Level Up The Colony
Chapter 43: Sleep Deprived

Chapter 43: Sleep Deprived

Timothy woke up groggy, his body still heavy with exhaustion.

Without much thought, he grabbed his phone and stumbled toward the bathroom, Gray following close behind.

As he turned on the sink, he glanced at his screen and immediately froze.

A message from Miebaka.

"Timothy, I hope you remember you have a raid today at eight. Check the Hunter’s app. And don’t get used to these reminders. Don’t be late, keep the reputation."

For a second, Timothy just stared at the words, his sluggish brain slowly processing the weight of them.

Then panic struck.

"Shit!" He tossed the phone aside, his sleepiness vanishing in an instant as he hurriedly jumped into the shower.

Timothy took a quick bath and headed straight to the kitchen.

Spotting some bread and jam, he swiftly spread them in bulk, stuffing the sandwiches into a small trampoline bag.

His outfit was already set for the occasion, so there was no need to worry about that.

Before leaving, he made sure to grant Gray control of the house.

For the sake of his skill, he summoned his newest recruits tiny creatures that survived on biomass.

He pitied the overgrown, unkempt gardens of his neighbors, knowing the termites would make use of them.

His mother had a garden once, but after a month of isolation, it had withered.

Now, it was up to the recruits to find their own food.

He checked on Gray’s feeding habits, ensuring his hunger wouldn’t become an issue.

With their improved communication or maybe just Timothy getting used to interpreting Gray’s thoughts, it was easier to gauge his appetite.

While he wouldn’t need food for a while, Timothy still promised to stock up whenever he could.

Before stepping out, he grabbed his trusty scarf, always keeping it on him unless it was dirty.

Just as he reached the door, he noticed a small container tied to the handle with folded paper inside.

Recognizing it immediately, he sighed, it was a power bill from the utility company.

Curious, he unfolded the paper.

The total outstanding balance had climbed to six hundred and twenty thousand naira ($413), but for now, he only needed to pay thirty thousand naira ($20) to avoid disconnection.

Stuffing the bill into his pocket, he pushed the issue to the back of his mind.

There were still a few days left until the end of the month.

As he stepped outside, stretching under the morning sun, a thought about his uncle suddenly crossed his mind.

He quickly pulled out his phone, but before he could check anything, a notification from his system popped up, today’s daily quest.

He dismissed it for now and focused on his main concern.

His account balance stood at around 14.5 million naira ($9,600), yet he still had a loan debt that had grown to 150,000 naira ($100).

Without hesitation, he tapped his phone screen, opening the Hunters Association app.

Sure enough, he was scheduled for a raid with a ten-man team.

D-rank raid.

No healers.

His assigned role? Porter.

As always.

The raid location? Diobu.

A noisy part of town, but at least the police presence meant it wouldn’t be too chaotic.

His pay for this raid? Fifty thousand naira ($33), a huge step down from his usual earnings with the Kingpin association.

He ordered an Uber to the meeting point, and while waiting, he transferred one million naira ($666) to his uncle, startup funds for his siblings’ welfare.

There is no need to ask for an account number; with modern banking, a phone number is enough.

After that, he cleared his outstanding loan debt, which had somehow risen to 170,000 naira ($113) due to interest.

Loans were a quick way to dig a grave, but at least that burden was handled for now.

By 7:30 a.m., he arrived at the raid site.

The area was eerily empty, which was expected.

The Hunters Association always ensured that civilians were evacuated before a raid began.

The gate was located inside a supermarket complex.

Some property damage had occurred, but the foundation remained intact.

Timothy approached the team and was immediately greeted by a few others.

They seemed to be around his age, except for two older men.

A young man stepped forward.

"Timothy, I presume? You’re the porter for this raid?"

"Yes, that’s me," Timothy replied.

The guy nodded.

"We’ll be ready in twenty minutes."

Glancing around, Timothy couldn’t help but notice the fully stocked supermarket.

The shelves were filled with snacks, drinks were tempting.

Just as the thought crossed his mind, he overheard someone say,

"Anything you take will be deducted from your pay."

It wasn’t directed at him, but it was enough to kill the idea.

With the pay already so low, he had no intention of making it worse.

Instead, he moved to a secluded area.

’Twenty minutes... That’s enough time to knock out at least one daily quest.’ he thought.

He dropped to the ground, palms pressed against the earth, and started doing push-ups.

Twenty minutes later...

The team was assembled, and they made their way into the dungeon.

Miners were stationed outside, waiting.

This particular dungeon wasn’t set to be closed until all its resources had been extracted, and as usual, the weaker team raided last.

As soon as they entered, Timothy’s system notified him of the dungeon’s entry.

The dim lighting inside was unsettling.

Soon, they began hearing metal striking against stone, the rhythmic sound of digging echoing through the cavern.

"Are there still miners inside?" someone asked.

A female hunter casually conjured a light orb above them.

Timothy frowned.

That wasn’t a smart move.

It wasn’t necessarily dangerous yet, but it was reckless.

As they ventured further, the sound of digging grew louder.

Then, a figure came into view, a small creature, hacking away at mana crystals with a pickaxe.

A notification appeared before Timothy’s eyes.

[Gnome]

To him, it was nothing unusual.

But for the rest of the hunters?

Chaos broke out.

Though the gnomes weren’t aggressive, the hunters attacked anyway.

Whenever the creatures were provoked, they retaliated with their pickaxes, yet despite the weak resistance, some of the hunters still managed to get injured.

Without a healer in the party, they relied on Timothy to patch them up.

The porter held all the properties the hunters couldn’t, so right now, it was up to him.

He handed out first-aid kits, adjusted weapons, and ultimately stood around bored out of his mind.

The worst part? The gnomes weren’t even fighting back properly.

They just kept mining.

It wasn’t until they reached the boss’s room that things finally took a turn.

The dungeon raid had been nothing short of dull for Timothy.

The boss, a larger version of the mining gnomes, barely put up a fight.

With its passive nature and high defenses, the group had opted for the simplest strategy, retreating to call in the miners to extract the remaining mana crystals before ganging up on the boss.

It was a tedious process, waiting inside the dungeon as the others rained attacks on the creature until it finally fell.

Within an hour of the dungeon closing, they had to clear out the boss chamber, collecting whatever loot remained.

While the rest of the team was buzzing with excitement, celebrating their so-called "epic adventure," Timothy felt nothing but boredom.

He hadn’t fought, leveled up, or even broken a sweat.

Watching them struggle through what felt like a tutorial-level dungeon when he was used to playing on nightmare difficulty was frustrating.

As soon as the raid ended, he collected his pay without a word and left.

On his way home, he completed his 20km run, finishing one of his daily quests.

He also took a detour to the power holding company, where he cleared his entire outstanding bill of 620,000 naira ($413).

That left him with 12.6 million naira ($8,400).

With two weeks of the same mundane cycle ahead of him, he already felt sore about it.

By the time 4 PM rolled around, Timothy found himself lying in bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.

His termites showed no signs of change, and as for Gray, he had no idea if the creature was awake, asleep, or just playing dead.

Either way, Gray remained by his side, as usual.

Feeling restless, he grabbed his phone and scrolled through the internet.

He had enough data to burn, so he hopped onto his social media platforms.

His inbox was flooded with messages, not that he was surprised.

He had friends, but most were too busy with their own lives, and others, well, they were just there.

The only exception was Ralph, who he newly took his number who shared his passion for anime and was more approachable than his sister kind of.

Timothy spent the entire night chatting with his distant friends, indulging in debates, and aimlessly engaging in discussions including the ones he had no idea about.

The internet felt like a completely separate world, detached from reality.

Before he knew it, he had unknowingly deprived himself of sleep and eventually passed out on his bed, his phone still wide open.

Morning arrived, marking the start of yet another monotonous day.

Timothy groggily opened his eyes, only to find an insect perched on his chest.

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