1 A Porter

For a long time, humanity had been constantly advancing and increasing its resources until it reached the point where they were practically ruling Earth… but this didn't last long. It was the year 2020, the catastrophe struck. A giant portal appeared in New York with thousands of monsters coming out of it. From that day on portals kept appearing on random parts of the planet. Normal artillery was very ineffective on these thick-skinned beasts. Humanity had been on the verge of losing all hope when a miracle happened. 'Players' started to appear. These Players were people who had been blessed with powerful abilities that could kill these monsters.

After months of the constant battle between the humans and the monsters, the 'Rifts' as we started calling them were conquered. When a rift was conquered it gave the conqueror a choice whether he or she wanted it to be destroyed. If a rift was destroyed it closed and disappeared, if not closed the rift would spawn fewer monsters in a more stable chronological order. The area surrounding the rift is its territory, where monsters that had come out of it normally roamed.

The massive difference on earth caused many more changes such as the 'Player Association' also known as PA. The PA's job was to keep the players from breaking the law and connect them and keep the normal citizens from freaking out since players were like walking artillery. Another one of the jobs PA has would be Player ranking. The PA used a Player ranking system that depended on the Player's power. E was the lowest and SSS was the highest, but one should know the rankings didn't originate from them. Every player had a status sheet given to them by the 'System God' that shows the numerical manifestation of their physical and mental strength. The PA rated one's abilities using the same system. The average player had a C-Rank and a few lower rank abilities and were classified as D-Rank players by the PA. The PA also has the job of making sure monsters don't get out of their Rift territories, they usually do this by surrounding the said rift with thick walls.

It was so unfortunate that not all were given the fate to be powerful, such as me. I am Adam Griffin. A 17-year-old who lost his parents to a rift outbreak and was left with no choice but to work as a porter to feed himself and his sister. I have gray hair and blue eyes with a slim body build and was approximately 179 cm long. I am pretty satisfied with my life expert, I don't really like my job. I would have never taken porter as my job if I had had a choice, but most jobs are already taken in this city and I can't move to another. A porter is someone who carries the extra weight of the players, that isn't a problem for me. The problem is, I have to accompany them. This caused the death rate to be very high. At least the pay is good.

Currently, I was walking towards the gates for my new job. The midday sun shining from the sky, destroyed and inhabited houses on the sides of the road. Such a nice view. Soon a van came into view as I continued to walk through the ruined part of the city. The gray van was 3 meters wide and 6 meters long with a 2-meter high roof. It was a standard corpse carrier. On the vans right side stood John, with a height of 2 meters, a bulky build, and brown hair. He had a trimmed beard, a sharp jaw, thin eyebrows, and brown eyes. He was wearing a one-piece with thick armor all over it. I had been working with him for the last 4 months, he is very kindhearted and cared about all his workers and team members. He was both the tank and the Player team leader, which I would be the porter for. It would only be proper that I greet him.

Adam: "Yo John! Miss me?"

John: "Nice to see you again Adam. How've you been." Hearing me John turned and returned my greeting.

Adam: "Fine. How've you been? By the way, who will be the Player team?" Using this as a chance I learn about who I will be accompanying.

John: "Fine and dandy." He said as he gave me a toothy grin. "The team will be made of 2 C-Rank Damage Dealers, A C-Rank Healer, and a D-Rank Mage, plus me of course."

So the usual Diamond Formation, the Tanker will take the front for the Damage Dealers to attack and the Healer will make sure everyone's alive and the Mage would be good extra damage and long-range distraction.

Adam: "What are we hunting." This was crucial information for me as my life depended on knowing it. As a porter, I have to stay close to the party but certain monsters had certain tendencies that might take my life if I am too far or too close to them.

John: "Today's prey is a Stone-Skinned Lizard." He was as positive as always.

Adam: "So that means I have to keep my distance short as it likes to hunt the weakest first."

John: "Yep. Now, let's wait for the rest to arrive and set out."

With that, we sat in the van waiting for the remaining members to arrive.

-A few minutes later-

???: "Oi John! You there?"

John: "Seems like they have arrived."

Adam: "You don't say?!"

John and I walk out of the van to see a tall blonde guy with a double-edged sword hanging on his waist with a brown-haired tall guy next to him. The blonde guy was wearing a one-piece suit with small but sturdy armor pieces for maximum movement. The brown-haired guy was wearing a white robe with a tall staff in his hands. And I just noticed that there was a red-haired woman near them. She had generous curves and was of average height. She was also wearing a dark-colored robe.

John: "Alex, Bryan, and Diane. You're just on time. This is our Porter, Adam. Adam the blondie is Alex, our Damage Dealer." John said as he pointed at the tall blonde man.

Alex: "Hello there." He gave me a short greeting as he raised his hand and gave a wave.

John: "The other guy is Bryan, our Healer." John continued as he pointed at the brown-haired guy.

Bryan: "Nice to meet you." His greeting was similar to Alex

John: "Next we have our Mage, Diana." She just gave me a small nod.

John: "Alright guys you know the drill. Don't be reckless and charge in. Be aware of your surroundings, you never know when a monster sneaks up on you. Lastly, we are a team, communicate with each other and listen to my orders as I am the leader." He said this in a very serious manner as these things were very crucial. (A/N: Follow the leader)

The four of us didn't need to hear this as this was the first thing you needed to learn when hunting, even if you are a Porter. But to show we understood all of us gave a nod.

John: "Now then, let's get this hunt rockin' and rollin'!"

The team got on the bus and John drove us to the hunting site. It was the outer layer of a cleared D-Rank Rift, meaning it was outside the Rift so the chances of getting ambushed lessened. But we won't be finding any treasure chest. A Rift's treasure chest is a chest that is found in a Rift and is commonly filled with a bunch of expensive stuff like high-quality items. Items are objects with special properties such as a burning sword or a ring that amplifies one's strength.

Looking out of the van I see the city getting smaller and smaller. I somehow have a bad feeling about today.