I had reached the location of the underground. It was a really simple place. A giant underground space that was 3 kilometres below ground and ran for a few kilometres. There were several entrances and I had used the one that I had bought the information for.
The underground was no different from above ground. There were a lot of stalls and merchants just like above but the only difference was these people were not shouting. There were several buildings and several shops which made me realize this place was no different from above ground.
I walked past several stalls that were selling weapons. I was slightly tempted to look at them since I had never seen a sword before but I resisted the urge. If I stopped and stared then I don't know if I could escape the merchant's silver tongue and end up buying a sword that I would never use.
I also went past several stalls that were selling monster meat. They were being slowly roasted on a barbeque grill. The meat looked amazing and I wanted to take a bite out of it. But that would be for later when I awakened Hyoksi. I, as well as the main character of the story, were classified as shakers. Which meant that I could eat monster meat to increase my strength.
I spent quite a while walking and finally, I reached my destination. People were shouting above one another trying to get passerby's attention.
"Expedition of Elven forest. 1,000 dollars paid and safety guaranteed. Need 2 people to fill the numbers."
"Auxiliary healer needed 5,000 dollars for every 5 hours. Safety guaranteed."
"Hunting party for Medusa's maid. Only borrowers or enhancers are needed. Payment depends on the level of skill."
"Group needed for body guarding."
"Borrowers wanted."
"Enhancers needed."
"Fullions paid greatly."
The entire place was chaotic but that was good. That meant business was booming. In my novel, I didn't create dungeons, towers, labyrinths or anything of that kind. Monsters existed out in the wild and if you wanted to go kill them then you would need to go fight them on their home turf.
I felt like dungeons were to cliche and unrealistic except for in video games. Monsters that just kept on respawning with no logical explanation and dropped swords and armours after they died. If they said that the armour was made out of the body of the monster then I would be inclined to believe it.
I walked up to one of the men who was shouting at the top of his lungs. He was a slightly tall man with broad shoulders. Brown eyes and brown hair as if he was suffering from Kwashiorkor. He had a baby face and short hair. He wore a simple one-piece armour that covered every part of his body.
"Excuse me, do you mind if I join your group?" I asked the man.
The man seemed surprised to see me. I mean I did look extremely weak so it was to be expected for someone to be surprised.
"It depends really," he replied after quickly recovering from his surprise. "Although we need people to fill the numbers, we need someone who can at least carry a part of their weight."
I nodded in agreement. "That's okay, I can more than carry my weight. After all, I am a Kosu."
The man seemed even more surprised than before and I could tell just from looking at his face. "Is that so? Tell me what can you do?" he asked me.
"I can increase my body weight and size and grow up to 20 metres tall," I replied with confidence. I needed to be confident so that I could believe my lie. 20 metres tall. What bullshit! I could only increase parts of my body slightly currently. I, in no way, was capable of such a thing. After I awaken Hyoksi then I could say such things knowing that I could. "I also have a really strong healing factor."
That was also a lie. My healing factor was really weak. Just to heal a big wound my body would use all of its stored energy and fat. This was also one of the reasons why I was also skinny.
"Wow, that is amazing... Do you have your super abled ID? The man asked with hesitation.
I shook my head. Even if I did I would not show it to him. This was the underground, you couldn't trust anybody. Showing someone your super abled ID in the underground was no different from posting your address on the internet. Sure, someone may not come to your house and murder you but the chance was still there.
"It's alright, I can act as bait," I said after seeing the man open his mouth. The man stared at me for a few seconds before nodding. He pointed behind him where 3 people were standing around an armoured humvee. "Go wait over there with the others. Try acquainting yourself with them," he said. I took two steps before turning back to him.
"Before I do that, I feel like we should get rid of the elephant in the room."
"..."
"Payment."
"Oh yes, I had forgotten about that. The market value for acting as bait for creature hunting is 15,000 dollars for the day. Give me your account information, I'll send you half now and a half after the job is complete."
I gave him my account information and was surprised when I received a notification almost immediately.
ππ π¦ βππ§π βπππππ§ππ 7,500 π»π ππππ£π€ π½π£π π πΌπ£ππ πππ₯ππππππ€.
I walked away from Eric and headed toward my soon-to-be teammates. I know I should not be counting my chicks before they hatched but I had just made 15,000 dollars.
That was more than a healer was paid for creature hunting. Usually, no one volunteered to be bait as they were separated from their group and had to gain the attention of the creatures. Lots of people who acted as bait died on a weekly basis hence the reason why it paid well.
Luckily for me, it was only creature hunting and not monster hunting. I'm pretty sure I could attract the attention of a few creatures.
Horrors was a collective term for animals, creatures, monsters and beasts. Animals were as they sounded. Just normal living beings. Creatures were animals that evolved after somehow awakening Hyoksi. Monsters were the next stage of evolution for creatures. Monstrous beings with no mind. A few examples of monsters were Wendigo's, Were-hyena's and ogres.
Then there were beasts. Beasts were the final evolution of monsters. They were the most powerful. Monsters did not have brains and were not capable of thought. However, when they evolved they did. A few examples of beasts were skin-walkers, dragons, giants and phoenixes. Most of them were hostile to humans except for a few such as giants and phoenixes. As long as you did not piss them off then you were all good.
That is why I said I could probably handle a few creatures. They were just slightly stronger than animals. Besides I wasn't going to fight them. All I was doing was attracting their attention.
"Hello, guys." I greeted my teammates.
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Song recommendation: Gangsteritus by Potter Payper.
Also, vote for me to win WPC 298. If I manage to get into the top 3 then I'll mass release 20 chapters.