Chapter 24: No More Odd Jobs

"What… did you do?"

Lucian was just casually wiping off the frog's slime, but when he realized that he was only scattering it everywhere, he just stopped and let it fall off on him before turning his focus to Nate, who was very carefully approaching him.

"I have already told you, Mr. Cultivator," Lucian then glanced at the giant dead frog behind him, "I believe it choked to death."

"It… choked?" Nate's eye started to twitch as he looked at the Poison Muscle Frog, and it was stiff; incredibly stiff like it had been dead for a very long time already.

"Nate!? Why did you suddenly go ahead without waiting for us!?" And as Nate's confusion was starting to reach its peak, the rest of his hunter group was finally able to catch up to them, "We shouldn't split up and—Woah, is that the target? And… oh fuck, that's Rick's group!"

And like Nate, their expressions of shock almost created an orchestra of gasps as they all hollered and raised their breaths upon seeing all the corpses around them. They were about to ask how that happened when their target was only a Muscle Frog, but then they realized the color of the giant frog in front of them.

"That's… a Poison Muscle Frog! Wait — Nate, did you kill it by yourself?"

"Are you stupid? How can Nate kill it by himself?"

Everyone completely ignored the fact that Lucian was completely drenched in saliva; poisonous saliva, at that too. They were just busy creating theories as to what happened before Nate finally pointed at Lucian.

"The… Poison Muscle Frog tried to eat him and it died," Nate ignored everyone's confusion.

"What…?" And as he said that, everyone finally looked at Lucian and noticed how he was covered in slime, "Wait—so it's not a Poison Muscle Frog!"

One of Nate's colleagues then just casually placed a hand on the corpse of the frog.

"Wait, don't!" Nate warned him not to do so, but it was too late as he already had his palm on it — fortunately, nothing really happened at all.

"Relax, Nate…" One of his friends patted him on the shoulder while sighing, "...It's probably just a weird variant of a Muscle Frog, you know how random these monsters are."

"...Then how do you explain Rick and the others dying?" Nate pointed at the corpses.

"They let down their guard. This thing is probably stronger than a normal muscle frog. Plus, they also probably panicked upon seeing it — and the fact that it died before swallowing our support means it was already wounded… lucky for us."

"What…? Are you people stupid?" Nate raised an eyebrow as he looked at his colleagues before pointing at Lucian again, "He obviously killed the monster while he was inside it!"

"...You're the one that's stupid. How would someone barely at the early stages of Spirit Infant be able to even hurt a Muscle Frog?"

"How the fuck can someone from the Spirit Infant even run beside me while all of you were left behind!?" Nate wanted to pull out his hair there and then from how stupid his group was, "I'm telling you he killed it!"

"Hm…" But as they heard Nate's explanation, all of them started turning their attention to Lucian, "Did… you really kill it?"

"No," Lucian, of course, quickly shook his head as soon as he was asked, "It choked."

"...See?"

"No, guys…

…none of you are listening, there is something weird about our support!"

Unfortunately for Nate, none of his friends really listened to him anymore as they just started calling in the association to report the successful subjugation of the monster. And since his job was done, Lucian did not really stay at all — he just washed himself from one of the trucks when the Looters arrived and immediately left. He did not, however, go straight back home and instead once again returned to the slums and outskirts of Old York.

"Stay… stay away! I… I don't want your money, just take whatever you want!"

"...I just want to buy some supplies, Mr. Ferguson."

"Why… why are you even doing this to me!? You're… you're an esteemed cultivator! Why are you bullying us Normies!?"

And almost immediately as he returned to Ferguson's office, he was immediately greeted by Ferguson's new guards who were now all pointing their guns at him the moment he stepped inside.

The people guarding Ferguson, however, were trembling uncontrollably; one of them even dropped their weapon to the ground as Lucian just continued to approach Ferguson on his desk without even minding them.

"What are you guys doing!? Shoot him! Shoot him!" Ferguson screamed, but instead of shooting Lucian… all the guards started running away, "What the—you motherfuckers!"

Of course, they were not really to be blamed — they all knew what happened to Waldo, and how he was ripped to shreds by the man their boss wanted them to kill. They were not about to commit suicide.

"Just… just take it, okay!" Ferguson hid beneath his desk before throwing a key toward Lucian, "Just take what you need and just please leave me alone! Fuck, fuck! I am leaving this place, I am leaving! Fuck…"

The only thing that Ferguson could really do was flinch as he heard Lucian picking up the key from the desk. He also flinched when he heard each of Lucian's steps — fortunately for Ferguson, those steps did not last long and quickly disappeared after a few minutes.

"Are… are you gone!?" Ferguson screamed, and when he was sure no one was answering him, he very slowly leaned his head up above his desk… only to see a pile of cash beneath the keys to his new shelf,

"What the…

…he still paid me?"

***

"Ah, Mr. Lucian! I knew you'd be back again. Let me guess, the money you got from the support job is gone?"

"Yes."

"Did you buy pills again…? Is it like… addicting? I don't really know anything about what cultivators do with those pills."

"I do believe it has properties that could be addicting, Ms. Receptionist."

"Well — did you make any progress?"

"...No."

"O… oh… That's… that's alright!"

After just a day, Lucian was once again in front of the receptionist of the Cultivator Association; his face, seemingly even more exhausted than it already was days ago. And as soon as the receptionist heard a slight hint of disappointment and melancholy in his voice, she quickly smiled and leaned closer to him.

"Mr. Lucian, it's alright!" The receptionist tried holding Lucian's hand that was placed on the counter, but Lucian quickly avoided her as she did so, "R… right. I'm sure you are going to break through to the next stage soon, alright? Don't… be so down and glum anymore!"

"I am not, Ms. Receptionist," Lucian shook his head, "I only want to accept a new job."

"High-paying, costs no time at all," the receptionist nodded, "Nope. I am afraid all those jobs are taken again."

"Then a support—"

"You could just wait for their call, Mr. Lucian," the receptionist shook her head, "Unfortunately, no monsters have been sighted in cities yet so there are no emergencies—wait, no. That's supposed to be fortunate, oh my god! What am I saying!?"

"What about—"

"Nope, no, nada," the receptionist shook her head, "There are jobs here, but you are not eligible for them — and I can't make a petition like last time. I'm good at my job, but some things are impossible."

"Then there is no job at all, Ms. Receptionist?"

"Only the jobs you already refused," the receptionist shrugged, "Hunting quests in the Demon Continent, those take days or even weeks to finish. I'm… afraid I can't help you anymore, Mr. Lucian."

"That is okay," Lucian shook his head, "You have done plenty, Ms. Receptionist, more so than others and I am truly grateful for it."

"Y…yes," the receptionist took in a small gulp as she once again saw the bright glimmer of Lucian's bright blue eyes, "I'm… I'm free this afternoon. Maybe you want to have an early dinner somewhere? I might be able to help you in another way, I know some people!"

"You could?" Lucian tilted his head to the side.

"Y…yes!" The receptionist stood up, "By the way, my name is—"

"Mr. Lucian Zhang."

And once again, before the receptionist could introduce herself, Hall Master Charlotte suddenly approached them from the lobby.

"I can see you are in need of a job," Charlotte did not hesitate at all as she looked Lucian in the eyes, "I can offer you one that pays very well. Let's talk in our usual seats."

"Okay."

"Wait—oh, come on!" The receptionist could really only sit back down and pout as she watched as Hall Master Charlotte once again interrupted her talk with Lucian. Alas, perhaps another time.

"What sort of job is it, Hall Master?" Lucian also did not waste any time as he asked Charlotte about the job a millisecond after taking a seat.

"Mr. Lucian Zhang," Hall Master Charlotte cleared her throat and nodded,

"I want you to create a formula for me, a pill."

"N—"

"And before you say no!" Charlotte did not let Lucian speak at all before placing a briefcase on the coffee table between them and opening it, causing even Lucian's lifeless eyes to show a sudden glint,

"This is only the downpayment — and I know you are trying to hide your identity, and I would ensure that your name does not come up at all. In fact, it would be beneficial for me and my father. We will hide your identity."

"Hm…" Lucian looked away from the pile of cash and closed his eyes,

"...What's the pill you wanted?"