Beginner's Graveyard

Explorer Guild and Adventurer Guild are identical, but they're actually different.

In the Explorer Guild, someone didn't have to register as a member to take on a quest. But before they can take one, they must prove their quality first.

Both came with their own advantages and disadvantages.

Becoming the guild's member would only tax you with 10% of your rewards. If you completed a quest that rewarded you 100 Zells, you would get 90 instead.

But being a member meant you must be obliged to the guild's cause and rule; two of them were to remain a neutral force and not kill people unless they were criminals.

Also, there was a chance you would get a sudden commission when you were busy. If you rejected it, you would get sanctioned.

On the other hand, as a mercenary, the tax for rewards was 30%.

And if you were selling monster material to them, they would only buy it from you for 70% of the market price.

The plus point of being a mercenary for the Explorer Guild was you weren't bound to a shackle, free to do anything you wanted, and even formed your own Mercenary Company, to which you could get your so-called Company approved by the alliance into an official organization.

The choice between becoming a guild member or not depends on the player's preferences.

The casual would opt for the former, while the competitive would prefer the latter.

Anarchy, faced with two options, chose the former.

He was there for money.

'But for this one, I'm going for mercenary work.'

The reason was because of his appearance. It was too plain.

Not that look mattered in joining the Explorer Guild.

'It will be easier for me if I look reliable. Information is valuable.'

Turned out he just wanted to extort information by utilizing charm and appearance.

Anarchy returned to the reception desk with a commission request.

"The verification corner is on the right wing," the registration receptionist said.

Heading towards the verification receptionist desk, Anarchy got his commission paper verified and set for the hunt immediately.

Verification was needed to prevent the clash of multiple parties who uncoincidentally took the same commission.

Once a request was verified to be taken care of by somebody, the guild would put a hold on the search for assistance until the current questtaker finished or failed.

The quest Anarchy took was simple yet rewarding:

===

[Request Detail]

I'm Charlie, an Alchemist's Apprentice candidate. My would-be master has tasked me to bring him Lydia Flower so he can accept me as his disciple. Please, help me find this flower in a week.

Reward: 1000 Zells.

Date submitted: Day 13, Month 4, Year 93 - Alliance Calendar

===

"An Alchemist?"

***

Anarchy noticed four things after exploring the city before going outside through the western gate.

First, it was not a city but a frontier town—a settlement at the border territory between the human empire "Astarte" and the dwarf kingdom "Asgold." But it was indeed a town that belonged to Asgold.

"No wonder I saw many other races loitering in the town."

On the first day, the town was always filled with races other than Dwarves. It was just that Anarchy was so immersed in the town's aesthetic that he didn't notice the diversity of people around him.

'Sorry about that.'

Second, there were two gates: one on the west and another on the east.

The former would lead to a green plain field, the prairie. Meanwhile, the latter was a sandy desert that seemed too big to explore.

Even a fool could guess which was the empire territory and which was the dwarf land.

Third, the number of players in this region could be counted by fingers.

"There are only 8, including me."

That was the number of players Anarchy had crossed paths. Maybe there were more, those who posed as an NPC, just like him.

However, considering the players who played this game were still a few, that might be all this area had.

Fourth, for a frontier town, it didn't have a lot of guards or security, which was odd.

"Well, not that I care. I'm planning to go to another area soon, anyway."

Anarchy traversed the prairie without care, even though monsters were everywhere on the field.

He could act carefree because those monsters were tame or non-aggressive. Unless Anarchy attacked them first, they would not bother him.

He didn't bother to hunt them either because with him possessing some skills, hunting Horned Rabbit would not earn him much XP, regardless of his rating.

Being a <Beginner > who has spent and gained XP doesn't mean you're equal to a complete <Beginner > who hasn't.

To sum it up, Horned Rabbit was a target that should be hunted when your total accumulated XP was below 500 for optimal gain.

Anarchy looked around as he walked.

Only a few people were on the field, and most didn't even look like a player.

"NPC, huh," Anarchy mused. "It makes this game just more immersive."

Having NPCs to hunt alongside players indeed made it more immersive. But they needed to remember that not all NPCs had good alignment.

There were also head-up warnings every player got from their copy-support guide during the CC, which wasn't included in the in-game support guide:

1. Pandemonium's system never discriminates; player characters (PCs) and non-player characters (NPCs) are treated equally.

2. The only thing that makes them different is whether or not they can utilize and receive system messages.

"And third, NPCs and monsters are similar in a way they can earn a player XP if they were killed or incapacitated."

Taking a last glance at the young human couple, Anarchy ventured into the forest swarmed by monsters, or so they called "Monster Territory."

Not long after he began exploring, the sound of metal clashing received his ears' attention.

From the sound of it, Anarchy guessed it was coming ahead of him, a little to the east, 10 o'clock in the direction from where he stood.

As soon as he arrived at the location, he spotted five people working together to take down a wolf.

Not just any wolf, but a giant wolf. Its size was two times bigger than an ordinary wolf.

"Ah, shit! It's impossible without a buffer," The foremost male player said, keeping a watch eye on the wolf.

"Keke. You're right. Not to mention, we're all close-ranged," the second-front shortest male player adjusted his grip.

The female player positioned at the back of the formation rubbed her daggers on each other, "Damn, sorry, guys. I should've bought a bow while we were in town."

Picking up his dropped sword, the third male player assured, "Nah, it's not your fault,"

"He's right. It's our fault for thinking we're already capable of hunting in the forest," The second female player said. Then she muttered, "We should've been happy with the Horned Rabbits."

Watching from the safety of the trees, Anarchy rubbed his chin.

"Three swordsmen, one thief, and one spearman," he muttered.

Then his eyes glided to the right, toward the giant wolf.

"Yep. They're dead."