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"Excellent job, Lancelot!" said the receptionist, Linda, clapping. "You\'ve passed the first test. Now, you\'ll need to demonstrate your knowledge of monster behavior and hunting tactics. We have a written exam for that. Follow me."

I shadowed her to a quiet corner of the guild house, where I was given a stack of papers and a pen. I poured over the questions, racking my brain for answers. Luckily, it wasn\'t so hard, and I was able to answer most of them correctly.

"Great work, Lancelot!" said Linda, collecting his papers. "You\'re almost there. For the final task, you\'ll need to join a team of experienced hunters and your fellow newbies and work together and clear a minimum Rank-C quest. It\'s a dangerous mission, but I\'m sure you\'ll do fine. There\'s a team waiting for you in the courtyard."

Team . . .

That made me pause.

I expected teamwork, like maybe going into the forest and defeating beasts . . . alone.

I was hoping it was like that, but I guess teamwork was really teamwork, like working together with a group.

I made my way to the courtyard, where we my supposed team was waiting. There, I saw a bunch of groups, but the players who stood out from the rest were probably those guys in shiny blue armor.

From the looks of their badge, they were a seasoned group of hunters clad in armor and armed with powerful weapons. There was even one guy with a platinum badge. I felt a pang of nerves, but I was determined to get that badge.

"Oh no." I heard Lina caught her breath. "Why is he here?" she followed with a sigh.

Looking at where her eyes were pointing, I found that she was looking at the only player with the platinum badge.

"That\'s Rodrick, a formidable player holding a platinum badge. A testament to his skill and experience," Linda expounded, but her face didn\'t contain any hint that she was happy with seeing this Rodrick guy.

"His stats are rumored to be nearing a thousand, making him a force to be reckoned with in any encounter. Despite his impressive abilities, he is known to be arrogant and often looked down on other players."

ραпdα---nᴏνa| сom Observing this guy. He was in his thirties. Rodrick was tall and lean, with broad shoulders and muscular arms. He carried himself with confidence, and his piercing gaze was enough to intimidate most players.

"While his skills are undeniable, Rodrick\'s arrogance often got in the way of forming meaningful relationships with other players," Linda continued. "He believed himself to be superior to others and was quick to dismiss anyone who didn\'t meet his high standards. Despite this, there are still those who admired him for his skill and looked up to him as a powerful figure in this lands."

I kept my mouth shut when Linda\'s tone suddenly shifted to one of pity with a hint of a sigh. "It looks like you\'ll be assigned to them."

There was something in her eyes that didn\'t sit well with me like she was looking at me on my coffin.

"Good luck."

I didn\'t comment and went to Rodrick\'s group with Linda making sure to stay at a safe distance from the group.

"Sir Rodrick," Linda greeted. "This is Lancelot. It looks like he will be in your group."

Rodrick barely spared me a glance and ignored me altogether. His two long swords on his back gleamed on my face. While his comrade, Lillian, a black mage with a silver badge (500 ATP), studied me up and down.

"Aren\'t you that famous kid the Academy was talking about?" she said with fake surprise. Her green eyes widened while her red lips kicked up a seductive smile. 

"Ha? Famous?" A skinny man walked in his spiky hair in colorful colors. His name was Edgar, and his face was pointy with big sunken eyes. He held a Bronze badge dangling on his neck and from the way he dressed, he seemed to be a Hunter.

An old man laughed next. "You know, that newbie player who had a grand class of \'The Chosen One\' with already two hundred ATP even though he was only a month in here."

Nearing five hundred, I wanted to correct him but decided against it.

The old man, whose name was Maverick, was on the fatter and bulkier side. His hair on his arms where thick and grey with shades of white with a bushy white beard on his chin. The hair on his beard and limbs took all the hair from his bald hair, I supposed.

He had a Golden badge (+700 ATP), at least.  And from the layers of his armor, it was safe to say that he was a Tank.

"Is that right?" At that point, Rodrick stared me in the eyes.

I felt small under his gaze, but I never looked away.

"Uh-Oh. Rodrick doesn\'t like BUG players," teased Lilian.

"Who does?" Edgar muttered sourly. "Those privilege pricks have it easy just because they have a cheat."

He snorted and spat on the ground. "Hate \'em all."

Great . . .

"In that case, I will go to another group," I said.

I heard gasped and then silence – and then the silence grew.

Rodrick laughed a little, a look of obvious contempt on his face. "I don\'t think you have any choice in here, newbie. But maybe if you can defeat me, I\'ll reconsider it."

"There will be no fighting inside this building," said Linda in a hard voice. "Be careful of what you speak and do in here, sir Rodrick. I can have your badge and hunter status removed."

". . ." Rodrick stifled a laugh. "It was only a joke, Linda.  Do you think I don\'t know the rules inside this town?"

Before Linda could open her mouth, Rodrick had already addressed the others, earning a pout from Linda\'s lips.

"Let\'s move out and get this done and over with."

Rodrick and the others went ahead, while Edgar left me with a warning.

"Watch your back, noob. Rodrick\'s anger is a terrible thing when aroused."

Well, this was a nice start. I thought to myself.

I was surprised when Soarsie passed over me without batting an eyelid like she didn\'t recognize me. Not that I was expecting her to since there wasn\'t even a time that we talked with each other.

A total of four experienced fighters with six noobs in their ranks. This ought to be a memorable journey.

I hated it when I was right, though. From all the missions that Rodrick had to choose, he chose a Rank-A quest despite knowing that he had six newbies in his ranks.

He just picked one rank shy from the S-rank quest. I thought. He might as well pick it up if he wanted us dead.

"Rodrick, that\'s an extremely hard quest for newbies," Linda said with a disapproving look on her face.

Rodrick cocked his head to the side. "Are you the leader of the group? If you have something to say about the way I run things, then why don\'t you take my job then?"

Linda narrowed her eyes and said with an edge to her voice, "We need more hunters, sir Rodrick."

"If they\'re not up for the challenge, then they\'re not worthy of being called Hunters."

Edgar and the others snickered.

Linda was red with anger.

While I heard myself saying, "I wonder what you were like when you were just starting."

I wasn\'t scared by their badge. The only one who I should be wary of was Rodrick, but I had just the right skill to counter him.

I didn\'t have to please anyone here. All I thought was getting stronger, and anyone who got in my way would die.

Rodrick\'s face darkened, and his smile crooked to the side. "And what are you implying at noob?"

He looked at me from the bridge of his nose and jabbed a finger on my shoulder. "Just so you know, when I was a noob like you, I had already killed hundreds of beasts, more than you can ever kill in your entire life even with that cheat."

"I bet those goblins and Jackalopes contribute most to their numbers," I said with a flat voice.

Edgar pushed back and roared with laughter. Lilian snickered, and Maverick slapped her bulging tummy with a laugh.

The others held their laughter behind their fist while Rodrick\'s hand shot to the hilt of his sword.

"Sir Rodrick," Linda reminded him with a pointed look. "Once you draw that sword, I will report you to the higher-ups."

Rodrick was silent before he raised his hands on each side with a tight smile on his face.

"I know. I know." he slapped my shoulder playfully though the sting said otherwise. "I\'m just teasing the noobs."

I doubted it.

"Here is the quest that we will do. I will give you thirty minutes to prepare before we head out," Rodrick said, and a notification appeared on my screen.

He then went to his group though his eyes remained fixated on me. The four of them chatted while their gazes sometimes darted in my direction.

I could feel that this journey would be an amazing one already.

The other noobs in our group had grim faces as they watched the notification on their screen. It felt like they were reading their death sentence from the way their faces twisted in a grimace.

When I read the mission, my brows met together in one line.