Chapter 2: Look at What You’ve Done!
Arriving in Marlin City, a place with excellent geographical advantages, it quickly regained prosperity after the World War.
The local Adventurers’ Association has unified and is thriving under the protection and guidance of the Holy Maiden Jenna. It serves as a platform for various people to exchange gold coins for violent endeavors, thus attracting many adventurers who are all brawn and no outlet.
In the early morning, as soon as the doors of the Adventurers’ Association opened, noisy adventurers rushed in, hoping to find easy tasks with high rewards. Only those who lined up in advance could select tasks first. This rule was respected after dozens of adventurers attempted to use violence to cut in line and faced severe punishment.
Paper after paper was posted on the bulletin board, only to be torn down by one hand after another. They believed in the credibility of the Adventurers’ Association, and both sides trusted it.
Before long, only a few tasks that were not well regarded and had generally accepted cost-effectiveness remained. To entice some adventurers to take these tasks, employers even hired bards to loudly persuade them next to the bulletin board.
Mine Guard! Requires a one-month escort, payment of ten gold coins, meals and lodging included, bronze level. Last week, half a team of black iron…
The National Servant Mercenary Corps needs an elite team for reconnaissance; applicants must possess at least a half plate armor, arm and hand guards, a great sword, and a helmet…
Tropical Jungle Adventure Gold Group! Unlimited gold awaits you; the locals are just a bunch of sticky alien creatures who can’t even forge iron, pure primitive.
“Move aside, quick, move aside.” The staff member was an old man with a balding head, who nailed a large piece of paper to the half-empty bulletin board.
The title on the paper read “Disaster in the Blood Pine Forest Goblin Tribe”; the task was to find the goblin tribe’s lair and map the terrain along the way, requiring a signed contract to ensure the task is completed truthfully. There was also a long red-inked list detailing the level requirements for the team.
“Don’t touch that task; it’s a trap task.”
Adventurers hurried back, fearing that they might accidentally touch the paper and be forced into a task.
“Old man, take it down quickly; this matter should be left to the imperial legion to eradicate.”
“Don’t think of scamming newcomers again this time.”
“Me, scam newcomers?”
The balding old man glared, “It’s clearly they are not strong enough; they get all hot-blooded seeing three hundred gold coins.”
“Someone said you shoved the task onto others.”
“Where’s the evidence? This is slander; I’m just firming the resolve of those indecisive adventurers.”
The old man continued, “Moreover, the great protector Lady Jenna personally inquired about this task, and according to the regulations, as long as you can complete this task, you can be rated platinum directly!”
Everyone finally became a bit excited; after all, upgrading to platinum is still quite a hassle. The Adventurers’ Association often uses tricky tasks as promotion quests.
Then, the old man’s words extinguished the excitement: “But you must sign a life-and-death contract; if you die, we take no responsibility.”
Someone said, “There you go, tricking again.”
The balding old man ignored them, pointing to an adventurer adorned with a platinum emblem, “Carl Franz team, I remember you guys are quite strong and enjoy fighting goblins.”
The other party asked, “Why don’t I take other platinum-level tasks?”
“It would help you level up to diamond rank.”
The other party refused, “Diamond tasks could cost us our lives; we’re not that strong.”
The old man called out twice, but no one was willing to take on this tricky task. Annoyed at the thought of his commission, the old man grew impatient.
At that moment, the crowd unconsciously parted, and a couple walked through the line. The woman wore a sturdy and thick linen hooded cloak, tightly wrapped from head to toe, exposing only a pair of hooves, which were enough to show off her charming calf’s curve.
Under the hood, slightly curled black long hair flowed down; she wore black and red, exposing only a pair of eyes, her face hidden in the hood, one hand resting on a plain axe spear, which could be bought for ten gold coins from a blacksmith.
It was Jima.
“Look at what she’s done!” Jima complained. “What bronze-level task, platinum-level adventurers? Goodness, I thought I was playing a video game; the whole other world has been swallowed by pizza!”
“That’s just order,” George said. “I think it looks fine.”
George looked quite similar to an ordinary Marlin citizen—somewhat vain. He wore a combat shirt, uniquely designed for arm-crossing, and without buttons, using ropes instead, so as not to compress the buttons when wearing armor.
The balding old man glanced at him and quickly determined it was a “pseudo-combat shirt” bought out of vanity. People are martial; those who can wear expensive full armor often belong to higher social classes and become objects of imitation. Armor is expensive and inconvenient; most cannot afford it.
However, the combat shirts used to complement armor can be afforded by the citizen class. Thus, “pseudo-combat shirts” became quite popular, and some even had tailors sew “dome” structures, making the chest look round, so that it could be mistaken for wearing armor from a distance.
But adventurers, to show off their might and to reassure employers, everyone who goes out to take tasks is wearing armor. Not wearing armor is the default sign of being destitute.
To be fair, this somewhat handsome-looking man was indeed dressed well in his pseudo-combat shirt, with patterns on his fingers and wrists portrayed quite elegantly.
Jima continued to complain, “Next time, they should make battle knife stats public! You have LV-99 above your head, and I have LV-999. Once the fighting starts, we can compare which side is at a higher level. Then we decide whether to surrender or continue fighting, which can effectively avoid casualties; it’s good for you, good for me, good for everyone.”
“The world cannot remain stagnate forever to suit your fantasies.”
“Yeah, right, it could also retrogress into destruction. Oh, this task looks decent, killing goblins in the village; at least twenty needed, black iron level, a classic newbie task. Do you remember the last time we played together?”
George looked at the bulletin board, “Which time?” “The time we exterminated the whole goblin family.” “You killed a lot of goblins.” “We just co-invested in buying six mules, pulling three four-wheeled carts and almost cleared out the entire goblin den.”
“I remember. You tossed all the goblin corpses onto the cart and brought them back to the settlement to sell green fertilizer to the farmers.” George shook his head. “Jenna, as the game host, was too soft-hearted to let you sweet-talk her…”
Seeing this couple who didn’t even have a level badge and were otherwise unremarkable while choosing tasks yet talking about games without a care, some people felt quite annoyed.
Were they here to play a game? Or were they here to seek death?
The balding old man didn’t spare them a glance and continued pushing the task.
Jima raised her hand, wrapped in a deerskin glove, pointing at the task beside the balding old man, “Isn’t that the task, the one about killing goblins?”
George approached and said to the balding old man, “Hello, could you show us the task, please?”
The balding old man raised his white eyebrows and tossed the task paper into George’s hands, “Alright, since you want to take the task.”
He intended to scare these clueless newcomers. They would surely be too frightened to take the paper back.
George looked at it; it said “Promote to Platinum,” he nodded, “Found it.”
Jima leaned over to look, “Tsk tsk tsk, look at the names of the dead teams above; good names have been taken by dogs; how come they’re repeated? Liberation Army, Sigma Death Angels—really, the atmosphere of this world is getting ruined.”
“You two newbies, do you really want to seek death?” a well-meaning person shouted in a rough voice. “Quickly, obediently put that paper back.”
Some replied harshly, “Go home and find your milk, newbie.”
Jima replied faintly, “Unfortunately, because of someone here, I can’t let people receive a quality education.”
“You two better not join the commotion,” the balding old man said. “If you don’t take it, I’ll take it back!”
“Take it,” George said, “We need a gold badge.”
Some hissed; the well-meaning person shook his head, “Seeking death.”
“You can never stop the newcomers looking for death; I don’t even know where these newcomers seeking death come from.”
The balding old man, following the principle of “other people’s life and death have nothing to do with me,” said: “You need to sign a life-and-death contract; if you die, we take no responsibility; Holy Maiden Jenna witnesses it personally.”
“Good.”
Someone shouted, “Old man, are you tricking again?”
“Then pay a contract fee of ten gold coins, and hurry along with me,” the balding old man said. “Actually, I think you newcomers should be ambitious; there’s nothing that can’t be done, don’t listen to them.”
George said, “Lying.”
