Chapter 239: Quest Priority
It was still quite dark.
The well-rested sun has just begun its ascent back to its heavenly throne, yet, there are already quite a few people walking to and fro on the streets of Balkrow City.
Among these early birds was an ashen-haired young man.
Deciding to look for permanent accommodations another time, Shye opted to turn in early for the night at a decent inn.
Two weeks from now, rookies would come in droves, hence, he planned to complete a quest or two before the competition arrived.
As he sauntered towards the guild, Shye hummed a merry tune.
The inn he stayed at was quite far from the guild so it took him around half an hour of walking before he arrived.
Still, he arrived earlier than most of his idle guildmates—some still dozing off.
Adventurers are free spirits, they could opt to be lazy for a few days as long as they still have funds to live off of.
Shye didn't have such luxury though as he still had to complete the darned mandatory quest before he could relax.
Pushing the doors of the guild open, heads subconsciously turned to see who arrived.
Realizing it was the newcomer, the guildsmen had varying reactions.
Some were apathetic; a few wore condescending smiles, while others pondered whether to befriend Shye or not.
Ultimately, most of them decided to temporarily observe him.
If he seemed approachable and promising, then they would try to invite him to their adventurer party.
Naturally, Shye didn't care about most of them.
He had to rank up as fast as possible and to do that, he had to try and accomplish most quests by himself.
Partying up with others, albeit safer, would divide the guild contribution points obtained from completing a quest among all the party members.
As a result, it would take a longer time for him to rank up.
Moreover, he somehow finds it hard to trust fellow adventurers these days.
Walking towards the quest board after receiving a customary greeting from the guild receptionist, Aya, Shye crossed his arms over his chest and checked the quests posted on the board.
There were a lot of available quests.
A testimony to his guild's excellence in providing solutions to those in need of it.
'Let's see…I should probably take on C rank quests for now…' Shye thought, scanning his eyes over the quests printed in yellow scrolls.
To facilitate adventurers in finding quests suitable for their ranks, the guild staff neatly organized the quests on the board according to the color of the scrolls—yellow indicating (C) ranked quests.
Even so, it was difficult to look for a suitable one.
Finding himself in the position of the adventurers who stood in front of the quest board for a long time, a dawn of realization struck Shye.
'Haaah…Who would've thought that looking for suitable quests would be this challenging? He thought, glancing at those adventurers idling in the lobby. 'Those guys are probably waiting for a suitable quest to be posted on the board…'
Initially, Shye thought that the guys in the lobby were simply lazy, hence, he didn't have a good first impression of them.
However, upon realizing that those guys were probably just picking quests wisely, Shye saw them in a new light.
They only have one life after all.
After thoroughly reading quest details of various quests on the board for around an hour and a half, Shye finally found a suitable one.
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Hunt: Ripper Koala
Quest Rank: C
Details: Retrieve thirteen pieces of titanium ivory claws from a MATURE Ripper Koala.
Location: Bloody Eucalypt Forest, Drokka Advanced Adventurer Zone
Recommended Party Size: 3 or more
Rewards: 2,500 silver coins and 500 contribution points.
Time limit (Countdown starts upon registration): 15 days
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'Ripper Koalas huh?' Shye mused. "These guys are probably a good opponent for me right now, not too strong, not too weak…moreover, the rewards are quite nice…'
Deciding to take the quest, Shye extended his arms to grab the scroll from the quest board to have it registered under his name.
Unfortunately for newcomers like him, things weren't meant to be peaceful, as another hand reached for the quest at the same moment as his.
"Whoops, I found it first, hands-off, you lowly beginner." An annoying voice only a few years older than his sounded beside him with a mocking tone. "(C) rank quest? How arrogant. You'll just cause trouble for the guild and the client so hand it over, NOW!"
The guy was quite tall, looking down at him with a condescending smile.
Naturally, Shye was annoyed, however, he also felt excited.
'Heh, another idiot begging for humiliation.' he thought, not backing down one bit.
"Who the hell are you? With how weak you look, you will just embarrass the guild." Shye retorted, looking at Receptionist Aya right after. "Miss, Aya, please register this quest under my name. Thank you."
Aya was fairly familiar with the troublemakers in the guild.
Although they couldn't touch her since she was a guild staff, many rookies fell under their wicked schemes.
Upon seeing him approach, she already anticipated that the guy next to Shye, Candor, intended to bully the newcomer.
However, what she didn't expect was that instead of moving aside, like what most rookies do, Shye dared to talk back, ferociously at that.
"R-Right away, Sir Crowley," Aya replied.
After Shye's official registration with the guild, the guild master immediately summoned her to his office and instructed her that the newcomer, Shye Crowley, would be given priority on quests he wished to undertake, without exceptions.
If he desires a quest, it must be registered under his name immediately, and he should not be denied his preferred quest under any circumstances.
Aya was a smart woman, she knew what the branch guild master meant.
This was probably orders from the main branch, hence, she would not be foolish enough to defy them as not even the toughest of adventurers in this branch of their guild could handle the wrath of the higher-ups.
Hearing Aya's words—almost subservient, Candor and the onlookers were stupefied.
As for Shye, the arrogant smile on his face grew more prevalent. Soaring Raven promised them quest priority so Candor's idiotic attempt of making trouble for him was nothing but pure comedy in his eyes.