The morning air was cool and crisp as Selena stepped out of the dormitory wing. The courtyard was already alive with activity, adventurers stretched, sparred, and bantered with one another as the first rays of sunlight touched the rooftops of the Silverhaven.
Today felt… different. The kind of different you couldn't quite name, but your body noticed before your mind caught up. The kind of different that tightened your chest with anticipation.
Selena adjusted the strap of her gear bag and turned toward the guild hall.
A Crowded Hall
The moment she stepped inside, Selena blinked in surprise.
The guild hall, normally calm and spacious in the early morning, was absolutely packed.
Copper, Bronze, even Silver-ranked adventurers jostled for space near the central quest board. A few Gold-ranks stood back with their arms crossed, watching the chaos unfold with amused detachment. Dozens of adventurers spoke over one another, papers flying, quills scratching, arguments breaking out about who saw which quest first.
Selena carefully stepped around a tall warrior in plated armor and ducked past a mage with a smoking staff. She'd never seen it like this, not even after the slime cull week.
Then she heard the word again:
"Goblins."
The Board
Selena squeezed her way toward the quest board and stood on her toes.
The majority of quests were stamped with a red seal, "Goblin Activity Verified". Some listed nearby forests. Others pointed toward shallow cave systems or abandoned ruins. A few even noted missing persons.
Her eyes darted down toward the Copper-tier jobs.
"Clean a tavern.""Chop firewood.""Help repair fencing."
That was it.
No slimes.
Selena: "They're all gone…"
No beginner kill-quests. No safe targets. It was all goblins now. And the low-ranked jobs were, frankly, chores. The kind of work you took when you had no choice.
A lump formed in her throat.
Just yesterday she'd vowed to get stronger. Now here she was, staring at a wall of chances to do just that. And yet…
Across the hall, voices rose.
Male Adventurer: "Told you already, Lio, we're not dragging dead weight again."
Selena turned toward the sound.
A boy, no older than herself, with messy brown hair and hand-me-down armor, stood with clenched fists. Lio, the copper-ranked rookie she'd seen once or twice around the dorms.
His face was red with frustration.
Lio: "I fought with you guys last week—"
Female Archer: "And you froze when the goblins showed up. We almost died."
Lio: "I got overwhelmed! I said I was sorry—"
Male Adventurer: "Not good enough. We need fighters, not baggage."
Lio's jaw tightened. Then, quietly, he turned away and walked off toward the dorm wing, alone.
Selena felt something twist in her gut. That could have been her. Could still be her.
A Dangerous Temptation
She turned back to the quest board, eyes narrowing on a Goblin Scout Hunt near Silverpine.
The reward was good. Better than anything she'd seen before. Enough coin to buy gear, even start building a reputation.
She didn't notice Red standing behind her until he spoke.
Red: "Don't."
She flinched.
Selena: "I could take the weakest one. Just scouting goblins. No nest, no ambushes…"
Red: "And what if you find more than scouts? What if they find you first?"
She turned to face him, eyes burning with the memory of yesterday's story.
Selena: "You said they need to be stopped. That people don't take them seriously until it's too late."
Red: "And you think I'm underestimating them?"
Selena: "I think I need to do something."
Red's expression didn't change. But his voice dropped to a firm, unyielding tone.
Red: "You're not ready."
She said nothing.
Red: "A blade you can barely swing. A body still recovering. You've trained one day. Goblins? They live for ambushes. One mistake, just one, and you're not a hero. You're just a womb."
Selena froze.
The hall buzzed around them, but that word hit like a punch.
Red: "That's the truth. You want to make a difference? Then train until your arm doesn't shake. Until your blade is an extension of your will. Until you know you can kill them faster than they can get close."
He stepped closer, voice low but razor-sharp.
Red: "Or you'll end up like the girls I couldn't save. And I won't let that happen again."
Resolve, Reforged
Selena looked down.
She clenched her fists so hard her knuckles whitened. Every instinct screamed to prove herself, to not just stand here doing nothing.
But Red was right.
The truth wasn't about wanting to help. It was about being able to help.
She took a deep breath. The tension in her shoulders didn't fade, but it shifted, hardening into something steelier.
Selena: "Then I'll get ready."
Red nodded, approval flickering behind his eyes.
Red: "We start again tomorrow. Harder."
Selena: "Tonight too. I'll practice before bed."
He almost smirked.
Red: "Now you're thinking like an adventurer."
The quest board loomed before her like a wall, not of wood and parchment, but of silent rejection.
Each title was a story waiting to become a tragedy.
She bit her lower lip.
Just days ago, she'd fought a slime with all the grace of a flailing child. Now, the world expected her to skip the tutorial and walk into a war zone. And yet... wasn't this the point? To fight, to protect, to become someone stronger than what she used to be?
Her fingers hovered over a scout extermination request.
Low-risk. Supposedly. Just a quick sweep. Good pay.
"I could take it. I could ask someone to party with me. Maybe Lio? He's not useless, just… scared. Like me."
Then she remembered Red's words.
"If you go in there thinking goblins are stupid, you won't come out."
She pulled her hand back.
A rookie trying to play hero was just another statistic. Or worse, another tool in the goblins' vile system.
Selena swallowed hard, turned away from the board, and whispered under her breath.
Selena: "Not yet. But soon."
Somewhere behind her, a party cheered, they'd just claimed a high-value goblin nest raid.
She didn't look back.
She just walked toward the training grounds, heart heavy but burning.
There, under the torchlight, Lio was practicing alone. His strikes were sloppy, his footwork too narrow, but he kept going, again and again.
Selena paused.
Then quietly, she stepped forward, pulled her own training sword from her back, and stood beside him.
Selena: "Mind if I join?"
Lio looked over, surprised — then nodded.
The clack of wood-on-wood echoed through the night.
Neither of them would be rookies forever.