A Trash Novel's Only Reader-Chapter 12: Unexpected

The hunter association building was louder than Shu expected.

People packed the main hall, some leaning against walls, others sitting on benches and most looking like they had been through hell and back. Weapons hung off belts and backs, armor showed dents and scratches.

’There are plenty of strong people here,’ he thought, scanning the room. ’And plenty of desperate ones too.’

He was about to head toward the registration desk when a commotion near the entrance caught his attention.

A boy was on the ground, hands raised to shield his face while three guys stood over him. One of them had his boot on the boy’s chest, pressing down just enough to keep him pinned without actually hurting him.

"Come on, how many times do we have to tell you?" the guy with the boot said, looking down at him with an amused expression, "nobody wants a dead weight in their party."

The boy on the ground looked young, maybe sixteen or seventeen, with clothes that were too big for his thin frame. His hands were shaking, but he kept them up anyway, like he was used to this.

’Just endure it,’ the boy thought, biting the inside of his cheek. ’Mom needs medicine, and Sua is also starting to get ill from starvation. If I have to kiss their asses to get even the slightest chance at helping my family, I will gladly do it without any shame.’

"P-please," the boy said, his voice cracking. "I can carry supplies or watch the rear, I won’t slow anyone down, I promise-"

"You promise?" one of the other guys laughed, crouching down to get closer to his face. "Bro, you are F-Rank Low. With that level of power, what exactly are you going to do in a dungeon, except die?"

The boy flinched but did not look away, forcing a shaky smile onto his face, "I just need one chance, that is all I am asking for."

’Please,’ he thought, his stomach twisting, ’just this once, any little I earn will be helpful..’

’Poor guy,’ Shu thought, watching from a few feet away, ’it’s just like I said, the weak in this world will always suffer.’

The third guy stepped forward and cracked his knuckles, "look, we told you nicely the first time, then the second time, now you are just being annoying," he said, pulling his fist back. "Maybe this will help you get a hint."

The fist came down, but it never landed.

A blood-stained bat slid between the knuckles and the boy’s face, catching the punch against its side with a dull thud. The guy blinked, then looked up at the person holding it.

Shu stood there with one hand on the bat and a lazy smile on his face as he stared at the guys, "Yo," he said, tilting his head, "three on one? That’s kinda trashy, don’t you think?"

The boy on the ground stared up at him with wide eyes, still flinching from a hit that never came. His hands stayed raised for another second before he slowly lowered them.

’What the...?’ the boy thought, looking at the stranger’s face. ’Who is this guy?’

The guy whose punch got blocked pulled his hand back and flexed his fingers, glaring at Shu with his mouth twisting, "The hell? Who asked you to butt in?"

Shu pulled the bat back and rested it on his shoulder, not bothering to look intimidated, "nobody," he said, glancing down at the boy for a second before turning back to the three guys.

"I just don’t like watching people get jumped, ruins my mood."

One of the other guys stepped forward and sized him up, eyes landing on the bat and the dried blood still caked on Shu’s shirt. "You look like you just crawled out of a sewer, bro. Mind your own business before you get hurt."

Shu’s smile didn’t change, but something behind his eyes shifted just enough to make the air feel heavier.

"Funny," he said, his voice staying light. "I was about to say the same thing to you."

The boy on the ground scrambled to his feet and backed away a few steps, still shaking but unable to look away.

’Is this guy insane?’ he thought, watching Shu face three people without even tensing up, ’is he some high ranking hunter or something?’

The leader of the three cracked his neck and stepped forward, rolling his shoulders, "you got a death wish or something? We are E-Rank hunters, and judging by your gear alone, you are clearly new here."

Shu tapped the bat on his shoulder, "E-Rank, huh," he said, nodding slowly like he was actually impressed.

"That’s cool and all but," he activated his skill and aura started coming off him, making everyone with good senses to get chills, "do you think you can handle me?"

The leader didn’t flinch when Shu let his aura spill out. He stepped forward instead, grin widening while a dark green haze rolled off his body and pushed back against the pressure filling the hall.

"Ohoo, so you aren’t all talk after all," he said, cracking his fingers while the air around him started to ripple.

The two auras crashed together and forced the nearby hunters to back off at once, benches scraping the floor while people hurried to make room. Jin stumbled sideways with his sleeves clenched in both hands, his face going pale as he watched the pressure rise between them.

’This is bad,’ Jin thought, trying not to get dragged into it. ’If they really start fighting in here, they are going to cause a lot of damage.’

Shu kept the bat on his shoulder, though his grip tightened a little when the green aura pushed against his own. ’Yeah, this guy is way stronger than yesterday’s trash, so this is what a real E-Rank feels like.’

"Let’s take this outside and do it properly," the leader said, jerking his chin toward the entrance with a sharp grin. "I don’t want to get in trouble because some newbie wanted to show off in public."

’Not good, my skill is making me way too excited to swing on this guy,’ Shu thought, keeping his face relaxed. ’That is probably not a healthy sign.’

"Sure, that works for me, so go ahead and lead the way," he said, matching the guy’s grin while shifting the bat on his shoulder.

The crowd had already started opening a path toward the entrance when a girl stepped into the hall through the open main doors. The noise in the room died instantly, with a few people near the back turning first before the reaction spread across the room in a wave.

"Oh ou, trouble just walked in at the worst possible time," somebody muttered.

"Why is she here right now, did someone seriously piss her off already?" he asked, stepping out of the way.

"Those idiots are screwed, and the fight has not even started yet."

Shu turned with everyone else, then his eyes narrowed the second he recognized the girl walking into the hall.

’No way, it is her,’ he thought, watching her step forward without the slightest hesitation. ’So she wasn’t some random hunter after all, and judging by everybody’s reaction, she is a whole problem.’

People moved out of her way without being asked, which told him enough before anyone even explained it. Nobody looked eager to meet her eyes, and even the E-Rank leader’s grin had already gone a little stiff around the edges.

She slowed when she saw the standoff in the middle of the hall, then looked from the leader to Shu and finally to Jin standing off to the side.

Her face stayed calm, but there was enough weight behind that gaze to keep the whole room quiet.

"What exactly is going on here, why is the hall so noisy?" she asked, her voice steady while her eyes swept over the group. "I could hear this nonsense from far away."

The leader straightened at once and let some of his aura die down. For a guy who had been acting bold a second ago, he suddenly looked a lot more careful with his tone.

"It is nothing serious, just a small misunderstanding between hunters," he voice come out polite, which was strange considering his attitude. "We were about to take it outside, so there is no need for you to worry."

’Wow, he really does know how to act normal when the right person shows up,’ Shu thought, watching the man’s face with open suspicion. ’That confidence of his dropped real fast, just who is this girl?’

She didn’t answer him right away. Instead, she turned her head towards Shu, and the second their eyes met, the corner of her mouth lifted into a grin that put him on guard.

’That face,’ he thought, his eyes narrowing. ’She is planning something, I can already tell.’

"Yo," she said, tilting her head at him. "Fancy seeing you here, mystery man."

Before he could answer, she turned toward the leader and her expression shifted into something sharper.

"And what exactly," she said, her voice dropping just enough to make the air feel heavier, "are you trying to do to my boyfriend?"

The hall went dead silent.

’...What did she just say?’ Shu thought, his eye twitching.