Starting Work at the Abyss Entrance

In the blink of an eye, three days had passed.

Didak appeared in a tavern in Shangbala Town—the very tavern Richard had entered.

Didak was a man barely over thirty, around six feet tall and exceptionally muscular. The bulging muscles beneath his clothes told strangers plainly that he was not someone to provoke.

But he was not in good shape at the moment. His hair was a mess, his face was sallow, and he sat in a corner of the tavern, carefully counting the several dozen beans in his bowl—his only food for the day.

"One, two, three... thirty-five!"

Didak spoke as he looked at the beans in the bowl. "Only thirty-five? Fine, then I need to plan carefully. After all, I still haven't had lunch or dinner. So... eighteen beans for lunch and seventeen for dinner."

After pausing for a few seconds, Didak hesitated. "But would dinner be too little that way? Only seventeen beans. If it's not enough and I can't sleep at night, that'll be miserable. These past few days, I've been relying on sleep to fight off hunger. Then maybe seventeen beans for lunch and eighteen for dinner?"

"Or..." Didak's eyes shifted. "I could count them again. Maybe there'll be a surprise. If there are thirty-six beans instead of thirty-five, they'll be easy to split."

Didak reached into the bowl and began counting the beans again.

"One, two, three... thirty-three, thirty-four... thirty-four? Huh? Why are there only thirty-four now? There were obviously thirty-five just now. Why did one suddenly disappear?"

This was no surprise—it was a fright! Didak's eyes widened as he quickly scanned the surroundings. Finally, he lowered his head and looked at the floor, where he saw the missing bean lying quietly there. It turned out that while counting, he had used a little