At the center of [Nyd] stood a fountain at middle of which stands the statue of the first king. People knelt beside it, throwing in copper and a few silver coins, praying for a better future. Just a little to the north of the fountain stood an old-looking building. The top was made entirely out of wood with medievel vibes, towering three stories high, with a bright green sign at the top reading "Guild Office."
• • • • •
Han and the others, along with the old man, left the horror of the slums. To exit, they had to pay one copper per person. The old man pulled out a small pouch made of cattle skin, reached inside, and took out seven copper coins, dusted with coal marks, to pay the fees.
The other side of the slums was completely different. The streets were crowded with people, and the sounds of bargaining with merchants and traders echoed all around seamlessly. Children ran with wooden toys in their hands. Women buying condiments. The streets weren't clean—but they were much better than the slums.
There were all sorts of shops: weapons of all sorts — big swords, heavy spears. Household accessories, clothes — made of hides obtained from mutant monsters.
Just beside was a shop with beauty products
Scarlet and Nana looked around, their eyes glowing with excitement, at the table was bottles of different scents, each exported through west, at front hanging some ornaments, necklace mades of marbles.
Jay checked out some weapons shops to gather information, checking the skills of the Blacksmiths and finding some clue about Kazuki. Martha remained silent, uninterested. And Han... Han was overwhelmed with joy. He was so excited to visit the guild and becoming an adventurer that he hadn't slept all night, his mind swirling with thoughts of it.
After walking for several minutes, they arrived at the fountain. The old man tossed a copper coin into the water and prayed joining hand for better future, the group waited patiently. They finally reached their destination, the guild doors was opened.
At the center was a counter, a long circular shaped wooden counter, three compartment, with three ladies seated behind it. Just at the corner near the entrance was a board with letters and personal guard missions parchments pinned to it. Martha looked closely, the paper caught her attention, it was a little unique, made from hides of animals rather than tree. She tought.
"The world is still far behind in development"
The walls were painted yellow— or you can say it looks like it, with red stripes at the base. Behind the counter was a rounded two-way staircase with a sign that read: "Only [Emerald Epta] or higher."
There were loads of adventurers— some in party's, while some alone.
They moved toward the counter, and spoke to one of the women working there. She wore glasses, had crystal-red hair tied in a ponytail with red stripes, and eyes that matched her hair color. Her skin had a soft tone with a few freckles. She wore a guild uniform: a blue dotted dress with a red waist-band and a nameplate fixed near her chest.
"Hello, I am Suri Ru. How can I help you all?" she asked in an elegant voice, a little shrill but class.
"We would like to become adventurers. But before that, can you give us some knowledge about the system?" Martha replied.
"Very well."
She pulled out some badges from a drawer behind the counter.
"Adventurers mostly take on work such as monster hunting, noble guarding, material collection, and, in some cases, joint cave or rune exploration hosted by royalty."
She placed the badges on the counter in a particular order.
"Adventurers are divided into nine ranks. You can either take a test to determine your rank or start from the lowest rank and work your way up gradually."
She pointed to each badge as she explained their meaning.
"The dull-looking [Iron Ena] is the lowest rank. These adventurers mostly take on low-level monster hunts or medicinal herb collection tasks. To level up, you must complete missions and receive high ratings from the clients. After completing three missions, you're promoted to the next rank."
She pointed to a shiny copper badge.
"[Copper Dio] is the second-lowest rank, with almost same missions as [Iron Ena]. After 3–5 missions, you'll be promoted to [Silver Tria]. From here, you can get low- to mid-level monster missions, material collection, and even personal scouting jobs. After more, you'll be promoted to [Gold Tesera], which offers similar missions but with higher rewards. From this point, things get more serious."
Next, she pointed to the shinier badges beside them.
"[Platinum Pende] adventurers get high-rank monster hunts, rune artifact retrievals, noble guarding missions, and even cave explorations. After that comes [Ruby Exi], which has similar benefits. From there, once promoted, you start receiving multi-continental missions from [Emerald Epta]."
She then gestured to the board at the entrance, where a red paper made from Kogar hung at the top.
"These are Royal Missions. Only adventurers ranked [Obsidian Octo] or higher can take these. These missions involve hunting creatures that some call mythical—each powerful enough to destroy a small kingdom on its own. They're almost always on the move."
She sighed.
"But our guild has never had anyone like that. That mission has been hanging there for almost three years. Our kingdom does have four [Obsidian Octo] adventurers, but they're all from the Noble Guild across town.
I hope someday we get our own." She said in a soft tone.
"Why not the highest rank?" Scarlet asked curiously.
"The next rank is [Diamond Enea]. Our kingdom has never had anyone reach it. Only three individuals in history have achieved that rank," she said with a small laugh.
"But why? Is it hard for an [Obsidian Octo] to become [Diamond Enea]?" Han asked, confused.
"To become [Diamond Enea], one must be recognized by seven different kingdoms, complete over 500 missions ranked [Ruby Exi] or higher, defeat a God's Child, and have the necessary caliber."
"God's Child?" Martha asked quickly.
"You don't know about them? Everyone does," Suri replied, a little suspiciously.
"Umm… we didn't take the test. We'll just start as [Iron Ena]," Jay quickly said to coverup.
"Hmm… please come here and fill in your names on the party form. Oh, I didn't ask—who's your leader?"
The room fell silent. Everyone was thinking.
"Um… our leader isn't present due to some work. Can we fill in his name on his behalf?" Jay asked seriously.
"Yes, but the signature must come from a family member or spouse."
"Oh! She's his sister," Han said, pointing to Nana, who was looking at a small fish aquarium.
"Perfect."
One by one, They filled their names on a brown sheet. The paper's quality was poor but usable. They had to include names, class (e.g., [Mage] or [Warrior]), mission preferences, some physical traits, and a signature.
Martha glanced at the pen—it caught her attention.
It wasn't ink-based like Earth's pens. It used a paste inside a slim wooden cylinder, with soft cotton at the tip. She looked around again—the clock used magic to tick, the building was a single stone slab without bricks, the supporting pillars weren't installed but carved as one. Even the chair she sat on was built without joints—just raw woodcraft.
As her fingers ran over the seamless woodwork of the chair, her brows furrowed. No nails. No joints. Just one perfect carve.
"This world relies fully on the magic they gained from the apocalypse," she thought.
"They don't use carpentry or science, but..."
Jay and Han were standing behind her.
"I know right. The slums have buildings made of bricks and use rods, there was sign of carpentry and real paint was used in the walls" Jay said, glancing at the wall of the guild. "This isn't paint—it's a magic barrier of some sort. But, why is the slum different?"
"It's confusing... but I didn't see any symbols on the old man or the kids hands," Han said, rubbing his temple, feeling sleepy.
"How long have you two been standing behind me?"
"Since you started acting weird and suspicious," Jay smirked.
"What you said is true—normal people exist here. But the game said only those who get power survived, so how?" she muttered, scanning the room for answers.
"Maybe something happened during those 70,000 years. Some lost part of history," Jay said, looking at Han, who looked deep in thought.
• • • • •
They could speak the language, but they didn't know how to write it, to hide they asked Suri to help, pretending to be illiterate.
Kazuki was registered as the leader under the [Warrior] class, though they didn't know his stats. The acting leader was Martha—the most mature among them. They received the dull [Iron Ena] badges with their names carved in. Nana held onto Kazuki's badge.
"And done. So, what should we call your party? Most people like to give it a name."
Han, Jay and Martha looks toward each other.
"If that guy was here, he would love this name" Jay smiles.
"For sure!" Han gives a little laugh.
Scarlet and Nana looked a little confused. As Martha filled the name on the paper.
"The Misfits."