Not So Great Start

"The rewards seem too simple. There is no way this will be able to entice this many people's interest, no matter how horny they are." 

Alric stole a quick glance to his side and saw a black-haired, slightly obese man salivating from his mouth while his eyes were sparkling.

He thought with disgust. 'I guess I am wrong.'

At that moment, King Julian also saw overwhelming dissatisfied faces, especially from females.

"Cough." Quickly faking a cough to garner everyone's attention once again, he explained. "It looks like dear travelers are not properly understanding this king's words. Let me elaborate it clearly."

"The one who marries my daughter will directly ascend to my throne and rule over this world!"

[ Ding! ]

Instantly, a big notification sound traveled into the ears of the people of earth, and a big screen popped out in the sky.

[ World Mission - A Classic Tale To Never Be Tired of "Defeating the Demon Lord" ]

[ Time Limit - Indefinite ]

[ Rewards - Arsian World ]

When everyone's eyes laid upon the reward, they widened in disbelief. 

"Is this real or am I dreaming?"

"No, you are not dreaming. We actually got this legendary reward: The World!"

"I don't even care about marrying the princess now as a girl. I have to get this!"

Alric was also baffled by the reward. As a novel enthusiast—especially power fantasies—he could guess what a big reward this was, considering everyone here was a newbie.

But then he got stuck with a sudden realization. 'Wait, there are no rewards for others. So, only one can benefit from all this fiasco?'

Turning to his side once again, he asked the man who was salivating. "Hello, friend. From the looks of it, it seems you are very confident that you will complete the mission before others."

The man answered while being embarrassed. "You are joking. I can never complete this mission while competing against these kinds of monsters."

He looked in several directions with a wry smile. Alric knew it was the characters of the main cast who could achieve unbelievable feats. However, Alric didn't focus on this topic. "Despite that, you do not look that sad." 

The man looked at Alric weirdly before giving an understanding smile. "It looks like this friend here is one of the unlucky fellows of this mission." Patting on Alric's shoulders, he said with a warm smile. "For people like us, especially you, being able to come here is itself a blessing. I hope you cherish it."

After he turned back and walked away, showing Alric a melancholy back,

Meanwhile, Alric's face darkened as he whispered. "Did this guy think he is superior to me, at the same time comparing both of our circumstances as being the same?"

Thud!

Alric came back to his senses as he saw everyone start sprinting towards the interior of the city like a mindless horde. Instantly, he felt his assumption was further proven.

The reward for this mission was unmistakably high.

Taking one last glance at the king, he also followed along to explore the city.

The king nodded with a smile, seeing the travelers' behavior. At that moment, he remembered something and was about to shout out loud when suddenly Queen Malisa spoke up. "My king, we discussed it previously. We will not give anything freely to these otherworlders."

"But-"

"But you fear they will not be trustful of you if you don't show any courtesy." Letting out a sigh, Malisa continued. "I understand your concerns, my king. Still, we can't trust any strangers immediately, especially those from another world. But I still trust them because I believe only they can save our world from the disaster. We shouldn't give immediate comfort, as only through hardships can heroes shine." 

King Julian nodded his head, not trying to argue with her.

With a smile, Queen Malisa then led Julian inside the castle. "Let's take a rest for now, my king. I believe you won't have the time in the future."

…

The next morning, inside a hotel room,

"Aghhh…." Alric woke up with his usual messy hair and sat on the edge of his bed. Before looking through the window for a couple of minutes, he quickly covered his face with both of his hands. "What should I do now? I am so dead."

The reason Alric was brooding so early in the morning was for the information that he gathered yesterday.

…

Last night, at a tavern.

"Here, here, drink as much as you like." 

Alric looked at the man with whom he had talked earlier on the ground, where the king was giving them the world mission.

"Thank you, brother Tarik." Alric chugged in the beer after expressing his gratitude.

Patting Alric's right shoulder, Tarik said with a smile. "It is fine. Also, you can ask me anything you want to know. I don't know if we will ever meet again."

Alric didn't think too much about Tarik's last sentence, as he finally had someone he could find some answers about. Throughout this entire day, he was trying to get some information from his earthlings, but they immediately dismissed him when they saw he was weak. Most commoners here only know surface-level stuff, so he didn't bother them that much. The guards were also not helpful to him for some reason. Leaving the only place where he could learn something—the library—cost a hefty amount of money.

"Brother, can you tell me how strong the demon lord is?"

Tarik froze for a moment before answering. "Very strong. The me right now can't defeat it, maybe not even my future self."

After finishing speaking, Tarik saw that Alric was still confused. After thinking for a moment, he found the reason. "Alric, how much do you know about Raiders?"

Squinting his eyes, Alric quickly conjured up an answer that would not make him sound suspicious. "To be honest, I did not care about what was going on in the world since I was a child, as I was an orphan. Most of my life, I was just trying to do odd jobs and have enough money to sleep with a happy stomach."

Tarik instantly became sad after hearing it, making Alric ecstatic in his heart. 'Phew, that basic cliche line worked.'