Patrol job

A complex building stands before Vero. It's a building that easily doubles the size of the surrounding one. This is the inner wall defense operational base. The base is built inside a wall, with half of it being in the inner city.

"Identification."

The guards at the front ask Vero for his hunter ID. He complies, handing over his hunter terminal. After the inspection, Vero is let in through the door.

Inside is a spacious hall with different sections. It's completely different from the slum city outside, like night and day. This place is organized and filled with people walking around.

"Wow."

Vero is amazed by all of this. He had seen a massive structure before, but he had never seen this many people gathered in one place. He could spot a stall selling equipment and food for the hunter.

Vero looked over to the stall selling a sandwich. He has been enticed by the smell of bread and meat. He observes that the people are happy when they eat the sandwich, so he has no doubt that it would taste good.

However, upon a closer look, he could see that the price of one sandwich is 2000 tel per piece. It took Vero to be a surprise. He can't swallow the thought of buying one of these when he could buy a bundle of the cheap nutrient packs.

'Why does it have to be so expensive?'

Vero then went to sit on a beach, waiting for his turn to be up. In the meantime, he eats a cheap nutrient pack that he bought earlier as lunch. The price is not much different. However, this nutrient pack that he bought in the facility is way better than the one in the slum.

'Fran would be happy eating this'

He can't stop himself from thinking about his old friend when he eats these better-quality nutrient packs. Fran often comes back to him with a smile, giving him more nutrient packs. The two of them would eat together in the dark alley.

At that moment, even the cold street couldn't stop its warmth from Fran. A simple moment whit his friend. He misses that feeling.

"Hello," A voice interrupts his moment. Vero looks up and sees a familiar face. A tall figure applauds him with a smile. "You're doing a patrol job?"

"Yes, you too? I don't think that a veteran hunter would be doing this. " Rex smiles, worrying about Vero's remark.

"Guess you must have heard from old Will. Although I'm a veteran hunter, I'm here to babysit a group of young hunters on a patrol job. "

Rex is frustrated by this.

"Is it really that bad?"

Vero is curious about this. He hasn't encountered any young hunters before, so he won't know what they're like.

"Hm?" Rex looked surprised but continued to explain that most, if not all, young hunters have a massive ego when they succeed. These types of emotions often lead to a lack of attention and carefulness when venturing into a ruin.

This leads to a disastrous situation when they come across danger. Most of the new hunters meet their end this way, and some who survive become new people. The problem is that Frenzy's hunter program shelters the young hunter from danger.

This, in theory, is supposed to make more hunters with fewer casualties but fails in practice due to young hunters getting more reckless after a successful hunt. They're getting more and more reliant on powerful equipment and veteran hunters to clean up their garbage.

"And as you may guess, a lot of veteran hunters quit the gang because of this."

"Is it OK to tell me this information?"

"Well, at this point, it's like an open secret now, so it doesn't matter and I'm saying this to deter you from joining Frenzy right now. The infighting is intense, with a new rising star hunter leading the charge. As a veteran, I'd advise you to experience the hunt with another hunter before joining the gang right now. "

"Is it really that bad?" This was the second time that the Frenzy gang hunter stopped him from joining their own gang, so Vero, being a curious kid, asked away.

"You'd be surprised," Rex smirked while unwrapping a sandwich to eat as his lunch. Suddenly, he felt an intense gaze from Vero.

"You want to try?"

Vero nodded. Seeing Vero's reaction, Rex couldn't resist and gave Vero his sandwich. Upon receiving the sandwich, Vero bites into it carefully. letting the flavor seep through his mouth. He made a delightful expression.

"You haven't tried this before?"

Vero shakes his head.

"Guess your family is really strict, huh." Vero didn't hear Rex since his focus was on the sandwich he had just eaten. It's not like anything he has ever put in his mouth. Even the chocolate nutrient pack is different from this. What Vero just ate was a meat sandwich. The flavor that comes out of it is otherworldly for a slum kid. He had never tasted anything this delicious before.

However, this doesn't mean that the quality of the food is better than the old-world nutrient bar. The new flavor simply excited Vero.

They continue to talk to each other, but it's mostly Rex telling Vero some stories about when he was a young hunter and warning Vero about the fraud and scamming that he experienced.

Ring Ring Ring

[Hunter that has been assigned to vehicle number 14 please standby at the waiting area. The vehicle will pick you up in 15 minutes. We will not wait for hunters that are late.]

[Repaet hunter that has been....]

A girl's voice echoes throughout the facility, repeating the same sentence twice to let people know that they're about to leave.

"That's my queue. Hopefully, I will get to see you later. bye then. " Rex left Vero to go to his assigned vehicle.

Talking to people in a friendly manner put a smile on his face. The slum has been rough for him, so receiving a normal conversation is considered a privilege for Vero. He waited for another hour before he got called to his vehicle.