Chapter 4: An Unusual Hunter Team
The desert stretched endlessly beneath the blazing sun.
A shimmer of heat warped the distant landscape as Li Ming raised his binoculars, eyes narrowing to focus beneath the shade of a massive yellow rock peak.
After a few moments of searching, he found them the Hunter Team.
There were only three.
The first caught his attention immediately a burly man standing bare-chested under the merciless sun, sweat gleaming like molten gold on his tanned skin. With a low growl and rhythmic breathing, he lifted a massive metal shield over his head again and again, each motion fluid yet powerful.
"Hoo! Hoo! Hoo!"
Each exhale echoed like a war drum.
The shield he raised was easily half his height the kind used with a Lance or Gunlance. Judging by its plain metallic surface, untouched by monster parts, it was clearly a beginner's piece of gear.
But the man's energy… was anything but beginner.
His muscles rippled with every lift, veins bulging under the sun, while his determined eyes burned like two small furnaces. Every motion radiated raw, infectious vitality the kind that could make you believe sheer willpower could crush a monster's skull.
Beside him, a yellow-and-white Felyne hopped from paw to paw, rhythmically clapping like a proud trainer counting reps.
Li Ming couldn't help but smirk.
"Alright then… I'll call you Hot-Blooded Dumbbell Bro for now."
He shifted his binoculars toward the next figure a young man sitting cross-legged deep in the shade.
Thin. Still. Silent.
The man wore a sleek black leather armor that blended almost perfectly with the shadows. If Li Ming hadn't been paying close attention, he might have missed him entirely.
Two short blades peeked from behind the man's shoulders unmistakably the weapons of a Dual Blades user.
His pale face carried a cold, distant melancholy, and even from this distance, Li Ming could sense a detached aura, as if this Hunter's soul was perpetually lost in thought.
A black Palico crouched beside him, tail flicking, eyes sharp and watchful.
"Hmm… Cold-Faced Bro, huh? You don't exactly scream 'Hunter material,'" Li Ming mused.
If the first man embodied everything about the typical image of a Hunter bold, loud, muscle-bound then this one was his opposite: quiet, fragile-looking, and eerily calm.
And yet… perhaps that was the balance.
Could the type of weapon a Hunter used really reflect their physique?
It made sense, Li Ming realized.
A hulking brute couldn't hope to wield Dual Blades with finesse, just as a slim figure like this one couldn't possibly control a Lance or Hammer with any degree of efficiency.
Physique dictated weapon and weapon dictated fighting style.
"Then… what weapon suits me?" Li Ming wondered, his gaze turning distant.
He was well-proportioned, agile but not overly muscular, sturdy yet not slow.
A blank slate.
A potential that could tilt in any direction if only he could discover which one.
He moved the binoculars again.
The third figure was… surprising.
A middle-aged man leaned lazily against a dull yellow rock, head tilted back, silver-gray hair tangled and dry from the desert air. His eyes were closed, his mouth slightly open, and the faint sound of snoring drifted through the still heat.
Next to him, a fat orange Felyne mirrored his posture perfectly, also snoring away, their chests rising and falling in near-perfect rhythm.
Li Ming blinked.
"They're… synchronized."
Not far from them, a weapon rested on the sand a massive, crude bone broadsword beside a strange, double-edged bone shield.
Recognition flashed in Li Ming's eyes.
"A Charge Blade…?"
He leaned closer through the lenses, heart quickening slightly.
In the real world, the Lance, Dual Blades, and Great Sword had clear historical analogues. But the Charge Blade a transforming weapon forged from fantasy itself was another story entirely.
Seeing it in reality, lying there like a relic from another world, stirred something deep in him.
"Impressive," he murmured. "That thing's more complicated than it looks."
After studying all three members, Li Ming began piecing together the puzzle.
Judging by their gear, their posture, and the monster they were hunting… this was no elite team.
At best, they were mid-tier — maybe even rookies still finding their rhythm.
But unlike in the games, real life didn't have a tutorial stage.
If that older man planned to retire soon, this might be as far as his career as a Hunter ever went.
Still, Li Ming found himself oddly fascinated. These weren't legendary Hunters or elite veterans, yet they radiated something else raw humanity, effort, imperfection.
A strange, endearing authenticity.
The only thing he couldn't understand…
was how three people with such wildly different temperaments ended up on the same team at all.
Hot-Blooded Dumbbell Bro, Cold-Faced Bro, and a silver-haired uncle who could fall asleep standing up.
It was like fate had rolled a handful of mismatched dice and this was the result.
Soft pawsteps sounded behind him, interrupting his thoughts.
"Aileron said if the Hunter Team continues to move, inform him immediately, meow," Mi Duoduo whispered, padding up beside him.
"Got it."
She sat down next to him, tail curling neatly around her paws.
"Can you tell another story, meow?" she asked, tilting her head, eyes hopeful.
Li Ming smiled. "Sure. This one's called Black Cat Detective. You'll like it."
"Black Cat Detective!" Mi Duoduo's ears perked up, eyes sparkling.
But the joy faded almost as quickly as it appeared.
Li Ming noticed. "You look down. What's wrong?"
Mi Duoduo's gaze dropped to the sand. "Thinking that you'll leave soon makes me sad, meow."
"Who knows?" Li Ming chuckled softly. "Even if I do leave, maybe our paths will cross again."
"Really, meow?"
"Of course. Once I'm rich, I'll hire your whole tribe as my personal Felyne cart service."
"…That doesn't sound very lucky, meow."
"It's fine," Li Ming said confidently. "I have plot armor."
Mi Duoduo giggled despite herself.
Half an hour later, Hot-Blooded Dumbbell Bro unfolded a worn map and began planning their route. After a short discussion, he roused the sleeping uncle with a casual kick.
Cold-Faced Bro rose quietly and began walking ahead without a word.
Once the team moved out, the Melu Cats coordinated immediately, pushing their four-wheeled cart in rhythm to follow.
Li Ming trailed behind, mind wandering.
"If food resources stabilize, maybe staying with the Melu Tribe wouldn't be so bad…"
But deep down, he knew that decision wasn't his to make.
As they followed the Hunter Team's trail, something else caught his attention.
Hot-Blooded and Cold-Faced carried only their weapons.
But the older man the one with the Charge Blade bore a massive tarp-wrapped backpack nearly half his size.
He walked with the same lazy gait as before, showing no signs of fatigue.
Still, Li Ming frowned.
"Aileron," he said, glancing toward the cart. "Doesn't this team seem… unbalanced to you?"
Aileron put down his binoculars. "A little, meow. Normally a hunting team has four members, and supply weight is shared to avoid overexertion."
"Exactly my thought."
"Let's find a chance to make contact, meow," Aileron suggested. "If they're Guild-registered and can escort you to Sandy Rock Den Outpost safely, that's what matters."
"I'll try," Li Ming nodded. "Though I wonder… what are their odds of actually completing this hunt?"
Truthfully, he had another motive skill orb extraction.
There was no rule saying he had to land the final blow, after all.
"Not high, meow," Aileron admitted. "The researcher said this is an emergency contract taken by those trying to raise their Hunter Star Rank. Those are rarely successful."
Li Ming raised a brow. "Barroth's a three-star target… so they're probably two-star Hunters."
In Monster Hunter terms, that meant this was their trial by fire a desperate leap toward advancement.
And in the real world, such leaps could end in death.
"If they fail," Li Ming said slowly, "doesn't that mean the tribe won't get paid?"
"Normally, yes, meow. But the Guild provides a small failure guarantee."
"Huh. Didn't expect the Guild to have an insurance policy," Li Ming muttered.
"Perhaps without us Felynes," Aileron said with a flick of his tail, "the Guild would have far more problems, meow."
Li Ming chuckled.
"True enough."
He glanced back toward the advancing Hunters three figures, mismatched yet determined, trudging across the golden wasteland toward a monster that might end them.
And Li Ming felt a strange anticipation building in his chest.
He wasn't sure if it was curiosity… or excitement.
Either way, his story and theirs were about to intertwine.