~ First Person POV (Jionni) ~

I was led out of the mansion by some new guards after having ended that discussion with Bentley. Both of them looked older than Luke, and were eyeing me cautiously. They never left my side, even when I exited the mansion premises.

Understandable, really, since I am a monster in their eyes, at least, a domesticated and docile one. They were charged with guiding me into the Hunter Association to have myself inducted into their ranks, which is, quite frankly, baffling and mind boggling.

I mean, see where I’m coming from; I’m a monster(gorilla), I am considered as a threat, and most of all, most monsters serve as pets, familiars, and slave laborers to the owners. Me? I’m a sentient monster who has his own goal like any other human worth his salt instead of just eat, sleep, survive, repeat.

My goal though… Huh… Well, when I put it like that, it feels like I have no current goal other than expand my dungeon and survive… Live out the life of freedom instead of shackles? No, that’s not what I wanted…

What do I want anyway?

I’m not greedy enough to want to be rich, nor lustful enough to have a harem numbering in the hundreds, which, in my opinion, is next to impossible to me. Why? I’m a monkey, and I’d hate to do the deed and lose my virginity to another monkey. No, just… fuck no…

Alpha gorillas are known to have harems, that I admit, but really, when you lived a life as a normal human, I would not like to tap that hole…

Horrifying thoughts aside, I contemplated my goas as I walk with the guards leading me to the Hunter’s Association building. Do I want power? Fame? Or do I just want to live in peace until I die of old age, fully exhibiting the freedom I never got to taste back in my past life?

No, those weren’t it either…

It was at that moment my thoughts got interrupted by a bump on my front arms. Looking down, I saw a little human girl, looking at me with fear in her eyes. Glancing around, I saw the civilians looking at the girl with horrified expressions, with some people looking like Hunters unsheathing their weapons. The guards beside me followed their leads as well, except, they didn’t unsheathe their swords, but kept their hands on the handle in case things get out of hand.

I looked back at the girl, tears now pooling in her eyes, a puddle of tears forming beneath her. I sighed, and held my hand out. At my subtle action, the people surrounding me tensed, but were surprised at my next move.

I picked her by the collar and lifted her up to her feet, then took a fruit from my inventory and offered it to her. She stared at me, the fruit, then back at me with confused eyes. Hesitantly, she held her hands out then plucked the fruit out of my hands. She took a bite, then visibly lit up before devouring the fruit with gusto.

I smiled gently, while the people surrounding us relaxed, but because of my action, I was now the main attraction, garnering stares from all sorts of people, from average joes, to veteran Hunters. The little girl then hopped and skipped back to her mother, who looked like she lost an averaged of 10 years, judging from her pale face.

Once it was all over, me and the guards continued on our trek towards the Hunter’s Association.

That chance encounter though, reminded me of a memory from my past life.

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“So, what was it?” a teen my age asked as he sat on the desk of my chair.

“What was what?” I replied, a fake smile plastered on my face.

“That! You know, that paper we passed to our teacher earlier,” he got off the desk then looked at me with a grin, “the, ‘What do I want in the future’ thing. Pretty boring if you ask me.”

“What I want in the future, huh?” I said, my voice a monotone, but that was nothing new. “How about you? What do you want in the future?”

“Me? Eh, nothin’ much. Get rich, get laid, have a family, that sort of stuff,” he turned his back on me then waved as he headed back to his seat. “Normal life, dude.”

“… A normal life, huh…” I muttered under my breath as the bell rang. “A family…”

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Ah, right, I remember that classmate of mine. Sad to say he died in a tragic accident during a robbery.

“A family… huh…” I muttered with my deep voice booming, the guards looking at me with tense eyes. I shrugged and continued onwards, not minding their sudden vicious gaze. It looks like being kind to a child is still not painting me in a good light on these two guards. Can’t blame them though, I am a monster in their eyes after all.

A few more minutes of silent walking, and civilians gawking and staring, we finally arrived the Hunter’s Association building. If I had to describe this place with one word, it would be ‘bustling.’ There was huge traffic of people coming in and out, most of them wearing clothes practical for the wilderness. All of them were Hunters, I could tell. Their weapons gave it all away.

And since they were all Hunters, the moment they saw me, well… Let’s just say I had a… spicy welcome… as in weapons pointed at me welcome.

The guards quickly shouted saying that I was here because of the lord of this town, prompting them to lower their weapons, but their vigilance stayed as high as a kite.

The guards led me through the bodies of Hunters, all giving me passage with a glare saying, ‘Do anything funny, and you die, capisce?’

I forced a stoic and steady figure, but deep inside, I was scared shitless. Anybody normal would literally be pissing themselves on the ground right about now if directed with these hostile glares. The doors already opened, what I saw inside had me screaming mentally, like really… I made a deal with Bentley, and he told me that a Hunter team would be accompanying me on this mission.

I didn’t expect for the ones I repelled to be the ones who will accompany me…