Life didn't get easier, even in another world.

Kairen arrived at the teleportation center after running for a few minutes. He entered the huge building and started looking around. 

'There are too many people...'

The building was crowded. Lots of people were walking around, entering and exiting the building, talking to the employees, and waiting for their turn to use the teleportation circle.

After searching for a few moments, Kairen walked towards the reception desk. It was no use looking around. 

"Um... Sorry."

The woman that was sitting behind the desk answered him with a smile.

"How can I help you?"

Kairen hesitated for a bit, thinking how he was supposed to ask the woman if she had seen someone who had just left SMF's prison and was probably wandering around here without having a citizenship card or anything like that.

"Have you... Um, have you seen a man with blonde hair and golden eyes?"

The woman closed her mouth and looked at Kairen's face. She then hesitantly pointed at someplace with her finger.

"Do you mean him?"

Once Kairen turned his head to see where the employee was pointing, he saw a man with light blonde hair and a familiar face in the middle of a fierce struggle with the teleportation centers' security guards.

"....."

Two security guards were dragging the man outside, while he was cursing and struggling to get out of their hands.

"What has he done?"

"Do you know him by any chance? He tried to enter the teleportation room without waiting for his turn, and when we asked him for his identification and citizenship card, he didn't have anything. He then started yelling and cursing some leader or whatever."

"...."

Kairen turned towards the woman with a smile.

"Can you... release him please?"

"So you know him."

"Yes. Can he use my card to enter the teleportation room?"

"I'm afraid that's not possible, but I'll tell them to release him."

The woman picked up the phone and said something in it. Kairen could see the guards releasing Alan afterward. 

The man looked around, confused, before noticing Kairen and rushing towards him.

"...."

'Why does he look even angrier?'

Kairen took one step back, but that wasn't enough to stop the man. 

"AH!"

Alan grabbed Kairen's collar as soon as he arrived in front of him and yelled on his face.

"What do you want from me now?"

Kairen grabbed the man's arms to release his collar but it was useless. He could see the employee woman's face while being swayed by alan, asking 'Weren't you two friends or something?' with her eyes.

"Did he send you here to capture me again? Huh?"

Kairen glared at the man's eyes.

"That's not it."

"Then what?"

"I'll tell you. Release me first."

"Like hell!"

The two security guards that were looking at each other till now hesitantly approached them.

"Sirs, please stop. You shouldn't fight here-"

"Shut the fuck up, big bulky monkey!"

"What?"

Alan shook Kairen back and forth.

"Why don't you answer me?"

"Ah, but let's calm down first-"

Kairen stopped his sentence midway and hurriedly turned to look towards the building entrance.

'What?'

Kairen frowned and looked at the entrance. 

'I'm sure I sensed something there...'

Kairen suddenly got a strange feeling. He sensed something familiar, yet weaker compared to the previous time that he had experienced it. A disgusting feeling crept over his body in an instant. Kairen was sure he had sensed something strange, but he didn't see anything out of ordinary.

Surprisingly, even though he had stopped talking all of a sudden and had turned away from Alan, the man didn't curse him or shake his body. Kairen could see that Alan was also looking at the place where he had sensed something.

'It's like... back with the centipede...'

He was having the same feeling as what he had sensed when he faced the giant centipede.

'There is no way that a monster is in this place, right?'

Celinden, and other big cities in the country, all had protection and security devices installed all around. They were all high technology gadgets and drove away most of the lower-level monsters and foreshadowed where and when would high-level monsters appear.

And as much as Kairen knew, there was no news of any high-level monsters appearing.

"...."

'I must've been hallucinating...'

Contrary to his thoughts, Kairen started to move and circle his mana. 

As soon as he did so, he felt the force holding his collar loosen. Once he looked at Alan, he saw him starting at a place with a frown on his face.

And then-

BOMMMM

The building's entrance exploded.

. . . . . . . .

Ding

Captain Neal took a deep breath. Once she exited the elevator, she was in unit 5's hall. 

"Ah? Captain Neal?"

"Captain Neal? I thought Kairen came back..."

The unit members were quite surprised by her sudden visit. It was understandable though. What business did the Monster Hunting Division's captain have in Special Unit's unit 5 office?

One of the unit members approached her while she was standing in front of the elevator.

"Um... Captain Neal? Can I help you?"

Captain Neal looked at the young man's face. She had seen him before but didn't know what his name was. She shook her head at his answer.

"There is nothing. I just came to talk to team leader Dains about something."

"I see."

"He is in his office, right?"

"Yes."

She nodded her head, walked past the young man, and stood in front of the team leader's office door.

Knock Knock

"Come in."

Captain Neal opened the door as soon as she heard that and entered the office.

"I've done writing them but you also check them once before doing anything, Thea."

Team leader Dains that had his head down looked up with a bunch of papers in his hands, but he froze as soon as he saw the person in front of him.

"...."

He put down the papers in his hand with a dejected face.

"I thought it was the deputy team leader, I apologize."

"Oh, sorry. I didn't know you were busy."

Captain Neal sat down on the chair in front of the team leader's desk. A momentary silence descended in the room.

"What brings you here, captain?"

"I wanted to talk to you."

"Talk to me? About what?"

"You must know what I'm going to talk about, team leader Dains."

"Hah!"

Team leader Dains scoffed and leaned back.

"It is about your new student, I guess?"

"You are right. It's about him."

"What about him?"

Captain Neal also leaned back in her seat.

"Why do I have to teach that boy?"

Team leader Dains raised one of his eyebrows and smiled.

"Have to? Who said you had to teach him?"

Captain Neal folded her arms with a frown.

"Okay, then I'll ask it in another way. Why did you ask me to teach that boy?"

"Really, captain Neal, you came all the way here to talk about something like that?"

"It's because you ran away every time I wanted to bring up this issue."

Team leader Dains sighed and put down the pen that he was playing with.

"There is nothing I can tell you about him. Well, we can have a conversation about whatever else that you want.

The team leader picked up his phone and called someone, ordering two cups of coffee to be brought to his room.

Seeing this, captain Neal frowned even more.

"I didn't come here to drink coffee. I'm only here to have my answer."

"You want to know why I asked you to help my unit's new mage, however, weren't you also one of those who requested that boy to work under you?"

Hearing that, captain Neal flinched. She lowered her head and bit her lips.

"T-that's a different issue. The fact that I wanted to recruit him didn't mean I wanted to be his teacher."

Team leader Dains slightly tilted his head and tapped on the table.

"Doesn't that mean that you also acknowledged his potential?"

"What potential are you talking about?"

"Then, do you mean that I've recruited the wrong person... that my judgment was wrong?"

"..."

Captan Neal blinked a few times before noticing what mistake she had done and lowering her head even more. 

"I... I didn't mean that."

She felt her face heating up from embarrassment. That's why she didn't like talking, she always said something wrong once she opened her mouth. 

"Then what did you mean, captain?"

"I... What I wanted to say was that-"

But she couldn't complete her sentence.

BEEP BEEEP BEEEEP

Because a device on the team leader's desk started glowing red and making noises. The alarm's sound was too loud for everyone, even those in the hall, to hear it clearly.

"W-What?"

"...."

Captian Neal and team leader Dains both hurriedly got up from their seats and walked out of the roof.

"What is going on?"

"Isn't that the alarm?"

The people in the hall were also confused and shocked. They all looked around, not knowing what to do.

But their confusion didn't last long. 

BOOOMMM