The woman looked at John and asked, "John, who's this new friend of yours?"
"This is Null," John chirped. "He's a new wanderer I met yesterday. I want you to help him learn the basics."
The woman frowned. "John, I've told you a million times not to bring people here just because you know them. If I give them a free pass while others wait in line, it wouldn't be fair."
John smiled sheepishly and scratched his head. "But Laura, he's a new wanderer. We should help people like him."
Laura sighed and shook her head. "That's exactly why we hire people to handle things, John. Because of you, my work keeps piling up."
"Whatever," she said finally. "Bring him to Emily; she'll help your new friend get sorted out. Now that's settled, both of you get out of here. I've got work to do." She waved them toward the door.
Outside, John sighed. "As you probably guessed, Laura is the Deputy Mayor, and she's always swamped. So, as she suggested, let's go see Emily, she's Laura's assistant. And next time, you'll have to stand in line like everyone else."
Dave thanked John, genuinely grateful for his help. Soon, they returned to the entrance, where a blonde-haired woman stood behind the counter, giving instructions to all the receptionists. As soon as she saw John, she frowned and approached him.
"What did you do now?" she asked with a sigh. John heard this and his eyes widened in surprise, "What do you mean by that? You sound as if I am some troublemaker?" She didn't even reply to John; she just stared at him blankly for a few moments and turned to Dave.
"Judging by your appearance, you must be a new wanderer, aren't you?" Emily guessed. Dave just nodded, and she continued, "Then you must be here regarding jobs, right? Let me tell you the basics first, then let's see if there are any jobs suitable for you."
She then gestured towards an empty table, and soon they both sat down, and John said he had work to do and went on his way. Emily then continued, "So wanders like you do many odd jobs, from collecting things to killing nightmares. There are no restrictions on what kind of job you take, but you are responsible for yourself. We have seen many overconfident wanders die because they couldn't handle the nightmare they were assigned to deal with, so think carefully before you take a job."
"The money you earn depends on the type of job. You can even sell the corpses of the nightmares you hunt. We don't restrict that; we want the nightmares gone. How you deal with them doesn't matter to us. Now that's out of the way, let's get you registered and see if any jobs suit you."She then went to handle the registration process.
A few moments later, Dave was staring at a simple card. It just had his name, a photo of him with the mask, and then words saying, 'Officially registered under the freelancer guild' with a barcode at the end. 'Is this it?' Dave was confused, but before he could ask, the woman explained, "I know what you are thinking it may look simple, but it's challenging to make and nearly impossible to create a fake." Dave just nodded at her explanation.
Then she handed him a few posters and said, "These are some of the jobs I recommend. Pick whichever you like, and if you're still not sure, go with this one." She pushed one of the posters toward Dave.
Pest control:
There are so many nightmares on my farm, and they are destroying my crops. Please send someone to attend to it. - Bob
Reward: 1000 coins
"This is a good job; mostly, you will have to kill a few crabbits, which are very weak but annoyingly fast. If you have any long-range weapons, you can finish this job easily, and the reward is also good. That's not all; you can even sell the crabbit corpses. Restaurants always buy them for decent money". Emily gave him a brief explanation about the job.
Dave knew about the crabbits; they are that weird crab-rabbit thing. He killed one just with a kick, so he knew they were weak. Dave then thanked Emily, picked up the poster, and went outside.
Then he heard a ping sound. He was startled by this sudden noise, then he understood it was from his phone, so he took it out to see what the notification was.
New App available: Quest Window.
Dave was curious and installed the app. A few moments later, he saw the icon; it was an image of a poster with the word 'Quest' written on it. He then clicked it, and a new quest popped up.
Pest control:
There are so many nightmares on my farm, and they are destroying my crops. Please send someone to attend to it. - Bob
Reward: 1000 coins
It was the same one he saw on the poster. 'So this app is used to see all my quests? I guess it could be helpful if I have many quests.' He didn't think much of it and went on his way. A few hours later, he found the client.
On the outskirts of Ur, the forest gave way to a peaceful stretch of farmland, where lush crops thrived under the sun. Golden wheat stalks swayed among the green, catching the sunlight like fiery threads. Cattle grazed lazily nearby, while chickens and geese wandered through the grass. At a small pond, ducks floated in gentle circles, their chicks trailing close behind.
An old tractor rested beside a weathered farmhouse, its faded boards and ivy-draped porch holding a quiet, timeless charm. The air smelled of soil and rain, and the entire place pulsed with a peaceful rhythm, a living reminder that even at the edge of the wild, life in Ur still thrived.
Dave approached the farmhouse and knocked on the door; soon, it swung open with a creaking noise. The person who opened the door was a man in his late thirties, wearing a tank top smeared with mud and a pair of jeans. He looked at Dave with suspicion and asked, "Is there something I can help you with?"
Dave then took out his ID and the poster and replied, "I am from the town center. I heard you need some pests taken care of?"
The man took it and looked at Dave with questioning eyes, "Your name is Null? Can you really get rid of them?"
"Sure, I may not look like much, but I can handle something like that easily," Dave assured him.
The man looked skeptical and sighed, "Well, whatever, as long as you get rid of them, I don't care. I'm Bob, by the way."
He then signaled for Dave to follow him, and soon they both stood near a cave. The entrance was about four meters wide, quite large for a cave opening. When Dave gave him a questioning look, Bob said, "It's inside there, and be careful; there's more than one of them."
Dave shrugged at his words, "Sure, don't worry, I will take care of it. Stay here." He then walked toward the cave. It was fine at first, but the deeper he went, the darker it got. Dave hadn't brought any equipment, so he used his phone's flashlight and summoned his gun to shoot the crabbits as soon as he saw them.
Suddenly, the ground beneath him trembled. In the distance, he observed a blurry figure rushing toward him rapidly. Before long, he saw the creature.
It had the body and head of a shark, but instead of skin, it was covered in a plated shell in shades of dark purple and red. Emerging from its sides were eight crab legs and two massive pincers. The creature was three meters long, with pincers bigger than a man's head. Its mouth was full of jagged teeth, and tiny crayfish-like eyes sat on short stalks.
He froze in fear for a second, then turned and ran as fast as he could. Luckily, the creature wasn't very quick, and he soon lost it, since the creature surprisingly didn't follow him.
Soon, he saw the entrance and dashed through it. In the distance, Bob was looking at him with a questioning expression. He ran straight to him and grabbed his collar: "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT THING? YOU SAID PEST EXTERMINATION, DOES THAT THING LOOK LIKE A GODDAMN PEST?" Dave shouted in anger, but Bob just shook free and sneered, "Of course, it's a pest. That thing comes to my farm and keeps killing my cattle. If you don't call it a pest, what else do you call it?"
Dave stared at him, stunned, and soon he was seething with rage. He pointed his gun at Bob. Bob saw this and went pale. "Wa-wait, don't do anything rash, let's talk this out?" Bob tried to reason with him, but Dave didn't lower his gun.
"Tell me, Bob, why did you lie when submitting the job? You said it was some crabbits ruining your farm, not whatever this is?" he asked threateningly.
"I-I never mentioned crabbits anywhere. You just misunderstood," he tried to explain, but Dave was having none of it. He moved his gun closer to Bob's head. Bob saw this and blurted out, "It was for the money, alright. If I had mentioned shabs, I'd have to pay 5,000 coins. But if I just said pests and paid a little more than usual, I could get rid of them and only pay 1,000 coins. If people asked about it, I could just say they misunderstood the job."
Dave was speechless; he wanted to knock him out and drag him to the community center. But before he could, he heard a ping from his phone.