The Porter is Secretly an SS-Level Hunter - Chapter 61: Changing (II)

A few months after the ones with abilities came out and defeated the monsters, everyone started to talk about the dungeons.

Dungeons would come down as the shape of them reminded Neban of a cave. The ones who entered the dungeons with no problems reported that the insides were either like caves or the building they took over.

Not only did people mention the shape and insides of the dungeons, but they also talked about the entrance colors. Each dungeon’s entrances consist of three different colors: green, blue, and red.

It did not take long for the government to figure out what those colors meant.

After that, the government started to set out more and more people into the dungeons to learn more while fighting the monsters because the people realized that those creatures would come out if the dungeon were left alone for a while.

Seeing the people fight in dungeons became a regular thing as the government started to give them looser laws than the citizens while naming them something different: hunters.

Now, a person would either be known as a hunter or citizen.

Neban would listen to others talking about this at school, as some teens started to drop from school when they learned about their abilities.

Being a hunter led to a better life, so the teens thought, ‘why should I stay in school when I can drop out and get rich?’

Neban thought they were idiots, throwing their lives away to do something foolish as he kept his abilities to himself. Even though he loved the things he could do, he did not want anyone to know because they might try to make him a hunter.

Even his parents were opposed to the idea.

And they had a good reason. Because after more months had passed, going into a year of the dungeons and evolving humans, came the problems of power.

The government came up with the letters to represent the hunters’ levels. It happened when the A, S, and SS levels told them how a message gave them a letter while asking them what class they wanted.

So, the government made the letters M, D, and F to gauge the other’s strength. It was difficult for an M and D, but an F-level was easy to guess because they could barely last a minute. Plus, they did not have abilities like the others.

As deaths started to pile up again because of the test of gauging a hunter’s level, Neban thought the ones who dropped from school to become one had no brain cells left.

What if they were an F-level and die quickly? What if they could not kill a monster? Why is it so important to throw away their teen lives for a few minutes of fun?

He started to block out the talks of hunters and dungeons, secluded himself more because he did not want to hear about it anymore.

Then, three years had entered since the dungeons while Neban was close to graduating from school when the Orb of Yon came out.

The Orb of Yon was a vast orb that could tell a hunter’s level. Only the three hunter companies: Wonderstone, PetalGreen, and SilverStone, had the equipment. The government too, but people with abilities, would have to go to the companies to check their levels.

People talked about how a person had to touch the orb to learn their level; it only took a minute. There was not much information about it because the government and companies kept a tight lip over it.

Neban could not help but wonder how the government could make something that accurately told a level. But then again, they are corrupt people and most likely experimented on hunters to make the orb.

And once again, the world was changing when Porters entered the picture.

F-levels had regular jobs when they learned their level was the lowest because no hunter company wanted them while they died quickly.

One day, a lazy hunter was tired of carrying their things, and no other hunter wanted to do it because they wished to fight rather than hold someone’s items.

And hunters could not bring citizens to the dungeons; the government forbids it. So, they went to the next best thing: F-levels.

Once one person used an F-level who wanted to experience a dungeon for themselves without dying, other hunters jumped on the wagon.

Porters were born; they even made a company for them.

Neban was entering his adult days of working a typical office job while attending university when he heard about the Porter Company.

He could not help but think they were dumb too. What hunter would protect them from incoming attacks from the monster? Barely any of them, because Neban saw how arrogant hunters became, especially the A-levels and higher.

It was a waste of their life, but if that was what people wanted to do, who was Neban to judge? He will still believe they are idiots, but they could do what they want to.

Neban disliked anything about hunters and dungeons (although he would secretly read about dungeons and people’s theories on them). Now, he could add porters to the list.

‘I would never become either.’ Neban thought as he went back to work, ignoring the gossip around him as he usually did.

One day, Neban knew he was going to eat those words.

When he met Tessa, Neban did not realize how much his life was going to change.

He never thought much of the woman. She seemed like a nice person, and he did not mind listening to her talk. Neban never truly cared about listening to one person talk; he only hated it when it was a group.

Neban would never admit it, but he was lonely. He had no one, but his parents, while his days consist of work and home. So, when he met Tessa, he thought he could have his first friend and learn proper communication.

He wished that he could have seen her real personality before ending up in her bed. But, then again, if Neban did, then he would have never had Theo.

And when Theo entered his life, given to him by Tessa, Neban went through another change.

At first, Neban was never going to get a DNA test. Once he held Theo for the first few minutes, a toddler who was already one, Neban felt his loneliness leave him.

He did not care if the toddler was his or not because Neban would take them in either way.

(But he ended up having to get one anyway when he realized that Tessa did not leave him with any documents.)

When he told his parents about Theo and how he needed help raising a child, they were ecstatic while helping him step-by-step.

After a while, it hit him that taking care of a toddler was expensive—especially diapers, food, doctor visits, etc.

So, he did one thing he never wanted to do because he needed money: become a hunter.

And Neban could not help but regret adding this chapter to his life. Because if he thought of something else, he would have never met Angel and Luka.

They both played on his secret: wanting friends. Angel and Luka got close to him because they wanted to learn about Obsidian (the name he went by) since he was a mystery to everyone.

They even found out about Theo, who was his weakness.

Neban felt like his heart shattered when his parents called him, stating that two people kidnapped Theo. When his mother described the people, Neban recognized it was Angel and Luka.

He told his mother not to get anyone involved, and he will deal with the problem.

When he found them, they tied an unconscious Theo to the edge of a tall building’s roof. Neban heart pounded while rage filled him. He ended up fighting Luka and Angel. Both sides ended up with injuries, but the two were worse off.

So, to escape from death, they untied Theo then pushed him off the building. Neban did not care for them as he jumped to save his son.

Let’s say it ended with them both in the hospital while Theo ended up with memory loss about his kidnapping. The boy does not realize that he has a scar on his head that his hair now covers.

Neban stayed with his son for almost four months, ignoring work as he wanted to stick to Theo because he almost lost him.

Theo was his world and the best change that ever happened to him; losing him would cause Neban to lose himself.

After that, the company forced him back to work, making him work more for neglecting dungeons for four months.

It was also the turning point of Neban becoming paranoid to the point of wanting his son at home all the time. He even ignored his mother’s talks about sending him to daycare because Theo needed to interact with people.

He knew that it is healthy for Theo to communicate with other people, but after what happened with Angel and Luka, Neban refused.

Then three years passed as a hunter when Neban entered his final change.

Neban found friends and not only that but two people that he is slowly falling for. He was learning how to be more open like he wished to.

But even though he found the good, he also found the in-between that led to the bad.

Siren was the in-between, the beginning of the end. Because after discovering the weapon, everything started to change.

Dungeons were falling apart, new monsters were appearing, and levels were evolving. But, the biggest disaster that entered the world was Mother.

When Mother came, the Country of Oskana was never the same.