Chapter 5

"I want to become an adventurer!"

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Well, crap. Did she not understand me or something— wait...

Oh, yeah right. They don't understand me, damnit. To forget that very same thing I've always been reminding to myself over and over again, have my mind gone that rotten already? Now now, no time for that. Let's see... how in whom god in this world's name am I going to do this again?

"..alright, let's do this one more time." Inhaling as much oxygen as I can, I took a deep breath as I faced the elf woman infront of me— her head innocently tilted to her right. "I!... Want!... To!... Be!... Ad..ven..tu..rer?"

That doesn't felt so right, damnit. Trying to repeat what I have previously said, I waved my arms in a few hand gestures, cutting my words into single syllables as I pointed at a short buffy built guy holding an axe in the far left corner of this box of a place— all just to be able to deliver what sort of message I was trying so hard for her to understand. Yet when I was met with another tilt to the head, one shifting to the other different direction parallel to how it was before, I scratched my head in frustration.

It was just yesterday, not even a day later, that I had planned to come up to this... place I have assumed what it might've been. Not even a single day have passed ever since then that I have tried to think about it, to ponder what am I going to do with this, but through my desperate attempt to finally leave this previous life of mine, I took it up despite knowing the risk I might come face to face with. I just needed to, I'm getting sick of what I'm doing beforehand and it'll make me more insane than how I already am. The time for a change to come is now and I'm not going to let it go, not anymore.

"Damnit, this is getting me to nowhere.... This, look at me! This!"

Giving it another try, I held both of my hands into a grip and shifted my stance to that of a warrior holding his sword— or atleast that's what I have seen many actors would do in some films and movies back in my world— and swung it like I am holding a one big sword down to the ground, instantly following it with a quick pretentious kick to the invisible air just in case to make sure she got a full glimpse to what I was trying to act. To let her know what I am trying to tell her.

Yet behind these actions, all while I may have been doing this foolish of an act to demonstrate what I was trying to tell this elf woman across the desk to my front, I can already feel 'them' along with this sensation of uneasiness building up within my back... I can already feel it, the 'eyes' being pointed at me from all the people around...

It was heavy, like a continuous flow of waterfall crashing to my shoulders. Standing there alone felt as if I am being burdened by the problems of the whole world, it's nearly suffocating!

"Stupid thoughts, not today!..." I shook my head, dismissing those thoughts aside as I tried to focus at the matter at hand. No more unnecessary inconvenience, I need to set my goals straight!

The lady infront of me stared at me still, unmoving even for an inch, her face having the same confused expression ever since I had told her my first words. Did she not understand what I have just acted? I admit, my acting skills are near or even equal to nonexistent, but was it that bad for her to not understand it? Or maybe I have done it poorly wrong? That I do not know anymore.

Clear emerald eyes, so green as the tall trees that grows in the wild, gazed left and right for a brief split second— seeming to be searching for something in but a moment of thought— before eventually stopping to stare at me once more, her finger innocently pointed at herself. Knowing what this mean, I quickly nodded my head, so much so that it felt as if my brain was being washed away as I did so. There was no need for me to use that much energy just to nod myself, it's honestly quite nauseous for me to do so, but this...

'Oh shit, this is my first time having a decent conversation with a person here!! Haha, progress, people! This is progress!!' I'm beginning to feel optimistic about this, I can already feel the smile on my lips reach both ends of my ears! I'm actually making a progress and was communicating with another person, though not through verbal words, but still! It's a lot more better than I had initially expected!

"...?"

The pretty lady took a few moments of silence as she began to recollect something within her mind. After then, as a beam of smile appeared to her once concerned look and as she seemed to have thought of something that answers her worries, her hands then began to shuffle through the absurdly big pile of paper that was laying down to her desk, both of her shining emerald eyes narrowed down into a squint as under the glasses in her eyes, she skimmed through the different contents that was placed among the mountains of paperwork looming over her, one-by-one. It's jaw dropping to see such a fine lady as her to be so professional at this— her fingers moved so fast that it's even making me feel dizzy! How can she even do this, or more importantly, did she do this all by herself? For her to do all that alone, how is she even alive!

"...woah— I mean, no matter. Instead of ridiculing her professionalism, I am sure it's good to... Well atleast give her a bit of appreciation! Yeah, that's good, I think." That is true, to think that she can do this kind of work at a truly young age, office workers twice as how she looks back in my world would probably quit early if they're given tasks as tormenting as this... Or probably die trying.

I shook my head left and right, trying to dismiss such random thought away as I took a deep breath.

As to not bore myself from waiting, watching as the elf lady skim through her paperwork, I looked around on this place I am currently in. This was, if I am not mistaken based to the flags that hanged just from outside and the constant amount of people in armor entering and exiting this place with a cash in hand after, this is an adventurers' guild, a place many rpg enjoyers and fantasy enthusiasts knows all about. I have seen this kind of place from some of the anime I have watched back then and from what I know, they offer the benefit of becoming an adventurer and can be allowed to accept quests that may earn you some cash for completing one.

The interior of the guild, while vaguely different from how one was described as to be, were quite similar in style. It was like a stronghold for attendants that guide you for whatever business you have with them. The floor was that of a clear shiny marble, stretching far enough to cover the entire room, while the walls surrounding it were made with sturdy bricks— only leaving a couple of holes that served as it's doors and windows. Infront of the door on the other hand— was a wide table split into parts as it serves as the guild counter— or atleast that's what I think it is, as well as might I not forget the countless paper and items stapled flatly just to the left part of a wall beside the door; meanwhile into the far right of the door, were boots and divided spaces which contains chairs and couches that faced tables that were empty with things, and lastly, inside this place stood a separate counter placed on the far left of the entrance, it was similar to the counter infront, but this has... drawers of some sort and was covered in a shield of glass screen, whatever that one serves to do.

Overall, it was a very spacious place, being as it was evidently wide even with the decorations that covered up the walls, and though with the wooden door and window frames outlining the shape of all that were their holes— wink wink, smudge smudge— it still builds ups enough room for anyone to see outside and enter the building I am in, no matter how humanly huge they're... At least that's what I think, yeah.

Those were a very short description about this stronghold's interior, but based to the wide door covered in black curtains behind the counter, it felt that as if this place is a lot more bigger than how it think it already was. Nevertheless, I have no complaints against the interior style of this place, not like I can say the differ otherwise as I have been living in literal slums; that, however, I have one slight complain to... Something regarding not the decorations around. That is, rather, the bystanders currently standing anywhere and everywhere— the people having loud conversations with one another. It was the crowd that has begun to bombard my ears with words I am not able to make sense.

Amongst the many of their kinds, many of them are packed left and right, just like sardines forcefully shoved and fitted to a small can, but instead of being eaten and savored to no time, it's unfortunately beginning to make my ears bleed for how overwhelming the quantity of them are. I nearly wanted to get out, to move away so far and just call it a day; however, that's a deed I cannot do for today, not anymore.

"No, that's not an option anymore... Just a little more, I can do this!"

Lucky for me, however, after a few while, the elf lady's hand finally stopped under the pile of another mountain of papers that was placed to her right. She pulled a piece of paper out with such careful and gentleness that it left someone such as me, speechless— literally. Scanning the paper on her hand, she read through it's contexts for a brief moment before handing them up to me, a small smile curved to her lips.

So this is it, huh? I am finally stepping out from that repetitive life I had been through when I was still in those same streets, living on nothing but the dirty clothes as my blanket and the ground as my back-pain inflicting bed and pillow. After all these time, I'm finally advancing ahead to my current life.

A smile twitched to my lips.

If I can just tear up and cry infront of all these people here, then I wouldn't mind to do it, but out in public is not a place to cry, that is if you're trying to get attention by doing so. Hearing a chuckle come out to my throat, I shook and pushed those thoughts away. Reminiscing bad things here and now shall end with my victorious laugh; I will sweep those bad past to the trash where I formerly ate apple rotten to the core for days that had come, and kick it way to the sky for it to never come back to exist on my sight.

This is the time.

Nodding at the elf woman infront of me, I took the paper from her pale hand, smile begining to spread over to my cheeks as I stared at the paper and began to read it.

"Let us see..."

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Oh curse me and that false kind of hope.

"Oh my gawd, oh hell naw!" Not even a minute and I've already eaten my words down to my ass, not even a minute and tables have already flipped to a side I don't even know who belongs to! How more shameful can this reach to be?!

One juicy smack is what I heard out loud as a jolt of pain crept wide to my face, I facepalmed so hard it made me wince in retort. Due to my idiotic brain failing to remind me of the pros and cons of being here in this world, I have completely failed to remind my brain of one factor that made everything in my life here a living hell other than the way I can't understand a single crap everyone is talking about. It was a problem that majorly made me be the way I am now.

"I can't read..."

Well, no shit Sherlock. Is it the first time you have thought about this? Absolutely mind boggling!!

It was a mistake. Truly, it was a very hard ego shattering mistake. I can already feel it, the nonexistent tears flowing down to my cheeks. I can't bare it, it's just too hard for me to accept.

"Damnit...!" I slammed my fist at the blank table infront of my face as I sat at a sofa that one of those makeshift private boots offers for their dear costumers, my head resting upon the table's surface. Momentarily weeping to no end, I drowned in self regret, regretting that I have come to this place only to find nothing at all.

"Why'd it'll have to always be me? Was my suffering not that sufficient at all?!" I questioned not to myself but to the Gods that played my fate like a puppet they always controls.

Sorrowful and grim, it was as if my world had turned into nothing but a fading color of black and white. My last hope was shattered, and it was because of one huge revelation that felt as if it was being slapped across my face.

"..."

I stared at it, at the piece of paper I held out on my hand as I continued to rest my head onto the table before me, and as I expected, it was written to a figure of language I cannot understand, more so decipher. Neither did I know if this is even a language existing to many of those that were back in my world or simply was made by some caveman trying to 'unga bunga' his homie— it doesn't make any sense at all. Just looking at those oddly shaped strokes and circles all around, how am I going to read even a single glimpse of it? I'm nearly having a stroke upon trying to make sense of what this was, but to try and understand it even more? Hell no!

"Hmm... perhaps I am just overreacting to this matter," Finally getting a hold to my thoughts, I breathed a sigh. "But to think that this paper contains contents I do not know about? It could be a paper signing up for me to be forced on an ill-labored organization or perhaps it is a document pertaining to me joining a crazed cult. This could just mean just about anything!"

Another sigh escaped to my lungs.

It doesn't matter which one it is, however. As whatever I do, I can't escape the fact that I cannot read anything at all, nor do I have anyone to converse with. I'm totally fucked right in the ass, no homo.

Although as the journey to continue on lamenting at my own terrible suffering for this day persist to continue, a shift to the table I was in and a tint of vibration flowing within it caught my mind so sudden. Something's off, really off. It was strange that something was happening here as this place looks a bit clam among those times I was just here— too calm even, yet despite of all of this, it is evident that those things did happen, and most importantly, it is near to my place. Therefore, through using the best of effort I can pull off to myself at this current moment of time, I raised my head to see what was going on.

There, parallel to where I was slouched to the table trying to drown in self frustration, I saw a tall guy garbed in a plain black coat that stretched over near to his knees, sitting to the sofa that was placed right across to me with a look to that of scepticism plastered across his face. His hair was that of the color of red, his eyes as deep as those of the seas of blue, and while he looks a bit similar to those of western people back in my world, his skin was a bit more tanned than theirs can ever do. While to my estimation of his height, I am sure he is taller than I am; that gap was but just a mere inch, however, as he only surpassed me for but a little bit of height. Meanwhile, resting on his side as he read to his paper, to my curiosity, rests a blade that was as big as a 10 years old kid; it was not the biggest of blade, but how good a sword looks in a lot more closer perspective is quite... Awe-striking, I should say atleast.

Gaze as confused as I am, he stared at me with a questioning look, seeming to not understand what was currently going on. Not that I blame the guy for that, and to be honest, I am as lost as he is!

Who the hell is this guy anyways? Why is he sitting infront of me? And most specially, how the hell is his hair red, did he dyed it sometime ago or was he just born with it? Those are some of the thoughts that I managed to encounter as I returned the gaze back to him with a raised eyebrow. Perhaps this guy is another guild attendant just like those that were doing their jobs I can see all the time and this guy's just lacking from his work— but if that's the case, why is he not dressed in black and white attendants' suit just like the others? That I do not know anymore.

'Just what the hell's going on?'

Bringing out the paper he was reading out just before, the man with the odd red hair stared at me and showed me all that was of the inside of the paper. But, just as expected, however, I wasn't able to understand anything that was written on it, not even a single word from that paper do I understand even an inch, though I do find it quite oddly similar to that of the paper that the elf guild lady before had handed me. Some characters were the same, and if I try comparing the two side by side, I can find heavy similarities that were there to both of the side.

Up and down comes the motion of his jaw as he spoke to me once more, his hand pulling back the paper that he had showed me beforehand with quite a questioning look, if anything of that raised eyebrow comes to go by. Following not long after, he goes more of to gesture his hand in various of hand motions before then pulling out his sword that was resting on his besides, showing the quality of how well made his blade was born and crafted to be. Black as the night was the color of the blade of his sword, and if I were to be asked, I cannot tell what kind of iron this piece of weaponry has been molded into. It simply looked far more harder than a mere iron to be of this caliber, and it's by far more sharp than a razor blade too.

Truly, what a piece of sword this is.

Though how much mesmerizing this man's sword is, however. I do not know what and why he is doing this, nor do I know where this would lead to. Based alone to how he presents the quality of his sword, I have some few predictions to what he was trying to say, but other than that, I don't really know. Therefore, not knowing what answer am I going to respond to his very kind words, I did what I am able to do with how diverse we are, language-wise. I did what sane men will do if they cannot converse with any single soul at all, the technique of showing that one knows nothing of what certain topics are all about. Thus—

I shrugged.

His expression was priceless soon after, he was overwhelmed by that action alone that his face looked as if he just saw a guy beating an old lady with a stick, it was just hilarious! Out of the sudden blue, his manners began to shift to that of a very confused person, one slowly being swallowed to the realm of frustration. Hah, would you look at that. Never have I thought that I would find a guy here who'll suffer a glimpse of the fate I have been suffering through the first time I had stepped a foot on this world.

How pitiful.

Can't really blame him again, though. This was confusing for both of us and a lot of misunderstanding seems to have been set in place. Really, how much more of a pain in the ass will fate try to push me into?

Having no control of how the man before me began to crumble as he battled down the overwhelming internal self crisis ravaging his thoughts, I went to mind my own business and flipped the paper in my hand to see what is written behind. It is to my absolute shock, however, when I found out that the back side of this paper has no writings at all... It was just the front that has some, and while I do not understand any of it at all, to see that the back was as empty as a wasteland—

An idea popped to my head.

Looking around once more, scanning the vicinity that was all around rather than just about to ignore anything and everything, I saw that the table I was in is not entirely empty at all, no. Instead, at the far left side of the table, was an ink bottle an a quill. I guess that makes some sense of it's own actually, now that I think about it, since a fantasy world set back in those of the medieval times wouldn't even have the technology needed to manufacture ballpoint pens everyone were using back in my world.

Left and right, I shook my head in dismissal as I focused at the matter at hand, begging my mind to concentrate no more inconveniences and just at the problem infront. Thus, with that in mind, I snatched the ink and quill and dragged it near to my reach, taking the feathered stick as I pondered for a moment.

"How do I use this..?" I haven't used a quill from the entirety of my life, never have I used chicken feathers to write or even draw, yet when desperate times begs to come, I don't really have a choice. 'To hell with it!!'

With a dip to the pit of ink, I brought down the quill and went to draw a single stroke to the blank paper that was laying on the desk. Rough, the texture was very rough compared to that of a ballpoint pen, it was even far too small and fragile for my hand to firmly grasp into, yet even then, if felt a bit comfortable. It might have been very hard to position it to various of direction, but as I get used to it, I began to use it well. So, with these couple of more minutes passing by so fast, I did what the best of my skills can reach on, and began illustrating.

"I need to do this and that, and...." I took my time to draw, going as far as to check it out within each sides of the canvas as to see if any error of mine have gone unnoticed to my eyes. Yet as I had neared to my end, I narrowed my eyes as I can feel a small smile crept up to my lips."There!!"

Having to have finally finished what I had done to the paper, I made one single revision to my drawing before then handing it to the man with red hair. This is it, it's now or never. If this is not going to work, I just don't know what else will.

The guy in black robes nearing to explode in a massive fiery tantrum of his, suddenly came into a sturdy unwavering stop, his eyes falling down to where I am and to the place where I had placed the paper right into his front as one of his eyebrows raised to that of an understandably nasty confusion sceptically hindering his mind. He pondered for a bit, his entire being screaming the phrase that goes by as, 'Boi, why you do this to me?' or something the likes. Perhaps that was not entirely it, perhaps the look of confusion on his eyes were something that screams that of the differ, but alas, despite the questioning look that was plastered across on his face, despite that tint of reluctancy evident within his hands, it was shown that his curiosity has taken a hold of him more than how the sense cautious does as within a time faster than that of a second,

He took it up to himself.

My attention solely focusing on him, to look and observe nothing but the reaction he was going to act out, I waited for his response. That, however, did not come so long as before I knew it, our eyes has met one and another as the bluest of seas battled to that of the ever burning red.

His eyes widened...

And my smile grew wider.

"Bingo."