The next day, "Hey... Leon, wake up," Vozk said, waking Leon, who was asleep on the floor right under Vozk's bed.
"Ugh."
"Come on, get ready. First, we'll go to the Union to register you and buy a new Gen Decoder. I'll lend you the money; you can pay me back later," Vozk said, putting his hands on his hips.
"Uh... okay, let's go," Leon replied.
After putting on his jacket, Leon watched as Vozk put on his form-fitting black leather armor. Vozk casually picked up the large sledgehammer, slinging it over his back. He then grabbed his rifle and hung it on his arm, and a bag on his hip.
"Do I need to bring anything?" Leon asked.
"Oh, after you're registered, you'll get a weapon that matches your Orbs and a dimensional hip bag to store our magic stones loot," Vozk said, showing him his bag.
"Do I have to buy the Gen Decoder?" Leon asked.
"Yeah, the cheapest one, like mine, costs 5,000 CC," Vozk said, holding up his arm.
"Hmm... it seems different from the one Kara had yesterday. Hers was bigger and newer," Leon mumbled to himself.
"Huh... Kara? You know a rabbit beastman named Kara?" Vozk asked.
"Yeah, she helped me yesterday when a drone almost caught me," Leon said innocently.
"Huh? You went out yesterday while I was asleep?" Vozk asked, surprised.
"Um... yeah, I just went out front to look at the city," Leon answered.
"Jesus, don't be so reckless next time. The people in the upper city love to catch Non-Factions who don't have a job to use as slaves and sacrifices in the arena... be careful," Vozk said, worried.
"Yeah... I know that now," Leon said.
"So Kara helped you. She's pretty well-known because she always goes solo and always refuses to be recruited by a team. She's also pretty strong," Vozk replied.
"Oh... really?" Leon asked, surprised.
"Yeah, I heard she uses five Orbs and often brings back a lot of magic stones to the Union. She's pretty rich," Vozk said.
"Hmm... so I met a pretty popular person yesterday," Leon thought.
"Okay, let's go," Vozk said, walking toward the door.
They left the apartment. Leon saw that it was still dark outside, just like it had been at night, not like a normal morning. He glanced at Vozk's Gen Decoder, which showed the time was 8 AM.
"Hmm... it's even dark in the morning here," Leon muttered to himself, walking and looking around.
They continued to walk on a path that looked like metal panels welded to the ground, sloping down toward the city in the lower circle. Many neon signs were displaying ads or showing the names of buildings like a weapons shop, Orb shop, grocery store, and others.
"Drrt... drrt," the neon signs sputtered and the lights struggled to stay on. After walking for a while, they finally arrived at a tall, iron building with a neon sign that read "Magic Stone Union." In front, two massive Gatling guns were embedded in the ground, constantly rotating to track anyone walking in or out of the building.
"What's the point of having two massive Gatling guns in front of the building?" Leon wondered, watching the guns track him as he walked past.
Screeech. The iron door in front of them split apart, sliding to the left and right. Vozk and Leon stepped inside. The place was packed with people from various races, and just as Vozk had said, most were Dragonoids, Beastmen, Goblins, and Wing Tribe. They all carried their own weapons, like swords, axes, sniper rifles, long pistols, and more.
Their clothes were similar to Vozk's, with leather armor, and they had a variety of Gen Decoders on their arms, plus a dimensional hip bag to store their findings. Besides the four dominant races, there were also some Elves, Humans, Dwarves, Oni, and Halflings, though in much smaller numbers.
"Hmm... seems like there really aren't many humans here," Leon thought to himself.
As they walked toward the reception counter, "Wham!" a man from the Oni race, who was wearing a samurai-like robe made of tough, blue leather, with a single horn on his forehead and a huge body almost as tall as Vozk, and carrying a long samurai sword, clapped Vozk on the shoulder.
"Hey, Vozk, you want to team up with me again ?" the man asked.
"Oh, it's you, Ernod. Not today. I'm gonna train my friend," Vozk replied.
"Huh, a friend?" Ernod turned to see Leon beside Vozk.
"Um... my name's Leon," Leon said, introducing himself.
"Ah... a human, huh? But... your hair is unique. It's rare... no, you don't see any humans with silver hair like mine. My name's Ernod, by the way," Ernod said, extending his large hand with black fingernails.
Leon shook Ernod's hand as he smiled. Suddenly, "Blak!" someone smacked the back of Ernod's head, making him bend over and almost kiss Leon. Leon, surprised, took a step back and let go of the handshake.
"Ernod, pay your debt," a woman behind Ernod said.
"Jeez, Kara, hold on. I don't have the money yet. I haven't been in a dungeon again in last few days, I haven't found a team," Ernod said, turning around.
"Tsk... then sell your sword and pay your debt," Kara said.
"Just be patient, okay? I'll pay you next week," Ernod said.
Kara craned her neck to look at the person behind Ernod, and her eyes widened. She immediately pushed Ernod aside.
"Hey! What are you doing here, Leon?" Kara asked, surprised.
"Oh... I..."
"He wants to be a scavenger like us. I brought him here," Vozk said, cutting Leon off and answering Kara's question.
"Oh, he's your friend, Vozk?" Kara asked, pointing at Leon and putting her hands on her hips.
"Yeah, I found him passed out in front of the dungeon yesterday," Vozk replied.
"Well, you should register him first. He doesn't have a job," Kara said.
"Oh, you already checked him? All right, I'll go to the receptionist. Let's go, Leon," Vozk said.
"Yeah, let's go," Leon replied.
"Hey! I'll join your team if you're going to the dungeon!" Ernod yelled.
"Pay your debt!" Kara yelled, kicking Ernod's butt.
"Yeah, I'll pay it, for sure!" Ernod yelled, rubbing his rear end as he looked back at Kara behind him.
Vozk and Leon stood in front of the receptionist. A female Elf receptionist with her long blond hair in a bun greeted them.
"Hello, how can I help you, Vozk?" the receptionist asked.
"He wants to register, Priya. Can you help him?" Vozk asked, pointing to Leon next to him.
"Oh, of course. Just a moment, please place your Gen Decoder on the table," Priya said, turning to Leon.
"He doesn't have a Gen Decoder. Can he buy one first?" Vozk asked.
"Oh my... just a moment, let me check our stock," Priya said, covering her mouth with her hand.
Priya then turned and walked into a back room. Leon looked at Vozk, who was leaning on the reception counter, slightly hunched over.
"So you buy Gen Decoders here?" Leon asked.
"Yeah, they sell the standard ones like mine here. If you saw the ones Ernod and Kara had, they were the latest models that can make calls and text," Vozk said.
"Oh, I see. So it's like a smartphone from my world," Leon thought to himself.
A moment later, Priya came back carrying a Gen Decoder that looked archaic, like an iron brick with a screen in the middle. At the bottom was a needle pad secured by a metal strap. Priya asked Leon to place his arm on the table and "installed" the Gen Decoder on his left arm. Leon grimaced but held back a scream as the needle pad on the bottom of the Gen Decoder dug into his skin.
After a moment, Leon's status appeared on the screen. Priya looked at it and then smiled.
"Oh, you have four Orbs. Okay, I'll start the registration," Priya said, taking a tablet-like device and placing it on Leon's Gen Decoder.
A moment later, "pip," the tablet beeped. Priya checked it and told Leon to look at his Gen Decoder. Of course, Leon looked at it immediately.
===============================================
Name: Leon
Race: Human
Faction: None
Job: Scavenger
Level: 1 / 99 (0 / 1200)
Power: 200
Orb: Knife Mastery Rank B, Firearm Mastery Rank B, Eagle Eye Rank A, Dual Wield Rank A
Money: 0 CC
===============================================
"Oh, the job is filled in," Leon thought, opening his system status. His job, level, and power were all in his system status now, too.
"Okay, the registration is complete. Your Gen Decoder is now registered in our system. I'll go get you weapons that matches your Orbs and your dimensional bag. Please wait a moment," Priya said, bowing her head and turning to walk into the back.
"Now you're a Scavenger," Vozk said, patting Leon on the back so hard that he stumbled forward a bit.
"Yeah, thanks for your help," Leon replied.