The Dead Man Alive is someone who has spent almost his entire life on the brink of death. Well, not everyone knows this because he wasn't born in this city, but everyone agrees that his life is one continuous misfortune.
He has suffered in silence, never willing to ask for help because he knew there was no way to be helped... or perhaps so as not to endanger anyone. Silently, he waited for death without complaining about the twists and turns of fate that played joke after joke on him.
Despite this, it was admirable that his mentality, intelligence, and sanity never broke.
Even so, he himself never imagined that one day he would wear new clothes and new shoes again, or that his hair would regain its shine. His hair was long and fell to his shoulders, like beautiful strands of gold peeking out into the world for the first time.
His face, once dirty, was glowing again. Although he was still dangerously thin, he had regained a strange glow that made him clench his hands as he looked at himself in the mirror.
He gently pressed his lips together.
"Not bad." He forced a smile and left the dressing room.
Rose was waiting outside and nodded when she saw him, looking presentable for the first time. "Let's go then."
He followed her through the city as she explained the guild in more detail.
She couldn't get him into the guild because that would be favoritism towards the applicants, something the sponsors wouldn't allow. Instead, she could take him so that he could apply as an applicant, and she could be his tutor.
This would allow him to belong to the guild while she taught him how to be a hunter and how to manipulate Mana, the energy that is the hunters' strength, and if he managed to get in, it would then depend on his own abilities and talent.
He was aiming high. Dark Rose isn't just any guild; it's one of the two most prominent in the city. Getting in is very difficult. But at least he had to try. Besides, he would be allowed to take on guild missions, albeit low-level ones; that was enough, as he could earn money and test his ability.
After returning to the hospital parking lot, where Rose had left her car, they both got in. It was a pretty nice supercar, black and pink, with two doors.
When he got in, he couldn't help but sigh. Hunters really do have money.
She drove through the city, and tall buildings greeted him at every corner. Although there were no skyscrapers, the buildings that were there were imposing. Some had guild logos printed on their facades, others, more discreet, bore the names of different companies.
Woodblade City was a prosperous city.
After driving for about 15 minutes along long roads and crossing several overpasses, they arrived at a large building with a peculiar black rose with gold stripes around its circumference. They stopped in the parking lot and went up to the main entrance.
"Miss Rose, welcome."
"Greetings, Miss Rose."
"It really is Miss Rose... Am I so fortunate to see her on my first day here?"
Whispers and greetings began the moment she stepped inside the building's large main hall. The various members, both permanent and temporary, turned to look at her.
'As expected of her, she really is a celebrity in the city,' Arthur thought.
"Who is that behind her?"
"Shit... Isn't that him?!"
Many people swallowed hard and took several steps back.
"It's the Dead Man Alive!" They couldn't help but shout.
Many felt fear and backed away even further than they already had. Facing such an evil eminence was not something many of those present wanted to do.
'And so do I, it seems.' Arthur smiled.
Unfortunately, he was a celebrity for reasons other than those of the woman walking in front of him.
Although Rose frowned at those cries, it was normal for that to happen. In fact, many of them were already taking out their mana to hold up the ceiling in case it fell or something... She couldn't blame them.
She walked up to the reception desk, and the woman attending it stood up straight. She wanted to take a few steps forward to provide Rose with good service, but she felt afraid when she saw that yellow, skinny head behind Rose.
'I'm a normal person, if something were to happen... I'd be dead. I don't think the Leader can save me.' That's why she was afraid to move.
Rose noticed this, so she didn't make her life miserable. "Take some of his blood and register him as a temporary member of the guild. Starting today, he will be joining us," she said, pointing to the man the receptionist feared most.
"Huh?" She looked robotically between Arthur and Rose repeatedly before understanding. "Do I really... register him?" she asked, swallowing hard.
"Yes."
"This..."
"What's wrong? I'll take care of him myself, I'll be his tutor."
The receptionist swallowed hard for what felt like the fourth time in less than a minute. She looked at her coworkers, wondering if she had heard correctly. They all had the same bad expression.
'Did I hear wrong?' she thought.
But she didn't dare ask again, so she moved robotically to the front, looking repeatedly at Rose. If she were doing something wrong, Rose would surely stop her...
But despite watching her fill out a temporary registration form... Rose didn't stop her.
'She's serious!' The alarm bells in her head went off, and she looked at Arthur. 'Are we really going to have this troublemaker in the guild?'
Even though Rose had said she would take care of him, she was still afraid. Because when he came to the reception desk and Rose wasn't there... maybe she would be the one who would have to deal with him!
Her legs were shaking. She could never figure out how that man had survived death so many times, but what she was sure of was that she was afraid of death. And she knew that if she experienced the brink of death a few times, she would go crazy or paranoid.
So in her mind, there was no way that guy was sane. So to her, he was a crazy street person she had to be very careful around, because he was one who was cursed.
Arthur watched her clumsy movements. The fearful look she occasionally gave him spoke volumes.
'I guess there's nothing I can do about it. This is how I've been all my life, and the people around me aren't going to change just because. Even if I've become a hunter, I'm destined to carry that reputation for the rest of my life,' he thought.
Soon, his blood was on a registration document. He didn't have a personal signature because he wasn't actually registered with the government, so he had to sign with his blood until he got an identity card.
He was given a copy, and the guild kept the other.
Rose nodded. "Follow me," she said and walked to the back of the guild building.
There was a large courtyard here, filled with building materials and all sorts of things; it looked like a covered warehouse, but the amount of space to move around in was amazing. It was a really large courtyard.
As soon as she arrived, she grabbed one of the swords lying on the ground that had been discarded during training, or were here to be recycled later. Although few were usable, the material they were made of was still valuable.
Then she threw it to him.
Arthur caught it nimbly and then looked at her. "Is that for me?"
"Yes. I'll teach you the basics of being a hunter and sword skills. It would be better to do it in the guild's training halls, but your situation isn't good, as you've already seen; you're going to make all the members uncomfortable. So we'll have to make do with this."
She also grabbed a sword, but didn't wield it yet.