Chương 4: First Taste of the New World

Gloria was quite proud of the receptionist's reaction, as she even heard a:"I must say, I am quite surprised…"

'Yeah, yeah, I know!'

"To see someone of Bronze rank in this city is quite surprising!" The receptionist continued after a moment. A few scattered laughs rose from the nearby adventurers who had overheard, and Gloria's mind short-circuited on the spot.

'What?'

"Though I must admit, you really were not kind to your emblem. It is quite dirty, full of these weird little scratches… Though not to worry, I shall accept this." Gloria was so stunned that the word slipped out loud before she could stop it.

"What?" Even her external voice, usually so rich and commanding, cracked ever so slightly with disbelief. The receptionist's eyes widened in sudden realization, and she waved her hands quickly.

"Ohhh, please excuse me! I did not mean for others to hear, and there is no shame in this at all. Everyone has to start somewhere. I was mostly confused because this city itself is quite far from the nearest one where you can sign up to become an adventurer, and most people here have at least reached Silver, the most common rank. You are the first Bronze I have seen this month!"...

'Are you blind, you absolute idiot?! That's Eternal! ETERNAL, not goddamn Bronze!! How did you even get this job with eyesight that bad?!' Her inner voice screamed in pure outrage, though on the outside Gloria maintained a perfectly calm mask, her expression never wavering as she asked in that same mighty, elegant tone.

"W-What do you mean by that?" The receptionist giggled, clearly amused by what she assumed was an innocent misunderstanding.

"Hahaha. The folks who made you this emblem must have been terrible at their jobs for not explaining this to you. The first rank is Bronze, the one you receive when you first enter this line of work. From there it goes up to Silver, then Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Obsidian, and finally, after that, you become Named—an adventurer known not by rank, but by your own name and deeds. As I said already, the average is Silver."

'??? Huh? That is not the damn list of ranks, and this fraud knows it!'

"I appreciate the information." The receptionist beamed and nodded back.

"No problem at all. Now, just to verify…" She passed her hand over the badge and murmured a short incantation. [Link: Test] The item glowed for a moment, and the woman's smile widened.

"And there we go. I have checked, and this is a genuine piece created by our guild, not reported missing or stolen, so its legitimacy is confirmed. You are now free to take a look at the quest board and decide which job you wish to take."

'Right… Right.' Gloria thought, already turning away from the counter. This was the first time she had ever heard of any kind of analysis or verification for the emblems, so the entire system felt completely new to her. On top of that, the rank of Eternal appeared to have vanished entirely, as if it had been quietly erased from the world long ago.

Starting again from Bronze was no great issue, of course, since she could climb back up with great ease, but the disappearance of her hard-earned title still left a sting in the back of her mind. Ranks were mostly for status and privileges anyway, since you would get better prices, superior services and easier access to high-value quests.

'Well, if my little Ara is really the queen now, she can definitely pull some strings for me here if I want her to… hehe.' A heavy foot suddenly shot out in front of her, blocking her path as a deep voice rumbled.

"Wait right up, pretty lady." Gloria stopped and turned her gaze on the man who had interrupted her. He was enormous, built like a wall of pure muscle, with broad shoulders, thick arms, and a chest that strained hard against his leather armor. Everything about him spoke of raw, overwhelming physical power. At his hip hung a Golden emblem, marking him as one of the stronger adventurers in the room.

"I could not help but notice that you, girly, are quite new to this." He said, leaning in closer with a grin.

"Save that beautiful face of yours and leave the hard jobs for men like me, and I will leave staying pretty to girls such as you. So how about you let me admire this beauty on a proper date instead of running off on some silly quest?"

'Is this guy… actually hitting on me?' Gloria was momentarily stunned. She had dealt with plenty of bold advances in the game, but this felt strangely foreign in the real world, especially coming from someone who looked like… Well that. He was way too muscular for her taste, far too brutish, and definitely not appealing in the slightest.

"I would prefer if you stepped aside, good sir. I am, by all means, not interested." This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. With that, she reached out, grasped his thick arm, and pushed him aside as though he weighed nothing at all. The mountain of a man stumbled back several steps, nearly knocking over a chair in the process.

'Now, onto my sweet, sweet quest board. I wonder what treasures await me there!' Gloria thought, completely ignoring the now slightly angrier mountain of a man behind her. The word "slightly" was doing an enormous amount of heavy lifting in that particular assessment. All around the hall, murmurs rippled through the crowd. Soft "Ooooohs" and astonished whispers of "No way she just did that" floated through the air, along with at least one delighted "She just shoved Bar the Strong like he was a child!"

The giant of a man recovered quickly, his face turning beet red. He shot out an arm and clamped his hand onto Gloria's shoulder.

"Hey, lizard! Stop right there." Gloria honestly felt almost nothing from his grip. She took one more step forward, effortlessly dragging the hulking warrior along with her as though he were little more than an overly insistent backpack. A second adventurer, another Gold-ranked fellow leaning against a nearby table, let out a booming laugh.

"Have you been on a diet, Bar? You're becoming as light as a feather these days!" That finally drew Gloria's attention. She paused and glanced back, only to realize there was indeed a thick arm attached to her shoulder.

"Did I not tell you that I was not interested? If you are illiterate, that includes not laying your hands upon me." Bar's face darkened further, and he tightened his grip, leaning in with a snarl.

"You ought to respect your elders, girlie. Making enemies this early in the guild is a poor choice… one that can end badly for you." He squeezed harder, finally managing to make Gloria feel some pressure.

'Oh, not bad, this guy's actually quite strong for a local. I would say… Level 100? 150 if I were to be generous.' Before the situation could escalate any further, a new voice cut through the commotion.

"Let go of her, Bar. This is already embarrassing enough, even for your standards." The speaker was another Gold-ranked adventurer, cloaked in a deep hood that shadowed most of their features. Their voice was also distorted in a way that made it difficult to pin down their gender or species.

"Tsk. Damn Archer," Bar muttered, reluctantly releasing Gloria's shoulder. He shot her one last glare before stalking back toward his table, where a couple of women scooted aside to make room for him, and the adventurer who had mocked him greeted him with another round of laughter. Gloria adjusted her robes with a graceful flick of her wrist.

'Hah. What a circus. At least the entertainment here is free. And after the entertainment, we can go onto the main event!' Gloria thought as she stepped up to the large quest board. She scanned it thoroughly, her eyes moving up and down across the papers in search of something worthy of her time. There were plenty of simple retrieval quests, along with requests for finding missing people, lost items, runaway pets, and even the occasional recovery of corpses, but none of them particularly stirred her interest.

After all, she had come here hoping to properly test the limits of her magic in this new reality, and she refused to settle for anything less. And there they were, tucked away in the right corner, the combat-oriented requests. She leaned in closer, examining several of the freshly posted ones, most of which were marked as Silver-tier, alongside a handful of Bronze-tier pest extermination jobs that sounded painfully mundane.

Yet one particular notice stood out immediately, not because of its grandeur, but precisely because of how worn and neglected it looked. The paper was wrinkled, stained, and clearly had been pinned there for a very long time. The title alone was enough to capture her full attention: Cave Clearance: The Cave of Arima.

'What the hell is wrong with these people?! That damn cave is the secret lair of Echidna, the Mother of Monsters! This should be at minimum a Diamond-tier raid, possibly even higher! Are they utterly out of their minds?' It was painfully obvious to her why the quest had remained untouched for so long. Any group foolish enough to attempt it would almost certainly meet a swift and gruesome end. She had to get this thing out of here...

Well, truthfully, her reasons for considering it had little to do with noble intentions like protecting the region. She simply wanted the challenge. She could have soloed that place even before her stats had exploded beyond all reason, and now it promised to be at least a decent warm-up. Besides, she had a return anchor in place and could always escape if things turned truly dire. The part about preventing innocent deaths was merely a pleasant bonus.

She grabbed the old notice off the board and strode back to the counter, slamming the wrinkled paper down onto the wood with a solid thud.

"I will give this job the blessing of being completed by me!" Gloria declared, her voice coming out louder than she had intended. The receptionist brightened at first.

"Of course! I'm glad you found a quest you are happy with so soon." Then her eyes fell on the paper, and her expression shifted. The smile faltered, replaced by a wary, almost hesitant look as she studied the title. Gloria raised an eyebrow, her suspicion rising.

'Does… does she know what this quest really is? It certainly looks like it, but then why leave it hanging there at all?'

"Is there a problem with me partaking in this journey?" she asked, keeping her tone perfectly even. The receptionist shook her head quickly.

"No, no, absolutely not. But before I accept you for it, I must inform you that this is… that kind of quest." Gloria repeated the words with a slight tilt of her head." That kind?"

"That kind…" The woman simply nodded, clearly expecting her to understand the implication even though she knew Gloria was supposed to be relatively new and uninformed. Wanting to avoid standing out too much, Gloria offered a nod of her own.

"Of course. I still wish to do it." The receptionist looked uncertain for a moment longer, but eventually sighed and gave in.

"All right… Since it is that kind of quest, I will need to inform the guild members present here. We have a good number of carriages available, so the guild will finance the transport of everyone who wishes to join you, along with basic supplies." She offered a polite bow.

"May you have the greatest of luck. The carriage for you will be number forty-six, the "White Donkey." It will depart in around twenty minutes, so you will have the time to get your stuff ready."

'Ohhhh, that kind of quest probably meant a raid then!' Gloria thought.

'My main goal was testing how strong I was, but seeing the average level of power of the ones who call this world their home would suffice as well!' Plus, she could probably slip away during the chaos and go wild on a few monsters herself. This was shaping up to be a win-win in her eyes!