"IF YOU CAN'T MEET UP WITH THE RENT MONEY, I'LL THROW YOUR STUFF OUT! THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING, MISTER KYLE!" An elderly lady wearing a black gown screamed, catching the attention of people passing by.
A young man stood in front of her, taller by a feet and a half and clearly still sleepy.
"Calm down miss Winner, remember I promised you I'll get you your money today?" Kyle tried to calm the woman down. "Before I get in tonight I'll make sure to stop by first, I promise."
The elderly lady shook her head, looking at the young man in front of her.
"I'm only giving you this grace because of your brother, he was a good kid, if it hadn't been for those shady people who killed him, our city would've been safer." Miss Winner walked away, allowing Kyle to finally let out a sigh of relief.
He chose to ignore her words about his brothers death like he had always done.
He was asked towards a mirror at a corner and looked at his feral appearance. His hair was ruffled by his constant turns at night and he still had a sleepy look. His dark eyes weren't exactly vibrant either.
'For sure I have to pay rent today.' He took in a deep breath before he hurriedly went to take his bath and fix his appearance before leaving.
Today was Kyle's biggest gig yet. And if it all works out, he would be doing more than just paying this woman her rent.
At a remote construction site, many of the workers, in their own sweat, were working with a scared look on their faces. For a reason all of them knew...
A bicycle braked just outside the entrance of the construction site and Kyle got off swiftly, dragging it inside the site.
"State your business here!" A buff looking guy in front of the gate asked and Kyle shook his head, pulling out a card from his jacket.
"Ah, you're in the hunter team that's raising the dungeon?" The man asked with a smile, taking the card and inspecting it.
'Here we go again.' Kyle thought, already knowing what to expect.
"You're in the excavation team? Okay. The location is just behind this structure." The man gave him back the card.
The initial gleam in his eyes when he thought Kyle was a hunter vanished.
It was understandable, Hunters were the stars and gods of this world. Literally.
Ever since Kyle could remember, the dungeons—dimension gates releasing a horde of monsters—show up at random places. These people are known as the "Hunters" guided by a mysterious System, awaken abilities and grow stronger, raiding dungeons and saving cities.
These hunters are now the most sought out job in the world, but also the one with the least survival chance.
That has nothing to do with Kyle though, he was awakened but he's in the lowest category of categories—"F". So the most he could do in those dungeons was bearing the strange mana in the air and helping to carry spoils.
Behind the large incomplete construction was a glowing purple hole leading to a white space beyond. In front of it there were people standing, seemingly waiting for the last of them.
Kyle immediately spotted a guy amongst them and headed towards him.
"Kim!"
The guy with a short beard and a low cut hair turned to him, smiling immediately.
"Kyle! You're out early, you ready?!" Kim asked, having a smile on his face.
He was definitely not the average man, having the looks of a model. It wasn't anything strange, hunters were said to look so beautiful that many of them are known for their faces rather than feats.
Kim shook hands with Kyle, nodding towards the dungeon they were about to raid.
The owner of this large construction wanted this dungeon on a priority list and put a lot of money up for it, and Kim managed to secure a spot for himself and put Kyle on the excavation team. A true friend indeed.
"Why aren't you in gear, oh almighty C rank hunter?" Kyle asked, punching Kim on the shoulder.
Kim's gaze was distracted though, and Kyle turned to look behind them and that's when he saw that the rest of the hunters were here.
At the front was a man wearing red armour with a flowing red cape behind him, having a sword on his waist. His short black hair was tied in a pigtail and his deep dark eyes seemed deeper than the regular human.
One of the men in front of the dungeon immediately came towards them.
Apart from the man in red armour, there were three other people. One of them had a light green top that stuck to his body like leaves, holding a bow with a quiver of arrows strapped to his waist. Another wore dark clothing with a hood, his face was obscured from view and Kyle couldn't see any weapons on him.
The last lady, popping a gun she chewed, had light brown hair. Wearing a shirt white gown with boots that had daggers in them. In her hand was a staff, signifying that she's a mage.
The leader of the group reached them first. Seeing him from close range, his red armour had many intricate carvings in them.
'This must be expensive.' Kyle thought, looking at the rest of his gear.
"You are the last C rank warrior joining us? Let's work well together." The dude shook Kim, earning a nod, and then he walked to go speak to the owner of the site.
"He didn't even spare me a glance?" Kyle shook his head with a bitter smile.
Soon, the rest of the mining and excavation team came out and that's when the raid was about begin.
"Equip!" Saying those simple words, a light flashed over Kim.
The next second, he was wearing a light silver armour, holding a round shield and a longsword to go into the dungeon. Normal weapons don't work on these creatures.
Seeing hunters equip their items always reminds him of his elder brother who died two years ago in a dungeon. It is what it is, and he have had to survive on his own till now.
Unlike his brother, who was a registered A rank Hunter, he awakened as an F class, barely able to even feel Mana.
Soon the three teams were organized and they marched inside the dungeon together. The attack team, consisting of hunters, the mining team consisting of miners and explorers, and finally the excavation team a group behind the mining team who'll carry all the spoils.
The dungeon was soon filled with loud bangs and growls from obviously inhuman creatures. Each one of them there felt the bursts of mana pouring out from deep inside the dungeon.
It hadn't been even thirty minutes when a creature showed up from the entrance where hunters went.
"Snap, one of the things got out!" One of the miners screamed, backing away.
Kyle looked from the side to see the creature, it resembled a human child with green skin a long nose, and an ugly face to match its overgrown stomach.
Plus, one of its arms were cut off and it was bleeding profusely.
"It's a goblin! They're small but they're fast!" Kyle alerted them backing away himself.
An F ranker like him was no different from a regular human being. Even if the creature looked weak and was bleeding, it might still put up a fight.
One of the miners raised his pick axe, moving forward towards the creature. He put his hands in his pocket.
"Mr Pen." One of the miners tried to call the man but he didn't react.
'Is this guy trying to aura-farm right now?!' Kyle screamed in his thoughts, anxious.
The mana coming from the goblin had to be a D rank.
"Hey." The mature man caught the goblin's attention.
Before it could react, he removed his hand from his pocket, throwing a pile of sand into its eye. Immediately, he raised his pick axe, striking down into the waist on the side where the arm was missing.
"Grr, it won't go through!" The man looked back at the other miners, but they were all looking at him in fear.
"Arghh." Mr Pen shouted as the goblin stabbed the short knife in its remaining hand into the man's calf.
'Damnit.' Kyle grabbed a shovel from the cart a miner dragged in here, charging at the Goblin.
*Clank!*
He whipped the goblin's face back, making it stumble and leave its knife.
Kyle raised the shovel again to hit it.
*Clank! Clank! Clank!...!*
The miners, even Mr Pen, watched the young excavation team member beat the goblin to a pulp with a shovel, as if he was beating a lifelong enemy.
Soon, the goblin stopped moving and Kyle was already drenched in sweat.
*Ding!*
[Awakened, you have slayed a level 18 D rank Zombie]
[Your strength grows]
He finally looked back and Mr Pen already removed the knife from his leg.
"You're one hell of a warrior kid." The man complimented, using a piece of cloth to tie the open stab wound.
The other members were still frozen in shock so Kyle carried the man back to the others.
Just then, one of the hunters, the archer, came out of the cave to alert them that it was time to move.
...
*Clank! Clank! Clank!...!*
The sounds of metal hitting rock resounded all around the caves. The miners were quick to start digging into the crystals found on the side of the caves.
The excavation team was already in with metal carts driving the remains of goblins and other creatures out of the caves and outside the dungeon.
Kyle was on another side of the cave, staring at an empty space.
"Hey, what's wrong with that kid?" One of the miners asked, looking back at Kyle.
"He says that he's seeing a big door on that side of the dungeon."
"But there's nothing there. He did look crazy when he went to beat that goblin."
The two miners both left Kyle and continued their business.
Meanwhile, Kyle was lost in thoughts of his own. Right now he was staring at a large door that was pitch black with a carved 'X' on its surface.
He looked back, seeing the other people ignoring him.
'Can they not really see this?' he walked closer, placing his hand on the door.
As his hand touched the surface of the door, the area around him warped and in the next second, he found himself in a foreign space.
The warped space settled.
Kyle stumbled forward as gravity returned, barely catching himself before falling flat on his face. The air here was thick—heavy in a way that pressed against his lungs and crawled along his skin. It didn't feel like mana. It felt older.
He straightened slowly.
The space around him was vast and hollow, a throne hall carved from black stone that reflected no light. Pillars stretched upward into darkness, their tops swallowed by shadow. The floor beneath his feet was smooth, cold, and etched with faint symbols that pulsed as if breathing.
At the far end of the hall sat a black throne, and a woman was currently sitting on it. At least she looked like a woman.
She had long black hair that cascaded down her shoulders like ink spilling over marble. Two short horns curved from her forehead. A thin, barbed tail swayed lazily behind her, its tip tapping against the arm of the throne in a slow, deliberate rhythm. Her outfit was dark and minimal, more ceremonial than practical, clinging to her form as if woven from shadow itself.
Her crimson eyes locked onto Kyle, making him involuntarily take a step back.
"Finally." The woman's voice hit him as a smile embraced her face.
The pressure in the air multiplied instantly, crashing down on him like an invisible wave. His knees buckled, and a sharp, nauseating heat rose from his stomach to his throat.
'What's this? Her mana is even stronger than the boss's mana! Is this a special grade dungeon?!' Kyle looked around, petrified by the woman's gaze.
"I don't know why he would send me here for such a meager task. I don't want to waste time with a human, now come and die." She stretched her delicate hands towards him, revealing pointy claws at the tips of her finger nails.
Kyle felt a pull on his body and he flew,as if pulled by gravity, towards her.
The demonic lady took a step forward, whispering in his ears.
"Don't worry, when you wake up, you'll understand what is going on. Make sure you come back to dungeon zero." As she said that, her hand pierced through his chest, as she ripped out his heart in one motion.
"Sleep well..."