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Proof-reader: Asada

[You have completed the quest ‘Troll Subjugation’ . ]

[You now have the qualification to rank up . ]

[You can now attempt a promotion mission . ]

Soo Hyuk thought as he stared at the notifications . [TL: system messages will be notifications and notification window from now on . ]

‘That was faster than I thought . ’

He had only done 3 missions .

‘I expected at least 10 . ’

When he had researched into the mercenary system, he found that although it differed with the difficulty, it took users around 10 missions to be able to ascend into D-rank .

‘Is it because I was quick?’

He had only completed 3 missions . There was too much of a difference, so he tried to think of possibilities .

“Next person . ”

Soon, it was Soo Hyuk’s turn so he snapped out of his thoughts and sat down on the chair . Then while handing the mercenary token, he said,

“I want to see the promotion missions . ” [TL: Ranked missions will be changed to promotion missions because it makes more sense . ]

At Soo Hyuk’s request, the NPC took his token and gave him the promotion mission catalogue . Meanwhile, Soo Hyuk received the catalogue from the NPC and immediately started flpping through it .

-Havik Orc Village Extermination

Rewards: 1000 gold

Time limit: 1 week

-Twin Headed Ogre Katuru Subjugation

Rewards: 500 gold, 2000 Hadrac Contribution Points

Time Limit: None

-Sage Hadila’s Request

Rewards: Hadila’s Robe

Like that, Soo Hyuk flicked through all the missions before coming back to the first page .

‘The village extermination looks okay . ’

Most of the missions were either defeating boss-grade monsters or completing requests from various NPCs . The boss hunts were popular amongst the users however, it took time to even find the around the vast wilderness outside Hadrac . In other words, there was a likely chance that they could take a long amount of time to complete .

Meanwhile, NPC requests weren’t safe either . Since he didn’t know what kind of request they were going to make, it was all up to luck . He wasn’t willing to take that chance .

‘Looking at the title, it could contain a map . ’

The first mission ‘Orc Vilage Extermination’ clearly stated that it was the Hevik Villgae that was to be exterminated, and quests like these usually included a map . Making his decision, Soo Hyuk returned the catalogue and said,

“I want to select the first mission . ”

[You have selected the quest ‘Havik Orc Village Extermination’ . ]

[You have acquired a map of Havik . ]

He thought as he looked at the notifications .

‘As expected . ’

There was a map included in the quest information . Soo Hyuk then got back his token and stood up from his seat . He then exited the Mercenary Agency and opened his inventory and quest window . He wanted to check the information on his new quest .

[Orc Village Extermination]

Near the Kamian Mountains is a town called Toria . Recently, orcs have been invading Toria and the town has been suffering serious damage . Investigations showed that they were Havik Orcs . Exterminate the Havik Orc Village and reduce the number of orcs!

[Havik Orcs: 0 / 500 ]

[Havik Orc Chief Karashi: 0 / 1 ]

[Time Left: 7 days]

[Quest Reward: 1000 gold]

.

.

.

[Havik Orc Village Map]

A map showing the location of Havik in the Kamain Mountains . After checking the quest, he closed the quest window and took out the map from his inventory .

‘Hmm . ’

The map only showed two things: the entrance of the Kamian Mountains and the location of the orc village . Soo Hyuk carefully looked over the map, then put it back in his inventory as he started heading to the Kamain Mountains .

‘What? That user?’

Koma Guild’s scouter Roa stared at a young man with confusion .

‘Wasn’t he here just a moment ago?’

That user had just been here an hour age .

‘He definitely left after getting a mission . ’

He hadn’t seen wrong . Roa had been observing him with interest because he didn’t belong to a guild, and he had clearly left an hour ago .

‘Don’t tell me he completed one in that short amount of time?’

Roa attentively watched the young man . Not long after, the man stood up from his seat and exited the agency . Roa quickly chased after him .

‘…Map?’

The young man was looking at a map outside the agency .

‘Did he get it from his mission?’

What kind of map was it? Did it have something to do with a mission?

‘That means it’s not a normal mission…’

Of course, it could be completely unrelated to a mission, but what if it was? Question marks kept appearing on his head .

‘Should I follow him?’

At that moment, the young man started walking .

‘Yeah, I can recommend him into our guild . ’

The man wasn’t in a guild, as shown by his lack of guild mark . After pondering briefly, Roa decided to follow the man .

When he arrived at the Kamain Mountains, Soo Hyuk took out his map again .

‘So I have to go that way . ’

Soo Hyuk walked around the mountains as he followed the map . His destination was the Havik Village . The further he walked, the less users he could spot around him .

“Poison Sphere . ”

“Firebolt . ”

“Fireball . ”

Meanwhile, the number of encounters with orcs were increasing . When he was trekking through the undergrowth,

Crack!

The sound of a tree branch breaking came from behind .

“…?”

Soo Hyuk quickly turned his head around and tilted his head .

‘What was that?’

He couldn’t see anything unusual .

‘I definitely heard a sound . Did I just hear wrong?’

What was that sound? Raising his caution, Soo Hyuk turned around and continued on his way .

‘Hmm?’

Then after a few minutes, he stopped again .

‘Did I arrive already?’

A crude barricade entered his sight . Had he arrived at the village? To answer his own question, Soo Hyuk took out the map again . [TL: the map doesn’t track your own location . ]

‘It looks like the mountains are smaller than I thought . ’

He had expected his trek to take some time, but he had arrived before he knew it .

It was then .

-Chueek!

“Magic Missile . ”

At the orc’s sudden appearance, Soo Hyuk reflexively fired a magic missile at it . As the orc was blasted away into oblivion, he checked his quest progress .

[Orc Village Extermination]

Near the Kamian Mountains is a town called Toria . Recently, orcs have been invading Toria and the town has been suffering serious damage . Investigations showed that they were Havik Orcs . Exterminate the Havik Orc Village and reduce the number of orcs!

[Havik Orcs: 0 / 500 ]

[Havik Orc Chief Karashi: 0 / 1 ]

[Time Left: 7 days]

[Quest Reward: 1000 gold]

“…”

Soo Hyuk was left flustered at his situation .

‘Ah . ’

The orc had died, and even dropped a tendon . But why was the count still 0, not 1?

‘Don’t tell me…’

Soo Hyuk frowned as a thought struck him .

‘This isn’t the village?’

The orcs he had to hunt weren’t any orcs . They were Havic orcs that were only found near their village . As for this orc, they definitely weren’t Havic orcs .

‘I knew it!’

The fact that an orc this near a village wasn’t a Havic orc meant that the village in front of him was the wrong village .

‘I thought it was too fast . ’

He then started walking towards the unknown village .

‘Well since I’m here,’

The orcs in the Kamain Mountains were around level 100-130 . In other words, it was a very good hunting area for him currently . Deciding to clean up this village, Soo Hyuk walked past the entrance into the village and quietly muttered,

“Poison Storm . ”

Chuuuaak!

-Chueek!

-Hu…Kuaack!

The orcs that had been running towards Soo Hyuk screamed in pain as the poison gas swept towards them . As they dropped like flies, his drops started rapidly increasing .

‘…Sun Orcs?’

Soo Hyuk cocked his head when he looked at the drop window . One of the words that caught his eye was the name ‘Sun Orc’ .

‘Wasn’t there Sun Orcs near Matab as well?’

He remembered hunting them in the Bulam Mountains when he was staying at Matab .

‘Well, they’re not rare monsters . ’

Orcs were one of the most common monsters, unlike epic monsters like dragons or demons . There was no reason that they couldn’t appear near Hadrac as well .

‘When’s the boss going to appear? Will the name be different as well?’

He wondered as he stared at the dying orcs while waiting for the chief . Just when he finished the thought,

-Chueek! Intruder!

[Warning!]

[Chief of the Sun Tribe, Koren has appeared!]

The awaited notifications appeared as the chieftain entered his eyes .

‘The names are a bit different . ’

The Sun Tribe Chief near Matab was called Talon, so the tribe names were the same while the boss names were different . Soo Hyuk turned to face the charging chieftain while Koren howled with rage .

A few seconds later…

[Chief of the Sun Tribe, Koren has been defeated . ]

[Sun Orcs will be confused for 10 minutes . ]

[While confused, Sun Orcs’ attack will increase by 50% . ]

[While confused, Sun Orcs’ defense will decrease by 50% . ]

Soo Hyuk was lost for words as he stared at the notification window .

‘Already?’

He had been prepared to fire a few more spells, but Koren had died pathetically from poison storm and a magic missile . And while he was checking his drops…

‘This crazy!…’

Roa was also lost for words as he recalled what had happened .

‘What village . ’

The place he had arrived by following the young man was the Kamain Mountains . After a whole lot of walking around and checking his map, the young man had arrived at an orc village . When he quietly followed him into the village, he saw it . The orcs instantly disappearing around him .

[Warning!]

[Chief of the Sun Tribe, Koren has appeared!]

[Chief of the Sun Tribe, Koren has been defeated . ]

[Sun Orcs will be confused for 10 minutes . ]

[While confused, Sun Orcs’ attack will increase by 50% . ]

[While confused, Sun Orcs’ defense will decrease by 50% . ]

The boss orc was no different from orc mobs . There hadn’t been any noticeable difference when the boss and a random mob died .

‘Was poison storm always that strong?’

Roa, who saw the notifications, looked around at the rolling green gas and thought,

‘This is a dog scam . ’

Poison storm wasn’t commonly seen, because to be able to cast it, users had to be of sufficient level, but also a poison magician .

‘This speed is unbelievable . ’

The village quietened as all the orcs were massacred . Roa looked around at the now desolate village then followed the young man outside the village .

‘Hmm?’

Outside the village, Roa saw the young man look at his map again .

‘Wasn’t this his destination?’

He had assumed that the previous village was this man’s destination, but it seemed he was wrong, as the young man had pulled out his map .

‘Should I keep following him?’

Roa, who had already wasted a lot of time, pondered . Follow him or not?

‘Yeah, I went this far already . ’

He came to a decision quickly .

‘I haven’t talked to him about a guild yet either . ’

The reason he followed this mysterious man all the way to the mountains wasn’t just because he was intrigued by him . He originally also had another even bigger aim, which was to recruit him into his guild .

‘I’m more curious as to where he’s going now . ’

But that was the story before he saw the poison storm . Now, he was more interested in finding out who this mysterious young man was and where he’s going .

‘If it’s a dungeon…’

Keeping his fingers crossed, Roa hastily followed after the young man’s retreating back .