*
"Ugh~ I feel alive again! I'll definitely pay you back when I get some money!"
"It's nothing, don't worry about it."
Even while eating, she was putting her spoon under the cloth.
It looked uncomfortable, but she seemed used to it, eating skillfully.
"Ehem~ You're more generous than I thought?"
First of all, I'd need expenses to live here.
I looked for quests I could do alone, but most of them were things like finding cats, cleaning sewers, or assisting with odd jobs.
Being a Bronze rank, the lowest among Adventurers, it seemed these were the only kinds of jobs I could do.
At least with two people, there were quests to bring back spoils obtained from hunting specific monsters.
Still, since they were Bronze rank missions, the pay didn't seem great.
The ways to earn money without taking on quests were to sell monster spoils or hunt monsters with bounties on their heads.
The difference between the same spoils was whether there was a client or not.
Usually, items in high demand were bought by the Adventurer's Guild because there were no clients.
Of course, the reward was less compared to quests. It was only natural since the Guild had to make a profit too.
"Bounties, huh."
"Those guys are dangerous. I've seen plenty of guys die after messing with them, thinking they could make a quick buck."
"Well, that's why there's a bounty on them, I guess."
"You're not thinking of doing it, are you?"
"I just need to know what kind of guys they are."
There was a reason why the reward was so high. The Guild wasn't stupid; there was no way they'd offer a big reward for no reason.
It seemed that clients put bounties on people out of personal grudges, or the Guild itself put bounties on the heads of highly dangerous individuals.
Lower-ranked Adventurers could identify dangerous individuals, and higher-ranked Adventurers could eliminate the threat.
Adventurers were similar to Hunters, but the difference was that their missions varied depending on the client, perhaps.
'Honestly, I'd rather deal with those guys than earn petty cash...'
I looked to the side and saw Kanis flipping through the Bronze rank-only mission list.
"Hmm... this looks good too... and this one..."
It would be difficult to deal with those guys if I were moving with Kanis.
I could move alone, but the problem was that it would attract too much attention.
I already felt eyes on me because of my black hair, but what if some guy who no one knew where he came from was running around taking down monsters with bounties on their heads?
'That's way too suspicious.'
It might be different if my rank was higher, but currently, my rank was Bronze.
'Let's start by blending in.'
If I stood out too much, I might unknowingly create enemies behind my back.
"Do you like cats?"
"If I had to choose, I'd say I like them."
"Then let's do this one for our first quest! Find Nabi!"
"Hmm..."
Finding a cat, huh? I didn't expect to be doing something like this, but compared to other quests, the reward seemed pretty good.
The note said it was good at climbing roofs, so it must be difficult.
It was written that I had to bring it back alive.
"Looks good. The pay is better than I thought, too."
"Right?"
We accepted the Nabi finding quest and headed out of the Adventurer's Guild. It said it was last lost in District 12, so should we start there?
It was said to be a yellow cat with white markings. There was a drawing underneath, like a composite sketch, but honestly, it was hard to recognize.
I stood next to Kanis, who was looking at the town map.
"I want to ask you something."
"Huh? What is it? Ask me anything!"
"Why me of all people?"
There were quite a few people inside the Adventurer's Guild. I was the only one with black hair, but there were a few other Adventurers who seemed to be from foreign countries.
"Are you curious about the reason?"
Kanis looked at me with a playful smile, her tanned skin and grayish-brown hair starting to shine in the sunlight.
I didn't realize it inside, but she was quite an attractive woman.
"Well, yeah?"
"What's with that reaction? Well, that's one of the reasons I chose you."
She spun around like a dancer and put her hand on her hip, her movements somehow resembling dance steps, emphasizing the curves of her body.
She was beautiful enough to captivate the eyes of any ordinary man, but since the people around me weren't ordinary, I was somewhat used to it.
Besides, I hadn't even seen her face properly yet, so I looked at Kanis with a moderately indifferent expression.
"Should I say your eyes are different from the other guys? Your appearance is also my type, and your skills seem similar to mine?"
With that kind of appearance, she must get a lot of blatant stares.
That aside, appearance, am I considered decent in this world?
"Ew, yuck. You just imagined something gross, didn't you?"
"I get told that a lot."
"It looked like other guys were after that quest too! Let's hurry!"
With those words, Kanis ran off, and I sighed and started to follow her.
'There's no need to rush. Well, maybe this kind of thing will be fun sometimes.'
Thinking of it as a special experience, this kind of thing doesn't feel so bad.
[Aren't you being too relaxed?]
*
Garbage and filth scattered everywhere.
Around me, people with no motivation walked around like zombies.
An unpleasant smell wafted through the air, but those who lived here seemed to have their noses desensitized, showing no signs of discomfort.
Among the shabby-looking buildings, there was one that looked relatively decent.
Inside, the men who had attacked Kim Si-woo earlier were kneeling.
In front of them sat a man covered in tattoos, his body full of scars.
His face, weathered by time, and his sharp eyes created an even more ominous atmosphere.
He was known as Big Johnson, the ruler of the slum. Men with dagger-shaped tattoos, signifying his affiliation, stood behind him.
"You fuckin' bastards. I told you not to mess with Adventurers or mercenaries. Is my word a joke to you?"
"N-No! That's not it at all."
"Then what the fuck!!"
Big Johnson ruled the slum and collected protection money.
The guards left them alone because their scale was quite large and they were slipping money into their pockets periodically.
Their main income came from extorting money from clueless travelers.
Linnea Village was the hometown of the hero Kalis, who remained in history, and it could be said to be a tourist city where many outsiders came to receive the hero's energy.
It wasn't particularly well-managed, so it wasn't very professional, but anyway, it was a famous city.
Anyway, there were quite a few guys who wanted to see every nook and cranny of the hero's hometown.
The slum was no exception.
I didn't know what good it would do since it was already 500 years ago, but it was irrelevant to him that prey was walking in on their own.
Even so, robbing just anyone would cause trouble.
They didn't mess with mercenaries or Adventurers, who could be considered armed groups, because retaliation could come.
Not messing with the strong and only messing with the weak, that was one of the reasons why Big Johnson's Blue Dagger gang could grow.
But the bugs in front of him had broken the rules, and they had even stolen the money they had to give him?
__Kwang!
Wasn't that an unbearable story?
"So, you're saying you got robbed like idiots, three of you without even putting up a fight?"
"T-That's..."
The bald man and the sneaky-looking man both started to tremble.
"Haa. Looks like you bastards need some mental education?"
The moment he raised a rough-looking wooden club, Chun-sik shouted urgently.
"T-That guy provoked Hyung-nim first!"
"A black-haired barbarian, right? Then what kind of provocation would a foreigner do?"
As the club went up, Chun-sik slammed his head into the ground and said.
"T-That's... really! T-That bastard knew we didn't mess with Adventurers and provoked us first."
He had messed with him because he was a black-haired foreigner and the Adventurer's Guild wouldn't care, and because he was a Bronze rank, but that wasn't important now.
Chun-sik started spouting anything to survive.
"Hmm?"
"I don't know if he heard it from the Guild that we don't mess with Adventurers, but anyway... t-that bastard insulted Hyung-nim!!!"
The bald man and the man next to him started shouting and agreeing.
It didn't happen, but who cared? Surviving came first.
"T-That's right! That bastard insulted Hyung-nim, so we couldn't stand it!"
"W-We didn't know he'd be that strong, but how could we stand him insulting Hyung-nim!!"
"That bastard insulted me?"
As the three of them went wild, Big Johnson looked at Chun-sik, as if he felt like that might be the case.
"Yes! J-Johnson Hyung-nim's thing is actually small, and he knew that..."
__Kwang!!
"Ha. Fuck. What did he say?"
Big Johnson convulsed as if he had been stabbed by something, causing all the subordinates around him to briefly look down at his crotch before scattering their gazes.
"Y-You fuckin' bastards! What is it now? You fuckin' bastards, do you think so too!!"
""No!! Hyung-nim!!""
"Isn't that nonsense! That's why we couldn't stand it and rushed at him, but..."
"S-So... did you say he was a black-haired bastard?"
"Y-Yes!"
"Haa... that fuckin' bastard. He's spouting that kind of nonsense?"
__Kwang! Kwang! Kwang!
Big Johnson slammed the desk repeatedly, unable to contain his anger. His strength was so great that the desk eventually gave way and collapsed.
"A-Are you okay! Hyung-nim?"
"Fuck... that fuckin' bastard. Spouting that kind of nonsense..."
"Hyung-nim?"
"Did you say he was a black-haired barbarian?"
"Y-Yes! He had a pretty face, but he was a very fucking bastard!!"
"We need to take care of that bastard. Fuck. Hey, guys. Get the tools."
"Yes! Hyung-nim!!"
Seeing things going better than expected, Chun-sik turned his head and raised the corners of his mouth.
'Dare steal my money? You're dead.'