NOVEL SIMPLE V1 Chapter 5: Frontera
- 1st Person POV (MC)
-Present Time-
Ignoring the notification of Safe Points, I am impressed by the visual of this city. It is the same as what the ‘ad’ the game gave to me at that time.
A vast paved road displayed in front leads straight to a massive fountain. Then to each side, I see some well-built houses where people come out and do their business.
“Oya? What do we have here...”
I saw an NPC and a player interact, they appeared to be talking quickly. The NPC is near a stall displaying a lot of vegetables.
My ears couldn’t help but overhear what they were talking about.
“Aiya... These vegetables are worth 5000 Zeni I won’t bring it down further.” -Veggies Dealer-
“Ha... okay then. I’ll take them all.” -Random Priest-
(“Oh! They are negotiating”)
On my other side, I see other players roaming about. Their appearance is... obvious with the brown tunic and black breeches. Same as me I suppose...
(“Oh!! I need to visit the Adventurer’s Guild.”)
Briefly, I reminded myself to walk around the place. Familiarise with the environment, as I would say.
Walking on the paved road seemed surreal to me. No cars in sight, I saw carriages here and there but it was spread thin so I could watch whatever the people were doing. It seems they also have patches of greenery with benches to sit on for NPC and players alike.
In the alleyways, at a glance, I also saw some wells being used to draw water from the populace.
(“Oh! They also use water pumps for the less physically stronger.”)
Besides the stalls, I also see restaurants where players come in and out. At shops that sell garments, I saw one player come in and leave decked out in a somewhat nice-looking outfit.
“The currency is Zeni right?”
I opened my inventory and checked each of the display information. Right at the corner, there’s a numerical and a letter Z.
“So this will be the amount of money I have.”
At the moment, I have 20000 Zeni.
(“What can I buy with it? What’s the standard price of food in this game?”)
Those questions popped into my head.
“Hmmm... what is this icon?”
I saw a recycle icon near the Z and its numerical value. Enveloped by curiosity, I decided to tap into it.
It reveals a sub-panel, where it displays Zeni with an arrow to Dollars. And vice versa, this tells me something as my eyes widen.
(“I can convert Zeni to Dollars? Is that a real money Trading system? This game has it open so blatantly?”)
I was amazed, and I got even more curious and decided to try the function. It reveals the exchange rate. 1000 Zeni is equal to 1 Dollar the same can be said in reverse.
(“Huh... at the moment I have 20 dollars then...”)
Shrugging, I decided that it wasn’t worth it at the moment. Maybe if I collect more Zeni in the future I will try the conversion.
My lips curved upward in a smile as I wanted to go to the adventurer’s guild to see if I could make more Zeni.
After a few minutes of walking, the views of the streets are much different. Is filled with people wearing armour strapped with weapons. Long robes of a magician and priests seemed to be roaming around too.
By observing them, I noticed a tag saying ‘Player’ popping up above their head. Indicating that those are players obviously, and they are conglomerating in a particular building.
Looking back behind me, it’s quite separated from the ‘main’ area of Frontera where the populace usually lives.
Turning forward, the building is like an old mansion with a big entrance in the middle where players are in and out.
Intrigued by it, I entered the place as I take a glance at the signage. It says ‘Adventurers Guild’ all in capitals with striking colours to boot.
(“So, this is the adventurer’s guild.”)
Entering the building itself, there is a singular long reception table where many different humanoid people stand or sit behind it. Each wears a long green robe and carries a wooden pad to hold papers.
They appeared to be writing something in a rush as I saw the queue of players to each of them.
I too follow suit, queueing myself in one of the many lines. Each was dealt with promptly.
“HOW LONG THIS WOULD TAKE!!?” -Random Knight-
He’s groaning and grumbling as his back is swatted by a girl his age.
“Ouch! What was that for?” -Random Knight-
“You know what happened previously???” -Random Mage-
Her head tilts toward the direction while whispering to the knight’s ear. My eyes followed her direction and I saw two or three players slumped on the ground.
Knocked out and I could see a groove on their chest. It somehow looks like... a fist. Did someone punch them so hard it made a mark? Holy...
I gasped and stayed in my line. The time passes by quickly once I play around with the system panel display. Checking the time between the real world and the game world, map, and their specific icons. Thankfully, once discovered I’m able to glean more detail by tapping the icon.
Like this one... The icon or symbol is the shape of three things a staff, a sword, and a bow all crossing one another. Once I tap that symbol on the map. It explains that place is the adventurer’s guild.
“Next!” -Bunny NPC-
“...ah!”
I closed the system panel and saw the humanoid in front of me in full. She....not what I expected, I have met other races here in Frontera, but this is the first time I’m being shown a different sub-type of the same race.
Her facial features bear a resemblance to a rabbit rather than a human. With floppy ears, her hands resemble those of paws.
“Ah! Sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude.”
I just realized what I was doing and felt embarrassed all over. Meanwhile, she chuckled.
“It is all right, I get that reaction a lot. Welcome to the Adventurer’s Guild. Would you like to register as one?” -Bunny NPC-
She brandished a customer service smile which I returned with my very own.
“Before I decide though... may I know what these entail.”
I’m pointing to the entire building as a whole, picking up my cues. She nods.
“Certainly, The Adventurer’s Guild is a global organization that does the ‘Odd Jobs’ as what the folks around here describe. In more detail though, we employ members to deal with hunting or gathering jobs. Sometimes there are escorting duties here and there. Making the guild a popular organization for travellers. In return for those services, an equal reward such as Zeni plus facilities we provide to them. After all, it can be a dangerous job to be in. Moving on...” -Bunny NPC-
She took some steps back and revealed a rather large quest board showing myriads of papers being attached to it by a tack.
Before she explained though, she made a gesture for me to follow her movement to the side allowing the queue to shorten as someone with the same uniform took her previous spot and began receiving other Players.
“Thanks! Now.... these are the requests that people around here asked for adventurers to take if they wanted. They are divided by rank from E to A, with an exceptional rank called S. These ranks represent what kind of ‘Request’ you can take as the higher rank you have means you are trusted enough for more difficult but equally rewarding requests. The very first rank you receive when you join is the E rank and once you complete several requests you can ask for a promotion in rank. Does that answer your question?” -Rabbit NPC-
Her floppy ear twitched and her button nose wiggled for a bit. With a wide smile, I nod.
“Yes, it does, Thank you so much for the explanation then... I decided to join.”
“Great!!! Here’s the paperwork, please fill the empty spots.” -Rabbit NPC-
She gave me a wooden board with a quill attachment. Yet, the mechanism of this ‘quill’ is similar to a pen as it doesn’t need an inkpot to dip in.
“Hmm... Hmmmm...”
It asked about my preferred combat style and my position in battle. I filled ‘Magic’ in the combat style section and ‘Long-Distance’ in the position section.
There’s a section asking for ‘DPS, Tank, and Support’ and circle if one of them applies to your combat style. I circled DPS and Support...
Once I filled out the finer details, I gave the wooden board back to the bunny NPC and she received it with a smile and a bow.
With a quick signage of hers and a glance, a panel prompt appeared before me. Getting in my view.
-System-
You have registered as an Adventurer!!
Rank: E
Requests to Complete for Promotion 0/100
-System-
(“There we go, I’m officially an adventurer here.”)
“I see that you are a magic user, have you visited ‘The Academy’?” -Bunny NPC-
I shake my head in response.
“Then I suggest you go there after I finish explaining the facilities the guild provides. The Academy is at the opposite side of this building.” -Rabbit NPC-
Once she said that the map feature in the system panel flashed showing a new addition was added. Not wanting to break eye contact as it would be rude to do so, I decided to ignore it.
“So, in this building, we have several spare rooms for adventurers to stay complete with in-house meals. There are fees of course but it is reduced the higher rank you are. There is also a training field in the backyard free of charge. Also!” -Rabbit NPC-
She quickly points to each building left and right of here. Where I follow her direction with my eyes.
“To our left, there will be a blacksmith that sells weapons and armour. And our right is a magic shop that sells potions and magical items. Since you’re an adventurer you will get a discount.” -Rabbit NPC-
“Thank you for joining us.” -Rabbit NPC-
She bows with a polite smile as I return the gesture. Then she left returning to her station.
“Let’s see here...”
*DING* By coming closer to the request board, my view is swamped with many small blue panels showing the requests posted.
In the bottom right corner of my vision, I see a number 0/100 and above it 0/10. I know the meaning of ‘0/100’ as it refers to the number of requests needed to reach promotion.
But ‘0/10’ what that might be? I decided to take 2 requests that could be finished instantly as they asked for drops from Blue Slime & Horned Rabbit.
Once I receive them, I see the changes from 0/10 to 2/10 meanwhile the 0/100 stays the same.
But after I tapped the button submit, I saw that the dropped materials got reduced by the requested amount and the request vanished from my panel.
It changed once more, from 2/10 to 0/10 while 0/100 rises to 2/100.
(“Ah... I see now, I have a limit on how many requests I can take and the promotion is counting on the completed request.”)
Nodding further, I accessed the request board once again after receiving around 10000 Zeni from finishing those two easy requests.
As I expected, the request for those materials has disappeared replaced by another.
(“Hm?”)
I tilted my head at the new requests that popped up. It is listed as a gathering so obviously it doesn’t include any battle.
-System-
Gather 10 Vitality Herbs, Stamina Herbs, or Mana Herbs.
Reward;
Vitality Potion x1
Stamina Potion x1
Mana Potion x1
-System-
“This is simple enough, but where can I get these herbs? I have never seen Vitality Herbs in the beginner's field.”
Muttering to myself, it appears someone heard me.
(“I have the habit of talking to myself ever since I got the job haa... can’t get rid of it.”)