CHAPTER 292: JUST MY LUCK.

"Still can’t find anythin’ you like, kiddo?"

Snapping out of his daze, Dante looked to his left and immediately regretted doing so. He didn’t want to believe that he hated people based on a characteristic they couldn’t change, but for some reason, his hatred for short people seemed to be growing fast.

He found the one standing beside him was especially unpleasant. Not only was he barely four feet tall, most of his body was covered in log grade bionics. His eyes being a bunch of glowing lenses, and his arms were long mechanical horrors without an outer shell, which left the messy internals exposed. Despite all the modifications, the little man chose to keep his bald head the way it is, and that long beard of his seemed like it hadn’t been washed since the day it started to grow.

Suppressing a grimace, Dante shook his head.

"Nothing so far."

He swept the displays once more, but instead of looking at the items themselves, he focused on the small screens attached to them with a red thread. F, F , and another F. Most of them only displayed a single letter, either an F or the occasional E. It was a function Volcan quickly added to his OAM. Instead of having to ask what grade something was each time, the function would display it automatically, sparing him the hassle of asking.

"Well, don’t take too much time." The short man said. "Deez babes be flyin’ off the shelf by da day. If ya wait too long, someone might take em."

Ignoring the poorly disguised sales pitch, Dante continued to scan the displayed items, knowing all too well that he won’t find anything that interest him. He was inside a shop specializing in bionic limbs, and supposedly each one was unique piece made by an "artisan" the corpos couldn’t disappear, which is another way of saying the creator was a mediocre engineer too prideful to work

’It’s all worthless junk...’

Despite coming down to the eighth level’s market, Dante still found nothing worth his time. Though he came across a few D grade implants, none caught his interest, not to mention that most of those were likely ripped off some corpse.

Dante had nothing against ripped bionics, so long as he’s the one selling them. Considering the problems that come with installing a second hand implant, it was only normal that he would prefer unused ones, but he was also open to anything if the quality is high enough.

Leaving another shop with a mild sense of disappointment, Dante stood in the street and watched a certain counter in the corner of his vision. The number dropped steadily, reaching the one digit mark, then turning to a pair of zeros right after. The hour ran out, and a if it had been waiting for that exact moment, a message popped up on his OAM.

[Lev: Too bad!]

Dante heaved a long sigh and swiped the notification out of his sight. The bet was lost, and so was the bonus, and though his friend’s reaction annoyed him a little, it made him realize that he had stopped caring at some point.

’Let’s go home.’

No sooner did he voice that thought in his mind than a loud explosion echoed through the tunnel. Turning in its direction, the frown Dante wore got worse and worse.

’No... no way...’

The sound was a little weak, showing that its source was still far. It wasn’t that strange for things to explode, too. He was in the Pit, after all, and this place was just like any other part of the city, but much worse. Unfortunately-

KA-BOOM!!!

The next one was louder, and much closed. Panic struck, and the surrounding crowd suddenly shifted. Though they hadn’t seen anything, they all got the idea that it was quickly approaching, prompting them to make a run for it. With how cramped the area was, a disaster was waiting to happen. Realizing that, Dante pulled back into a narrow opening beside the shop he had just visited, and as he waited for the chaos to pass, he began cursing his look.

’Why did I have to be right now of all times?’ He pursed his lips, fighting the urge to go on a rant. ’God fucking damn it...’

Gunfire roared from the direction to the lower levels, sounding even closer to the last explosion. That stampede got worse. The shops closed their door and the merchants selling on the street had to abandon their wares. The people populating such a place weren’t below pushing each other down to get ahead, and because of that, those who got crushed under everyone’s feet weren’t only those who lost their balance.

Dante watched it all unfold from his corner then pushed back a little, realizing that the metal sheet behind him could be moved. He didn’t care to retreat any further than that, and he had already given up on not being involved in whatever mess was about to reach him so he simply stood there and bid his time.

Soon enough, the crowd thinned out enough for him to see farther down the Tunnel. He even spotted the stairs leading to the next level from where he was, and as he stared at it, something flashed in the distance.

A single line, thin and red in color. It suddenly manifested, linking the floor with the ceiling, then it began to move, tracing a glowing range scribble. Someone jumped out of the stairs at that moment, weaving around and evading the red beam. Another followed and did the same. Seeing their attire, the hint of anger growing in Dante’s heart suddenly exploded. The heist from a couple of weeks ago had left him with a deep hatred for wolves, but if there is anything he despised as much, it would be people wearing black cloaks.

’Just my luck.’ He thought. ’Prepare 5-1’

The two black cloaks took off running in his direction. Rather, they were just running up the Tunnel, clearly in a hurry to escape whatever was chasing after them. Before they could get far, their pursuers appeared. Dante gave them one look, and his feelings toward the situation made a drastic shift.