The Porter is Secretly an SS-Level Hunter - Chapter 5: I'm New Here (2)

Neban continued to watch the woman, even after she moved her hand out of Owain’s. He wondered if she was one of the ones that used porters as shields or played with them before killing them when they finished with the dungeon.

He has heard two of those things happening to porters, but no one believes it because there is no surveillance in the dungeons. And it is impossible to set up one because human technology does not work there except for phones. Well, that is half true; phones work to a particular extent (the closer to the dungeon entrance, the more reception you have).

But, if the hunters are like what he heard, he will kill them without hesitation. He never liked people who played with others just for fun; he didn’t see the point in it.

“We should introduce ourselves before we go in.” The woman said, interrupting Neban’s thoughts.

“My name is Laia, and I am an A-level. My class is a Warrior. I am also the leader of the group, so please listen to my orders.” Laia smiled at them, but her thoughts did not match the good-nature aura she was trying to give out. ‘Introductions are meaningless for the dead.’ He heard her think after she finished speaking.

Neban’s eyes did not move from his narrowed look.

“Elain. I am an A-level and the co-leader of the group. I am a Summoner.” A man standing behind her spoke before moving next to the woman; he did not smile and looked tired of introductions already.

“My name is Milo, and I am an A-level. My class is also a Summoner.”

“Kory, and I am an A-level. My class is a Mage.”

“Hi, I am Ari and an M-level. Thanks for helping us out tonight!”

“I am Lora and an M-level.”

After the hunters finished introducing themselves, they waited for the porters to do the same.

“Hi, I am Owain.” Owain started.

“My name is Isona.” Isona spoke next.

“My name is Wey.”

After Wey finished, they all looked to Neban for his introduction. The other porters started to sweat as they already caught a glimpse of how the man can be.

“Neban.” He answered with a short response. “Can we start now? I have a son to get back to.”

It was silent after Neban’s words, as everyone did not know what to say to that. “Uh, yes. Lora and Ari hand the bags over.” Elain spoke, cutting off the awkward silence.

‘That man is weird.’ Neban heard those words pass through most of the hunters’ minds.

‘He has a son? How?’ He heard that one came from Owain, which he did not understand. Does this man not know how babies are made?

Lora and Ari nodded, giving one bag to Owain and the other to Neban. Owain took the bag while Neban stared at the other one that Ari was trying to give him. He turned towards Wey, “Do you want to take this?”

Holding the bags would only bring him down if he had to fight the other hunters. Wey sighed at that, making his way over to grab the bag while Ari did not know what to say; her face was a bit red.

‘Isn’t he a bit arrogant?’ He heard Lora think to herself.

Is he acting arrogant? He didn’t want the bags to be in the way; that is why he didn’t take them. Elain came up to him, causing him to leave his thoughts. The man was handing him an empty bag, “This is for the loot inside.”

Once Neban grabbed it, the man moved to Isona to give her the other empty bag.

Laia clapped her hands together, catching everyone’s attention, “Okay, now that we are ready, let’s enter.”

They walked to the dungeon that had caution tape surrounding it. Laia used her sword to cut the tape off as they continued into the blue colored portal. Once they entered, they were in the old restaurant of Korn Bakery.

As he saw the setting, it answered one of Neban’s mysteries about old dungeons. He heard that the old ones, once you enter them, did not resemble a dungeon, nor any of the other settings that they can make.

“Ah, this was my favorite location to eat at with my parents before the dungeons destroyed it,” Wey whispered to him, sounding nostalgic.

Neban looked at him, wondering if he should respond. And if he responds, what does he say? After a few minutes of them, staring at each other, Wey scratched the back of his neck.

‘I guess he doesn’t like socializing.’ The thoughts coming from Wey were deafening since they were right next to each other. And as the man was getting ready to move away, Neban finally opened his mouth.

“Same.” He responded. Neban thought he said the right thing, but when he saw the look on Wey’s face, he now felt that he did something wrong. ‘Was that not the right thing to say? Should I get a book on socializing for the job or no?’ He started to think, rubbing his chin in thought.

“There is no time for having a conversation; let’s continue,” Laia spoke, directly talking to Neban and Wey. Most of the group nodded before they started walking further into the place.

For some reason, the bakery was more extensive than last time, like the dungeon had expanded it.

As they walked, Neban started to hear the sound of something crawling above them, but when he glanced up, he saw nothing. He activated [Shadow Eye] as he continued to gaze at the ceiling. It was like someone lifted a veil from his eyes as he saw twenty Rinins walking above them; they seemed to be following them before attacking.

Rinins were assassin type monsters. They can turn themselves invisible while walking silently in shaded areas like a hunter with a Shadow Walker class. The creatures had no eyes, six legs with a vast body, and a triangular face. They were fast with heightened senses; once they heard someone, it was like they could see the person.

Even though they did not have any special skills besides sharp teeth with acid-laced saliva, they were hard to kill due to their speed and how hard they were to detect.

Neban wondered if he should tell the hunters. But if he did, wouldn’t that give him away? Because there is no way, an F-level could detect a Rinin. So, maybe he should secretly inform them. It is not like he was a hero, and Neban didn’t care for the hunters, but the porters seemed to be kind people, so he did not want anything happening to them.

He used [Almighty Reveal], causing the Rinins to reveal themselves while stopping them from turning invisible again. Kory was the first to notice them. The monsters were distracted due to not understanding how they’ve become noticeable nor why they could not turn back.

Kory used the distraction as he summoned his fire magic, shooting fireballs at them. Once the others noticed Kory using his fire, Lora and Ari pushed Neban and the other porters back as the Rinins started to drop from the ceilings, landing on the ground. Kory was only able to get six of them.

Laia charged into the fight, swinging her sword at the Rinins before they started moving again. The swing proved her warrior class as she caught the heads of nine Rinins in one swing; she pushed the remaining monsters back from its momentum.

Elain summoned two small golems that started to bash the remaining Rinins’ heads before they could catch their bearings. When they finished, the Rinins dropped ameis.

Ameis were white-blueish medium-sized marbles that most monsters dropped. Hunters would use them to exchange for money; mid-level and high-level dungeons give out the most marbles due to the number of monsters in them.

It did not matter how high the creature’s level was; each monster only gave out four ameis. But, it wasn’t bad, because one ameis equal to $100. The highest amount of ameis a person can make in a mid-level dungeon is about 100,000, which means approximately 250 monsters in the dungeon.

But, then again, this was an old dungeon, so no one knows how many monsters are in here.

“Neban and Isona, right?” Elain asked. Isona nodded, and Neban turned towards him without saying anything. “Go collect the ameis, and then we can continue moving.”

They moved forward to collect them. Isona looked nervous, peeking around for any surprise monster attacks, while Neban was unafraid; he knew that nothing was around them. He can feel more creatures in the place, but none of them were near them.

Laia was starting to look bored as Neban heard her think, ‘This dungeon seems weak for an old one.’

Once Neban and Isona finished collecting, they joined the other porters as the group started to move again. During the walk, the hunters looked lax but on their guard at the same time. They talked amongst themselves, but so were the porters, well except for Neban, who observed the area.

His instincts told him that something dangerous was lying deep within the place, but he couldn’t see where. Neban looked forward as he heard the steps of more Rinins, but that is not the only thing he heard. ‘Are those the steps of Eatans with them? When did monsters start working together?’

More than one monster rested inside the dungeons, but they all had territories they didn’t cross. The creatures do not get along with each other due to them wanting the same prey: humans. So, they stay separated. But, it seemed in the old dungeons they worked together.

And the style of an Eatan was different from a Rinin. Eatans had the bodies of an ogre, but with two heads. Due to how vast they were, their speed was slow, but their strength was no laughing matter; one swing could either kill a person or break their bones. They had tough skin, hard to pierce, but their throat and chest were their weak spots.

They are not smart, so it is easy to trick them, but their skin and strength made them a hard kill. Plus, Eatans hunt in a pack. And not only that, there were two types of Eatans. A soldier and a general. There are only two generals to a group of about 100 soldiers per mid-level and high-level dungeon.

‘Hmm, a Rinin can have up to 200 of themselves on a good day, but usually, only 135 are born and able to fight, while Eatans have about 100 of themselves. It sounds like a herd is coming towards us, which would make it hard to defeat since they are coming together.’ Neban started to think as he looked up at the others.

‘Four A-levels, two M-levels, and three porters that are F-levels. Will they be able to handle this without me having to step in and getting me caught on the first day of being a porter?’ Neban started to rub his chin as the noise began to get closer.

He heard Laia stopping the group as she gripped her weapon with narrowed eyes. “Everyone, don’t move; something is coming.”