Almost a decade ago, a powerful explosion caused earth to tremble. With its Mother Nature providing the sources for survival and necessary needs for a human body, a new existence came into view.
Dungeons.
These very existence altered the laws and changed the holder of the power. Although the White House still had power and authority over the political world, a new association was brought into light, Hunters Association.
Hunters are categorized from rank F up to A, but if a hunter were to be stronger than rank A then they would be recognized as rank S. It's rare to come by high rankers like that, since not many exist. Currently, United States has ten S-rank hunters, excluding those US bribed and threatened with. While it's true that US has the most hunters, it is only because of the bribery of the hunters association.
Considering how rich US is, the hunter association would use the bribing method to reel S-rank hunters from other countries. If bribing did not work, they would threaten them using those who are close to them, but most of the time almost no one can turn down the offer US gives hunters. So it almost never resorts to threatening. Therefore, in total, there is almost thirty S-rank hunters residing in the US.
"Sir, a dungeon opened up by the beach of Coronado, we should hurry and reserve an appointment so our new members can train," Vicky said as she held on to a clipboard with her mini skirt and black tights.
Vicky was the secretary of the Athens Guild as well as an A-rank hunter, but she dedicated on serving Daniel, the founder of Athens guild, rather than fighting in the front lines.
"Take care of it. Im having lunch with the president of the Hunter's Association," he gets up from his office chair while tightening his black tie, "prepare a car for me."
"Yes, Sir."
Meanwhile, a beautiful woman had woken up by the dumpsters. People in the streets of downtown pitied her because of how miserable she looks to the point where her true beauty is hidden. A can was sitting in front of her figure filled with dollars and coins, 'What the hell? Do they think I'm some kind of homeless person?' She thought to herself but after getting seeing her dirty arms and sensing her odor, she realized why people would think so.
She just shook it off.
"I'm actually back," Astasia tried to make this moment dramatic by crying at her overflowing happiness, but it was hard. It may be a joyous occasion, but forcing herself to cry was hard.
She leaves her spot and decided to walk towards the beach. Luckily, for her, she still knew where the beach was located and the prices for some things still remained the same. So, she took the bus to go to the nearest beach while earning the stares of others.
"Oh god, it smells so bad here!" An old woman covered her nose in disgust while glaring at Astasia. Being a woman is everything. That means mainting beauty and even smelling nice, so she would obviously be ashamed of herself, but that didn't mean much to her. Being stinky was just an obstacle for her to overcome.
After arriving at the beach, she decided to wash herself by the showers. Inside the women's bathroom where a lady had been changing, she grabbed her clothes and left without causing any scene, then she changed into her clothes. This way, she was much more refined with no odor, "I should find my family first," she said.
In order to do that, she visited the police station nearby to ask for her information, "...missing for a three years. Where have you been?" The police helping her asked, "What? A year? I- I don't remember anything," Astasia replied.
"Do you know what happened before you were kidnapped?"
The officer asked all sorts of question that could possibly act as a leading evidence to her disappearance but Astasia's amnesia wasn't proving to be useful as the officer can do nothing but let out a heavy sigh, "Okay. I'll contact your parents after I write this report. Please wait over there. This will take about half an hour."
~~
New members of the Athens guild were currently in front of a C-rank dungeon gate. The members raiding the dungeon consisted of one B rank, one C rank, and two D ranks. In order to enhance their fighting capabilities and rise up in ranks, Athens guild send members to dungeons that is at least one rank higher than their current rank then they add a strong hunter to keep watch over them, like a chaperone.
Even so, it wasn't a game. Going inside a dungeon means you're risking your life and is prepared for any problems to arise. One must always expect the worst when stepping inside a dungeon, otherwise death can just be right around the corner.
"Let's go in," the leader said in a casual tone and a relaxed expression but the two members with D-ranks were extremely nervous. Are they going to die today? Will they mess up? Did they prepare everything? All sorts of negative thoughts clouded their mind and the courage they had just a day ago had disappeared . The leader was was quite amused by their expression, but he said nothing about it and moved on.
They must overcome the fear on their own and raise their mental ability. If one could not do so, then they are not fit to be a hunter. That was always said in the Athens guild.
~
Astasia used up the remaining money she received earlier to buy herself food from a convenience store. Seven-eleven was the nearest one so she helped herself with a sandwich she had missed, "It taste way better here," she commented.
As she walks around the beach with somewhat oversized clothing and no shoes, she bumped into a man that caused her and her bread to fall, "My food..." she clenched her fist, "buy me another one."
"What? I don't have time to run an errand for you. Here, go buy it yourself," the man threw a twenty dollar bill like nothing, hurting her pride so she got up the floor and attempted to punch him with mana imbedded in her fist, but to her surprise, nothing came out and the man was able to stop her incoming attack.
"You do realize you're trying to start a fight with a hunter right?" he glared at her. Despite his handsome face, his personality was quite frightening.
"Guys look! It's Kai! Is he here for the dungeon?"
"I heard the Athens beat the Knights again! So what's Kai doing here? Is that his girlfriend?"
Everyone began to surround Kai and Astasia who were arguing about a mere sandwich, so he decided to leave the area before it became more noisier, "Tch. What an asshole," she slaps her hair away in a sassy manner before an idea popped into her mind.
"Wait up! Darling!" Astasia wrapped her body on his arm with a fake smile plastered on her face, earning more attention from the others. People had always been nosy about the lives of public figures, so throwing him off was sort of a revenge for Astasia. As for the other reason...
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" He glared at her as they stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, "Your girlfriend is cold, won't you give me your jacket?" She blink her eyes a couple times and pouted.
To him, she was beautiful and probably the most beautiful woman he has seen, but this wasn't the first time a beautiful woman cling on to him like a bug. He despises those type of women the most, "Let go of me before I-" he couldn't even finish his sentence when she placed her index finger over his lips, "Shhh, just help me out a bit and I'll leave you alone. I don't have money and I can't see my parents like this. Do you get it? Unless I should just cause a scene here and tell everyone you abused me,"
"Does it look like I care? You're not the first woman to threaten me likes this," he smirked back at her. He was oozing with arrogance that it made Astasia more interested in him.
When he began walking away, the others waited for another scene to occur so she gladly showed them a show worth watching, "How could you! I left the Athens guild for you and this is how you treat me? You said you would marry me if I sold my body to the-" before she could finish her sentence, Kai hugged her as if he was showing his apology to his girlfriend. Or at least to the eyes of the others, but in reality, he was annoyed.
"Don't you dare drag my guild into this. I will kill you," he whispered in her small ears as they embraced each other passionately. Then, when he pulled a way, a fake but handsome smile, formed on his well defined face, "What nonsense are you spouting. I was just jealous that I saw you with another man. Turns out that he was just your friend. Let's go back home, shall we?" He grabbed her hand as they head back to who knows where.
In the midst of it all, a student obsessed with Kai had been recording the whole thing. He had a fan page that mostly consisted of high school girls and college girls, and all of his scandal with women were there.
"I wonder how many women are going to use him like that?"
"She said she will marry him, no?"
"Stupid, all the women has said that about him"
"Don't you think that woman is pretty though?"
All sorts of murmurs began to circulate in the media world, but he wasn't the only one suffering from scandals. There are many elite hunters that are just as handsome as Kai and just as beautiful as Astasia. They too, suffer from scandals that others bring. After all, anyone would do what it takes to get their hands on power and money.