The moment Kenji heard the loud cry, he dropped the Blood Hound corpse to the ground and hid behind it.

  shee shee shee shee

  Before long, a barrage of Wind Blades came toward the group of workers.

  A few acted quickly and hid behind the carcasses, while some were unlucky and got hit by the incoming Wind Blades.

  “Ahhh!!”

  “My handd…”

  “Jesus!!!”

  Soon, cries sounded throughout the crowd.

  As the panic was about to spread amongst the group, the members of the Firefly party acted, slicing the nearby Storm-thorns.

  Within minutes, the four members of the Firefly party took care of all the Storm-thorns and started checking on the workers' condition.

  “Thank God!” The members of the Firefly team sighed upon seeing that no one was killed.

  However, many workers were severely injured. After doing basic medical treatment, everyone continued on their way.

  “Hurry up, we can't afford to wait until the Wind Frogs leap.” A member of the Firefly team reminded the workers as the group began to slow down.

  After a few minutes, the group finally entered the city safely.

  “Here is your pay, want to go back for another trip?” Handing over two Silver coins to Kenji, Trevor asked.

  Due to the surprise attack by the Storm-thorns, many workers were injured, and few were willing to take on another risk.

  “... Sure…” Kenji wasn't willing to let such easy money go.

  “Great, just wait here until we find more workers.” Trevor was delighted upon hearing Kenji’s reply; he could use Kenji as an example to retain more workers.

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  As Trevor went away, Kenji sat in a corner to recover his lost Ki.

  10 minutes later, Trevor and other members of the Firefly party brought back more workers, and everyone headed out for another transportation trip.

  “What's this?” Just after leaving the city, everyone saw small green puddles all over the place.

  “Don’t step on it, it's toxic acid from Wind Frogs. It's strong enough to even dissolve bones.” Trevor warned the curious workers.

  Before long, everyone arrived at the hunting place of the Firefly team and found that the corpses of monsters had increased.

  “Trevor, be sure to find as many people as you can for the next trip.” The Leader of the Firefly party said, as he and the other members of the party were already exhausted and couldn't continue killing monsters.

  “Okay, Boss!” Seeing everyone's tired looks, Trevor knew that this was it for today. He should work extra hard now to gather as many workers as possible, so as not to let these monster carcasses go to waste.

  Picking up the carcasses of monsters, the workers, under the protection of four Firefly party members, headed back to the city.

  Fortunately, this time they didn't encounter any surprise attacks and safely entered the city.

  “Here, wanna go for one last trip?” Finding Kenji stuffing his face, Trevor handed over his earnings and asked.

  *thumbs up* While eating, Kenji signaled.

  Seeing this, Trevor went from one worker to another, giving them their money and asking them out for one last trip.

  Surprisingly, this time all workers agreed to another trip; it seemed that no attack this time boosted their confidence.

  After finding a few more workers, the 25-worker team, under the guidance of four Firefly party members, headed out of the city.

  Arriving at the place where the Firefly party was hunting, the workers were once again surprised to see the increase in the number of carcasses.

  “Okay, let's head back.” Ensuring that no valuable monster carcasses were left behind, the Leader of the Firefly party guided everyone back toward the city.

  Along the way, they encountered an ambush of Storm-thorns; however, with the whole party present, the Storm-thorns were dealt with effortlessly.

  Returning to the city and getting paid, Kenji headed straight toward the clinic.

  Counting today's earnings, he had a total of 8 Silver coins, which he planned to use for the medical bill.

  While living on the streets, one thing that had been carved into Kenji's bones: never owing a favor, much less money.

  Arriving at the clinic, Kenji headed to the front desk.

  “I… would like… to make an installment… payment.” Kenji said to the Fairy at the desk.

  “Do you have the receipt with you?” the Fairy asked. Payment plans had become normal ever since the Monster Tide started.

  “I don't… think… so.” Kenji replied after checking his pockets, a little annoyed at the thought that he might have to return to the Housing Complex just to retrieve that tiny piece of paper.

  “It's okay, no need to worry. Just place your hand here.” Sensing the change in Kenji's emotions, the Fairy spoke quickly.

  Soon, the desk before Kenji started shining, and a magic circle appeared. After Kenji placed his hand on it, a blue transparent window appeared before the Fairy.

  “It says here you have a negative balance of 3 Gold coins.” While checking Kenji's medical details, the Fairy was surprised and looked at him in a new, profound light.

  “Now your balance is negative 2 Gold and 2 Silver coins.” Picking up the Silver coins that Kenji placed on the desk, the Fairy stored them in her storage bag and handed him a receipt.

  Taking the receipt, about two fingers in size, Kenji headed back to the housing complex. Although there was plenty of time left before sunset, he was too tired.

  The continuous use of Ki over an extended period had exhausted him both physically and mentally.

  Returning to his room, Kenji immediately went to sleep.

  [Ancient Calendar: 22 Feb 0001]

  “Ahh, will I be able to continue like this?” The next morning, Kenji woke up with sore muscles and aching joints.

  However, today was the last day of the Monster Tide, and he couldn’t afford to miss it.

  After taking a Food Pill, Kenji dragged his aching body toward the city gate.

  Arriving at the notice area, Kenji immediately headed toward the Firefly party’s gathering place.

  “Why?”

  “What do you mean, why? They spent so much money to buy a storage bag, obviously it was to replace us.”

  “But they should have at least given us notice.”

  “We should look for something else to do. Before long, every major party is going to buy those storage bags, and they won’t need us anymore.”

  Arriving at the spot, Kenji was greeted by a commotion.

  __________

  Author’s Note:

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