to a mere walking stick. Rude eyes rolled from his female companion’s backside to the darkness stretching in the hallway. Things would become awkward if she caught him staring.

The soul lamps were barely contributing to solving their visibility problem. At this point, they were only for the extra morbidity in the already gloomy atmosphere. Night vision had a range, anything outside of that was invisible to them. This element of surprise rekindled the oldest fear known to humanity in their hearts: the fear of the unknown.

First and foremost, there was a need to address this problem. A replenishment of meatshields was necessary.

“Ahem,” Teo cleared his throat, which got Gloria’s attention on him. “First of all, we need two hunt two zombies. Alive.” The ‘alive’ part was emphasized in his sentence to make sure the trigger-happy girl won’t forget about it this time.

Feeling a pair of judgemental eyes on her, the gun-wielding girl raised both her hands, “I got it. I got it. Sheesh… I’ll be careful this time.”

Teo nodded, then took a deep breath. “Let’s go.”

With the map, finding zombies would be a walk in the park. However, Teo had a bolder idea. After staring long into the map, he proposed, “let’s go for a level two zombie.”

“Hmm?” Gloria stopped fiddling with her gun and fixed Teo with an even stare. “Are you that confident? Level twos are different from level ones. There shouldn’t be a need for me to remind you, right?”

“Yeah.” Glazed eyes looked away from Gloria as memories of his brush in with an injured level two flashed by his head. He would not forget the close shave for the rest of his life, no matter how powerful he becomes in the future. “This time… I won’t be cocky.” He vowed, not to her but to himself.

A moment of silence settled between them as Gloria kept her eyes on Teo’s side profile. The corner of her lips curved upwards at his determined face. She had to admit, this look suited him better than his usual drooping shoulder posture. In her opinion, that’s how a man should be.