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GROWL!!

Ren could hear the roars of monsters even from where he was, signifying that they’re not too far away from where he was.

It hadn’t even been that long since Mikel’s voice warned everybody, yet the monsters were already nearby.

Ren, of course, didn’t stay idle. His clan members won’t let him either. As soon as Mikel’s warning sounded out, an adult appeared before him and unceremoniously carried him like a sack of rice, running towards the clan bunker where he would be kept safe.

It wasn’t just him; all of the children in the clan, the females, especially the pregnant ones, and the old are brought to the bunker.

Ren would normally feel ashamed about being carried this way, but in this current situation, he understood the need.

Boom!

Because while he might have already stepped into the Foundation Strength stage, he was by no means ready to fight monsters just yet. His puny fists couldn’t do sufficient damage to them to make them go away at least, and his puny legs certainly can’t outrun them either.

The one carrying him, one of the Clan Elders, he presumed, should be a 5th Stage—Pulse Awakening Stage—martial artist; his speed was incredibly fast, making the surroundings blurry for Ren with how fast he ran to the bunker.

Obviously, Ren also heard the loud explosion just now, and it happened near his previous location too.

He tried squinting his eyes to see what caused it, which was a little bit difficult given the speed of the elder that’s carrying him, but he managed to catch a glimpse somehow.

The monster looked like an oversized leopard with a bladed mane. Its eyes were ferocious, and claws stretched and gleamed in sharpness as the light reflected in them. Its limbs were powerful, compact, and stored a lot of explosive power. It wasn’t just one who broke down the walls of the compound; it was a pack, and they’re certainly searching for prey.

Blade-Maned Leopard. A monster type that could be typically found in the 10th-15th stage of the dungeons.’ Ren’s mind automatically recalled this information and relayed it to him.

He then felt strange because he couldn’t remember this happening in the story. Well, all things considered, it shouldn’t be surprising given how the focus was on the Hero, and the Hero was nowhere near here. He should be at the far edges of the kingdom, still a loser and being humiliated left and right.

The sudden appearance of the blade-maned leopard and the dangers they brought with them was like a cold slap to Ren’s reality.

It didn’t hurt much because he knew of them, but it still reminded him of how truly dangerous and cruel this world was.

You see, this world was weird. In every city, there is an entrance that leads to a series of dungeons.

The dungeons have a total of 100 stages in which the further you go, the harder it becomes.

It’s the existence of the dungeons that forced humanity to rely on the path of martial arts. The monsters in the dungeons are plentiful and varied. In the early days, humans had no idea what kind they’d face.

Back then, all manner of weaponry that humans used couldn’t do anything even to the weaker monsters of the dungeons. The worst part? Dungeons needed to be cleared regularly. Humans are expected to kill monsters inside to cull their numbers, because once they neglect a dungeon or two, the enemies inside will eventually trigger a Dungeon Overflow, the very event that Ren was witnessing right now.

Monsters usually cannot invade humanity’s living places; they are limited inside the dungeons and could only fight the intruders. This doesn’t mean that this was permanent or ironclad.

Like what was mentioned earlier, dungeon overflow is a phenomenon when a dungeon hasn’t been cleared for quite some time, usually for a whole year or more.

When the overflow is triggered, all the monsters inside the dungeon will enter a berserk state and will be given the freedom to invade humanity’s living spaces.

This is the world’s punishment for laziness and complacency.

A lot of people die during overflows; it’s a dangerous event that happens more frequently than humans would like.

An overflow wouldn’t necessarily trigger on dungeons that haven’t been challenged yet. The world’s not that unfair just yet. However, since the monsters enter a berserk state once the overflow is triggered, they usually become more violent, stronger, and harder to kill when they start invading.

It’s no wonder a lot of people die when it happens.

Ren didn’t get the chance to see how his uncle and the elders get to solve this problem. He also wouldn’t get the chance to see them using martial arts that he could comprehend from a few glances.

It’s a shame, really, but there’s nothing he could do; this was the emergency protocol of the clan. He, a low-ranked member and a weak creature, can’t defy that...at least not yet.

Besides, Ren valued his life too.

Although watching his uncle and elders fight or kill the monstrous leopards sounds nice, he knew that he’d only be a liability if he joined that battle. He’s ultimately too weak for this.

Therefore, he could only follow the clan’s arrangement instead of getting in the way of their work.

In truth, Mikel never needed to interfere. The elders of the clan were formidable in their own right. At the very least, driving off the blade-maned leopard shouldn’t be too difficult for them.

And it truly wasn’t.

Again, it’s a shame that Ren couldn’t see it; if he had the chance, he’d see just how confident and tyrannical the fighting style of his uncles was.

They didn’t just intimidate the leopards away; they killed every single one who thought that it’d be a good idea to enter the clan grounds and decided that the leopards would be food for the children to increase their training speed.

Mikel and the elders moved fluently together as if they’d done this countless times before. They threw out palms, punches, and kicks that made the monsters regret ever coming here.

Within a short period of time, the pack that invaded the clan compound was all dead and gathered for processing later when the crisis was over.

Mikel and the elders didn’t stop there. They hopped out of the compound to help people on the streets who are caught in a bad time. Some elders stayed behind to prevent any more monsters from coming in; others began repairing the ruined walls of the compound to seal off any possible entrance. Alex was among these people.

The alarms were still blaring. Nobody from the clan, not even Mikel himself, could turn it off. This alarm is connected to the online network of the GMU, and it has to be turned off on their end; they would only do that once it’s confirmed that there are no longer any monsters nearby.

Ren who was brought inside the bunker looked around in curiosity.

This was the first time he had seen this many clan members. It’s not even a question to him who’s who since all of them had the same sleeve tattoo that he had, signifying the presence of the aberrant physique in them.

Ren, even before the memories of his past life were awakened, didn’t get many chances to socialize with his clansmen. Mostly because he was an introvert and because the compound was large and his house was located in a barely populated area.

He doesn’t even know their names, and they probably don’t know his either.

The bunker was located near the core area of the compound, and it’s underground. It had many entrances that were extremely secured and durable. From what he could tell, and from the information he remembers from the story, the materials used to build this bunker were grade 5 alloys, and based on the size and thickness of the bunker, the clan must’ve spent a fortune building this.

Ren didn’t worry about Mikel or the elders too much. Although blade-maned leopards were strong, they’re certainly not strong enough to do any serious damage to Mikel and the elders.

And with how loud the alarms were, it wouldn’t just be the clan who’d be warned of the threats; any martial artists with decent strength will be compelled to help too.

Alas, with a dungeon overflow like this, guilds and large organizations will definitely feel some heat. After all, it’s within their responsibilities to make sure that dungeon overflows don’t occur.

Not clearing a relatively weak dungeon stage for an entire year? That’s laziness and dereliction of their duties. They would be fined heavily for this, that’s for sure.

What would make matters worse was the total amount of casualities and property damage this overflow would cause. The GMU will certainly put a lot of pressure on the responsible parties for this oversight.

Tensions will rise, and Central City will feel a little volatile for the next couple of days or weeks.

Thankfully, Ren wasn’t one to go out often.