It was normal for that to happen though.
He was just thankful he had gained a reward for today.
Suddenly someone shouted.
"Hey, what the fuck!"
Everyone turned and saw one of our fellow hunters on the ground as he tried to stand up and not lose more face, but rather, a chunk pile of dirt fell on him from above.
And immediately others rushed to pull him out.
"What the hell is that? "
We all thought the same thing.
It looked like a passage, covered by dirt which the man earlier had somehow discovered by poking around.
Again this was common, the poking around though.
The hidden passage wasn't common because they hadn't encountered a boss yet.
Every hunter now in this team had eyes glued to the weirdly looking passage circular in supposed shape; it seemed like it was not architectural made.
A tunnel roughly around five meters square radius
"Hah, don't tell me this is a dual dungeon," Mr Cyril said
"Why haven't we encountered the boss yesterday if it is a dual dungeon?" Dede replied.
"We're about to find out. " Another guy, a previous companion of Timothy, stepped up to enter the passage.
But was immediately shunned and stopped by Mr Cyril.
"If you take one more step, I'll make sure that this is the last raid you participate in," He said
Everyone who lived around the area knew not to take him for a joke because, despite his looks, he was just shy of C rank officially.
Well unofficially... There are rumors.
With that, the kid stopped in his tracks and retraced his steps.
With Mr. Cyril's years of experience in this field, he knew that being impulsive on such matters was not the right way to go, and so he decided to forfeit the right to this dual dungeon in his mind.
But when he turned around to get conclusive support, he saw more greed in their eyes than he had ever seen in his life before.
Some seemed unbothered by any choice; Timothy was particularly curious about what was behind the passage.
And though he had no skill, he trusted he could survive almost anything, he was a cockroach.
Mr Cyril immediately changed his mind and called for a meeting.
Everyone scrambled to organize their heads and tailed before they formed a barrage line some meters away from the passage.
He was glad they were still sane enough to listen to his command,
Though everyone's eyes were on the dark, and passage behind him.
Clearing his throat, he started!!.
"As you all know, a gate would not close until all bosses in it have been defeated, and the fact that we haven't seen the last boss might as well mean we haven't finished our work, which means the boss might be beyond that passageway, but!! I also want us to know that sometimes this may mean otherwise and we might be disappointed in our findings."
When the words left his mouth, he didn't just know how to persuade the hunters to do the right thing and not what they felt was right.
"We're supposed to report such a finding to the association but if we're being optimistic and there's something of value behind that passage then there's a chance we might've handed over our gain for the day, on the other hand, if there is nothing of value, we might just be wasting our time"
The hunters were all wondering where this all led to by now as Mr Cyril was beating around the bush.
"What I mean Is as the leader, eldest, and highest ranking here, I say we have no obligation to move onward, but I understand your emotions, and I feel that not everyone shares the same ideal with me, so I say we cast a vote."
Pointing at the passage he continued:
"Those in favor of moving ahead!..."
Before he could even complete his sentence, more than half the crowd of hunters raised their hands including Timothy.
Nevertheless, he still counted, and there were 15 people in support, mostly males.
"And those who wish to do the right thing?" Mr Cyril said purposely choosing his wordplay.
A handful of 9 people raised their hands, mostly females.
The results were obvious, but Mr Cyril hadn't come to a decision yet, and he turned to Dede secretly.
Dede nodded and whispered.
"Don't forget the country you're in"
"That bad huh?" Mr Cyril replied.
Timothy, though, got approached by a weirdly tall dude, he estimated to be around seven feet tall.
Immediately after the votes, the hunters had been divided and this guy was in his team of explorers.
"What's good Tim?" He said.
"I'm okay... " Tim answered awkwardly because, as far as he knew, he was not familiar with that with anyone here.
"The name's Uche, but they call me Mag, short for magnificent..." The guy said and almost everyone seemed to know him as friendly eyes were on him.
Such influence.
"I didn't think you'd gather enough balls to go in but when you did, I just want to say you motivated me and I'm just here to say thanks," Magnificent said with chuckles coming from around them
Timothy only nodded as things seemed now understood.
In short, he was scared; he wanted to choose to just go back out, but when he saw someone like Timothy volunteer to go in, his ego flared.
Not to forget that everyone here was in their youth and the only elders were the supervisors
...
Suddenly, they saw a tongue of fire light up and fly into the passage, illuminating the surroundings for a distance before falling and quenching.
This was done by Dede, who cast the flame magic, which was his specialty as a mage.
"It seems we have no choice, follow behind me tightly and be on guard always, so at least if we die, we die together and for a Reason!."
Everyone immediately began the raid again, with the group who voted to continue directly behind Mr Cyril and the group who voted to report to the association behind everyone else.
...
Minutes later a female voice was heard from behind.
"Hey, we've been walking for About Five minutes now, don't y'all find this unsettling? "
Though she kept her voice down to talk to the person beside her due to the quiet environment of only footsteps, literally everyone heard it.
Coincidentally, she was part of the group who voted not to go, and she received stares from the group ahead who voted to go. The females sneered in disgust, and the males smirked; some even went as far as trying to score one or two points by offering a shoulder.
Timothy watched all these with unconcern as he was still busy calculating how much he could gain if he sold the E rank core if they eventually mine the dungeon and how far it'd last them at home as well as the general issues at home.
They walked further ahead for five more minutes before they came to a slope.
This slope was neatly made and looked like it was meant to cover a two-way express road in size.
Beyond the slope were still jagged rocks and a further darkened tunnel.
At this point, everyone could see what was ahead, and no one said anything.
Now, though, Mr Cyril was even more certain that they should retreat.
"I think our exploration ends here, we will head back to report this to the association." He said
Dede unwillingly countered.
"What's the rush? We've already come this far; it can't be for nothing," he said, The greed in his voice almost audible.
"Dede, I am not risking the lives of these children for uncertain benefits"
"You were about to a while ago, there has been no harm so far, why are you getting worked up," Dede said
"This isn't up for debate; we're leaving; I've got a family who still needs me," Mr Cyril said in a mocking tone.
"George, we shouldn't argue personal life over the business; this is just some mild disagreement; whether you choose to be a coward over something this minor is your choice; I propose we share the obligations."
Dede recoiled in a calm tone as though he suddenly got a grasp of understanding.
Since they were still within the age bracket, he was allowed to call Mr Cyril by his surname, George.
Everyone watched both of them bicker, and in Timothy's perspective, Mr Dede was too much of a people pleaser, and he didn't even understand how he got this position as an assistant.
Frankly, he felt it was because of his age, as it was not common to see elderly people awaken with ranks.
Not everyone awakened, and as for their family background and history, he never cared to know.
Meanwhile, unaware of the two men bickering...
From behind, though they had come closer, one of the guys that lay by the wall was feeling absent-mindedly looking at the ants around, and he brought up the topic for his college with him there.