My Alt Account Became the World's No. 1 Hunter
Chapter 29: Eastern District Gate Challenge (10)

Chapter 29: Eastern District Gate Challenge (10)

Theodore sat at the edge of the payout tent’s battered barricade, half-leaning on the cold metal rail as the last of the crowd’s noise swirled around him like leftover festival slop.

His duffel bag rested against his boot, scuffed and tired the same way he felt.

Every few seconds, he flicked his thumb over the folded slip of paper tucked in his pocket — Lea’s note, soft at the edges now from how many times he’d read it today alone.

He watched the big plaza screens flicker through another loop of Zero’s final wave. The blurry feed of that cracked helmet and ragged cloak shredding a Death Knight like it owed him something. But it’s not worth watching anymore, what was done was done.

In the back of his mind, he was already running through jobs he might be able to pick up to close the gap.

Maybe those warehouse night shifts again, gate cleanup, or the stupid transport gig with the busted drones that always shorted his hazard pay.

Whatever would cover Lea’s next meds.

He didn’t even notice the three familiar shapes moving through the stragglers until someone jammed an elbow into his arm just shy of knocking him sideways.

"Hey! Theodore!"

He ignored it.

"YO, get your ass over here!" Kenji’s voice cracked a little as he leaned halfway over the rail, waving so wildly Hiro had to duck to keep from getting smacked in the ear. Leo trailed behind them, and there is totally no straw in his mouth.

Theodore blinked, thumb pausing on that soft paper crease. He thought about ignoring them again — just a second, just enough to slip away and be alone with his stupid thoughts — but the way Kenji’s grin faltered when their eyes met tugged him out of it.

He pushed himself off the barricade, duffel bumping against his knee as he crossed the few steps toward them.

Kenji didn’t waste a breath. He threw an arm around Theodore’s shoulder, just carefully, but solid enough to feel like he meant it. "You good, man? You... you did amazing. You know that, right? You smoked everyone in there, except for that f*cking crop top clown."

Hiro popped up beside him, snack bag rustling in his fist. "Yeah! Dude, you had those two hobgoblin looking dumb. As for that Death Knight, you looked unbeatable that I thought you were gonna pull its skull out with your bare hands, not gonna lie."

Theodore snorted under his breath, just enough to soften the knot in his shoulders. "I’m pretty sure that thing destroyed me."

Leo tipped his head, eyes flicking from the big screen to Theodore’s face. "But they’re stll gonna remember your run more than his, you know. You made that look real. While that motherf*cker just made it look like a meme."

Kenji’s grin widened, bright and dumb. "Yeah, and we were up there screaming our lungs out for you. Hiro probably scared a toddler."

"I did not!" Hiro snapped, voice shooting up an octave. He wilted immediately. "Okay, maybe a little. But the kid shouldn’t have been standing that close to the subwoofers. Blame his mom."

Leo put his right hand on Theodore’s shoulders and said, "Lowkey? I genuinely feel like you should’ve won that."

After hearing that, Theodore opened his mouth like he was about to fire off one of his usual dry shots, something to brush the moment away, but nothing came out.

He just let his shoulders drop a little more, thumb still brushing over the folded note in his pocket like it was the only thing keeping him from drifting off into the noise around them.

"It’s fine," he said finally, voice steady in that simple way that made Kenji shut up mid-smirk. "It was my loss and his win. Can’t do anything about that except get stronger."

It landed different because there wasn’t a scrap of fake in it, just Theodore being exactly who he was, the guy who’d rather grind himself into the dirt than whine about it.

Hiro sucked in a little breath, then barked out a laugh so quick he startled himself. He punched Theodore’s arm, not even half-strength. "That’s the spirit, man! Next time you’ll solo two Death Knights at once and smack that Zero clown so hard his cracked helmet will crack even more, for real."

Leo’s snort was soft but genuine. "Better than watching him strut off with your whole payout. You’d have spent that money well. As for that guy, what’s he gonna do, buy new holes for his cloak?"

Kenji crossed his arms, that grin working its way back to the surface. "Hey, we saw the whole thing, man, you didn’t hesitate, like at all. Zero’s just... I dunno, he’s like a freak of nature. Or maybe just a freak in general."

Hiro leaned closer, grinning too wide for his own face. "Next time, it’s your name on that big sign. We’ll bring a sign, too. With glitter."

"Please don’t," Theodore said with an expressionless look.

They all laughed, well, except for Theodore, but even he couldn’t quite hide the small curl of a smile at the edge of his mouth.

It was subtle, but it was real enough that Hiro’s eyes lit up for a split second like he’d just caught proof the guy was human after all.

Leo tilted his head back, chin pointing toward the screens overhead where Zero’s final walkout still looped in that jittery, replayed footage.

The battered helmet, the ragged cloak flapping just enough to look dramatic in the floodlights, it was obvious that he was trying to aura farm, but the crowd kept eating it up like they’d never seen a stunt before.

"Who was that guy anyway?" Leo asked, voice all calm and curiosity but his brow creased just a little. You could tell it actually bugged him — and if it bugged Leo, you knew it was eating at everyone else too.

Hiro barked out a short laugh, shoulders bumping Theodore’s arm like he couldn’t stand still. "Maybe he’s secretly rich, or some sponsored pro who gets paid to show up and clown on rookies for highlight reels. Or maybe he’s just... I dunno, a guy with secrets he’s not dumb enough to spill."

Kenji snorted, flicking Hiro’s ear just to shut him up. "You’re the last person who should be calling anybody dumb, genius."

Theodore just shook his head. "If he is, he’s good at keeping secrets. Good enough to walk away with my money and leave me here figuring out how to pick up the slack. That prize would’ve helped a ton too. But now I need to find more jobs to do."

Kenji squinted at Theodore like he’d just grown a second head. He crossed his arms over his chest, the half-cocky tilt of his grin softening a little. "Why not join a guild? Seriously, man. You’d have backup, you’d get better cuts, and you wouldn’t have to carry all this alone."

Theodore’s jaw tightened before the words even hit the air, that tiny muscle near his ear flickering just enough for all three of them to catch it.

He shifted his weight from foot to foot, boots scuffing the concrete, eyes bouncing between Kenji, Hiro, and Leo like he was checking for an exit that wasn’t there.

"It’s not that easy," he said after a moment, voice dropping lower, almost like he was afraid someone else might hear it. "Most local guilds don’t care how good you are, they just want bodies to fill their quotas. You sign a contract, you get quotas, mandatory clears every month. They expect you to risk your neck for group runs and promise they’ll split the profits fairly, but that’s only if they actually clear the Gate or get the payout. And if you get hurt, or you’re late on your share, they drop you.

Or worse, they blacklist you. If word gets around that you’re ’unreliable,’ nobody would want to pick you up. Then you’re solo again, but you can’t get a run because they locked you out of the good permits."

Kenji let out a low whistle, the sound slipping between his teeth. "That’s... damn. That’s sh*t, man."

"Wait, so you do all that work, risk your ass, and they still kick you if you miss a quota? Man, that’s worse than my uncle’s old hardware shop. At least there you just got screamed at," Hiro said, raising an eyebrow.

Leo hummed under his breath, gaze ticking up toward the fading screens. "So don’t look at the bottom feeders, then. There’s better guilds — around the mid-tiers — that actually value solo runners who can pull their own weight. They’ll want someone like you, someone who doesn’t flinch when it matters. You’d get a steady cut, better gear access, and none of those shady clauses."

Theodore shrugged one shoulder and didn’t say anything right away, but that long stretch of quiet told them he’d probably thought about this before, maybe more than once.

Kenji nudged him with an elbow, but it was careful this time, not the usual knock-you-over ass nudge. "Dude, listen to us. You deserve better than scraping by with busted boots and a beat-up blade. You’re better than half those guys who show up with fresh sponsor tags. If you want a foot in, we’ll help. Talk to the right people, put your name in the right ears."

Hiro perked up, eyes suddenly bright, like a kid who just found a hidden snack stash. "Yeah! We’ll hype you up! ’Theodore: The Slayer, Coming Soon!’" He lifted his hands dramatically, like he was framing an invisible movie poster above Theodore’s head.

"Please don’t ever call me that," Theodore muttered.

Kenji leaned in, that grin flickering back to its usual easy warmth. "We’re serious, man. We got your back, we’ll help you sort it out so that next time, you’re not gonna worry about money. You’re just gonna fight."

Theodore huffed out a slow breath, voice dry but softer than before. "Fine. I’ll... think about it."

Leo raised his hand towards him, like a toast only he could somehow make look cool. "Good. You go ahead and think about it. And if you don’t, we’ll drag you to an interview ourselves."

"Ohh! I forgot, we don’t have your contacts," Kenji said, pointing at his phone.

"Oh, right. Here you go."

Now, we shall do a hard cut to a certain idiot.😢

***

Lanz crammed himself back into that same grimy bathroom stall — the one where he probably traumatized those poor kids so badly they’ll never skip class again. He’s still half-suited up in full ’Zero’ gear.

Between his fingers, he’s got the payout chit pinched like it’s the last golden ticket, for Wonka’s factory, in existence. His grin is so wide it actually aches in his cheeks, but he doesn’t care.

He wipes a fleck of dried blood off his elbow with the back of his glove, breathy laugh bouncing around the stall walls like cheap surround sound.

"Let’s. F*cking. Go," he whispers to no one, teeth flashing under the half-busted visor.

He flicks the chit against the peeling stall door, catches it mid-air just to admire it again.

"SHOPPING SPREE TIME, BABY!" he exclaimed, voice giddy, a feral little bathroom gremlin ready to spend every last credit on his next big mask.

End of Chapter 29.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

ALT SYSTEM — USER PROFILE: ZERO

Level: 11

EXP: 82 / 110

Next Reward: 10 Available Stat Points

Global System Tracking: DISABLED

World Rank Association: UNLINKED

Stats:

STR: 8 | AGI: 8 (Affinity) | VIT: 3 | DEX: 1 | INT: 7 | WIS: 0

[Available Stat Points: 3]

[Derived Stat — MANA: 35 / 35]

Skills:

[Crimson Slash Lv. 1]

[Phantom Stride Lv.1]

[Blade Control Lv.1]

[Parry Timing Lv.1]

[Reflex Sync Lv.1] (Passive Skill)

[Combat Awareness Lv.2] (Passive Skill)

[Skill Fusion Menu: Active]

[Dev Tree: Tier 0 Access Granted]

[Developer Node – Fusion Core Anchor: Active]

[Skill Slot Available — Unassigned]

Equipment:

Aged Blade Fragment (??? Rarity) (Bound)

Goblin Dagger

Spiked Boar Tusk Shard

Lightweight Chest Padding

Boots of Basic Mobility

Fingerless Gloves (Basic)

Starter Cloak: Faded Black

Training Ring (+1 VIT)