In the world of explorers, [3 words here]!

Looking around, they were almost fully surrounded now. It was a group of two-meters tall white-furred apes.

At the moment, they were still about 30 meters away. There were many gaps in between each ape.

Since these monsters were smaller and lighter in weight, their footsteps were also quieter. The soft forest soil was the strongest aid to these monsters.

Before the two explorers noticed them, they had already moved into position, surrounding the two into a kill circle.

Looking in Jake's direction, there was still a large open gap.

However, neither of these two dared to move towards that direction.

Pressing down his lips, Beetle hardened his expression. Despair gradually engulfed this explorer's mind.

In terms of battle prowess, Jake killed a field boss in one shot. Thus, Jake had to be at least an iron-tier for sure. In other words, Jake could crush an unranked explorer like Beetle with a thumb (literally).

In terms of wits, Jake clearly saw through his plans since the very beginning.

Beetle bitterly chuckled at himself. Thinking of his previous actions, he felt like a clown.

Looking at the closing circle, Beetle sighed.

He couldn't complain about anything.

In these realms, it's common for the strong to push around the weak. No reason was needed.

Even if Jake messed around with him for no reason, Beetle could only complain about his own weakness.

Not capable of running away? It's his own fault.

Bumping into a grumpy iron-tier? His own bad luck at fault.

Made the iron-tier unhappy? He could only rant about his own stupidity.

If other explorers heard about his situation, they'd probably mock him, saying things like:

'How unfortunate. Bad luck.'

or

'It's his fate.'

or

'How come that iron-tier didn't mess with any other explorers? Why only Beetle? Clearly, Beetle did something stupid to anger that iron-tier.'

In the world of explorers, power reigned supreme!

This was especially true in the lawless magical realms. Dying here meant turning into dust, fading completely in air.

Forensics? Investigation? Law and order? Not a thing in here.

As his teal armor thickened, Beetle sighed. This outcome was well deserved.

In comparison to most iron-tiers out there, Jake was already merciful. At least Jake gave him a chance to escape.

In this brief moment, the monsters had closed the circle. On a positive note though, this also meant that the gap between each white-furred ape was bigger now.

Thump... Thump...

A larger ape stepped out of the cave's shadows. It was about three meters tall.

Looks like there wasn't much time left for preparation.

Taking one last deep breath, Beetle took one last look in Jake's direction.

Plotting out this 'accidental' field boss encounter, Beetle thought that he had Jake's fate in his hands.

Yet now...

"You want a show... I'll give you a show!" Beetle grumbled.

Yep. He had seen Jake as a hidden boss seeking entertainment now. Why else would an iron-tier join an unranked guild as a newbie?

"Survive through this... And leave this city ASAP!"

"What a bad deal..." Beetle grabbed the talisman before his chest. Without any hesitation, he crushed that talisman.

As the talisman dust glided down his fingers, blue glowing pixels flowed from his hand into his body.

Beetle took a look around. Reaper had already disappeared without a notice.

"Tsch. Trying to use me to attract aggro?" Beetle coldly chuckled.

"Not today." The warrior got into sprint stance.

Unfortunately, Beetle got one thing wrong.

The 'hidden boss' wasn't watching the situation over there for entertainment.

After taking a glance in their situation, Jake went back to minding his own business.

He didn't care about the results anymore.

It would take a miracle for a normal detector to escape that giant field boss. It would also take a miracle for these two to make it out alive.

'You lured me into a trap. I returned the favor.'

'Now we are even.'

Over all, Jake had a rather bad experience at the Shining Arrow Guild.

However, in a day, all of this would come to an end.

Jake came to city with just two objectives. Obtain the exploration license. Visit his uncle's family.

'In 24 hours, I'm going to complete all the objectives to my trip...'

'Wasn't that smooth. But at least the results are still good.'

'Maybe I should just start soloing realms now.'

Turning his gaze, Jake was faced with a tough decision.

The field boss dropped three items. A high-quality green-tier monster core. (Worth 3 Click Points) An equipment scroll (Strength increasing gauntlet).

To artisans, both of these items were useful. Especially this equipment scroll. In order to increase his artisan skills, Jake had to study new scrolls.

Without any hesitation, Jake picked these two drops up.

The last drop was an ingot of metal emitting a silver hue.

A Gaswil metal block. About 40 pounds in weight. Worth about 30 grand if sold to artisan tower.

To pick it up or not to pick it up. That's the question.

Carrying 40 pounds in a hike felt like a chore though... The settlement was still a long way off. Also, if he sold this thing at the settlement, he wasn't going to make much.

Jake walked around this metal block a few times.

'How troublesome...'

It's 30 grand after all...

'Nah.' Jake took out a yellow flag out of his backpack. 'Someone else can have it. I'm just here for the license, not for the money.'

Without further hesitation, Jake strolled off.

...

By the time Jake reached the midpoint settlement, it was already around 8:30 PM.

Even standing from afar, in this dimming forest, the cluster of torchlights on that hilltop was noticeable.

True, Jake did not have a watch. However, looking at the setting sun, it wasn't that hard to guess the time.

The settlement here was a group of tents big and small, walled off by a thin metal fence. At each corner, there were plastic watch towers. These could be easily disassembled and reassembled.

All the trees on this hill had been cut-off. Thus, walking up the hill, there was nothing obstructing his vision.

After cutting down a tree here, the crown and the trunk would just dissipate into dust. However, the tree stump would remain.

Not a very reasonable phenomenon... But hey. Magic.

As a human being, Jake passed through the front gate without any trouble. The guards dressed like MMORPG players just stood there like statues. They didn't bother to take a second look at Jake.

No entrance fee. No checks. Nothing.