The woman''s voice trembled, her hand resting on the hilt of her sword. The man beside her had his sword drawn, his eyes narrowed in suspicion.


    Asher, who still had a twisted smile on his face, turned his head towards them slowly, his body still covered in blood from head to toe.


    He raised his gun upward, pointing in their direction.


    Before they could react, another gunshot echoed through the tunnel. Bang!


    Sam instinctively stepped in front of Sofia, his sword raised, but then— Thud—something heavy dropped behind them. Whipping around, they saw a grotesque, twitching rat-like creature, its skull shattered.


    "Don''t let your guard down," Asher murmured, lowering his gun. The eerie smile had vanished, replaced by something calmer, almost reassuring. "We''re still in a monster-infested zone."


    Asher, who had stopped smiling, spoke in a warm tone.


    The woman who has just witnessed this was at a loss for words as she finally realized who he was.


    "You...You are the kid we met two days ago."


    "What are you talking about?"


    "Look, Sam, he has silver eyes like the kid we met. There is no doubt it''s him."


    Sam, who was initially confused, looked carefully at Asher, witnessing his silver eyes.


    "You are right! It''s really him."


    Asher moved forward as he stepped on the platform to get out of the sewer water.


    "I really need a change of clothes now."


    Muttering to himself, Asher washed his face, ignoring the looks of the people who were left stupefied seeing his demeanor.


    The duo looked at each other with shock, but also a hint of admiration. They had been fighting these creatures for days now, and here was a kid, probably not even in his twenties, who had managed to do what they hadn''t.


    Sam licked his lips as he held his sword with a strong grip. Ready to face Asher if needed.


    "Hey ... kid, are you alright? Did you kill all of them?"The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    Sam asked as he pointed towards the monsters carcasses lying everywhere.


    Asher nodded, his silver eyes scanning the area for any signs of movement. "Yeah, they''re all gone. For now." He said with a sigh of relief.


    "Well, are you hurt? It looks like it was a very stressful fight."


    Asher looked at the blood-soaked clothes he was wearing, then nodded.


    "Well, I am injured in several places. But most of this blood is not mine. So no need to worry about such trivial things."


    He answered with a bit of hesitation, but seeing no danger or hostility from them, he chose to answer truthfully.


    "I am Sam. Do you need any help? We will be returning to the surface soon."


    Sam asked after giving a glance at Sofia, who still maintained a good distance from him, ready to act as well.


    Seeing their wariness, Asher didn''t think much of it and agreed with a nod.


    "I will be grateful; I am quite tired as well. Let me gather the shards first."


    Asher, who has already started collecting shards from the low-rank monsters, looked satisfied, as he had achieved more than he could have asked for.


    "Let''s go."


    Hearing him, both Sam and Sofia nodded and let him take the lead.


    .......


    "Today''s hunt was finally productive."


    Asher, who had successfully hunted down 32 newborns in a mere span of two days.


    "Four, I can stop four now."


    Asher said aloud to himself. Remembering the gruesome battle he fought.


    He was injured in many places and had already done first aid for them as well.


    Without much rest, waves of monsters came one after another. Many had actually even fled witnessing their own kin''s demise, but at last were stopped by him.


    His brain has already turned numb; he was light-headed. His mind was empty in the truest sense.


    Asher, who was lying on the bed in his room, closed his eyes slowly, drifting into deep slumber.


    *knock* *knock*


    *Thump*


    Abruptly opening his eyes at the loud noise, Asher yawned as he looked around.


    "Ash, are you in there?"


    Finding the voice familiar, Ash stood up from bed and went to open the door of his room.


    Seeing the two people waiting outside, Ash couldn’t help but wonder at their early visit.


    "Anny, Liber why so early in the morning?"


    Anny, who was looking at him with a worried look, let out a sigh of relief after seeing him.


    "What''s up? you ask. Do you know what rumors are going outside?"


    Entering inside the room, she suddenly began to scold Asher, who was left stupefied.


    He gave a glance to Liber as they both sat on the chairs present in the room.


    "Well, there is a rumor going around that a man came from the sewer fully covered in blood. After that, two experienced awakeners spread the word that a young kid killed more than 20 low-rank by himself. Also."


    Not wanting for Liber to finish, Anny added.


    "If you were hurt, why did you not come to me? I had told you, If you ever get injured, you can always come."


    Anny, who had already started healing Asher by slowly removing bandages, fumed with anger.


    Wincing in pain as his bandages got removed. Asher hastily told.


    "I thought I should rest a bit before giving a visit. It was really not that serious."


    "Not serious! What do you mean not serious? Your body has so many bite marks I can hardly count them. Your bones are almost visible in your arms."


    Anny, who had begun to shout, had her face painted in red. Asher, witnessing this, looked at Liber to ask for help.


    Liber, who saw his gaze, turned his head away from him.


    Even if no words were passed between them, a sudden bonding happened that surely conveyed their feelings.


    ''sorry, I don''t know you.''


    ''You traitor!''


    "Stop looking elsewhere. Tell me, how did you even get so many injuries?"


    "Ah, I got a little excited, and before I knew it, I was, um, well, already fighting them."


    Asher, unsure how to explain himself, stuttered at her stern gaze.


    Looking at Anny, who was not letting Asher off the hook, Liber finally decided to intervene.


    "Okay, give Asher some time; he is injured, but with your help he should be alright by tomorrow."


    Ash, who noticed Liber''s persuasion, nodded eagerly.


    "Haa." Anny sighed, witnessing their antics, unsure how to be angry now.


    "I don''t understand, though. How did you both find out about this?"


    Asher, who had finally sat comfortably in bed, asked in puzzlement.


    "Do you remember what I said about two awakeners yesterday evening in the bar? Sam got drunk and started complaining about how a young kid fought all those monsters and killed them by himself."


    Liber answered as he took a deep breath and folded his hands toward his chest.


    "Words after that spread quite fast, and the scene of a bloody you walking on the road spread at the same time. So we suspected it was surely you who did that."