CH 6

Translator: Lore_Temple

In the game ‘The Hero’s Party’, there are not only main quests relating to the journey of defeating the Demon King, but also sub quests.

By performing sub-quests, you can raise your level, earn money, and get items with good stats.

So, when it becomes a little difficult to proceed with the main quest, one can take these sub quests.

And it’s the Adventurer’s Guild were you can accept these sub-quest.

“Hello. How may I help you?”

The reception desk of the Adventurer’s Guild.

The receptionist, an orange-haired beauty greeted me with a smile.

“I came here to receive a quest.”

“Yes, then would you please show me your Adventure License?”

“Adventure License?”

“Um, have you not been issued an Adventure License?”

“Nope.”

“Then the issuance of the Adventure License comes first. Please follow me this way.”

The receptionist got up from the reception desk and took the stairs to the second floor.

I tilted my head and followed along.

‘Adventure License? Was there something like that in the game?’

In the game, you just had to stop by the guild and receive the quest from the receptionist.

‘Is it because I didn’t reveal that I was a Hero?’

It seemed very likely.

In the game, from the beginning, Cloud was always open on being a Hero.

Should I reveal that I am a Hero?

I pondered for a moment, then shook my head.

I don’t even know about my physical condition right now, so there’s nothing good about revealing that. If it was revealed that I was a Hero, won’t I will be handed over a difficult quest for nothing?

And, perhaps they might even recognize me after looking at my status.

Let’s look at the situation and decide.

“Please take your seat there and wait for a while.”

I went inside the room pointed by the receptionist.

The tables and chairs looked to be in a good condition, perhaps for hospitality.

I was waiting while sitting on a chair when the door opened and a middle-aged man came in.

He looked imposing with that large scar on his face.

“I’m Walter.”

The man who introduced himself without hesitation reached out his right hand and asked for a handshake.

I grabbed it with my right hand.

—and felt a crushing force gripping my hand under a vice grip.

* * *

Walter, 42 years old.

He is one of the branch managers of the Adventurer’s Guild.

‘Young.’

This was his first impression for Cloud. He was once an adventurer, and now he is the branch manager of the Adventurer’s Guild, so he knows the psychology of people who come to become adventurers.

Especially the younger one is, the more attention he focuses.

‘Looking at the condition of the equipment, he seems to be from a fairly well-to-do family. Since, there’s no way such a family will let their child willingly become an adventurer, he must have run away from home.’

Growing up as an untainted flower in a greenhouse, there are cases where some of these young masters who do not know the way of the outside world, seriously dislike being sheltered under their parents’ shadows.

They run away from home with an unfounded confidence that they will make it big, being best at everything they will do.

But, can these pampered young masters, who have lived a wholesome and warm live back at home, know the harshness of reality?

In the end, most of them return back tired of being juggled around by the harsh and crude reality.

There are cases where that maybe not be the case, but these kind of guys also don’t achieve much.

And in Walter’s eyes, Cloud was the former, not the latter.

‘He’ll run away later anyway. It’s annoying…’

Walter sighed and extended his right hand to Cloud.

“I’m Walter.”

“Cloud.”

Cloud grabbed Walter’s right hand with his.

Walter tightened the grip on his right hand.

It is a kind of preemptive suppression move that is done whenever a new adventurer joins. But today, he applied more force than usual.

It was because he didn’t like Cloud’s attitude.

Walter looked at Cloud while straining his right hand. The reason for doing this now is not only to suppress the preemption, but also to look at the individual’s reaction.

Whether he’s angry, embarrassed, or competitive.

By observing such reactions, you can figure out what kind of disposition the other person has.

But….

‘No response?’

Cloud was looking back at Walter with the same expressionless face he had seen him with for the first time.

—Giving no strength or resistance to the hand holding each other as if asking how long would he be continuing this boring skit.

‘He isn’t just a random kid…’

Though it’s been a while, his eyes had been never wrong.

He let go of Cloud’s hand awkwardly.

‘By the way, Cloud. One of the Heroes born this time, his name was also Cloud.’

Is this little fella that Hero?

‘…it can’t be. Why would be a Hero interested in being an adventurer?’

Walter shook his head and sat down on the chair.

“Let’s start with a simple survey.”

Walter asked where Cloud lived, his family background, and the names of his parents.

""

These are formal contents that can be made up any number of times. There is no manpower in the guild to determine whether it is a lie or not, so whatever the other person says is recorded.

Nevertheless, the reason for asking these questions is the same as the reason they shook hands before.

Unless you’re a skilled liar, when you tell a lie, it’s a little bit noticeable. The purpose of a branch manager is to notice it and leave an evaluation on the character.

‘From the Principality of Polycia. He lived in the City of Riverton and his parents are quite influential merchants in the city.’

Walter tapped the desk with his index finger.

It didn’t seem like he was lying. Every time he asked a question, the answer came naturally.

‘The hero Cloud comes from the Kingdom of Prona, so it’s just a guy with the same name?’

It is very likely that was the case.

But, there’s really no need to contemplate. It’s just a matter of time—he will soon be checking his status.

If the stats are abnormally high, the probability of being a Hero is higher. And if this guy is a Hero, everything he just said would be a lie.

A Hero who tells lies naturally like breathing.

That’s kinda funny.

“I’m going to stop asking questions, now I’ll have to take a look at your status, this is the last procedure. This is also an important part that determines the rank of an adventurer, so it cannot be omitted. If you don’t like it, go back the way you came from.”

“It doesn’t matter. However, I would like you to show me the recorded status too.”

“Well? You don’t even know your own status?”

“I haven’t seen it in a long time.”

“Hmm… I see.”

It’s not strange.

It’s hard to see one’s own status written on the back unless you ask someone else to do it.

Cloud began to take off his armor and jacket.

‘He has a more disciplined body than I thought.’

He had thought it to be a little lanky, but surprisingly it wasn’t.

As Cloud took off his shirt, Walter stepped behind his back and checked his status.

============

Lv.17

Strength: E(115)

Agility: E (105)

Durability: F (85)

Mana: F (70)

=============

‘After all, he wasn’t a Hero.’

Because the level of a Hero who has defeated the Goblin Lord and thousands of Goblins couldn’t be just a meager 17.

Walter felt a little relieved.

‘Still, it looks like he has focused on training himself.’

If you are level 17, you are a pretty competent figure among adventurers. That’s right, a level 17 can even give you a decent position among the Kingdom’s guard. Moreover, there’s still room for growth since this guy was so young and high leveled for his age.

‘It’s been a while since a good seed came in.’

Before he knew it, his evaluation had completely changed differing from the first impression, but Walter didn’t care.

New talents were always welcome in the Adventurer’s Guild, which always lacked extra hands.

“It’s over. You can wear your clothes.”

Cloud began to wear his clothes. While he tightened his breastplate, Walter showed him the status he had noted.

Seeing the status, Cloud narrowed his eyes.

“…this is my status?”

“Yup. You are pretty good for a little fella.”

“You aren’t intentionally making it low on purpose, right?”

“If you don’t believe me, I’ll just call someone else.”

Hearing that, Cloud closed his mouth shut.

“Why? You disappointed? Oh, is it lower than what you expected?”

“…Yes.”

Cloud looked genuinely disappointed.

‘Ho. There’s also a sense of competitive ambition. Very good.’

The corners of Walter’s lips rose a little higher.

* * *

Netomazo route.

A route that can be entered by only focusing on the events of the heroines while totally neglecting the character’s growth.

If you enter this route, the heroines will give you a direct hit of NTR at a high speed, and in the middle, they will leave the Hero character behind.

The Hero wouldn’t be able to stand it and will continue to hang around them. He will slowly start peeking at the steamy sex actions of the heroines and other heroes, and gradually fall for that forbidden sense of immorality.

The other heroes who notice this will suggest that to go together to take advantage of the main character, and the main character will accept it.

After that, the protagonist will be slowly transformed into a netomazo by the heroines and other heroes, and like that—Game Over.

Of course, it’s a bad ending.

Why am I mentioning this?

Why else? It’s because I’m on that full-speed bad ending train right now.

I once again looked at my a rat’s tail worth of status.

============

Lv.17

Strength: E (115)

Agility: E (105)

Durability: F (85)

Mana: F (70)

=============

The f*ck! How the hell can this be a mid game character’s stats?!

By this point of time, it should have been taken upto normally around level 30, if not, even 40. However, this bastard Cloud didn’t level up because he was busy playing soft with the heroines!

‘That’s why this body is so pathetically weak.’

As I took a deep breath, Walter took back the paper with my status.

“I think you can be given a B-grade.”

“Is that so…”

“Don’t be too discouraged. Being a B grade at that kind of age is a great deal.”

“Yes…”

“Well, I’ll give you your Adventure License by tomorrow. Come back tomorrow.”

“All right.”

That way, I left the Adventurers’ Guild and returned to the inn.

Laying down on the inn bed, I thought.

‘Bye shiny equipments, level up comes first.’

I’ve played this game 3 times, so I know where I can find what type of equipments. Before checking my status, I originally had thought of travelling to find some quality equipments.

However, after seeing this status, I have no choice but to revise the plan.

What will I do with good equipment?

—The basic stat is a worm’s worth. It would just be hanging a pearl necklace around a pig’s neck.

And the current equipment isn’t that bad either. Although it’s a mass-produced version sold in the market, the current equipment is acceptable for the current progress.

Oh, talking about the equipments, is the Holy Sword alright?

I took out the Holy Sword that was placed under the bed. When the rolled up cloth was removed, a pristine white Holy Sword appeared.

Seemingly fine.

What about inside?

I poured my mana into the Holy Sword and looked inside the Holy Sword.

…it’s pretty much insanely broken.

“I knew this was going to happen.”

In the game, the Holy Sword is treated as an attack enhancement skill with a fixed number of uses. It is a skill that is particularly strong against demons and evil spirits. However, the number of chances left now are too pitiful.

4 times.

From what I’m looking at, another 4 times is the maximum.

‘I wondered how they even progressed to this stage… Man, the poor Holy Sword was overworked to its limits…’

It’s ridiculous.

If you are in a spot, think about f*cking up that demon and level up with that! Is it okay to just take the sh!t out of the Holy Sword like this?!

No matter how much of a p*ssy you are, this is too much you little sh!t—!

‘..Heh, it’s already done.’

Now, what’s the use thinking about it?

—nothing changes.

I comfortably positioned myself on the bed and closed my eyes. Today will probably be the last time I will be sleeping comfortably.

* * *

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“Here’s your B-grade Adventure License.”

I accepted the Adventure License that the receptionist gave me. The Adventure License had the personal details that I had told yesterday with a large letter ‘B’ engraved on it.

I got the Adventure License and was about to leave, but the receptionist stopped me.

“Mr Cloud. Isn’t this your first time working as an adventurer?”

“Um, indeed.”

“Then why don’t you try the Goblin Subjugation quest while also gaining practical experience? There is a party that just lacks one member to fill the quota.”

The receptionist said so and pointed in one direction.

I turned in the direction she was pointing at and saw four people, men and women seated at the table.

* * *