I think I’ll work inside the village first. Venturing outside without sufficient information would cause accident in worst case, it will take my life. Even if this is just a dream I don’t want to die.

“Please introduce me at some work here.”

I asked Noe to introduce me to some shops here but he look at me dumbfounded.

“What wrong?”

I asked him and he shook his head.

“Nothing… I thought that you would prefer to hunt outside than working at the shops inside the town.”

What is he thinking just now? Did he think that I would hunt in the forest where I don’t know what kind of monsters are there? Maybe most of the people here hunt monsters and working at the shops make you look lame. But they are wrong! Without the support of the shops, you can’t sell your loots and buy the necessity you needed for an adventure! Without shops the town will not progress! Shops are important!

“What’s up with that way of thinking? Do you think hunting will make you look cooler? Well yes you look cool and all but in the end of the day how much did you earn? A few copper? I won’t risk my life for a few copper.”

I said at Noe who become dumbfounded by my explanation. I think my explanation is right in the first place so why is he like that?

“You know… Hunting monster gives you more money than working at shops. Each wolf’s leather is 50 kwarts, wolf’s fangs are 5 kwarts each and the meat is 100 kwarts. Each wolf gave 1 wolf skin, 3 to 4 fangs and a meat then one wolf will give you approximately 170 kwarts if you would sell the meat and 70 kwarts if not. It is lower than 200 kwarts per day but you would not settle on one wolf per hunt right?”

Noe explained to me but didn’t he get the point? My point is that I am safe if I work at the shop. I don’t need to risk my life to gain 170 kwarts if I am inside a shop. Yes, sooner or later I would need to hunt but not now especially if I don’t have enough information about the forest.

“Yes I get you point but I don’t need to rush. I need to earn MONEY first without RISKING MY LIFE.”

I emphasized my point and hopefully he gets it. I don’t need to risk my life yet. I won’t go out of the forest with only sword and shield. I need supplies and some information about the monsters outside. Working at a shop will give me both money and information.

“Okay okay I get it. Where do you want to work? Currently, the tavern, weapon shop and armor shop are urgently hiring people and the regular salary of part-timers is 200 kwarts per day.”

200 kwarts per day is not a bad offer. But the problem is where should I work? If I work at the tavern I would learn more information than weapon and armor shops but I will be very tired and If I work at the weapon or armor shops means less information. Well, my primary objective is gathering information so should I work at the tavern?

“I think I will work at the tavern.”

“Okay then follow me.”

I followed Noe. We went out of his house and walk about 100 meter and went inside a wooden building with a two mugs as a sign. This might be the tavern. Inside there are 50 wooden tables surrounded by wooden chairs. The counter could be seen after entering the shop and wooden stalls are lined up. There are some adventurers drinking and exchanging information about the monster they encountered so far and some are falling in line at the left side of the shop and also there is a huge bulletin board beside it with paper pinned on them. Noe and I went to the counter and a man with a muscular body greeted us. He is bald and has a beard.

“What can I do for you village chief?”

The man said.

“I heard that you need some help and brought someone.”

Noe said as he introduced me to the man.

“This is Jasper and he would love to work here. Won’t you hire him?”

“He has good looks and he might get the heart of woman adventurers. Hey kid, do you have any experience on this kind of work?”

The man asked me. Good looks? I think I am pretty normal and most of the time girls tends to ignore me.

“I don’t have experience but I think I can handle it if I will just deliver and take the order of the customer.”

I said confidently. Serving the customer is easy for me. You only need to satisfy them and give them what they wanted. If they wanted to talked then listen, if they wanted your opinion about something then answer. It is simple.

“Hmmmm… Okay village chief! I think I’ll hire this guy. My name is Mar and I own this tavern. You will be working here from now on so remember that….”

Mar explained how this tavern works.

This tavern serves alcohol, food, and beverages.

On the left side is the “Request Area” where the residents put their request and adventurers took it. Since this is a tavern, it also serves as information center. I must be well informed about what is happening inside and outside the town, monster information and other stuff. I don’t know about other stuff so I asked Mar and he said that the other stuff means giving advices to the adventurers about their personal lives since Mar said that the other stuff are mainly ordered by women it is mostly about love which is my forte since most of my friends asked me about it.

“That is what we deal here so kid change into this.”

Mar gave me a piece of clothes. It is made from leather and its color is white. It is long sleeves shirt, black pants and black shoes. This will really make me look like a waiter. After changing to my uniform, Mar gave me some pieces of paper. He said that it is the information about the prices of items in the shop, information about hunting spots, and information about different kind of monsters. I read it immediately since this is the main reason why I work at the tavern, to gather information.

The information I gathered so far are about the monsters and about adventurers.

There are three kinds of monsters known so far. They are wolves, goblins, and orcs. All of them hunt in pack and you will rarely see them alone. First the wolves, they are fast and agile they wear down their prey by attacking by waves. Second are goblins, they are small green monsters their height is the same with a 5 years old child and they wield weapon. Their weapons are consisted of daggers, bow and arrow, and a stone axe. They can build camps and store food there. Goblin’s camps commonly have 15-20 goblins and attacking their camps need at least 5 adventurers. Lastly, the orcs. Orcs wield different weapons such as swords, glaives, bows, mace and staves. Some of them can use magic and they had a small village in the northern part of the forest. They sent scouts to patrol in their territory and they can create strategies when hunting. Raiding their village is not recommended since they don’t know how many orcs are there.

“Most of the games I played featured orc is like a human, they have names and each of them has a sense of individuality.”

I said as I read about the orcs.

Next information is about adventurers. The adventurers are treated like mercenaries. They can be hired with enough money and in times of war, they became militia for their kingdoms. Adventurers that pledge their loyalty to one kingdom can’t cross the borders of other kingdom with ease. They must first secure a document that will let them go inside another kingdom just like when you need to get a passport to went abroad. The adventurers have different jobs and only combat related jobs are listed on the paper. It was Archer, Swordsman, Magician, Stalker, and Brawler. Archer used bows for ranged attacks and their health is low but the monster usually dies before they can attack the archer. Swordsmen used swords as their weapon and have a high health. Magician used staff as weapon but uses magic to attack the monsters, they have the same range as the archer but they can deal area-of-effect magic against groups of monsters. Stalkers used daggers as their weapon and can use invisibility. Usually, they are recruited to the party to become a scout. Lastly the brawler, they used their fist as their weapon and has a high dodge rate.

Those five are the basic jobs and when you hit level 25 you can change to an advance job. The information about advance job are not included to the paper given by Mar since he said that there are too many advance jobs and this village only offers basic job change.

After reading and remembering all the important information, I went out of the changing room and Mar is already waiting for me. The tavern is almost full of customers and the line near the bulletin board is now smaller than before.

“Bring these beers to them.”

Mar gave me a tray that contains 5 beer mugs and pointed at a group of 5 people near the door. They sitting around the table and there is only one female on their group. As I walked near them, I carefully observed their weapon to figure out their classes. If I can somehow start a conversation with them then I can gather more detailed information about the monster and their respective jobs. The girl is wearing a brown robe and there is a staff beside her. Basing on her weapon and clothing, she must be a magician. On her right there is a muscular man wearing iron armor and on his side there is a big sword, he must be a swordsman. On his right there is another man wearing leather armor and his hand is covered with bandages? Maybe he is a brawler or a stalker but as I went nearer to them I noticed the fist-weapon hanging on his waist making him a brawler. The other two men are also wearing leather armor and quivers hang on their waist making them archer.

I approached them and put the beer on their table.

“Here is your order.”

“Thank you. You must be new here first time I saw your face.”

The brawler said as he drank the beer.

‘With this I can start the conversation’

I thought as the other members drank their beer.

“May I ask a question honorable adventurer?”

“Sure go ahead.”

The brawler replied to my question while he picks up his mug to drink.

“I heard that outside this forest there are monsters roaming. If ever I get inside the forest, what kind of monster will I encounter? How do I deal with them? Please guide me, honorable adventurer.”

The brawler hand stop mid-air and looked at me. He looked at me from head to toe as if measuring if I will be one of his competitors one day. I just smiled at him and pretend to ask just for the sake of what if.

“Hmmm.. You are not suitable for hunting so why bother asking.”

The brawler coldly said this to me as he drank his beer.

“You see… One day I might need to go inside the forest to gather some herbs or fruits I just wanted to know what kind of monster would I encounter?”

I said an excuse just in case that he saw me as a competitor. Well, one day I might really went inside the forest to gather herbs but that is for the future.

The brawler put down his mug and faced me.

“Haaa… Okay I will tell you. If you would just gather herb near the exit then there is no risk of encountering monsters but the herbs you will get is just the normal one. If you wanted to gather higher level herbs then entering to the depths of the forest is inevitable. Listen, 50 meters away from the exit you will encounter a lone wolf. For 75 meters, a pack and some lone goblin then 100 meters away a group of goblin and some orc scout. Fighting a single wolf at your level, you will surely die so if ever you need to gather herbs 50 meters away the exit then it is advisable to post a request of escort.”

The brawler explained to me while he draws some kind of map on the table using his hand.

‘I see. If it is just a single wolf then I think I can handle it by myself.’

“Thank you very much.”

I bowed and thank the brawler that gave me the information and went back to the counter.

This scene repeated every time I delivered their beer or foods. Some of them even charged me for the information but I persuaded them to tell me for free. Well, some persuasion failed and I needed to pay the money to learn something new.

As time go past, the money I save from my salary got bigger enough for me to buy some equipment, lodging in an inn, and for my food. And also I learned a new skill due to persuasion.

***

Persuasion (Passive) Level 3 Beginner

Swords aren’t the only weapon for battle. Words can also be used to lower the guard of the enemy. It can also be used to gather information and sometimes it can lower the price of items being sold at the market.

***

It is pretty half-assed but still a skill is a skill. It may save my life if everything fails. Apparently, I am the only one in this village with Persuasion skill and other adventurer and the residents didn’t know about it.

After my shift at tavern, I went to the weapon store to buy some weapon of course.

*ring *

As I opened the door, I heard a ring of a bell above my head letting the owner that someone entered the store.

Inside there are some weapon rack and swords, spears, axes and other weapons are being displayed. On the wall you can see some bows hanging. Arrows and quivers are carefully arranged near the wooden counter. And there is a door behind the counter where you can hear some noise. A short muscular man emerged at that door. He is in the middle of his 40’s and his hair is long but his height is as short as a 9 years old kid.

“Welcome! How can I serve you?”

His voice is deep and his eyes are squinted. He wears a dirty apron and gloves. On his head, a wielding mask can be found.

“I would like to buy some weapon.”

“Of course you are since this is the weapon shop. It would be weird if you are buying a food here. Hahahaha.”

This short man tried to joke but I didn’t find it funny.

“What kind of weapon do you prefer?”

The short man asked me.

Swords are cool and all but I didn’t feel like going to close combat while I still don’t know what is left and right. Maybe I will settle with a bow.

“A bow maybe?”

I said timidly to the man. The man let out a hearty laugh and went inside the door again. When he came back, he is carrying a short bow and some wooden arrows.

“This bow is perfect for beginners since I guess that this is your first time wielding a bow, I will give you these wooden arrows also this small quiver here is also yours for free. Here try it.”

The man gave me the bow to let me feel it. The string is tightly knotted and the wooden body of the bow feels nice. I tried to pull the strings and a cross shaped crosshair emerged.

My eyes widened at the familiar sight of a crosshair. This might be the best dream of my life. First, it felt like an MMORPG game and now it has some aspect of an FPS game? I can’t ask for more. Well, if I can please also include an eroge (adult dating game) or something!

“Surprised huh… Well, what you are seeing right now is what we call a crosshair. This will help you aim. So how is it? Would you like to buy it?”

My life here will be easy. I am from the generation of gamers that grows up playing CS so I can say that FPS games are one of my fortes.

“I would love to”

“That would be 500 kwarts.”

500 kwarts?! Such an expensive bow! I can buy though since I have 1,334 kwarts from my saving but 500 kwarts for a beginner bow seems a rip-off.

“I can’t afford it. Can you cut down the price to 400 kwarts?”

I tried bargaining about the price since if I bought it by 500 kwarts then I will not be able to buy arrows and a dismantling knife.

“490 kwarts.”

The man said.

“425”

“480”

“430”

“475 kwarts. Any lower than that then the deal is off.”

So I managed to bring down the price by 5% huh.. I reach for the coin pouch on my waist and gave 4 silver and 75 copper coins. The money I earned for working at the tavern fly away too fast.

“Thanks for your business. Here is your short bow for 475 kwarts and the free quiver and free 50 wooden arrows. Hehe”

The short man laughed pissing me off.

No merchant will laugh in the face of losing money even if it’s just 1 kwarts. Maybe this man ripped me off.

“*Sigh* Do you have any dismantling knife here?”

As for the reason why I am buying a dismantling knife is because you need to extract the loot from the corpse of the monster slain. Of course it is only applicable on the beast type since extracting the skin from the humanoid type monster seems too gruesome.

“Dismantling knife? I have one for 500 kwarts plus I will be giving you whetstone as a gift.”

Another 500 kwarts?! I only have 859 kwarts left..

“Can you please make it at 400 kwarts?”

“Okay sure.”

“Eh?”

I tried to bargain again and braced myself to a long bargaining process but he suddenly said yes to 400 kwarts. Something smells fishy here. Maybe 400 kwarts is the right price for the dismantling knife…

Never the less I paid 4 silver and got the sheathed dismantling knife from him. The knife 25cm long and the hilt and sheath are made from leather. I unsheathed the knife and check its sharpness.

“It is sharp.”

“Of course! Every item in this store is well maintained!”

The man puffed out his chest which makes me want to stab it with my dismantling knife but I controlled myself.

I quickly turn around and went outside the shop without saying goodbye to the shop owner. I put the dismantling knife on my waist, the quiver on my back and hold the bow by my right arm.

After buying the weapon I needed, I went to the Archer’s Guild to try the short bow I got. Even though I grew up playing CS, there is a big difference in playing than experiencing it. First of all, I don’t know how to properly use this bow and I also don’t know how to perform maintenance for it. So I went to the Archer’s Guild hoping to learn those skills.