Chapter 124 123. Time To Get Started!
Shane found a small apartment in the black market area of the Orient continent. To be honest, it looked more like the streets of the most poorly rated country in history. The corners of the streets and alleys were filled with garbage. The number of poverty-stricken people was so high that the roadside was covered with beggars. Some even went ahead and stole food from the stalls only to be beaten by the shopkeepers.
Torn clothes hung in the galleries of the small apartments. The one where Shane lived temporarily was shabby in appearance. The paint on the walls peeled as the living room looked even smaller than an average kitchen of a middle-class family.
The only good thing was that this house had three rooms aside from the bathroom: one bedroom, one living room, and one kitchen. Right now, Shane was seated on his couch as he massaged his temples.
It was already early in the morning when he was able to settle the purchase and buy some stuff for his house. By the time he was able to rest on the couch, it was already very early morning.
He closed his eyes briefly as the faces of Ed and Dirt flashed in front of his eyes. He abruptly opened them as he took a deep breath.
He had to find them by hook or by crook. If not, he didn't think he would be able to rest well.
After taking a deep breath, he made a call quickly. The other person connected as a video appeared on the screen. A woman's hand appeared as she fumbled for something in the dark.
She grumbled. "Don't you see the time while calling someone?! You don't sleep, I get it. But let others sleep!"
"Hope, I need a favor."
The woman finally put on the hood and turned on the light. She mosaiced the background and raised her head.
"Why? Don't tell me you killed someone."
"Do I look like a murderer to you?"
The woman seemed like she was staring deeply at the man and nodded.
Shane: "...."
He took a deep breath and decided not to be affected by her attitude toward him. "I need a demonic realm's job."
"Why?" She finally got serious as her tone changed.
"Don't ask. Just find it."
Hope was silent for a moment so much that Shane almost wondered if she would refuse cleanly without any hesitation. Just as he prepared a few words to speak in that case, he heard the woman speaking.
"Fine. Consider it done. But what will you give me in exchange for that favor?"
"Anything you want," Shane didn't think too much when he said that.
"Oh? Anything? What if I would ask you for your neck?"
"My neck?" Shane touched his neck, feeling complicated.
Even though he respected his master and that robot, he didn't want to die for them. He hesitated for a long time. It seemed his hesitation continued for a while as Hope chuckled in amusement.
"I was just kidding. Don't need to die in front of me."
"I wasn't gonna do it anyway."
"Good."
"...."
The two of them forgot about what they were discussing about because of this small, worthless argument. Hope coughed as she opened her mouth first to dispel this strange, awkwardness between them.
"I'll contact you in the afternoon with good news."
After that, she hung up the call directly. Shane looked at the screen in a complicated manner.
Until then, he decided to catch up on his sleep for a while. Then he would think about what else could be done in this situation. Without proper sleep, even if his body was better than that of a mortal, he would still end up with terrible health.
He was too lazy to move over to the newly brought bed. So he curled up on his couch and closed his eyes.
Right outside the small apartment, there was a hooded man standing on a branch. He was staring inside the apartment with a hidden emotion in his eyes. No one could tell what he was thinking, but his cold and dark stare made him seem a little aloof.
Suddenly, another figure appeared behind him. It was the same Dark who had attacked and killed Tess back in the institute. He chuckled when he observed the hooded man staring at an apartment through the window.
"Boss, are you really so perverted to stare deeply with such intense emotion at someone of the same gender?" Dark clicked his tongue. "I didn't think you were that kind of person."
"Did you do what I tell you to?"
The other hooded man sighed. "Yes. The bodies are safe. What do you want me to do?"
"Keep them safe. Now get lost."
"But boss…." Dark was clearly confused over what his boss was doing here so early in the morning. "Why are you standing here like this? Can't we just kill him?"
"No," replied the hooded man instantly. "Shane cannot die. No matter what, you can torment him however you like."
"Is this the way you love someone?"
"I don't-" The hooded person sighed as if he didn't want to explain himself. "Get out of here."
"Okay, okay. Continue staring."
After that, Dark bowed and flashed away. Behind him, the hooded man still continued to stand there, staring at the living room inside the house. His gaze was nowhere near the 'love' or 'affection' thing that Dark was talking about. It felt more like a hint of nostalgia hidden in his eyes.
His eyes squinted. "Really, I can't seem to go back to those days anymore. So carefree, just like him."
After saying such a mysterious sentence, his body also flashed and vanished from that place.
Shane didn't know that two people had been staring at him outside the window. He had forgotten to lower the curtains. When he woke up, it was already early afternoon. The notification continued to beep in his menu as he opened it up.
It turned out Hope had called him several times already and even sent him a lot of messages. He quickly read through and realized what had happened.
The woman was efficient in her work. She made sure to find him a good job this time, exactly the kind he had wanted.
This time, his mission was clearly stated because she made connections to choose such a world for him. The world this time wasn't chosen according to the attributes but through secret connections from the insiders of this system world.
Who knew what Hope did to get such a mission where Shane was supposed to destroy one of the worlds in the demonic realm? Very meticulous.
For the first time after meeting the hooded woman, he felt that she was finally of some use. At least, she could find him different odd jobs at such a time. She seemed to have mysterious connections to help him.
After thinking about this point, Shane decided not to kick her away. He sighed and called her.
"Where to?"
"I have sent you the teleportation link. Tonight. Eat and come. We will directly enter the system."
"Okay."
The two of them didn't have anything to talk about. So they hung up quickly and Shane tidied himself up.
The evening arrived too soon. Shane quickly teleported to that place as he noticed a certain familiar hooded woman sitting at a restaurant in front of the teleportation center. He quickly went to fetch her.
"Let me finish this first."
Shane squinted his eyes. He didn't even get enough time to have a proper meal. Since it was getting late, he ate something hurriedly and went out. But this woman dared to make him wait!
Hope was the one who had sent over the timing when they were supposed to enter. There were still ten minutes, but it would be wasted in the formalities with the company. So they really had no time.
He quickly fetched the cup in her hand and poured the liquid to the ground right in front of her widened eyes.
"Hey!"
"Done. Let's go."
"You-!" Hope said nothing after that as she huffed and walked behind him.
She crossed her arms on her chest and decided not to talk to this rude young man.
Shane finally felt relaxed as she sighed. The two of them went to the small company that held the demonic realm virtual portal. Since this was a special portal, they also charged too much for this job. Shane looked at his almost empty account as he sighed and decided to agree.
He would take a risk just this once for the sake of his master and Dirt.
After thinking about this, he paid and did the rest of the formalities before the two of them entered the world. For a moment, he felt dizzy as he held his forehead. When he finally arrived at a familiar place inside his host's mind, he looked around for Hope.
The woman lay on the ground and closed her eyes as if she hadn't slept all night.
Shane had the urge to kick her, but he held back seeing their gender difference. Just how could a girl be so lazy like this?!
"Where am I?" A youthful voice echoed in the background.
The host seemed to have woken up. Time to get started!