PROLOGUE...
[Daily Quest is now available]
The monotonic voice of a female rang out in his ears.
He subconsciously kept treating this as a game but it was metamorphing into a nightmare.
Either way, he could not ignore the system screen that popped up in front of his face floating mid-air or that voice in his head.
He reluctantly sighed, and anytime he remembered his reason for doing this, he just had to; that was how debts work.
Immediately he opened his eyes, the system screen displayed its information.
[Daily Quest: A strong body...]
Press up, 100 times: Incomplete (0/100)
Sit up, 100 times: incomplete (0/100)
Squats, 100 times: incomplete (0/100)
Running, 10 km: incomplete (0/10)
*Warning: A penalty will be awarded for the failure to complete daily quests.
I got to confirm the information on the system and like always, it's the same daily quests.
At this point, I thought I'd be numb to it; alas, it's futile.
...
E rank Hunter, Timothy Walters.
At the mention of that name, no one dared to even breathe loudly.
Simply because he was well famous in the area.
Well, his fame was a product of his notorious behavior, but overall, he couldn't be blamed.
Timothy was nothing special, only being as strong as a 20-year-old youth and optimistic as no one else literally.
All E rank hunters were essentially human-level strong with a minority of them being slightly stronger than an achieved bodybuilder.
But Timothy was special in the sense that he had never left the position of E rank.
Being a hunter was synonymous with being a gambler, though with a higher odds of hitting it big.
All humans who become hunters eventually get ranked, mostly from E to A.
And in the case of you being ranked E, there's always hope as the more dungeon raids you participate in, the more experience you get and eventually climb the ranks.
Timothy had been in the hunting job since he became 18, the legal age to become a hunter.
And considering the time spent and devotion he put in, he should have at least ranked up once.
Alas each time, he went for re-evaluation, it came up as E rank.
They initially called him a late bloomer as his devotion should be proportional to talent but after two years, he is rather seen as a failure.
And recently he started getting more and more lax with the dungeon raids, making the rumors even more authentic to the ears.
He had been asked several times to just quit and turn in his hunting license, but here In Nigeria, where would one get a low-ranking job that was paying this decently?
And this was after all the taxes and necessary wages like medical bills had been deducted from his pay.
Fortunately or unfortunately, this was the best job he could take currently, one had to know that the minimum wage for a citizen had only been recently increased to Seventy thousand Naira (Roughly $45) monthly
For an uneducated youth to avoid complaints at home, he had to do something with no tangible skills; this was the best.
And that is why he had to always show up every time he got a notification of a raid.
...
Most of his acquaintances had moved up the rank, and even with that much power, they still sometimes came within the area to raid an E-rank dungeon.
He had no concrete idea why, but he guessed it was because the competition for dungeons increased the higher ranks one went.
This time the Hunter association called out to the hunters within the area and certain ranks to come for a dungeon raid.
And this was the reason he came, reaching here it seemed he was the last to arrive as everyone just calmly stared at him.
He could sense the hostility and anger in their faces and he was scared a little, not of these venomous snakes but that the supervisor would kick him out.
Now, that would be a total breakdown of his reputation; he did have a reason he came late if only he could explain.
But looking at the man in charge. Mister Cyril George.
He was unconcerned about Timothy and only welcomed him saying.
"Family issues? You're growing up, and you have a lot to do, so you should always be prepared, kid; a minute late, and I would have pulled you out of the register."
It was obvious he wasn't with Timothy, and he did scold him in his way, but still, he was experienced enough to know that not everyone was against Timothy and they wanted him out, but for some reason, he remained unmoved.
To settle the air around the place he opted for a quick announcement before they dived in for the raid.
Mister Cyril was a middle-aged man, probably in his 40s, and most likely the eldest, followed by his assistant, Dede.
Dede was a nickname though. So well known, his name is forgotten.
"Before we start the raid, I just want to say that we should remember that together we stand, and divided we fall. Everyone has their circumstances, and we should respect them, but likewise, everyone has their priorities, and because we respect that, we can sieve through them. The association and guild are getting worked up again, and honestly, I think it's because the awakening rate has gone high again..."
He quietly looked around after saying that.
Everyone knew what it meant; it was a simple analysis: the higher the threat, the inversely proportional balance humans face.
Though it was only a rumor there was truth in rumor.
"... So work hard, and we should be able to get through this together without being affected much by the association," Mr Cyril said and closed the announcement there.
Every hunter grunted and understood Mr Cyril. No one wanted to be affected by the association, but everyone wanted to be recruited by the guild as they had almost a 100% increase in profit with the right contract, and working hard was the only way to get their attention.
Timothy, on the other hand, understood the first statement Mr Cyril said meant that he should keep things in order and not make others uncomfortable with your unsorted issues.
He sighed at the help Mr Cyril was offering him, and he appreciated it; he looked around for the warm-up beverage usually served before raids.
He only found used plastic cups and nothing else; this showed how late he came as it meant the beverages were emptied already.
The cold wind brushed past his face as he sighed ...
'What a bad way to start a day and he hasn't had breakfast yet'
He reluctantly walked over and squatted under a tree.
Looking at the gate in front of him, he wondered what was behind this time.
Normally behind a gate was where a dungeon was situated.
And the particular dungeon behind this gate should be around D rank.
A dozen-plus hunters had already taken care of their share of the monsters in the dungeon.
This was something he dreamed he could do one day too.
Unfortunately for an E rank, that was only a dream.
There were different groups of people here parking in this raid, and unfortunately, he couldn't see any healer at all.
'Are they trying to cut costs?' he thought
As late as they were already, he had to be prepared.
Opening up his bag, he brought out a fairly used knife, no different than a kitchen knife, and put it into a paper sheath made for it
He slung his bag by the tree branch, there was nothing too valuable in it except his phone.
One didn't have to dress like a game character to enter the dungeon; suit yourself with your equipment and don't die were the rules.
Well, he had no money to spare, and death was a luxury only the poor could afford.
He had been through a raid many times, and by now, he was excellent at what he did.
He didn't have a small size or build, but it was average at best.
Faces known and unknown had piled up in front of the gate, they were the last team to enter.
That much couldn't be blamed on him, as the weakest team always goes last for safety reasons.
...
Soon enough, they had cleared out the last remains of the dungeon, and Timothy, well, he couldn't stop smiling as he hadn't managed to kill much since everyone here was over-leveled.
But he did take down an E-rank monster, and he got a Mana crystal from it.
These things go for as much as eighty thousand Naira.
Plus he hadn't sustained much injury.
Only scratches here and there.
The medical bill could take that much.
He had already thought about some inevitable miscellaneous fees if needed.
Too bad, though, the monsters here seem less, way too less, as though the previous teams did more than required.