The hunters’ legs went weak.

Some people rubbed their eyes so hard they almost dug out their eyeballs.

"Am I hallucinating? Blind? W-where is the digger?"

"Hahaha, it must be diving back underground, right?"

Right??

But no.

Instead of the digger making a comeback, the trembling thumpers slowly moved, their eyes glowing as they headed towards the house.

Thump. Thump.

The ground shook and so did the hunters’ hearts.

"T-the digger is really the thumper’s predator, right? It’s not the other way around, right?" Someone asked, unsure.

"That...is right."

But since the thumpers dared to move...

The digger must be gone— no.

It’s dead.

In just a few seconds?

Everyone felt a chill shooting up to their head, their scalps numbing.

"Fck." A hunter blurted out a curse and a flurry of curses rained down the voice channel.

"Captain! Do we move, or— "

"Captain, let’s retreat. This place isn’t normal."

"No, no, compared to that house— the Death Zone is the normal one!"

The hunters couldn’t stay still, their hearts racing anxiously.

At the same time, inside the house, Lucien’s eyes swept out of his house and to his surprise, his 360° vision covered the area several meters away from his house.

DING! [Visual range has extended to 300 meters]

Ah, no wonder.

Lucien nodded and carefully searched throughout the 300 meter range, his vision extending to the entire street.

There he saw—

Thumpers.

The entire street was full of thumpers.

Thump. Thump.

At the end of the street, shrouded in a faint red fog, a white and green light glowed, flickering.

Worms came out of the light, endless.

Lucien’s inner soul couldn’t help but peek out, his teeth nibbling the blanket.

Damn it.

There’s really an E-rank worm dungeon here!

He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

He needed that E-rank dungeon core, but...

Could he clear it solo?

Sounds impossible.

Ugh, if only there were helpers...

It was then Lucien noticed several shadows hiding behind ruins and buildings.

Those silhouettes...

Looks familiar.

Lucien’s vision zoomed in and he immediately caught sight of several humans in tight bodysuits and helmets.

Lucien’s inner soul kicked the blanket and rose, eyes wide.

Power rangers??

Ah, no, it must be the expedition team!

Yeah, the news said they were exploring this street!

Lucien’s eyes burned feverishly and in that instant, the hunters suddenly felt a deep gaze staring at them from the void.

They subconsciously flinched, their muscles stiffened.

"W-who is there?"

The vision hunter swallowed his saliva as he widened his eyes, searching through the air.

Where is it? Where is it?

He looked around anxiously and just then—

A pair of amethyst eyes met him right in the pupils.

"H-hic!" The vision hunter hiccupped.

The hunters who shared the same vision froze, their blood turning cold.

It felt as if they were being peeled naked, their souls bared plainly.

"Hah!" The vision Hunter quickly averted his gaze, but blood dripped down his eyes.

"Ugh!" The hunters’ stomachs churned. Some heaved, gagging without a sound.

"Kuh!"

The captain broke into a cold sweat, his hands trembling.

W-what...what was that?

A hunter?

Or...

A monster?

Lucien saw the hunters freezing, looking around as if there was an invisible enemy and he couldn’t help but rub his palms excitedly.

Those are the helpers he needed! Served right on the platter!

But...

Could he just approach them casually?

Wouldn’t they be suspicious to see a stranger at the Death Zone?

What if they looked down on him, a meager E-rank hunter?

Lucien’s eyes fell back and forth between the hunters and the incoming thumpers when a light bulb flashed above his head.

Ho? This...this might work?

A sly glint flashed in Lucien’s eyes and his inner soul wagged a fox tail.

Even the mini boss slapped the ground with its tail, fangs popping out viciously.

—Eat...

Ignoring the pig-like dungeon boss, Lucien hurriedly went to the kitchen, startling Lurenzo who was still in the living room.

"Hey? Hey? Where are you going?? What if the digger attacked again??"

Poor Lurenzo didn’t know the digger was already gone.

He could only shout anxiously and watched as Lucien took out a glass of...

Tea?

"...what the fck— I mean what are you doing??" Lurenzo threw out all his polite speech and almost barked.

Is this the time to have tea??

There are thumpers outside and an unknown digger!

Lucien ignored Lurenzo as he dragged a sofa out of the living room, placing it at the terrace.

Lurenzo wanted to follow but Lucien slammed the door right in front of his nose, his voice drifting in the wind.

"Just stay still."

"??? You bastard— @_#_#_#&#!"

Ignoring the garbled curses behind, Lucien plopped down the sofa with a tea on his right hand and Mumu on his lap.

Thump.

The tea shook.

Outside, two thumpers lifted their bodies high.

The hunters saw the signature pose and they collectively gasped.

"It’s about to attack— "

The thumpers’ body slammed down the house like a hammer.

Bang!

The image of walls crumbling, tiles exploding surfaced in everyone’s mind.

But...

The thumpers’ body stopped just an inch away from the house.

As if something blocked them.

Sha...

The white fog around the house suddenly parted.

The image of a terrace came into everyone’s mind and there...

A figure sat on a sofa, legs crossed.

Tak.

A hand held a cup of tea.

Steam billowed, covering the figure’s face.

Thump.

An inch away, huge worms slammed down.

But the bodies hit an invisible wall.

"Slurp."

The figure slowly sipped the tea.

Pat pat.

One hand stroked a blue jelly blob on the lap, as if stroking a cat.

The hunters’ breath hitched.

Their vision slowly climbed up the figure and—

Glance.

A pair of amethyst eyes looked straight into their eyes.

Plop.

A hunter fell on their butt.

Another hunter slid down the wall, legs trembling.

T-those eyes... 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

The ones they saw before.

W-why...is it here?

Just when the hunters were about to suffocate—

The figure’s eyes shifted away, as if just sweeping over their places casually.

Gulp.

His throat moved, swallowing the tea.

"Hmmm."

He hummed, his eyes landed on the thumpers in front of it.

Then..

His eyes bent, lips curled up slowly.

"Ah."

His mouth slowly moved, a low whisper drifted into the wind.

"We have guests."