(In the experimental facility)

"Test subject Hunt was still not found. No traces were found."

The face of the head scientist grimaced as he heard the report from a subordinate. He swiped his hands on the table and threw the things that were placed on top of it.

"How useless could you people be?! Just one weak kid? He is still not that well-versed awaken, but how could you not even find him? He is in danger. We must ensure his safety!"

The head scientist shouted nonstop in anger. The assistants couldn't even do anything to subdue his anger. But then, a fellow scientist approached him with an idea.

"Sir, I have a suggestion. It would take days until the support team arrives, so, before that, maybe we should hire mercenaries to track test subject Hunt."

The head scientist showed interest in the suggestion, but his pride wasn't showing on his face. He lowered his tone and then let his fellow scientist talk.

"What are you suggesting again?"

"Mercenaries, sir. There is a nearby city here, just 20 kilometers away, and we can hire a mercenary searching group to locate where test subject Hunt is. At least, if they couldn't find him immediately, they could get hints and traces of what he left."

'Hunt is just a naive kid. He will surely leave obvious traces because of fear of getting caught. So, what he is suggesting is not bad either. Why have I never thought of it?' The head scientist thought as he let the fellow scientist speak.

"I will contact my people in the cities and hopefully find some competent mercenaries. Don't worry sir, we will surely get test subject Hunt back into the facilities."

The head scientist had a serious face, staring at his fellow scientists. He released a sigh and then nodded with furrowed eyebrows.

"Be sure to hire a competent group."

After a few hours, a mercenary group with a total of seven members arrived at the facility. They looked at the surroundings with mesmerized gazes. They were then escorted to the scientists' office, where they met the people who had hired them.

They inspected them thoroughly, and the scientists did the same to them.

"You look normal." A middle-aged woman said.

"What do you expect mercenaries to be? We are not like what you stereotypically think of as thugs. We are not like them, so I hope that you refrain from thinking that way."

"I wasn't even thinking about it..." she murmured as the head scientist raised his hands to have the other scientists talk.

The leader of the mercenary group noticed it, then noticed that he was the head of the scientists here.

"So sir, what is our job?"

"Not beating around the bush. I like it." The head scientist commented, then looked at an assistant who was carrying pictures of Victor. "If you are really the best mercenary searching team in the nearby city, then I am expecting that you'll at least find some clues to where he is."

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The mercenary group looked at the picture that was handed to them and saw Victor's picture when he was still fifteen years old. It was still recent, but he seemed to be less healthy in this picture.

"What did he do for you to search for him?" the leader asked.

"That is none of your business. You just need to find him. He entered the Rotting Land."

Every member of the mercenary group widened their eyes as they heard what the head scientist said.

"That dangerous place? This kid entered that place?"

"Yes, and he is an awaken. Since you are competent, I am expecting that you can at least survive in the Rotting Land, no?"

The leader of the mercenary group looked at his fellow members. They understood his worries, then nodded.

"We will take the job. But, we need to know what this kid can do since you said he is an awaken."

The head scientist smiled and described their initial findings on Victor.

"He is just a newly awakened person. He still didn't know how to fight with the basics, but he had killed our C-rank awakens, which were our guards."

The mercenaries nodded as the head scientist continued to describe Victor. And after a few minutes of discussion, the mercenary was finally confident of what they'd do.

"We are expecting that you know about the down payment."

The head scientist's face had been painted with a solemn expression as he heard what the leader said. As expected of mercenaries, they would ask for the money even if they still hadn't done the job.

"Down payment, huh?"

A fellow scientist took out a pouch and threw it at the leader. The leader picked up the pouch as he heard something clanging inside when it dropped. And as he saw what was inside, he smiled widely.

'Gold!'

He cleared his throat and then returned to his composure.

"We will now do the job."

Excited, the leader pulled the group out of the room and left the facility in a rush. He was excited to let his members see the down payment, and just like how the leader reacted to it, their faces were plastered with ecstasy.

"It is better than we expected." A lady with a red mage staff exclaimed with glee.

"Yes... but the risk is much harder, which made me happy that those scientists at least knew what we were risking here." A man with brown hair and a weak-spirited face said.

The leader sighed.

"This is the Rotting Land. High-level monsters are here as this is their habitat. And if we even went inside carelessly, we might die. But, we aren't average mercenaries. We are skilled enough to survive level 50 monsters since all of us are already B-rank awakens."

"Yep!" Everyone nodded in agreement with what he said.

And after some time, they finally entered the forest of Rotting Land, and the first thing they did was observe the surroundings. After all, Rotting Land is not a place to joke around.