I Reject Quests

Jackport Town.

A car was parked near a couple of guards. A blue-haired young man was talking with them from inside the car.

"We want to make a temporary residency card. There's four of us." A temporary residency card is made when tourists visit the cities. It lets them stay in the city for two months. After that, they could either renew their temporary residency card or get a permanent one.

The guard was fairly young, seemingly in his mid-twenties carrying a bag. He looked at the people inside the car. "Three underages… and an adult. Wait a second." From his bag, he took out some papers and handed them over to the blue-haired young man. "Fill this."

The blue-haired young man was naturally Hase. He looked through the form and started filling it up. Meanwhile, the guards were talking among themselves.

"Are they from Rover?"

"It looks like it."

"Why are so many people from Rover suddenly coming here?"

"Have you not heard about it? It's all the news. WestLane attacked the city."

"What? That WestLane?"

Sitting in the car, Rewen quietly listened to the conversation and leaned his body. 'It turns out Hase was right but that doesn't matter. What matters is…'

---

Alter Points: 12

---

To unlock the next volume, that is, the third volume, he would need 90 Alter Points. He had noticed an arithmetic progression in the price of volumes. There's an increase of 30 Alter Points after every volume.

***

Inn.

After getting temporary residency cards, the group moved into an inn. As soon as Rewen entered his room, he went to the bathroom. 

He turned the shower and cold water fell upon his face.

'This is refreshing… wait, what's with this smell?'

A pungent smell came from his own body. When he looked at his bare body, he saw black filth coming out of his body.  'What the fuck?' He then went on to clean his body until no filth was visible with the naked eye. 

However, just then, he felt filth from his face.

'What the fuck is happening? Is this the side-effect of the black orb I consumed?'

After a while, Rewen came out of the bathroom and immediately looked at the mirror.

His body and face had become cleaner.  Not a single pore was visible on the face. Although his height and figure remained the same, he could no longer be called "ugly". 

'This is probably the effect of the black orb. Since it's showing physiological differences, it should also show some differences in POW. If only I had picked up a Gruer Detector… forget it, let's see what the others are doing.'

He wore a new set of clothes which he had bought before arriving at the inn and exited the room.

Half an hour later.

Everyone had freshened up and had gathered together in Hase's room.

"So here's the thing…" Sitting on a bed along with the others, Hase started speaking. "I have enough to take care of our food and shelter for at least five months."

Rewen looked at him, waiting for him to continue.

Reza slightly nodded in a nonchalant manner. Her mind was still preoccupied with the incident that happened last night.

Michi had an embarrassed look. "I… I'm sorry for being an inconvenience."

Hase shook his head. "A single person doesn't make much of a difference. Anyways… What I was getting onto is the fact that all four of us are homeless. Is this right?" He looked at the others for confirmation.

"True." Rewen was the first one to confirm. Even though technically he had a home in this world, there was more than one reason why he said 'true'. First, his home was in Central. Not just anyone could get to Central. It needs cash and even some authority. Second, even if he had the way to go to Central, he didn't want to. Not only would it cut off his road to becoming stronger, but he would also be mistreated in many ways. 

Michi and Reza cooperatively nodded.

"Okay, good. Since we are homeless, we have to somehow start working and earn money. For that, I have one particular solution - the guild. Well, it's not really my suggestion since Michi was the one who brought it up but anyways… guilds are places where adventurers and mercenaries can easily make a living by taking up missions and completing them. Guilds are directly controlled and operated by the Council. 

"Not every city has a guild. In fact, there are only two guilds in the entire Zcan State. I have never worked in a guild but I have some friends who did. According to their experience, it pays well."

"Do we, like, have to fight some monsters or something?" Rewen asked in curiosity.

"Maybe but don't worry, the missions won't be forced upon you. On that note…" Hase turned to Michi. "Have you been <<Awakened>>?"

Michi bitterly smiled, then shook her head.

"Oh, don't worry. Taking up missions isn't the only thing one can do in the guild. As for you…" Hase had a difficult face when he turned to Reza. She was <<Awakened>> early. It's not that there is a specific age for being an <<Awakened>> but the reason why fifteen is the age where people are <<Awakened>> is because of the Sakura Garden Academy standards.

They don't accept people who <<Awakened>> early.

"I would become an adventurer." Reza declared in a low voice.

Hase didn't answer for a long time, after which he nodded.

***

Jackport City's Guild.

The guild was a two-story building. It is usually uncrowded but at the moment, it is filled with people. Four people - Rewen, Hase, Reza, and Michi - entered the crowded guild.

Right as they entered, they headed towards the receptionist.

"Excuse me, we want to register for the guild." Hase directly said.

The guild receptionist was a young woman in her mid-twenties. She raised her head and looked at the people who had just appeared, then gave an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry but you have to wait…"

"It's fine. Take your time. Is there a guest room?" Rewen understood that because of the incident that happened yesterday, many people from Rover City came to the guild to find work.

The guild receptionist shook her head. "It would take some time…"

"Oh? Shall we come tomorrow then?"

The guild receptionist hesitantly shook her head.

"Maybe three days later…?"

"No…"

"A week later?"

"Um, why don't you come two months later?"

"Two months!?" Rewen was shocked at the waiting time. He looked towards Hase and found that he too had a speechless look.

"Can it not be faster?" This time, Michi stepped forward.

The guild receptionist sighed, then went on to explain. "I'm sorry. Too many people have sent applications to join the guild. Our employees are already burdened with the work to go through each of the applicants, gauge their strength, allocate them in branches, and many other things. You can submit applications but since we follow the first-come-first-serve process, it might take longer than expected. It could take up to two to three months… so I hope you understand."

"What do we do?" Hase asked the other three.

"It's best if we just submit applications and look for other jobs."