Chapter 1 – Prologue
Being a weakling is pathetic—borderline disgusting.
Trust me, it's even worse when there is nothing that you can do about it.
That's exactly how I feel.
Once again, I'm back inside a dungeon.
One would think that being part of a dungeon raid team, I would play an important role, maybe take on a few monsters or even lead the team.
Well, I usually did that until my alarm wakes me up at 6 a.m every morning.
After that alarm, I'm stuck in this sad reality of my life.
I was tired and sick with a flu, but my bills were not going to pay itself.
The money for my brother's medical school education wasn't going to fall from the sky.
I lazily dragged my hurting body to yet another dungeon site, all for some cash to get by.
One would ask, if I didn't like this line of work, why then do I continue it.
Well, the reason is simple—Money.
As much as the job of a hunter is dangerous and filled with everyday risk, the lowest gates pay significantly better than the average 9-5 jobs.
I didn't have the qualifications or considerations for the high end civil service jobs. So, I'm stuck with this—helping in the clearing of dungeons.
I rode my bicycle to the location in the letter of invitation, stopping by the gates to park my vehicle.
As I removed my helmet, I couldn't help but look around and observe my surroundings.
This was a construction site—a massive but abandoned one.
Metallic equipment that served whatever purposes were rusting and wallowing in dust, without any maintenance whatsoever and none even guaranteed in the future.
However, this was not even remotely my problem.
"Your ID," the middle-aged man at the gate demanded with an outstretched hand as he looked at me sternly.
This man was built and quite frankly, compared to my slim stature, I can only say that he was intimidating to look at but regardless, I had to maintain my composure as a hunter.
A hunter is supposed to take pride in themselves and have some level of confidence.
I reached for the inner pocket of my jacket and took out my hunter ID, handing it to him.
The man took it and briefly examined it while he glanced at me from time to time.
—––
[Hunters Bureau ID]
Name : Lexon Stark
Age : 23
Occupation : Support Hunter
Class : D
—––
The man's face twisted as he looked at the ID card.
I could feel the disgust from his body take form and attempt to crush him in an instant.
I wasn't surprised either since I was used to such treatment at almost every job that I've taken as a hunter.
I was expectant of a dismissive response but very much to my surprise, he handled it quite professionally. The man did his best not to reveal any condescending expressions on his face, at least not while I'm standing in front of him.
That alone was a commendable act considering what D class hunters were.
D class hunters were the weakest class of the ranked hunters in the world.
In modern day, there are two types of hunters—the unranked hunters and the ranked ones.
To explain, unranked hunters are people who have found their way in using mana but are yet to be certified by the Hunters Bureau for a license. In addition to that, unranked hunters have also not taken any officially recognised assessment tests, meaning that their ranks are unknown to both them and the bureau.
Most unranked hunters do so to have their freedom and operate as they see fit without being bound to the laws of the bureau. So they end up mostly as freelancers or hands for hire.
Quite frankly, the pay one gets as an unranked hunter is shit! However, it's still enough for one person to get by anyway.
So I don't care about what does not pay enough for my bills and for that reason, I joined the bureau and took the assessment test.
As much as the life of an unranked hunter sounds easy and fun, the Hunter Bureau have gradually made sure to silence them over time and successfully bring almost every hunter under their wings.
The Hunter Bureau acquires rights to clearing dungeons. Thereby, significantly crippling the unranked hunters since their pool for jobs had been shrunk significantly.
For the ranked hunters, we have 6 ranks—X, S, A, B, C, D. With the D rank being the lowest in the ladder, one can already tell that it was the weakest while S is at the top of it all—the big dogs among us.
You must be wondering why I didn't consider the X rank. The reason is simple—even I haven't seen one of the X ranked hunters. Sometimes, I consider it a myth because the descriptions given about them shouldn't exist in this world but if it is even slightly true then I guess they are higher than S rank hunters.
"You can go in," the man said as he handed me back my ID card.
I thanked him and went right into the construction site.
If I was anything other than a support type hunter at D class for this job, it was certain that he would have bounced him out. Good thing support hunters are still needed in raid teams.
We were tasked with carrying equipment, mining of mana gems and most of the noncombat duties that may emerge inside the dungeons.
Arriving at the rendezvous point, I could see that I was the last person to get here, but at least I arrived before the set time of entry.
Every other person was busy getting ready and warming up for the raid but that had nothing to do with me.
I sat on one of the worn out machines and watched. They were all manner of hunters here—attack-type hunters, healers, defense-types etc.
There was nothing much I could do with my ability except support them with carriage.
"Yo, Lexon!" a voice called out to me.
I turned, only to meet a familiar face.
'Crystal?' I thought, recalling this person's name.
She was all smiles and cute as she approached me.
"What are you doing here, Lexon?" she asked with some concern. "Do you have a death wish or something?"
I had done my last job some weeks ago with Crystal being a teammate. She knew first hand the injuries I suffered and naturally, was surprised that I'm back for more.
I giggled sheepishly, scratching the back of my head. "Well, I need the money."
Crystal had a slightly disappointed look as she sighed. "You know a dead man has no need for money. If something happens to you, all this will be meaningless."
"Well, until then," I replied.
She proceeded to sit beside me and chat while we waited out until the time of entry.
"You shouldn't get any injuries in this one since the team captain is a B rank hunter."
I nodded, reassuring her that I knew who it was when quite frankly, I didn't.
"Alright, everyone!" a voice shouted out to every one of us present. "Gather around!"
It was time for the briefing.
This man was tall and huge. One word to describe his appearance was 'mighty'.
"I am Big Bone, your team lead and member of the Cross Sword Guild. While some of you are members of the guild, others are not and this is because we needed extra hands to clear this dungeon."
Without moving his body, he pointed at the shimmering form of energy right behind him.
"It shouldn't be too difficult since it's a C rank dungeon. Well, unless it's a Double Layer Dungeon."
As soon as Big Bone said this, everybody felt slight shivers through their body.
He laughed boisterously. "I'm just kidding."
Underneath his confidence projection, Big Bone retracted the silly joke he made as his inner self was sweating. 'I really hope it's not a double layer dungeon. The closest A class hunter would take a while to get here.'
In a couple of minutes, Big Bone was done addressing us and we all entered into the dungeon, aware of whatever it held or what we would meet because that was the life of a hunter—one of uncertainties.
Even in the midst of these uncertainties, sometimes we get a tick.
Just like I was getting one now, my instincts didn't feel right but oh well, I needed the money.
As soon as we entered, a cold breeze brushed past, welcoming us into the dungeon.
Something just didn't feel right here.