Chapter 2: What should I do now?

“I’m going to kill the fortune-teller…”

The fortune-teller ran away. It was the day I sliced through the sky.

They say fortune-tellers can’t predict their own futures, but the one in our village must have been either extraordinarily skilled or just a con artist who had been reading people’s reactions all along. Either way, he somehow foresaw his own fate and fled.

In the end, despite becoming stronger, I was left to swallow the absurdity of not getting a girlfriend, along with my frustration.

“You said if I got stronger, I’d get one. You said if I got stronger!”

Strength may be relative, but objectively speaking, I think it’s safe to say I’m strong enough. I mean, I cut through the sky! Kingdom knights? They can’t cut through the sky. They’re trash compared to me.

“Why don’t I have a girlfriend…?”

“If you really want a girlfriend that badly, maybe instead of training with your sword, you should try talking to girls?”

Lightning struck in my head at the words of my childhood friend, who lived in the same village. That’s right. If I wanted a girlfriend, I shouldn’t be mindlessly swinging my sword around. I should be talking to women.

To do that, I needed to go where there were lots of women. If I went somewhere with lots of girls and showed off my swordsmanship, I’d get recognized for my strength and finally get a girlfriend.

“Alright. I’m heading to the city.”

“What? How does the story take that turn!?”

“Thanks, Eri! I’ll see you later!”

I waved at my childhood friend who had given me such valuable advice, and then headed straight home.

Following my family motto of acting on things as soon as I make up my mind, I got my parents’ permission and left the village immediately.

As I walked out of the village with a sword strapped to my waist, my childhood friend waved at me with a helpless expression.

‘What’s her deal?’

I had no idea why she was making that face.

As she watched Evan walk away, his childhood friend Eri’s eyes welled up with tears.

‘I liked you, you fool, you idiot, you absolute moron…’

He talks about wanting a girlfriend all the time, but he never takes a moment to look at the people around him.

Eri clenched her fists and stomped her feet, treading on the ground as she spat out the pent-up resentment in her heart.

If it were up to her, she would have run after him immediately and begged him not to leave.

She wanted to grab his sleeve and tell him not to go, that someone here liked him.

She longed to shout that out loud.

But for now, Eri gave up on trying to catch Evan and let out a deep sigh.

“Well, someone has to stay and keep the home fires burning.”

If he fails to find a girlfriend and comes back whining that he couldn’t get one, she would embrace him gently then.

She would let him realize that her arms were the warmest and coziest place in the world, where he would never need to leave.

Forever.

***

“Next!”

“Please submit your ID. If you don’t have one, go over there…”

The city wasn’t that far away.

I had come here a few times with my father.

But this was my first time coming to the city alone.

The fact alone made my heart race.

Although the city looked the same as it did during those past visits, I couldn’t understand why my heart felt so fluttery.

After a few deep breaths, I glanced around.

Unlike my village, which had hardly any crowd, the city was bustling with hundreds, if not thousands, of people walking the streets every moment.

‘So beautiful…’

And where people gather, so too do beautiful women.

I couldn’t help but gasp as I stole glances at the noble ladies wandering the streets, adventurers donned in leather armor, and warriors dressed in traditional attire.

Indeed, the city was full of stunning beauties.

It was incomparable to my village, where the only girl my age was my childhood friend.

“…But what should I do now?”

Arriving in the city was great and all, but I had no idea what to do next.

Should I talk to the girls?

For someone who had never even held a girl’s hand, that seemed like an impossible task.

My best option was to admire their faces from afar.

As I stood dazed in the middle of the city, blocking the way for others for a moment, I decided to follow the crowd.

‘I need to show off my strength.’

It was nearly impossible for a newcomer like me to charm any women.

A man just coming from the countryside couldn’t possibly have any allure, and I lacked the courage for that from the start.

So I needed to become the kind of man who would attract women to approach me first.

A man who was so charming that women would come to him without him having to make the first move.

And I, who only knew how to use a sword, had only a few ways to become an attractive man.

I could become a soldier, a knight, or an adventurer.

“I’m not going to be a soldier.”

The army, filled with the sweat of men, was not appealing no matter how I thought about it.

It didn’t seem likely that they would choose a country bumpkin who had just come from the countryside to be a knight.

That left only one option: adventurer.

The legendary conqueror who had raided seven dungeons and retired with dozens of wives was still my mental mentor.

“Let’s become an adventurer.”

I immediately headed to the adventurer’s guild.

Contrary to my expectation of finding large, bald men smelling of sweat, the guild was lively with delicate elf archers, lovely priestesses, and heavily armored female knights chatting away.

Of course, there were muscular men as well, but just the fact that such women were in the guild was shock enough.

After stealing glances at the women in the guild for a moment, I approached the reception desk and made eye contact with a receptionist who looked exhausted.

“What can I do for you…”

“I came to register.”

“Yes, it’s 10 Elso.”

As I placed the money on the counter, the weary receptionist quickly snatched it away at an unbelievable speed.

After counting the money, the receptionist looked at me blankly and gestured with her chin.

“What’s your name?”

“My name is Evan. Evan Kalshter.”

“Here you go. If you lose this, there will be an extra charge for reissuing it.”

The receptionist finished her explanation as if she were an unshakeable government worker, then tossed me a wooden plaque with my name on it.

It was different from what I had imagined.

There was no process of taking a test to show a newbie’s skills, being shocked by the newbies who excelled in the exam, or being recognized as a top-tier adventurer right from the start.

Reality was different from fairy tales.

“I’m good at using a sword.”

“Yes. I see.”

“But, isn’t there some kind of test? To be recognized as a high-level adventurer right from the start?”

“No, there isn’t.”

“Why not?”

Persistently asking questions, the receptionist began to show her annoyance.

“If you want to brag about your strength, go to the army.

This is a guild that introduces missions to those with the credit to carry them out, not a place for strong people to show off their strength.”

“Ah… then how do I raise my rank?”

With a quick motion, the receptionist pointed to a corner of the guild.

In the direction she pointed, there was a bulletin board filled with papers.

Shuffling weakly toward the bulletin board, I realized that it was a board for gathering requests.

From the lowest-level missions that anyone could take on, regardless of rank, to ultra-high-difficulty missions that only top-tier adventurers could accept—

‘…So I have to start from here to raise my rank?’

I checked the missions for new adventurers at the very bottom.

Requests to find items, locate people, gather certain herbs, or take the lead in an upcoming war, and so on—missions that anyone could do and were not very noticeable.

However, just a little higher, there were requests to slay certain monsters, investigate dangerous areas, gather rare herbs, and more—missions that could earn big money and gain attention all at once.

For some reason, as I gazed at the dust-covered request papers, I sensed that these missions wouldn’t be very difficult.

“Damn it!”

“Uh, wait—!?”

After a brief hesitation, I quickly gathered the dusty requests and bolted out of the guild.

I heard voices calling for me from behind, but I ignored them.

I hadn’t committed any crime; all I had done was take some requests, so the guild staff wouldn’t be that desperate to find me.

After running for a while, I arrived at the city gate, catching my breath as I recalled what the staff member had said earlier.

‘If you don’t have credit, you can’t take on missions?’

I looked down at the pile of requests in my hands.

Whether I had credit or not, the requests were in my possession.

They contained information about where the targets were, what to kill, and what to bring back.

“What will they do about it?”

If I complete the missions, what can the guild do?

Nothing. No matter how I thought about it, there was nothing the guild could do.

They would have no choice but to acknowledge my achievements.

“Let’s go.”

My eyes turned toward the forest beyond the city walls, filled with dangerous monsters.

To the land of instant wealth.

Rebecca, the receptionist of the Adventurers’ Guild, sprang up as she witnessed a newly registered member tearing down numerous requests from the bulletin board before fleeing.

“Hey, wait!”

The new adventurer, having ripped a bunch of requests, quickly exited the guild.

Looking at her senior colleague as if to ask what to do now, Rebecca sighed heavily. Her senior handed her a piece of paper and said,

“Those are all just copies anyway. Go check what’s missing and make new ones to put up.

I’m already busy, and I don’t need this bad luck.”

“I’ll check and be back quickly!”

Seeing her senior’s frustration rising, Rebecca hurriedly ran toward the bulletin board and checked for the missing requests.

Each request was for ultra-high-risk missions that even experienced adventurers would have to risk their lives for.

Despite the danger, the rewards weren’t substantial, so seasoned adventurers typically avoided those missions.

After confirming that no one would be shouting about missing requests, Rebecca let out a sigh of relief and returned to her spot.

She then reattached the newly created requests to the bulletin board.

By that evening, the incident of the unusual new adventurer who had run away with the requests was completely forgotten.

There were many people coming in and out of the guild that supported adventurers, and with so many eccentric individuals around, it would take something truly remarkable to stick in her memory.

Late at night, as the sun had nearly set, Rebecca wrapped up her work and waited to switch shifts with the next worker.

She blankly stared at the documents, pretending to work while contemplating what to do after her shift.

“…Hey, look over there.”

“No way, really?”

“That’s ridiculous…”

While she was idly passing the time, the guild began to get a bit noisy.

Wondering what was happening, Rebecca turned her head and dropped her jaw in shock.

The new adventurer who had run off with the requests earlier had returned, covered head to toe in blood.

“Uh, are you okay!?”

“I’m fine. More importantly, this.”

With that, Evan placed the corpse of the monster he had dragged in onto the reception desk.

Seeing the bodies, Rebecca stared blankly at the remains and recalled the requests he had taken.

Slay the Chimera, Slay the Hydra, Slay the Wyvern, and so on—missions of ultra-high difficulty that even seasoned adventurers might fail.

“Is this… for real…?”

“Are you saying they won’t accept a corpse if I don’t have any credit? That would be a bit problematic.”

“Wait just a moment, please—!”

Forgetting about her shift, Rebecca immediately sought out the guild master.

Right now, leaving work was not what mattered.