Soon, a man came running toward him and punched Kenji in the face with all his might.

  With a single punch, Kenji was sent to the ground, blood spilling from his mouth.

  “Brat, do you think just because Rex is protecting you, no one dares to do anything? Know your place, you pathetic worm!” Saying this, the man grabbed Maria’s hand and headed toward the exit of the clinic.

  “You shouldn’t have… I decided to stay because others had….” Maria tried to explain.

  “Honey, with your condition, you should be resting, not coming out in this cold for a worm like him.”

  Facing Maria, the man’s voice turned gentle, but as he turned back toward Kenji, an expression of disgust appeared on his face.

  As the man left, Kenji stood up as if nothing had happened.

  “Even the most savage monster in Fairy Land cares for its cub. You humans are odd creatures.” For most Fairies in the Ancient World, they had only heard of humans but had never come into contact with them.

  After coming to the Ancient World and witnessing the way humans treated their young, Fairies began to wonder how humans had become one of the top fifty races in the Verse.

  “Would you like to get it checked out?” Looking at the trail of blood at the corner of Kenji’s mouth, the Fairy asked.

  “No need.” Kenji wasn’t willing to waste money on such a superficial wound.

  As Kenji felt around his face to assess the injury, his clothes suddenly came flying toward him.

  Taking the clothes, Kenji headed toward the changing room.

  “How much is the bill?” Returning, Kenji faced the same Fairy. By then, a tooth was missing from Kenji's face.

  “It's 4 gold coins.” Seeing Kenji talk so naturally, the Fairy was amazed at humans' pain tolerance.

  “What, 4 Gold Coins!!” Kenji's loud voice sounded through the lobby, his expression looking even more painful than when he got punched by Maria's husband.

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  “Don't worry, we have an installment plan.” Seeing Kenji's pained expression, the Fairy knew that the financial condition of the human before her wasn't good.

  “Installment plan?” This was the first time Kenji heard about it. Last time he was here, no one told him.

  “Yes, unlike towns and villages, the members of cities have many special privileges, and installment plans are one of them.” The Fairy explained with glowing eyes.

  “Then, I will take the installment plan.” Although Kenji didn't understand the difference between villages and towns that the Fairy was talking about, he had no way of paying 4 gold coins.

  “Good. We have a one-week plan, a one-month plan, and even a three-month plan. Which one would you like?”

  “Month one.”

  “Great, please sign here.” The Fairy excitedly placed a piece of paper before Kenji using her Soul Power.

  The Fairy race paid such a large price for overseeing the Ascension Program for two reasons. First, to fish for the geniuses of the lower worlds, and second, for Source Ki.

  Unlike humans, Fairies knew the true value of Source Ki very well.

  Thus, they launched installment schemes with Source Ki as collateral, with their main focus being cities surrounded by dense monster populations.

  “Here.” Handing over the piece of paper, where the volume of the whole contract was just slightly bigger than his signature, Kenji placed a gold coin on the desk.

  “Okay, would you like to make weekly payments or pay at your own pace?” Putting away the contract, the Fairy was smiling ear to ear.

  She didn’t care much whether a human named Kenji’s Source Ki fell into their hands or not. All she cared about was the bonus for selling installment plans.

  “My own pace.” Before failing his first Heavenly Trial, Kenji was hopeful of the future. But now, Kenji couldn’t seem to see the end of this long, dark tunnel.

  After finalizing everything, Kenji left the clinic and headed back to the housing complex.

  “Look who is back. Kenji, the brave orphan who thinks he can become a Hunter.” As Kenji entered the living room, Seung started taunting him.

  Ignoring the disgusting looks of everyone, Kenji kept his head low and headed toward his room.

  Entering his room, painful memories of his whole life kept flashing before Kenji’s eyes.

  Kenji’s miserable life started the moment he lost both his parents in a plane crash. Ever since the Allied Forces won, orphans were seen as evil incarnate.

  No one knows why, but overnight this idea was planted in everyone’s head.

  Those without parents were the lowest of the low, scumbags of society, and were not worthy of attention.

  He was passed on from one family member to another, everyone treating him like a servant, suffering abuse at the slightest mistake.

  Not able to take it anymore, he ran away, thinking life wouldn’t be worse than it was now. But he was wrong; the streets were far too cruel for someone with a weak body like his.

  When the Ascension Program started and he was transported to the Ancient World, he saw hope. That vivid memory of a story’s main character that he read ignited a flame in him.

  But it seems he was wrong. For an orphan like him, having dreams and aspirations isn’t allowed.

  “Mom! Dad! Why did you leave me?” Lying on the bed, Kenji cried silent tears before falling asleep.

  [Ancient Calendar: 16 Feb 0001]

  The next day, Kenji woke up a little late. After completing his chores, he headed straight toward the city gate.

  Although yesterday was a huge setback, Kenji still needed to pay the medical bill as well as 50 copper coins for food expenses.

  Just lying around would immediately run through his savings.

  “Damn it, what is going on?”

  “How can this happen….. We were just hunting like usual, but then out of nowhere, monster corpses started walking, and they killed all my teammates.”

  “We just walked a few meters out of the gate and were immediately attacked. Luckily, we escaped. There is something seriously wrong with the monsters.”

  By the time Kenji reached the city gate, everything was in chaos.

  People were panicking. Parties that went hunting didn’t return, with no call replies.

  Those who returned were either the only survivors or extremely traumatized.

  __________

  Author’s Note:

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