Chapter 13 – Ragtag Team [2]

And there, he saw Taylor beating a punching bag in front of him as if he was a pro boxer while Jenny was working out on a treadmill. No one else was inside the gym. It was as empty as a graveyard. So, the sound of the door being opened became loud enough to attract attention.

The couple turned around as they heard someone enter and their eyes widened in surprise when they saw him standing there. Their benefactor.

"Morning, you two. How's the apocalypse doing to you?" Vale greeted them with a smile on his face.

"Oh, Vale!" Taylor's face brightened as he stopped punching the punching bag and walked over to him. "Man, it's good to see you again. Thanks to you, we managed to survive yesterday. We have never let our guard down since that happened."

"Same here." Jenny followed behind him as she wiped her sweat with a towel. "We actually managed to kill a few monsters too, leveling up in the process. Also, we saw the announcement. You're ranking 1 in the world? Wow!"

"Thanks, I was just lucky to find a horde of monster spawning around me. I honestly thought I would die, so I desperately fought them off. And to my surprise, I survived until midnight." Vale sighed lightly at their praise before he changed the topic.

"Anyway, I come here because I have a favor to ask of you guys. Remember what we talked about before parting yesterday?"

"Of course!" Taylor exclaimed, "Do you need our help for something? As a man, I won't go back down with my words. Tell us what to do, and we'll do it."

"Well, then I won't beat around the bush." He was satisfied with his response. "As you know, the world has changed. Dungeons appear and monsters can exit from it. We also don't know when Scenario 2 starts. People are filled with anxiety and fear every day."

Vale explained the situation and informed them about the government's movement to recruit Survivors. As someone in top ranking, he was visited first with an offer. Even after he refused indirectly, they didn't back down and would return.

"So, what's your proposal?" Jenny asked as she sat down on a nearby chair and grabbed a bottle of water, drinking it slowly.

"I want to form a group. Just a small one to raid dungeons and get points. It's probably just my feeling, but... There might be a second chaos soon. Not from the Scenario, but from Gangs."

"..."

"From what I saw yesterday, criminals aren't just sitting on their asses and praying for salvation from monsters. They're taking advantage of it and using their powers to do whatever they want." He continued.

Sometimes, people changed when they gained unbelievable power. Fear became something they forgot. It was like giving a kid a knife and telling him not to cut himself with it. They knew they had the power, but they couldn't help themselves.

And worse, the criminals and people who lived in that kind of world before the apocalypse might have had a different passion. Something that no one could predict. Like murder, for example.

"Are you saying that criminals will band together and form a gang or something?" Taylor asked as he crossed his arms and thought deeply. "That sounds possible."

"Putting me aside, I believe everyone is still in danger despite living in a city or town. Monsters and dungeons won't be the only danger in this world."

Vale looked at their reaction. Despite Taylor's impressive muscles and scary look, he had a good brain inside that bald head. Jenny also understood the situation pretty fast. It wasn't her Telekinesis that made her useful but her quick thinking and ability to adapt to situations.

They were good people to recruit.

"First of all." The older lady looked at him with a serious look, "Why us? Surely it's not because you just happened to know us from yesterday and decided to ask us out of nowhere."

"Well, I did have a reason. But, you have to know that I am a swordsman. And my partner here..." He said, turning to Kiara. He signaled with his eyes for her to introduce herself.

"Oh, me? Kiara Hunt! Nice to meet you two." She shook their hands quickly as she grinned at them. "I am also a swordsman like Vale, so it makes me a short-ranged fighter. And we're looking for two people, those who can cover long-range attack and one guard for them."

She explained their current team formation and the reason why they were looking for them. Taylor and Jenny looked at each other as they thought deeply about their offer.

Both Taylor and Jenny knew their skills were perfect to cover each other. The offer extended by Vale was by no means bad. If they had a proper group, they could raid a dungeon with a lower risk and earn more points and level up.

"We accept your offer." Jenny finally made a decision as she stood up and walked over to Vale and Kiara. "We owe you anyway. And we wouldn't mind helping you. Actually, I wondered whether we can help you at all. Kiara Hunt is the second rank, right? You're obviously strong too, Vale."

"Don't worry. You can get stronger after killing monsters. What I try to find now isn't someone powerful, but people who can adapt to this situation better than anyone else. You two are perfect for that."

With that, the three of them shook hands to seal their agreement. And then, Vale looked around the gym once again and nodded lightly. There was a large room at the back of the gym that could be used as a training area. Not only that, the gym equipment was also complete.

Everything about this place was perfect to train.

"By any chance... Are you the owner of the gym?" Vale asked Taylor while looking at his tank top. There was this gym's logo on the chest.

"Ah, yeah! It's a family business." He nodded slightly as he turned around and looked at the logo. "We opened it after we got married 3 years ago."

Hearing that, Vale smiled. If they made a team, they might need a base. Wasn't this place perfect to be used as one without changing its interior at all.

So, he proposed to the couple to always gather in this place whenever they had free time and trained together here too.

Taylor was more than welcome to the idea. Jenny also didn't mind. Rather, it was a perfect suggestion as that meant they didn't need to leave the gym whenever they had to gather.

As for Kiara, she only shrugged her shoulders and didn't comment on it. She knew it was a good idea though as she was satisfied with Vale's plan.

"Before anything else, I should say this." Vale coughed lightly as he looked at the couple, "Welcome to the team. We will begin the activities tomorrow. Let's exchange our phone numbers and I will create a group chat. If there is anything, let's inform each other through it."

They nodded in agreement as they exchanged phone numbers with Vale and Kiara. Then, they discussed a few things before splitting up and returned home.