"Where did you guys get your guts from, daring to mess with my friend?"
Nui cursed at Wan and his gang repeatedly. Not only did Wan and his gang show no anger, but they bowed their heads respectfully.
"We really didn't know this guy was your friend, Nui. If we had known, we wouldn't have dared," Wan said, trying to stop the bleeding from the hole in his other hand.
"Shut up! I don't want to listen. Remember this well: if I find out you mess with my friend again, your heads will be full of holes like this!"
As soon as Nui finished speaking, his driver, who was also his bodyguard, pulled out several short knives from thin air and threw them simultaneously.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Each knife flew out with the speed of bullets, piercing the several-inch-thick concrete floor at the same time. Each knife landed less than a foot from where Wan and his gang stood.
A slight change in the throwing angle would have changed the holes from the concrete to... It was Wan and his gang who were the ones being chased away.
Wan and his gang turned pale before scattering in all directions in a state of disarray. This sight greatly surprised the onlookers.
It was common knowledge among the villagers that Wan and his gang were no ordinary thugs, but a gang backed by one of the country's three major guilds, the Phayakdin Guild. Many politicians and high-ranking officials were associated with the TigerEarth Guild.
In the villagers' eyes, Nui, who had chased Wan and his gang away like dogs, must be no ordinary person. He must be the descendant of a powerful politician or someone from high society. But now, someone of that caliber was respectfully bowing to an elderly woman living in the slum, as if visiting a senior relative with his grandchildren.
"Hello, Mom. I'm Nui, Nawa's friend," Nui said as he walked over and respectfully bowed to Pim, as if he were a grandson. Pim returned the bow nervously, because she could tell that her son's friend was no ordinary person.
Nawa was studying at a university in the northern part of the country, so his mother didn't know many of his friends. This was the first time she knew her son had friends who were influential figures like him.
"Please, help Nawa," Pim sobbed, collapsing to the ground. She cried, knowing it was impolite and embarrassing, but since it would save her son's life, she didn't hesitate.
"Mom, you don't have to do that. I'm fine,"
Nawa tried to explain to his mother, but she remained worried. Then, Nui offered his help, which eased her concerns considerably. Once everything calmed down, Nawa had his younger brother take their mother to rest while he went to talk to Nui.
"Thank you so much, my friend. If it weren't for you today, I would have been in a lot of trouble,"
Nawa said simply, but the meaning behind it was profound. Nawa realized that Nui had not only helped him in his time of need, but he had also shown his presence to intimidate Mr. Wan and his gang, which had led to... Nawa didn't have to worry about Wan and his gang bothering his mother and sister.
"It's alright, friend, it's just a small thing. But are you really not taking the money I offered? You can return it whenever you have it,"
Nui asked for the second time, but Nawa still insisted.
"Thanks, friend. I've already bothered you enough. Besides, if I go into The One's Nest a couple more times, I should be able to find the money to pay them back," Nawa said casually.
"You're not kidding, are you? That much money... even a Rank C player wouldn't easily get that much. How could a Rank D player like you do it?" Nui asked suspiciously. Although he didn't think his friend was lying, it was hard to believe.
"Don't make that face. Do you think I'm a joker? Want to make a bet?" Nawa said with a confident expression.
"Yeah, you always joke about serious things. Since you say so, I have nothing more to say," Nui said.
"But why did you come to my house?"
"Is there something you need?"
Nawa asked, even though he had given Nui his address. There was no reason for Nui to come to his house when they had only parted ways less than an hour ago.
"Uh...it's nothing really. I posted in the university group that I saw you, and Phorn probably saw it. She contacted me asking for your address, so I came to ask you what I should do."
Nawa wasn't working at the restaurant anymore, and Phorn didn't know his mother worked there, so she had no way to contact him. Nawa thought for a moment before speaking:
"Don't bother, friend. You've seen the condition of my house, haven't you? A slum like this isn't suitable for someone like Phorn to come visit. Tell her I'm fine and thank her for her concern."
Nui wanted to say more, but knowing his friend's personality, he didn't. After talking for a while longer, Nui excused himself and left. The next day, Nawa moved his mother and younger sibling to a nearby hotel.
Although it wasn't the house they had hoped for, it was much more comfortable and safer than the small rented house in the slum. Nawa gave almost all of his remaining money to his mother and younger sibling before returning to The Oneness.
Upon passing through The Oneness's teleportation gate, Nawa found himself still in the hotel room he had logged out of. Although he had only been back in the world for two days, almost a week had passed in The Oneness. Nawa was curious to know what had changed in the city.
Nawa walked to the window and looked outside. Although the crowds were thinning, there were still players walking around, a stark contrast to before when there were hardly any players in the city.
Nawa had spent almost the entire day searching for information about the Rank A killer in Mattehorn, making sure that the Rank A killer was no longer in the city.
"It's just as Somkid said. Even Rank A players don't dare stay in the city for long while in the 'red head' status," Nawa said to himself, a clear look of relief on his face.
As the time Somkid had mentioned approached—when someone would be recruiting player laborers to hunt monsters near Taiban Village—Nawa headed straight to the hotel bar.
Although Nawa thought he was strong enough to travel to Taiban Village alone, he preferred to go with a hunting team if given the choice. Besides reducing the risk, he would also get paid 3 silver coins.
The bar was no longer quiet; it was packed with people, more than half of whom were players. Nawa saw dozens of message boards displayed above the heads of the people inside the bar. The notices included announcements for recruiting members, selling items, and buying various materials.
Nawa scanned the list for a while and spotted a message that looked like an employer's job, based on the information he'd received from Somkid. It said,
"Recruiting Rank D laborer players to hunt monsters around Taiban Village."
At first glance, Nawa felt lucky that the employer hadn't closed the recruitment yet. But as he approached, he changed his mind.
"Is that you, Nawa?"
A pretty, fair-skinned young woman, 18-19 years old, greeted Nawa with a cheerful voice the moment she saw him.
"It's me, Ploy. Don't you remember me?"
Nawa nodded in response.
Nawa recognized the young woman. She was one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Asashi Academy, a group of new players he'd met at the Mattehorn city gate on his first day in The Oneness.
Nawa felt a special fondness for Ploy. From the first time they met, he felt an inexplicable affection for this young woman. However, he didn't like Ploy's friends very much. Actually, it would be more accurate to say they were just friends. Ploy disliked Nawa more than anything.
Nawa considered withdrawing from the job. As he was about to leave, Ploy burst into tears like a child, unleashing a torrent of words without giving Nawa a chance to refuse or question her. For some reason, Nawa couldn't bring himself to walk away. He listened intently to everything Ploy said, as if comforting a close relative.
Nawa understood that after Ploy's group parted ways with him, she and her friends hadn't been able to find any more team members. Therefore, they decided to hunt monsters with only four people, without any ranged attack players.
Even so, with their power and skill, earning them the title of "New Genius" from the guild, Ploy and her friends could easily hunt monsters around the city. Even the Flaming Horned Vanubi, a Pro-level monster, was defeated by them.
Ploy and her friends therefore planned to primarily hunt Pro-level monsters. Unfortunately, Pro-level monsters were very rare around the city of Mustahorn.
The Flaming Horned Vanubi that Ploy and her friends defeated was just a monster that had strayed from its pack. Ploy and her friends purchased information from the system, revealing that the nearest hunting area for professional-level monsters was near Taiban Village.
Although the system indicated it was the closest, the journey would take several days, resulting in a large amount of equipment to carry for camping and transporting the hunted meat. This necessitated hiring laborer players for transportation and support.
Unfortunately, Ploy and her friends were only Rank D players. Not only were they few in number, but their hunting team lacked a ranged attacker, making it impossible for any laborer players to join. This was because ranged attackers are considered crucial for the safety of laborer players.
Without this class, the danger to the laborer players would increase dramatically, as there would be no one to deal with monsters that escaped the hunting area and attacked them.
Therefore, Ploy and her friends decided to hire Rank D laborer players. With their stats, even those not skilled in combat could adequately protect themselves from monsters. The problem was the extremely limited number of Rank D laborer players.
Ploy and her friends returned to their world to contact the Transporter Guild to help post a recruitment ad.
But it seemed useless. Half a day had passed since the deadline for posting, and not a single Rank D laborer player had applied. Ploy and her friends realized just how crucial a ranged attacker was for their team.
"Nawa, please join our team! If we have a ranged mage, our team will be perfect for hunting. Then finding laborers won't be so hard," Ploy said, giving Nawa a pleading look.
Nawa thought for a moment before speaking.
"Won't your friends have a problem with that? They don't seem to like me very much."
"Don't worry about that, Nawa. If they're still being difficult, I'll handle them myself. Please, Nawa, join my team! I beg you! I don't want to eat only common monster meat anymore. For the past few days, my stats haven't increased by even 10 points!"
Ploy said, running to hug Nawa's arm, acting like a little girl in her teens. Who is begging to get a toy.
Logically, there was no need for Nava to team up with Ploy's group. Even though she and her friends were top students at Asashi Academy, they were only Rank D.
Given Nava's current strength, traveling alone wouldn't be much different. But for some reason, Nava felt he couldn't refuse Ploy's request.
"I have some conditions. If you can fulfill them, I'll agree to team up," Nawa said with a serious expression.
"Don't worry. As long as you agree to team up with us, we'll do our best to meet whatever conditions you set,"
Ploy said with complete confidence, as if everyone else would comply with her wishes. But upon hearing Nava's conditions, Ploy's eyes widened before she involuntarily exclaimed,
"What?!"