Chapter 2: Adventurer's Guild

While he was randomly running around all over town—looking at the various shops, stalls, landmarks, and people—Renan keenly noticed that a lot of player traffic were all heading towards a particular building. And this said building seemed to be quite special given its large scale and size, as well as the huge piece of land it occupied. Conspicuously, the many waving colored banners of red, purple, orange, and blue that were tied to the building all sported the same patterned design of two criss-crossed axes and a dragon's head in the middle.

'My, my. That place sure screams its important, doesn't it? Guess I'll head there then.'

With that thought in mind, Renan approached the building and waltz right on in. As he entered and saw the situation inside the lobby, his first impression was that the entire floor was brimming with players; all of them hanging around and busy with their own thing. Additionally, he couldn't help but notice that the players' races were all quite varied, making for a wondrous and dizzying sight.

'Well, well, well. This sure looks interesting. I wonder what this place actually is to garner this many people.'

A majority of the players were gathering around or stood in front of bulletin boards that were strewn around the four corners of the lobby. The others who looked like they just got here were either lining up or were already talking to the receptionists sitting behind counters.

'Hmm… Since I have absolutely no clue on what's going on, talking to one of the receptionists to gather information seems to be the best choice.'

And so, Renan chose a relatively shorter line and waited until it was finally his turn to be entertained. The receptionist behind this particular counter was, to no surprise, an attractive woman whose skin was pure as white. On top of her head were two charming cat ears in the color of the setting sun, while six translucent orange whiskers grew on her face and, presumably, a cattail would be waving around behind her at this very moment.

"Good day, brave Adventurer. Please tell me on how I may be of assistance to you?" the receptionist politely asked with a standard smile on her pretty little face.

"Right. First off, can you brief me on what this place is?" And in kind, Renan got straight to the point.

"Gladly. Well, I'm guessing this is the guest's first time visiting one of the Adventurers Guild's branches, I presume?"

"Oho? So you're saying that this place 'ere is the Adventurers Guild, yeah?"

"Yes, that is correct. But we are merely one of the many branches in the countless major towns and cities of this vast continent. The guild's purpose is to put up all kinds of quests for Adventurers to carry out, and in return, those who complete their quests will receive ample rewards from us—only, there is a condition to take on these quests."

Hearing that, Renan raised an eyebrow and promptly asked her: "And what would that condition be?"

As she already expected that he would inquire about that, she just straightaway gave him the answer. "You will need to officially register your name in the Adventurers Guild catalog, which will cost you about 50 Silvers."

"Damn, that expensive?" Renan couldn't help but remark at the exorbitant membership fee.

"Yes, but no; I don't certainly think the cost outweighs the benefits of being an official affiliate to the Adventurers Guild, no? Besides free access to all of our guild's facilities, you will also get to accept quests to gain quick experience and money among other things." She cheerfully explained to him with a cutesy expression adorning her face. "And so, my dear guest, what will it be?"

"Well... you did make it out to be one hell of an attractive offer. Guess I have no choice but to just accept it then."

Saying that Renan took exactly 50 silver coins out of his inventory with a wave of his hand. Meanwhile, the receptionist happily watched all of the silver coins clitter and clatter onto the counter before deftly taking them all in one fell swoop.

"Thank you for your patronage, and here is your title. Please just sign here and here."

Renan did as he was told and quickly finished the procedure. The receptionist then clapped her hands together and, like magic, the piece of parchment turned into blue motes of speckled light before slowly disappearing. Afterward, she took out a book from God knows where and slapped it onto the counter.

"Adventurer, this book contains all the basic knowledge that you need to know as a new member of the Adventurer's guild. Please carefully read through it if you happen to have any more questions. Now then, off you go!"

The receptionist unceremoniously swiped her hands to the left as if chasing off a fly; and Renan, who wore a dumbfounded expression, instantly felt something pushing him aside and forcefully removing him from the line.

"Next please!"

The receptionist said cheerfully, not at all minding the stupefied look Renan was shooting at her. On the other hand, the next in line casually stepped forward and at once engaged in a conversation with the attractive woman behind the counter as if what happened just now had nothing to do with him.

'…Oh my god. Did I just get manhandled by a ghost or something?'

Renan slowly blinked his eyes in confusion but still chose to obediently leave there in the end. While on his way, he took out the recently obtained book and absentmindedly stared at it for a few seconds. In the next instant, a small alert window popped-up and appeared before him, and it read:

[Do you wish to input Adventurer's Guide Book into your character? Yes/No?]

Renan mentally answered 'Yes', and a flood of information came seeping into his brain then imprinting themselves over there so that he wouldn't easily forget about it. Everything happened lightning-quick and before he knew it, some new knowledge was now added unto his brain storage for him to review.

'Heh, well that was convenient. Virtual Reality has sure come a long way, huh… The game even managed to implant some unknown information directly into my brain, making it seem like it were my own.'