Strongest Deliveryman In The Apocalypse

A Rank Riders were extremely rare!

They were the elite of this world—men among men. Only about 1 percent of Riders could have such a Rank, and it wasn't a surprise to see why.

Not only could they take down B Rank Monsters on their own, but they also carried out deliveries with utmost efficiency. Naturally, this made them more expensive than the other Riders, but for their services… it was worth it!

Low to Mid-tier civilians usually enlisted the services of E Rank to D Rank Riders.

As for Upper-mid tier families, C Rank was the best choice.

Large groups or entire residential buildings would actually opt for a B Rank Rider.

But… for A Rank Riders?

Barely any civilians could avoid them!

In fact, only the richest of the bunch could even think of something like that. They were almost exclusively used by corporations in the Apocalypse.

They also almost never took on individual deliveries and usually took care of bulk orders.

Their tasks were industrial-grade, and they were very useful for the maintenance and distribution chains of these corporations and their branches scattered all over the Zones in a Sector.

For example, a certain food corporation could require an A Rank Rider to deliver its bulk supplies to Outposts or certain Underground Stores. That way, when regular people ordered goods, they would be able to gain access to them.

That was how important they were!

As for S Rank, they were even more relevant, even though they were rarer.

After all, they were the only ones who could venture deep into the uninhabited zones and make it back alive. They handled the gathering of raw materials for these corporations, or transporting goods between industrial areas which were located in Uninhabited Zones.

Without the work of these S Rank Riders, these corporations wouldn't be able to function properly and provide the inhabited zones with the appropriate supplies.

And without supplies, well… everyone knew what would happen at that point.

Sobin, who just began work as an E Rank a few weeks ago, had already jumped the Ranks and got promoted to the second most important grade of Riders.

How unbelievable was that?!

Nobody would believe it if they were told such a thing in real life.

This was the kind of thing one could only find in the pages of a novel. It was too unrealistic, and even Sobin realized how fictional it seemed.

"A Rank… that's insane!"

To say he was shaken up by the reveal would be an understatement.

The usually talkative Sobin was rendered speechless as he took the card and observed it up close.

"So fast…" He mumbled. "Are you sure this is alright?"

Sharon nodded and maintained her professional smile. She was not at all surprised by the A Rank, since she was the one who ordered its procurement. She was also not surprised by Sobin's reaction, since anyone would feel the same about jumping up the ranks so quickly.

Still, she had a little concern.

"I personally don't think you should be in A Rank, Mr Sobin." Sharon admitted with a powerless sigh. "You should be placed much higher. Unfortunately, the requirements for being promoted to S Rank are too strict, so I can't do anything about that."

"What? I was actually considered for S Rank?"

"I truly believe you are deserving of that position, Mr Sobin. You came out of the Uninhabited Zone in one piece, without even a scratch on you, and you even defeated that A Rank Chaos Angel very easily. No A Rank Rider could boast of such feats."

Indeed! Sobin's achievements had already far exceeded A Rank level, even as an E Rank Rider.

In fact…

'Maybe even S Rank isn't enough…' The thought flashed in Sharon's mind for a moment before she dismissed it and continued speaking about the requirements to Sobin.

"You need to complete over one thousand deliveries to even be considered for the position, and a dozen of those have to be at the A Rank Level. Plus, the Rank Re-evaluation has to be observed by the other Sectors, not just Sector E. As a result, I don't have much power to decide things on my own." Sharon admitted with a powerless groan. "As you are well aware, there are twelve Sectors that currently stand, so it isn't easy to organize a Re-evaluation for a potential S Rank Rider."

"I see…" Sobin simply bobbed his head as he took in all the information.

It still didn't feel real to him.

"I already submitted an application for you, but it'll take some time before it goes through. In the meantime, you should try completing as many deliveries as possible. You can take on lower-ranked deliveries to stack up the numbers of deliveries, but remember to complete twelve A Rank deliveries as well. Also…"

Sharon kept talking, and Sobin continued to listen, albeit only partially.

The other part of his attention was focused on his inner thoughts, particularly a realization that was just dawning on him.

'It seems… I am really strong in this world.'

Sobin had intially brushed off the reactions of everyone around him as unbelievable or exaggerations, but there was only so much he could ignore.

While he could be dim-witted at times, Sobin certainly wasn't a complete idiot.

He couldn't deny it any longer.

By the standards of this apocalyptic world, he was actually incredibly powerful—not just as a deliveryman, but also as a combatant.

'All those quick deliveries… and all my encounters with Plunderers, as well as Monsters… I thought they were simply normal, but I was the abnormal one.' Sobin quietly admitted, leaking out a silent chuckle.

'Who would have thought that I would actually be so overpowered in this world?'

Sharon imemdiately noticed this chuckle of Sobin's, so she spoke aloud in a bit of a panic.

"A-actually, I think you're probably stronger than most S Rank Riders."

"Is that so…?" Sobin didn't think he was ready to believe this, but he nodded anyway. "Thanks for the vote of confidence."

Despite realizing his strength, he couldn't get conceited.

After all, back on Earth, he was just an ordinary deliveryman. Sure, he was a professional, and he had been on the job for about a decade, but there was nothing special about him.

It was one of the reasons why he truly admired his wife.

Unlike him, she was incredibly smart.

She was almost superhuman—capable of solving the most complex problems while effortlessly taking care of the home as a shut-in.

Without her involvement, he wouldn't have been able to upscale his business back on Earth and even have employees working under him. Because of her help, he was able to puchase smaller rides and employ people to man them.

She was a genius!

Compared to her, Sobin felt like he was nothing.

As a result, he could never see himself as the apex in any world. Even though he was pretty strong, Sobin didn't feel like anything about him had changed.

Hence… he didn't feel powerful at all.

He simply thought everyone around him was weaker. Because of this, he suspected that there had to be stronger entities lurking out there.

Sobin just hadn't encountered them yet.