Victor: ...You know this is crazy right?

The group is sat at a table with onlookers staring at them as they flip through the quest papers. The wooden board that was once swamped with quest papers is now barren.

Darren: Well, we’ll just do as much as we can and see where that gets us.

Ignoring the skeptic stares of bystanders, the group exits the Guild Hub and proceed to plan out their method of tackling the quests.

Darren: Alrighty! We’ll split ourselves up into two groups. One will focus mainly on hunting monsters while the other will deal with the material gathering and other miscellaneous quests.

Sharon: With Tatsuo’s strong sense of smell, he’ll obviously be in the group for collecting materials. As for the hunting group, I think our next best option would be me and Queenie.

Victor (pouts): Aaaww~!! I want to hunt monsters~!!!

Sharon stares back at Victor.

Sharon: ...This is because you just want to use your steam gauntlet isn’t it?

Victor: Hell yeah~!!!

Sharon sighs, “In that case, Victor can come hunt monsters with me. That’ll leave the rest of the group for everything else. So it’ll be Darren, Queenie and Tatsuo then.”

“WAIT! WAIT! WAIT!” - Darren shouts frantically. The group stops briefly at his sudden outcry.

Darren: Why does the material gathering group need three people? Surely the monster hunting group could use more people seeing how much more dangerous it is…!

Sharon: Would you need that many people to be hunting slimes and insects…? Besides, we already discussed this. Most of the quests consist of foraging for goods. Of course it’ll be better for this group to have the extra member. It’s going to take up the most time.

Darren: T-then in that case…! I volunteer to be in the monster hunting group instead…! I’d feel safer that way…!

Sharon was confused by Darren’s argument. First he was advocating how dangerous the monster hunting group was, but now he contradicted himself by saying he’d feel safer by being in the group instead.

“ ...Didn’t you just tell me how dangerous the monster hunting group is? Besides, you’d be with Queenie and Tatsuo. You can't get any safer than that–” - Sharon gets interrupted by Darren placing his hand on her shoulder.

“Please Sharon. I insist.” - Darren says in a dramatic, serious tone.

Is he crazy? Is what Sharon thought. Something strange was definitely going on with him. He has had dark eyebags for days, and now here he was spouting illogical drivels.

Sharon: Well! Alright then! You two will be in charge of hunting the monsters. The rest of us will go look for materials, I guess!

Darren clutches his chest tight, as if he had just gone through a panic attack. Just being near either Tatsuo or Queenie was suffocating for him. He couldn’t imagine the stress he’d face if he had to be stuck alone with the two people that has him painted as a potential target, even if Sharon would be there with him.

The group separates to complete their respective tasks.

*In a thick forest nearby, the material group scans their surroundings.

Sharon: Are you ready Tatsuo?

Tatsuo: Yeah. Go ahead and give me the first item.

Sharon plucks out a herb from her bag and brings it forward to Tatsuo for him to smell. Tatsuo takes the herb away from Sharon and begins to sniff it.

Tatsuo: Hm. Yeah. I smell it. But it’s pretty faint, meaning it isn’t close to us. Let me smell the other stuff we head to gather. We can start off with whatever is closest to us to save time.

Sharon: Oh yea! That’s smart!

Once again, Queenie simply observes from the sideline avoiding attention to herself. Sharon runs up to Tatsuo to give him the next item to sniff.

Meanwhile Victor and Darren are already in progress in eliminating slimes in a vast lush field.

“Hhaaarrrgh!” - Victor cries as he rears his arm up towards a slime.

Victor punches the slime and it explodes on impact.

“...Well darn. This isn’t as fun as I imagined it to be.” - Victor says looking down at the slime’s remains that is now a puddle of liquid.

“These things die so easily, I don’t even need to use my gauntlet.” He bends down to collect the slime bubble; a rubbery ball substance that’s left behind after a slime dies.

“Yeah these things are pathetically weak. It’s hard imagining these things posing a threat to anything. But for people that have no experience in fighting such as you, they’re good for practicing body coordination. I’ve heard most starting adventurers train on them.” Darren says as Victor misses a slime leaping away from his punch.

Darren: Why don’t you use your gauntlet anyways if you’re that eager? Ya know, for the funsies.

Victor: Thing is, I can’t use it too much. I cripple myself everytime I use it. Just using it once already strains my body. Around the second use, it feels like my bones are about to break…!

Darren: You can’t adjust it to make it go any weaker?

“Nope. Dr. Crogsbell already tweaked it for me. I just have to live with it. I guess it’s still cool enough that I can normally punch something with it though.” - Victor says while he successfully punches a slime with his gauntlet.

Darren: Now I kinda wish Sharon was also here. I wanna try throw a marble at one of these to see what would happen.

Victor: Gee, is this really that boring for you?

“Of course. This is braindead easy for me.” - Darren says, wiping away the residue slime off his leg. “But I much rather prefer this than hanging out with the other group.”

Darren exclaims merrily with his arms outstretched out, “AAAH~!!! I feel refreshed!!”

Darren takes in the exuberant moment. He has found his solace now that he was away from Tatsuo and Queenie.

Victor: ...By the way. Is it just me, or have you kind of been on edge lately?

“Yeah…Ever since I found out that Queenie killed the mayor and took the core, it’s been like that…” - Darren casually mutters out.

Victor: Hm???

Victor: Wait. Hold up. What did you just say about that part with Queenie?

Upon realizing it, Darren internally gasps, his body freezing up.

‘F*CK!’

Darren (thinking): Did I just say that out loud??!! I was too absorbed in killing slimes that I actually became braindead!

Darren’s thoughts traces back to Tatsuo’s words in the forest where he threatened to kill anyone that found out about Queenie’s secret.

‘I royally screwed up!’ – Darren exclaims in his head in deep regret.

Darren: O-oh whaaat~?? I-I was just saying how when I found out that Queenie was a killer player, it shook me to my core…

If him accidentally exposing Queenie’s secret wasn’t going to get him killed, then the cringe dialogue he just spoke surely will.

“Oh my gosh…” – Victor gasps in appall.

Victor: Do you have a thing going on with Queenie or something?

Darren: No…! That’s not it…! It’s just that…you know…You wouldn’t expect something like that from Queenie right…?!

Victor: Hmmm…I suppose so…How did you find this out?

‘AH–!’ - Darren‘s body freezes to a still.

Darren: Errm…I just so happened to secretly caught her in the action…You know all those times that Queenie spent sitting on that toilet? She was actually out and about meeting other men…! Think about it…! Realistically, there’s no way anybody would be stuck inside that bathroom for that long! She’s been slowly building her harem collection of men…!

‘WHAT THE F*CK AM I EVEN SAYING??!!’ – Darren screams inside internally.

Victor’’s face lights up in realization, “Oh!”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Darren: Yes…! Where do you think Queenie gets all that money from?! That ragged cloak of hers…It’s so that she could hide herself from the men that she had already duped! Why does she disown it the moment she joined us, HMMM??

Victor: Huh…I never really thought about that…

Darren: Mmhmm! So fiendish! And so uh…Try to keep this a secret yeah? Make sure nobody else knows about this…!

Victor: I got it…! But wow…I didn’t took Queenie to be such a person…! I took her more to be like an innocent maiden.

‘Neither did I Victor…! Neither did I…But for a different reason…!’ - Darren says to himself with tears running down his cheeks. For Queenie wasn’t actually a player, but a murderer.

Victor: Well it’s a good thing we now know. It’s possible she could’ve targeted us.

Darren: ……

Darren: Yes…

The two of them resume hunting slimes. After thinking about the newfound knowledge of their guildmate, Victor suggests if they should share this information with Tatsuo.

“NO!” - Darren suddenly shouts, cutting Victor off his sentence. He stomps his foot down, splatting a nearby slime.

Darren: You fool! Do you think Tatsuo would be the type of person to be interested in such trivial matters!? That guy shows as much emotion as a cardboard box! Our feeble mind can’t comprehend what goes on in that guy’s head!

“...Alright then.” - Victor says unassured.

Darren lets out a sigh of relief, astonished that he managed to get out of the situation. His heartbeat raced faster than whenever he was in action. Moreover, he couldn’t believe Victor believed the hogwash he pulled out of his butt. But that didn’t matter. What mattered was that his life warrant was extended. Hopefully.

*Back over at the gathering group.

Both Sharon and Queenie can’t be helped but be amazed by what they’re seeing unfold before them.

One after another, Tatsuo quickly and swiftly drops off bundles of different materials; going back and forth disappearing into the forest, and returning with a slew of newly gathered goods.

“Wow…” Sharon gasped to herself. Her voice slightly shook from the incredulous sight.

Sharon: There wasn’t a reason for us to be here…He could do this all by himself…!

Tatsuo returns with a bounty of mixed herbs carried by his green outer shirt that he has turned into a make-shift basket behind him. He unloads his haul in front of Sharon while disposing three sheets of paper with them.

Tatsuo: Kay. These three are done. I’m moving onto the next set of quest listings. I pretty much know where everything else is, as well as the layout of this forest.

Sharon: Amazing…That’s really impressive…! Who knew you’d be so good at this! It’s like, it’s all second-nature to you!

Tatsuo: Well, I’ve used to do something like this all the time before…

Tatsuo then hands over a map to Sharon with markings on it.

Tatsuo: Meet me over at these locations through the orders of the numbers I labeled here. You know how to read it right?

“Of course I do! Who was it that taught you how to read a map??!!” - Sharon says riled up. She was offended that Tatsuo would dare ask her that.

Tatsuo: Okay, I’ll see you both in a bit.

Tatsuo then leaps off, disappearing into the woods. Sharon looks down at the gathered materials Tatsuo brought them. “Better start storing these I guess…” She says as she reaches into her pouch for marbles.

*Several hours have passed, and it is approaching evening time.

Victor and Darren are now hunting another monster species; one that resembles small sheeps.

Victor stares at the face of one of these sheep monsters, and it stares right back at him.

Darren: What’s wrong? Just hit it.

Victor: I can’t! It just looks so…wholesome, ya know? I’d feel bad hitting this thing, let alone killing it. I mean just look at it. It’s hard to believe that these would pose a threat to anybody.

Darren: It’s just another common issue of Irene being riddled with invasive species. You should know too that Irene is one of, if not, the safest place on Beria. The lack of prey in this region allows for creatures like these to easily overpopulate. That’s why you’ll often see daily postings of monster hunting requests posted in towns everywhere to counteract this.

Victor: I see…

Victor: Welp, sorry lil’ fella…!

Victor attacks one of the sheep-like monsters, but the cotton around its body suddenly expands; shrouding its entire body in wool acting like armor. Victor’s arm sinks into it, catching him by surprise, and then immediately bounces off.

Victor: Woah…! I didn’t know it could do that!

Darren: Oh, right…These things will grow their wool to act as defense against attacks. Careful not to hit them too hard, the stronger you hit them, the more powerful the recoil will be. You’re gonna have to use enough force to break through that line of defense. So you should use that gauntlet.

Victor punches, unleashing the power of his steam gauntlet against the sheep creature. The body of the sheep bounces off from the ground, finally landing again with its body lifeless. Victor’s body twinges from the pain of using the gauntlet.

Victor: Ack…!

Darren: You okay?

Victor: Yeah…I’m fine…It just hurts…!

He shakes his arm after it stops trembling.

Victor: Phew! But how much more of these things do we need to hunt?

Darren slams his foot against the head of the sheep creature, felling it in one go.

Darren: This is my twelfth one…So with the one that you did, it would make thirteen altogether. So we need to hunt down seventeen more.

Victor gives an exasperated sigh.

Victor: Still that much!?

Victor: We still have two more quests to finish…!

Darren: Well, it was pretty much impossible to finish every quests on the billboard to begin with, much less in one day too. In the end we’re just trying to see how much we can do to earn the most reward.

The sheep creatures begin fleeing from the two.

Victor: Oh no!

Darren: Dangit! They’re planning on dragging this out again!

The two begin chasing after the herd. A person stops one of the creatures in its track and punches it into the ground. To Darren and Victor’s surprise they spot Tatsuo up ahead.

Victor: Tatsuo?! What are you doing here?!

The two then notice Sharon and Queenie trailing behind him.

Victor: What–?! You two too?! What happened to your quests?

Sharon: We finished them already.

“HUH???” - Victor and Darren, both say simultaneously and flabbergasted.

Darren: A-a-all finished as in…L-like every single–

Sharon: Yes. All of them.

“You guys were still doing this?” - Tatsuo asks while holding up the dead sheep creature he just punched.

Sharon: Come on now, let's head back to cash in all the quests. It’s starting to get late too.

Victor: W-wait! Hold on! Lets at least finish up this last quest! It won’t take long with all of us here now!

Sharon: Oh. Sorry. When I mean we did all the quests already I meant we completed all of it, including your guys.

Darren: I BEG YOUR PARDON???

Tatsuo: Yep. We’ve already collected thirty sets of fresh Bjerk horns along with the 1000 pounds of wool.

Sharon: Yeah,Tatsuo pretty much cleared out all the quests by himself! You guys should’ve seen him! He was zip zooming around the forest everywhere! The whole material grind was done in no time! In the end we had so much extra time on our hands, we decided to just move onto the monster hunting quests as well!

Victor and Darren: ……

The two boys were floored, unable to reciprocate back an appropriate response. However, the fact that their group finished up the quests that they were tasked with left a blow to their ego.

‘So then what was the point of us even doing anything…?!’ - Victor and Darren say in unison in their minds.

*The scene shifts ahead at the Flavrence Guild Hub.

Everyone is proceeding with their day as normal. Guildmates hanging out and talking amongst themselves. People from different guilds and adventurers lined up at the reception to have their inquiries resolved. A person walks away from a service desk as the receptionist calls for the next people in line.

Tatsuo and the group walks up casting away all the quests they took. The receptionist looks in confusion as the papers flutter on her desk, forming a pile. The people behind the group stares at them, heads in the background turning in curiosity.

Tatsuo: Here. All these are done.

Sharon walks up to the counter with an armful of marbles. One-by-one she breaks them open, followed by clumps of different items and materials that the group gathered for each quests popping out into existence. Everyone is left stunned as the Guild Hub slowly gets filled with the various items that the group had gathered. Eventually nearly half the Guild Hub was taken up by their collection. Tatsuo then goes on to list off each of the items that they’ve brought back and which quest that it pertained to the receptionist.

“This…This is all the local quests that was posted earlier today…!” - The receptionist says as she goes through the quest papers.

The onlooking crowd begins to murmur in disbelief.

Bystander: Huh…?! No way…They cleared out an entire bulletin…?!

Another Bystander: Also, how are they pulling out their items like that? They just popped out of nowhere!. Is that teleportation?!

Sharon can’t help but feel giddy from all the attention, contrasting from Victor who instead feels nervous.

Receptionist: We…! We need to inspect the monster materials to confirm that it is fresh!

The receptionists hurry over to the materials, carefully examining them.

“These…are legitimate…! They’re all fresh…!” - An receptionist exclaims.

The crowd clamors, slowly turning itself into an uproar.

Victor walks over to Darren to whisper to him.

Victor: Hey…I didn’t think we’d be getting this much attention…!

Darren: Well, we did just clear an entire quest board in a single day. That’s an impressive achievement no matter how you look at it.

‘It’s even more ridiculous that it was practically done by one person…!’ – Darren thinks to himself while looking at Tatsuo.

Tatsuo speaks to the receptionist.

Tatsuo: So? Our rewards?

“E-eh! Huh..?! You want them right now…? We’ll go and prepare them for you right now…!” - The receptionist stutters as she runs off to the back room.

Victor: Nice! With this, we can rub cash in that doorman’s face! We can enter the auction house with this!

Amongst the crowd of onlookers, the group has managed to capture the attention of a grey-haired, middle age looking man, wearing a dull green jacket, decorated with gold designs and rims. The grey haired man inspects the situation while sitting at one of the tables, enjoying his drink.

Grey-Haired Man: Hm? What’s this? Those guys managed to clear out an entire quest board…?

“Hmmm…How interesting…” - The grey haired man says inquisitively to himself. His head slides into one of his hands while he lifts his drink closer to his face.