"Jobs are given out by the Guild, requesting various tasks to be completed by adventurers," Darlina addressed Claire's question. Grabbing the attention of one of the women working in the Guild, the woman quickly made her way over to where Claire and Darlina were standing.
The woman was a brunette, having a heart-shaped face that made you think of a cute girl next door type. Her eyes a dazzling blue. With the uniform slightly exposing a decent amount of cleavage in addition to the skirt, it was a combination that would be appreciated by many of the men.
As Claire looked at her, she could tell that the woman received lots of attention from the surrounding males. Rolling her eyes, she said, "Even in the simulation, guys can be preoccupied with a woman's appearance." Claire sighed and was glad that Han wasn't around to oggle the woman. "He seems to have a knack for surrounding himself with attractive women." Brushing the thought away, she concentrated on the woman.
"Senior, may I be of assistance? My name is Jasmine." Jasmine curtsied to Darlina.
Darlina gently tapped a hand on Claire's shoulder, "This is Claire. She has special privileges, which the office should be receiving soon. I would like you to follow us during the training period. As someone going through the training process, Claire needs to be caught up with what's happens in the Adventurer's Guild." Darlina commanded the woman.
Listening to how Darlina was conversing with the woman, Claire got the impression that the Darlinas' must have significant authority inside of the simulation. "It makes sense, considering the Darlinas are robot designed by Star and Moon, so they should have more authority than some person being simulated." Claire couldn't help but think.
Jasmine respectfully nodded at Darlina's words, "If I may ask, where would you like me to start?"
"Start with jobs and how they function in the Guild," Darlina requested.
Looking to Claire, Jasmine said, "To not assume what you know about jobs, I will be starting from the beginning."
"Thank you, I appreciate your efforts on this matter," Claire thank the woman.
Smiling cutely, Jasmine dove into the explanation. "The Guild was established to help connect the average person with adventurers. Connecting with adventurers primarily involves making requests to have adventurers complete a task. This is what a job is at the Guild." Jasmine directed Claire's attention to a row of workers behind a desk. Above the workers, there were signs, the two main ones being "Non-Adventurers" and "Adventurers."
"The row of workers are divided into two main groups, for those that are Adventurers and those who are not. Non-Adventurers are people placing a request to the Guild. Before a request is made into a job, it'll be categorized as either 'instant' or 'requires approval.'" Jasmine walked Claire through the process.
Thinking of the two categories, Claire asked, "I'm assuming 'instant' are requests that can be immediately converted into jobs?"
Seeing that Claire was picking up the information well, Jasmine nodded, "Yes, that's correct. And 'requires approval' is then sent to the managers. If the request is sensitive, then it's sent to the Guild Leader, who makes a determination whether the Guild will accept responsibility of the request." Pausing a moment, Jasmine looked to be trying to organize the information before presenting it to Claire. "The moment a request is made into a job, the Guild is taking responsibility that the individual's request will be completed. This guarantee is why we have to systematically sort through the hundreds of requests we receive in a day so that our reputation isn't affected."
"Then how do adventurers fit into this?" Claire asked for clarification from the woman.
"Adventurers are the people that receive the jobs in exchange for Guild Points and increase in levels. Depending on the level, the jobs available to the adventurer can vary in terms of the difficulty and reward amount. As an adventurer completes a certain number of jobs, their reputation will increase both inside and outside of the Guild. This reputation is what allows an adventurer to take an exam to level up." Jasmine explained.
Clarie wondered about the rewards, asking, "How about the Guild Points?"
"The Guild Points can be thought of as a currency exclusive to the Guild. It helps to streamline how resources are distributed across the Adventurer Guild locations. The Guild Points can be used for purchasing items at the Guild's Auction or Store. And if the adventurer is hoping to make purchases outside of the Guild, then we can convert the Guild Points into local currencies for a small fee."
Raising an eyebrow, Claire was alarmed, "You charge adventurers to get their money converted into a different currency?"
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"Yes," Jasmine nodded, looking to understand the surprise by Claire. "The reason why we charge a fee is to cover our costs of keeping numerous currencies on site. We're kind of like a bank, so we keep track of all the financial matters for adventurers. We've also recognized that many businesses will accept Guild Points to help attract business from adventurers." The woman smiled, "Due to the nature of the Guild, our currency is one of the most stable currencies and has a large amount of trust associated with it."
Listening to what was being told, Claire didn't realize how much thought Star and Moon put into this financial system, which would be valuable for people to maintain a certain level of the past society before the Modified Humans appeared.
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End of Part 1
It was surprising that a simulation would mimic the real world to such a degree. If Claire hadn't known before, she'd have believed Darlina had taken her into another world. Inside of the Guild were already people known as adventurers going about their business. Since Claire had first arrived at the training area, she surmised that the adventurers were not actual people but instead were simulations.
Darlina's eyes noticed what Claire was thinking, saying, "Not all the adventurers are part of the simulation. Instead, they are people, like yourself, but from other shelters around the world." The robot dropped a bombshell on the girl.
Jaw-dropping, Claire's mind went blank, not knowing what to think about what the robot had just told her.
"The Fort that you're currently living inside is not the norm. Many places around the world have been overrun by the Modified Humans and Unexpected Creatures, forcing people to seek asylum inside of the shelters. Some shelters aren't built under a structure like a Fort, but instead strategically placed where people would encounter them as they fled the cities. The sizes of the city are different, based on the projections we ran." Darlina explained to Claire, a grin on its face, from seeing the girl's expression.
In her mind, Claire imagined walking through the forest after having fled areas filled with the monsters and stumbling upon the underground cities built by Star and Moon. A part of her wondered how the surviving people were able to enter, considering they wouldn't have the material that Raven had injected into Claire and Hannah. "How are people able to enter? I thought they needed to have special rights, like Hannah and I have?" Claire asked Darlina.
Darlina nodded at Claire's question. "That's indeed the case. Star and Moon has a network of security personnel that live like regular people. Their task is to wait to be activated in case something were to happen on the global level." Its cheerful demeanor changed when it talked about the next part, "The main issue is the security personnel can't be everywhere, so not all the underground cities are being utilized since someone from the security department isn't nearby to allow survivors into the city."
Hearing about the hardships people are likely going through, Claire instead wanted to focus on matters that she can actively work to control. Though it was saddening to hear how people are struggling to survive, it was something Claire didn't have the luxury to concern herself with.
As though sympathizing with Claire's emotions, Darlina said to Jasmine, "Continue."
Bowing to the robot, Jasmine then moved on with the tour. "When it comes to jobs, adventurers will be able to select from a wide range of requests."
The three of them walked over to a large board with papers stuck to it. Several adventurers were in front of the board, carefully combing through the sheets of paper as though searching for something.
"This is where you'll be able to select a job to acquire. The papers placed on these boards are for those below level ten. They range from doing common household tasks, collecting material outside the city in the forest, and killing off monsters meant for those below level ten." Jasmin carefully pulled out the thumbtack keeping a paper attached to the board. She handed the paper over to Claire.
Taking the paper from the woman, Claire was curious about what would be on it. "Cleaning the house of a family of three."
"Yes. This is a request for an adventurer to take care of household tasks for a specified period. Likely, the mother is searching for help to take care of their home. Though there are times when the request is coming from the father, who may not have as much experience." Moving closer to Claire, Jasmine pointed at points on the paper. "As you can see, each of the jobs has information to help adventurers determine whether they want to take on a job. It lists out how many Guild Points they'd receive upon completion of the requests, this one is special with how it'll pay out Guild Points each day. There's also how many days the job requires until it's finished."
Jasmine's finger pointed to a corner of the paper on the upper-right hand side. There were four and a half gold stars. "These stars allow adventurers to know whether the person giving out a request is someone they want to work with. At the end of the request, the adventurer is able to fill out a survey on their experience and rate the requestor."
"How about the adventurer? Are people making requests able to file a complaint if they aren't satisfied?" Claire asked the woman.
Jasmine nodded, "Yes. Depending on the complaint, the adventurer would receive a variety of penalties, ranging from a decrease in money received or even a decrease in level. In the worst case, an adventurer could lose their license."
"What happens if someone gives a false rating or complaint?" Claire could picture adventurers being targeted and bullied by others who had a malicious agenda. Upon asking the question, Claire was startled to see a sinister smile on the woman's face.
"That's not something a person would enjoy doing. Such behavior would negatively reflect on the Guild, so we would send out an investigative team to determine who needed to be punished." Jasmine explained in a low intimidating voice.
Stepping back, Claire swallowed nervously.
Changing to a friendly expression, Jasmine followed up with, "But it rarely gets to that point. We employ a large number of people who study the data received from adventurers and requestors to determine is something suspicious is going on, so we can quickly handle the matter before it causes damage for either party."