Chapter 29: Main Scenario 4


    A man with whiskers like a rat''s tail entered as I sat at the guild''s table.


    His somewhat familiar face suggested he frequented the Adventurer''s Guild often.


    He seemed like a nobleman who only bought adventurers'' spoils to emphasize his masculinity.


    I wondered if my guess was right as he quickly found me, strode over, and extended his hand.


    "I never thought I''d meet the city''s hero like this!"


    "Hero is too ttering a title. Weren''t the guards who fought with weapons the ones who actually defeated the monsters?"


    He pretended our meeting was a coincidence.


    "Ha-ha, so humble too. If only other adventurers were as modest as Sir Rnd."


    "Sir? I''m just an adventurer without any knighthood."


    "But who would question Sir Rnd''s honor after you saved the citizens?"


    After praising me for a while, the man requested a handshake, handed me something in the palm of my hand, and disappeared outside the guild with a sly smile.


    He left me with a silk pouch containing six gold coins.


    The pouch itself was worth at least three silver coins.


    "Is that man thest one?"


    "Yes. He''s thest nobleman officiallying to express gratitude. Your pouch must be quite hefty now. Please use that to fix the damage from before."


    "Alright, I understand. I''m livingfortably thanks to the guild."


    "It''s not the guild, it''s me."


    "To me, the guild is you."


    Not even two gold coins would cover the cost of repairing the building and doors, but each nobleman I met gave me five gold coins to save face.


    They wanted to say, "I personallymended the adventurer who saved the city this time," in social gatherings, using excuses like "the city''s hero had to pay for the repair of the buildings destroyed in the aftermath" or "he saved my servant."


    "Anyway, these noblemen. Just to make a talking point, they throw around gold coins like that."


    "Most of the noblemen in the Adventurer''s City are quite rich."


    ***


    Raei Trantions


    ***


    After seeing off the mustached guest, I briefly checked the statuses of other yers through the forum.


    The information was limited since it wasn''t an inte forum but Han Se-ah''s personal forum.


    However, I could learn quite a lot thanks to theizens who lovedparisons.


    First, the Horned Wolf''s city appearance conditions were to reach the 10th floor and hunt a certain number of times.


    It was unclear whether the count was for horned wolf magic stones or their by-products, but the event only started for yers who could hunt the horned wolves without difficulty.


    Second, the situation after the event were different for other yers.


    In Han Se-ah''s case, I was able to look at the chat and took immediate action, but other yers didn''t have a 6 Pdin Rnd.


    Consequently, casualties increased, and the city became more chaotic.


    Of course, the extent of the damage didn''t reach a level where buildings were destroyed or city security waspromised.


    If a yer fought the horned wolves with their party members, guards would detect themotion and start looking for other monsters.


    Extra NPCs died inrger numbers, and if yers were really unlucky, the innkeeper or restaurant owner where they stayed would die, causing them to lose their amodation and property.


    Thanks to Han Se-ah''s stream, rumors about the Horned Wolves spread across the inte, withments suggesting that they were less dangerous.


    While it could be an exaggeration driven by fans, gamers with a sense of intuition would have figured it out.


    Worst case, they could just reset to the morning before.


    "The frequency of encountering people on the 10th floor has increased quite a bit."


    "Apparently, parties hunting above the 11th floor havee down too."


    As I followed Han Se-ah, thinking about various things, another adventurer greeted us with a nod.


    It seemed they recognized my face, showing no wariness and even attempting to approach us discreetly before deciding to step aside out of politeness.


    Their actions were rather cute; if only they weren''t a scarred man who appeared to be 2 meters tall.


    From the spiked armor to the massive two-handed axe, he was definitely not a novice adventurer hunting Horned Wolves.


    Judging by the numerous scratches on his armor, he was a veteran warrior with his own unique battle style.


    The other party members trailing behind him also seemed quite skilled.


    "They''ve spread the rumor about what we saw in the guild. A silver Horned Wolf, muchrger than the normal ones, has appeared."


    "Isn''t it better to hunt in the middle floors?"


    "No. If you seed in hunting that Horned Wolf, the nobles will seek you out."


    Grace tilted her head at my words, possibly because she didn''t understand the implications of being involved with nobility as a novice adventurer.


    "What are the byproducts of the Horned Wolves?"


    "Horns, eyeballs, fangs, ws, and skin."


    "What were the features of the one we encountered?"


    "It was enormous and silver, ah."


    She eximed in understanding.


    The moment the nobles'' bidding war began for the unique silver skin of the alpha Horned Wolf, the adventurer who seeded in the hunt could retire and live a life of leisure.


    While adventurers risk their lives to earn coins and silver, nobles squander gold on their portraits.


    Just this morning, didn''t they give me several gold coins to create a talking point?


    ''Still, Han Se-ah will be the one to catch it. It''s part of the main storyline.''


    Wandering the ins aimlessly, I had noints.


    Han Se-ah knew when the quest would start, and I trusted her to handle its progression.


    For someone like me, it was easier to run around and take hits as instructed.


    Didn''t they say, "If your body suffers, your mind will too"? Once Han Se-ah advanced the quest, my job was to smash the head of the alpha Horned Wolf that would reappear.


    nning and scheming for the future wasn''t my style.


    I''ve never even properly followed a summer vacation schedule in my life.


    "It seems that the Full Moon Wolf isn''t attracted by this lure."


    "Full Moon Wolf?"


    "Oh, that''s what they call it in the Magic Tower."


    Han Se-ah, whose acting skills still left much to be desired, stealthily approached Grace.


    Grace had slowed down her pace to chat with me, and they ended up huddled together while walking.


    "But, did you really start speaking informally with Rnd?"


    "Yes, I mentioned it briefly yesterday when you were talking with the other mages."


    "Oh"


    Their whispered conversation was still audible due to the close distance.


    The way she paused and nced at me made it clear she was eager to speak informally with me too.


    Of course, I didn''t need to look into her eyes to understand her intentions


    -Just go and ask him to talk informally, right?


    -LOL, speaking informally with the teacher because of money?


    -We are now witnessing the copse of the hierarchy in real-time.


    -Nope, go back to using formal speech for life and serve him.


    -Where does a beginner adventurer get off speaking informally with a senior adventurer?


    She seemed obsessed withpleting missions.


    Seeing Grace''s smiling eyes or them standing side by side outside the inn, I couldn''t help but feel a sense of alienation.


    Anyway, while Han Se-ah was hesitating and choosing her words, I took the initiative.


    "You can speak informally too."


    "Uh, ah, really? Yes!"


    "It''s ridiculous for a party leader to speak formally with theirpanions."


    "That''s true, umyeah."


    "Is it difficult to switch right away?"


    Her eyes glistened happily when I naturally granted permission. The sess of the mission probably contributed to her delight as well.


    With the warm atmosphere, we began preparing our meal.


    Since we had already gathered, we decided to eat something simple.


    Grace nkly watched Han Se-ah take a mat from her inventory.


    "It''s fascinating every time I see it... If I had something like that, hunting would be so much easier."


    "Hunting?"


    "It would be convenient for preserving the freshness of our game. Not inside the tower, but outside."


    Grace looked at Han Se-ah, who could only think of hunting inside the tower, with amusement.


    As they talked, the image of an innocent genius witch unaware of the world''s ways grew more and more solid.


    I savored the steaming stew.


    It was fortunate that the horned wolf hadn''t appeared at Marianne''s inn.


    The food at other beginner-adventurer inns was so bad that we''d rather spend silver coins on buying proper meals.


    As we quickly finished the hearty stew, a scream reached our ears.


    "Ah, help!"


    The sound was faint, so it was hard to tell, but Grace, with her keen senses, also put down her stew bowl and looked in the same direction as me.


    Sandwiched between extraordinary physical abilities and a sensitive scout, Han Se-ah asked us in confusion.


    "Um, what''s going on?"


    "...Someone''s screaming, right?"


    Still not used to speaking informally.


    I left exining to Grace and immediately sprang up from my seat.


    My first step was a smooth leap, followed by aunch up that tore through the grassy ins.


    "Find your way back!"


    "Yes!"


    With Grace''s confident reply, I rushed towards the screams.


    I couldn''t hear shrieks from the peculiar creatures of the ins.


    Therefore


    "Ro-Rnd?!"


    "Bandits?"


    It was possible that the troublemakers were not Horned Wolves but bandits preying on the influx of adventurers on the 10th floor.


    A distinctively ugly man with a hooked nose aimed his weapon at me as I charged towards him, tearing through the earth.


    A party of four men in armor were pinning down two women.


    The two women might havee to hunt Horned Wolves, but one man''s sledgehammer was covered in blood, and a pair of legs protruded from the tall bushes.


    A group of inexperienced adventurers consisting of one man and two women had been caught by a party of intermediate-level adventurers.


    "Ah, damn it."


    "Help us, please!"


    One of the women, covered in dirt from being pressed on the ground, reached out to me, sobbing.


    A tear rolled down her cheek, revealing her fair skin beneath.


    Judging by the fact that the three of them had reached the 10th floor, the woman must be a 2 adventurer.


    Gacha characters were blessed with beauty iparable to ordinary country girls.


    It seemed that a party of dark-hearted men had sumbed to their desires and attacked.


    "Hey, do you have any excuses?"


    "Dieee!"


    One of them, seemingly unaware of who I was, charged at me with a sword drawn.


    The other three shivered without showing any intention to resist.


    They must have been overwhelmed by my charge, tearing through the earth.


    No matter how kind and polite I may be, I am not so benevolent as to catch criminals gently and hand them over to the guards.


    The panicked men knew this as soon as our eyes met.


    But as an intermediate adventurer, his thrust was well-executed.


    He aimed for the gaps in my armor, his de piercing through as if he was more experienced in killing humans than monsters.


    The sword prated the seams of my lightweight armor, urately stabbing my armpit.


    "Ouch, damn. This isn''t the skill of someone who''s only tried it once or twice."


    "Wha-what?"


    The sword that pierced my skin crumpled and broke as if smashed by a hydraulic press.


    From the tip of the de to the hilt, and even the hand of the man holding it.


    With a gruesome crunching sound, everything below his elbow twisted grotesquely.


    It was the reflective damage that could even shatter the skull of the 10th floor boss.


    A mere human body could not withstand it.


    Come to think of it, was Rnd designed as a PvP character?


    Reflective damage wouldn''t be as significant against boss monsters.


    ***


    Uhh the website will be all over ce this weekend, I''ll try and set the updates overnight but the server requires 48hrs to properly set so I''m sorry to anyone caught reading at those times... multiple refreshes until it loads a working version does work though.


    I''ll probably finish the chapter releases for the week sooner then wait the night of before applying the changes.


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