Waking up in an alley smelling of garbage and regret wasn't exactly a new experience for me, but it was the first time I'd done it in another world. After my grand performance at the guild, I hadn't had enough coin for a room at the inn. The few coppers I'd looted from the goblins in the field barely covered a loaf of stale bread and a wedge of hard cheese. Power, I was quickly learning, doesn't pay for a bed.
I dusted myself off, the cheap linen shirt already feeling grimy. Confidence was high, but my wallet was empty. Time to change that. I walked back to the Adventurer's Guild, my stomach rumbling.
The morning crowd was thinner, mostly consisting of adventurers nursing hangovers or preparing for the day's work. Gideon and his two goons were huddled at a corner table, speaking in hushed, angry tones. Gideon shot me a look of pure venom as I walked in, his hand unconsciously rubbing the newly dented spot on his breastplate. I ignored him. He was yesterday's problem.
Talia was at the counter, looking much more refreshed than I felt. A small smile touched her lips when she saw me. "Good morning," she said, her voice a little shy. "I trust you found... accommodations?"
"Of a sort," I said, sidestepping the question. "I'm here for work."
I walked over to the quest board. It was the usual spread. A G-Rank request to find a lost cat. An F-Rank to gather ten bundles of some specific herb. A D-Rank to escort a merchant to the next town. All of them sounded like a colossal waste of time. I wasn't here to be an errand boy; I was here to optimize my build.
My eyes scanned the board, looking for something different. Tucked away in a corner, under a pile of other requests, was a piece of yellowed parchment. The ink was faded. It had clearly been there for a while.
[Quest Rank: E]
[Client: Megiddo Elder Council]
[Request: Goblin Nest Culling]
[Details: A large goblin nest has taken root in the old quarry caves to the east. Numbers are estimated in the hundreds. Eradicate the threat.]
[Reward: 2 Gold Pieces]
Two gold. For an E-Rank quest, that was an insane amount of money. Most quests at that level paid in silver, if you were lucky. But the details told the real story. "Hundreds." That wasn't a culling; it was a small-scale war.
"I wouldn't recommend that one," Talia's soft voice said from behind me.
I turned. She was looking at the parchment with a worried expression. "It's been on the board for over a month," she explained. "It looks like an E-Rank because a single goblin is barely a threat. But the sheer number of them makes it a deathtrap. It's a war of attrition."
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She leaned in a little closer, lowering her voice. "A party of four silver-ranked adventurersâthat's two full ranks above Gideonâtried to clear it. They managed to kill fifty or sixty before they were overwhelmed and had to fight their way out. They said it was hopeless. The caves are a maze, and the goblins just keep coming. You run out of stamina, run out of potions, and then you die."
She looked at me with genuine concern. "No one will take it. It's not a quest for skill; it's a test of endurance that no one can pass."
I just stared at the parchment. My gamer brain, the cold, calculating machine that had spent years theory-crafting and finding exploits, began to work. Every single downside Talia listed was translating into a massive, flashing green upside in my head.
War of attrition? My Stamina stat was already higher than any normal Level 20, and with no cap, it would only get higher. I don't need potions when every level-up is a full heal.
Hundreds of weak mobs? That's not a chore, it's a grinding paradise. A non-stop, infinitely respawning XP farm.
No one wants it? Perfect. No competition. The entire dungeon instance would be mine.
This wasn't a suicide mission. This was the single most efficient leveling opportunity I could have possibly asked for. It was a gift.
I reached out and plucked the parchment from the board.
"I'll take it," I said, walking back to the counter.
Talia's jaw dropped. "By yourself? But... you're a Novice! You can't possiblyâ"
A harsh laugh cut her off. It was Gideon. He and his cronies had stood up and were walking over, their faces masks of ridicule.
"Hear that, boys?" Gideon sneered, his voice loud enough for the whole guild to hear. "The bugged Novice is going on a suicide run! Thinks because he got in one lucky shot, he's a one-man army."
"He'll probably get lost and eaten before he even finds the caves," one of his goons added.
The other adventurers started to whisper and snicker. The awe from the previous night had completely evaporated, replaced by the certainty that they were watching a fool walk to his own grave.
I placed the parchment on the counter in front of Talia. I didn't even glance at Gideon. His opinion was as valuable as the dirt on my boots.
"Is there an advance on the payment?" I asked Talia, my voice calm and steady.
She looked from me to Gideon, then back again, her expression a mix of terror and frustration. "Y-yes," she stammered, pulling out a small pouch. "Ten silver pieces. But are you sure? This isâ"
"I'm sure," I said, taking the pouch. The coins felt heavy and real in my hand.
I walked out of the guild, leaving the whispers and mockery behind me. My first stop was the blacksmith. I bought the cheapest set of hardened leather armor they hadâa simple cuirass, vambraces, and greaves. It was ugly, but it would stop a clumsy goblin shank. With my remaining silver, I bought a weapon. It was a plain, functional iron mace. A solid head on a wooden haft, perfectly balanced. An elegant tool for a simple job.
Equipped and ready, I walked out of the town gates, the new mace resting on my shoulder. The guard gave me a pitiful look, as if he knew he'd never see me again. Let them think what they want. They saw a suicide mission.
I saw a target-rich environment.