Meeting

On the first floor of the tower, the ground was littered with the corpses of small monsters—fang-toothed rabbits, tiny boars, and others—scattered across the fertile earth. Their mana cores, once embedded in their bodies, had all been removed.

At the far end, Sean continued to eliminate the monsters that charged at him, slashing them down swiftly with a dagger. With every strike, he drove the blade into their hearts and extracted the items hidden within their bodies.

His movements felt light—surprisingly so. Sean himself hadn't expected that hunting low-level monsters would be this effortless. Each swing of his dagger flowed with a natural rhythm, slicing through the creatures with an agility that suggested he'd been doing this his whole life.

He had collected a considerable amount of items from the slain monsters. Though he had no idea how much they were worth, he assumed it would be enough for today. His Hunter's Book's storage space had reached its limit, and he knew he couldn't carry more than fifteen kilograms to the item exchange.

The sky began to darken, signaling the coming of night. Though the Tower and the city of Antreas existed in different realms, their day-night cycles aligned. Thus, if night fell in the Tower, it did in Antreas as well.

With that in mind, Sean turned toward the exit to sell his items.

Once outside, he made his way to the item exchange shop situated near the tower. He was glad he didn't need to travel far—nearby were also eateries, a clinic, and an inn, making the area a convenient hub for Hunters.

As Sean approached the store, its owner greeted him warmly.

"Hello there, new Hunter! I'm Bardy. What've you got to sell?"

"I'd like to sell these," Sean replied, pulling out a sack filled with glowing mana stones—cores taken from the fanged rabbits. Bardy raised an eyebrow, clearly surprised.

"Where on earth did you get all these rabbit stones?" the shopkeeper asked, staring in disbelief.

"Huh?" Sean blinked. "Oh, I just cut them down and grabbed the loot, that's all," he replied, scratching his head with a sheepish grin.

'That's impossible… and he doesn't even have a single bite mark,' Bardy thought. He knew full well that fanged rabbits hunted in packs of at least five hundred. Unless one was a high-ranking SS-class Hunter, taking down that many alone was unthinkable. And yet this boy—he was a rookie. Bardy had seen him for the first time just this afternoon.

While Bardy was lost in thought, Sean's voice snapped him back.

"Sir, are these items sellable?"

"Of course they are. Got any more?" Bardy asked, already intrigued.

Without a word, Sean dumped the rest of his loot from the Hunter's Book and the sack, piling up a small mountain of multi-colored mana stones.

"A..." Bardy was left speechless. He quickly called over two of his employees to begin sorting the stones.

"Hunter, why don't you go grab breakfast or walk around while we calculate your total. It'll take some time," Bardy suggested politely.

Sean nodded and extended a hand toward him. "Can I get an advance? I don't have much money left."

Caught off guard again, Bardy didn't hesitate for long.

"Sure. Here," he handed Sean twenty thousand Wolt.

"Thank you," Sean said, bowing slightly before walking away.

'He's not rich, not an S-class Hunter, yet he brought in this many items… This kid isn't ordinary,' Bardy mused, staring at the pile Sean had left behind.

Sean made his way to a nearby inn, hoping to get a room for the night and wash off the blood and grime from the day's hunt.

While looking around, he noticed several people standing atop glowing blue circles—only to vanish moments later.

'Teleportation circles,' Sean noted, eyes narrowing slightly at the odd sight.

He continued on to a modest inn that cost just 7,000 Wolt per night. He rented a room and ordered a meal to fill his empty stomach.

Once he reached his room, he quickly washed away the blood and filth from the slain monsters. After freshening up, he devoured his food and finally collapsed onto the bed. His breathing soon steadied, and he drifted into a peaceful sleep.

The next morning…

Sean returned to the store where he'd sold his items.

Bardy spotted him immediately and waved with a wide grin. "Yo, Hunter! Good morning! Sleep well?"

"Ah, yeah. Morning," Sean replied quietly.

"Here's your money," Bardy said, placing a bank cheque on the counter.

Sean took the cheque, eyes widening as he read the figure.

"This... This is a lot," he said in disbelief.

"Haha! Surprised, huh? But that's what you earned, kid. Hard work pays off," Bardy chuckled, equally amazed by the rare mana stones Sean had brought in.

"Thank you," Sean muttered before hurrying away, gripping the cheque worth three million Wolt.

He couldn't stop staring at it, flipping it back and forth as if to confirm it was real.

Thud.

Too focused on the cheque, Sean didn't see where he was going and collided with two men coming from the opposite direction.

He stumbled and quickly got back up, as did the two strangers.

"Ah, sorry! I didn't mean to—" Sean apologized hastily, slipping the cheque into his pocket. But as he looked up, his expression froze.

One man had cheerful, handsome features with bright yellow hair parted down the middle. The other had fiery red, messy hair that gave him a wild, rugged charm. His serious expression added to his intense presence.

Zane Vaorus and Xion Smit—the renowned members of the Shadow Guild.

"You alright, ca—?"

Cough.

Zane suddenly slapped the back of Xion's shoulder, cutting him off mid-sentence.

"We should be the ones apologizing. We weren't paying attention," Zane said sincerely, bowing slightly while nudging Xion's head down with him.

"N-no, it's my fault. I wasn't watching the road," Sean replied, bowing as well.

"No worries," Zane replied, now observing Sean closely.

"You're a new Hunter, aren't you?" he asked seriously.

"Yeah."

"Then how about join—"

"Maybe keep your mouth shut," Zane snapped, shooting a sharp glare at Xion, whose eagerness was threatening to ruin whatever plan Zane had in mind.

"Ah—okay," Xion muttered, shrinking back with his fingers pressed together, pouting like a child who'd been scolded.

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