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"Roland Town Map Strategy Guide" Page 3...

Newcomers who have just entered this line of work are always full of anticipation for the adventures ahead. That feeling is completely understandable, but if you do not want to become a meal in a Goblin's iron pot, it is best to make thorough preparations before setting out.

First came food supplies. While you could certainly bring whatever food you liked, dried bread and smoked meat slices were good choices if you did not want to take up too much space in your backpack. Both ingredients could be bought at most general stores. If you had plenty of time and wanted something tastier, the plump auntie at Area 2 of Harvest Street had an excellent reputation in that regard.

"Three days' worth of bread and smoked meat..."

Harvest Street was right next to Copper Hammer Street, so it was conveniently on the way.

Aside from food, most of the other supplies he needed could also be bought here.

He first bought himself two sets of clothes and changed out of the blood-soaked clothes he was wearing.

Then there was a simple tent, blankets, a water flask, a compass, a map... as well as Insect Repellent, flint, and bandages.

Unlike yesterday's rushed trip, true Adventurers often found it difficult to make a round trip within the same day when carrying out certain missions, so they had to consider camping in the wilderness.

Although it was unlikely Lin Mo would spend the night in the forest while alone, it never hurt to be prepared.

Altogether, these items cost Lin Mo nearly 10 Silver Coins.

Lin Mo checked the things in his hands, bought a larger backpack, and packed the supplies inside.

As he walked, he continued flipping through the "Roland Town Map Strategy Guide" in his hand. After the basic guides came more advanced material.

For example, strategies for choosing and maintaining armor, introductions to potions, and recommended Alchemy Shops...

But for now, he could only look at them.

There was no other reason. Whether it was armor or potions, neither was something he could afford at the moment.

Compared to weapons, armor was undoubtedly much more expensive. Especially sturdy Iron Armor and steel armor, where a full set cost at least 30 Gold Coins!

Even relatively cheap Leather Armor started at over 5 Gold Coins.

As for all kinds of alchemy potions... there happened to be an Alchemy Shop at the end of Harvest Street, so Lin Mo went in to take a look.

The shop owner was a kindly old woman. Rather than looking at him with disgust because of his poor clothing, she patiently introduced some of the shop's goods to him.

Basic Life Potion: capable of quickly stopping bleeding, instantly healing minor injuries, and easing severe injuries. One bottle cost 15 Gold Coins.

Stone Skin Potion: could slightly increase physical resistance for a short time. One bottle cost 30 Gold Coins.

Heat Melt Protective Spray: spraying it on the affected area could ease burns and grant a certain degree of fire resistance for a short time. One bottle cost 100 Gold Coins.

Lin Mo was too embarrassed to stay for long and quickly left the shop.

For quite some time, such outrageously expensive potions would have nothing to do with low-level Adventurers like him.

All he could say was that Alchemists truly deserved to be one of the continent's most noble and profitable professions.

With the basic supply problem resolved, the next step was the most important and crucial part before setting out on an adventure—finding a suitable mission.

Adventurers did not actually make their living by hunting magical beasts. Although that was what they did most of the time, it was essentially to complete missions or obtain valuable materials, not for those token bounties.

Lin Mo returned to the Adventurer's Guild once more. The half-beastman young woman was still at her post. Unlike the other counters with long lines, there were noticeably fewer people in front of hers, and most of them were fellow half-beastmen.

Lin Mo looked toward the mission window beside her.

Hanging at the very top was a mission marked with three stars.

Crimson Flame Heart

Mission Number: C13

Type: Hunt / Material Collection

Client: Madam Yulian (43 Harvest Street)

Reward: 3000 Gold Coins

Mission Summary:

A veteran Adventurer team discovered traces of the Lord-class Monster Crimson Flame Tiger King deep within Lorraine Forest during an investigation. Please proceed deep into the forest, find and kill the Crimson Flame Tiger King, and bring back its heart.

Note: The mission target is required by the Alchemy Research Institute. Be sure to bring a Mana Storage Bag to prevent loss of the item's magical power!

"Tsk, tsk..."

Although he did not know what a Lord-class Monster was, its name alone told him it was definitely not something a newcomer like him could provoke.

He could only look at missions like this to satisfy his curiosity. Perhaps one day, he too would be able to sweep the mission slip off the board with a grand gesture, walk proudly to the counter, and accept it.

Worth mentioning was that the person who posted this mission seemed to be the owner of the alchemy shop he had just visited—the kindly old woman.

He continued reading. The next mission was marked with two stars.

Silver Maze

Mission Number: D109

Type: Intelligence Gathering

Client: Anonymous

Reward: 200 Gold Coins

Mission Summary:

Enter the depths of Lorraine Forest and investigate possible traces of Silver Goblins. Appropriate evidence such as skin flakes, excrement, and so on must be brought back as proof.

Silver Goblin?

Lin Mo recalled the tall, huge Goblin he had encountered yesterday. If he remembered correctly, it had been called a Mutated Goblin and already possessed rudimentary language skills and considerable intelligence.

It seemed there were even deeper levels of mutation beyond that...

The Goblin race really was fascinating.

Although he was somewhat curious why the anonymous client wanted to investigate Goblins, Lin Mo clearly was not going to dwell on it.

The six words "the depths of Lorraine Forest" alone were enough to make him abandon any unrealistic thoughts.

Mission rewards were usually tied to difficulty. There was no such thing as a free lunch, so he should be practical and start with the simplest missions...

Lin Mo lowered his gaze, skipped past the one-star missions, and looked directly at the unstarred section.

Compared to the previous two, the missions in this section were obviously much easier. Lin Mo began seriously considering their rewards and details, judging which one was worth accepting.

Emergency Rescue!

Suddenly, a mission that had just been posted on the wall, its title marked with a red exclamation point, caught his attention.

Mission Number: F2036

Type: Intelligence Gathering / Rescue

Client: Yori

Reward: 10 / 100 Gold Coins

Mission Summary:

A caravan from the neighboring town belonging to the Yori Merchant Guild failed to arrive at the scheduled time. The guild's owner, Yori, suspects they may have been attacked by magical beasts. Enter Lorraine Forest and investigate the caravan's situation.

Note: The merchant guild owner's youngest daughter was also traveling with this caravan. If she is brought back safely, the reward will be raised to 100 Gold Coins!

"Interesting..."

Lin Mo had already looked through quite a few missions.

The rewards for these unstarred missions aimed at novice Adventurers were mostly single-digit Gold Coins. Some simple ones were even worth less than 1 Gold Coin, while slightly harder ones generally paid around 5 to 7 Gold Coins.

Yet this mission offered as much as 10 Gold Coins, and if the mission target could be brought back, it would immediately become 100 Gold Coins!

For an unstarred mission, this was undoubtedly an enormous reward.

Below the mission, the caravan's planned route was also marked out. Lin Mo opened the map of Lorraine Forest he had just bought and took a look. As expected, for safety reasons, the caravan had chosen a route closer to the outskirts. Coupled with the fact that they had likely hired Adventurers to accompany them, there normally should not have been any problems.

Yet now, something had gone wrong...

Lin Mo frowned and pondered for a while before ultimately giving up on taking the mission.

The reward looked generous, but the mission was actually full of hidden danger.

Whatever could cause trouble for a caravan escorted by Adventurers would not be an ordinary magical beast like a regular Goblin.

Although he had successfully killed a Mutated Goblin before, Lin Mo would never mistake that for his own strength.

If that Mutated Goblin had not been too arrogant, had not treated him as a threat, and had not been completely immersed in the joy of torturing Larry and Leo, allowing Lin Mo to seize the perfect opportunity to blind it, then forget killing it—he would have been lucky just to escape.

If he encountered another Mutated Goblin, Lin Mo's only option would be to run.

Reality was not a game. He only had one life, so it was better to play things safe.

Lin Mo finally settled on a mission to collect medicinal herbs.

Collect Fragrant Grass

Mission Number: F1933

Type: Material Collection

Client: Albert

Reward: 2 Silver Coins / plant

Mission Summary:

Proceed to Lorraine Forest and collect Qingfen Grass.

The mission description was extremely simple. Below it, the appearance of Qingfen Grass and its common distribution areas were specifically marked.

As for those details, the "Adventurer's Handbook: Plant Compendium (Beginner)" in Lin Mo's hand contained even more thorough information.

Qingfen Grass was one of the ingredients used to make healing ointment. It was a fairly common medicinal herb, and because the ointment made from it sold quite well, demand was relatively high. It was a long-term mission and also one very suitable for novice Adventurers.

If he was lucky, he might not even encounter any magical beasts along the way and could still earn a decent reward.

Lin Mo memorized the mission number, glanced at the several bustling counters, and without the slightest hesitation, headed directly toward the only quiet counter.

There were only a few Adventurers ahead of him. After waiting two or three minutes, it was Lin Mo's turn.

"Ah, it's you..."

Laina immediately recognized the handsome young man who had come to her not long ago to apply for Adventurer Identification and register as an Adventurer. A trace of surprise flashed through her eyes.

She had successfully sold him a set of the Complete Adventurer Strategy Guide earlier, then had gotten so carried away that she thought he would never come back to her counter.

"How may I help you?"

"I'd like to accept a mission. Number F1933."

"All right, please wait a moment..."

While she handled the paperwork, Lin Mo tilted his head and looked behind her from the side. Sure enough, he saw that white, fluffy tail.

"You're Laina, right?"

Lin Mo glanced at the badge on her chest. "You're a half-beastman from the Cat Tribe?"

"Huh?"

Laina froze for a moment. She carefully looked at his expression before hesitantly nodding. "Yes."

She really was a catgirl!

Lin Mo was somewhat excited. He had always liked the catgirl element that was so common in all kinds of ACG works in his previous life.

He had not expected to see the real thing after being reincarnated in another world.

It was a shame she wore a beret that covered her ears.

"May I ask a somewhat presumptuous question?"

"Please do."

"Why does no one seem willing to come here to handle their business? You're obviously so cute."

Cu... cute?!

Laina blinked, wondering for a moment if she had misheard.

It was the first time she had heard someone use such a word to describe her, rather than "unlucky" or "disgusting."

"Why... Of course it's because I'm a half-beastman..."

Lin Mo seemed to understand something. He glanced at the bustling hall. "But among Adventurers, half-beastmen do not seem to be excluded."

"That's normal too... When venturing outside, Combat strength matters more. Half-beastman Adventurers with beastman bloodlines are often stronger and very reliable as teammates, so they are quite popular."

So that was how it was. Outside of adventuring, it was another matter entirely.

For example, you might not care whether your coworkers were fat, skinny, short, or ugly, but after a long day, when you went to get your feet washed and relax, you would certainly pick and choose based on the masseuse's photo.

To put it bluntly, under this world's prevailing standards of beauty, the beastman traits of half-beastmen were not accepted by the public. Some people even felt disgusted because of the tense relationship between humans and beastmen.

"How strange..."

"The strange one is you~"

Laina gradually realized that the Adventurer in front of her did not harbor that kind of disgust toward her, and she relaxed considerably.

"Your mission information has been registered. I wish you a smooth journey."

She was right. He was the strange one.

Lin Mo smiled, said nothing more, waved, and turned to leave.

After fussing around for almost an entire morning, it was already past ten. Going out at this time was rather awkward, because he would have to turn back before going too far or it might be dark by the time he returned.

But Lin Mo did not want to waste half the day for nothing. There happened to be a Qingfen Grass distribution point recorded in the "Adventurer's Handbook: Plant Compendium (Beginner)" that was very close to town. He should have enough time to go there.

Just as Lin Mo walked out of the Adventurer's Guild, a four-person Adventurer team entered through the doors and happened to brush past him.

"Captain, we need to find a mission with a more generous reward this time."

The slender man with his arms crossed touched the short blade at his waist and reminded him.

"Wasn't the reward from the last mission quite good?"

Bern spread his hands helplessly. "Isn't it because you all spend money with no restraint, throwing it around like water?"

"There's nothing we can do about that, Uncle Bern..."

Evan laughed awkwardly. "Weapons need to be replaced, after all. You told us yourself that weapons are an Adventurer's lifeline and that we absolutely cannot be careless with them."

"So did you replace yours?"

Bern shot back. Evan immediately fell silent, scratching his head with an embarrassed look on his face.

"Hahaha..." Kent, the thin man dressed like an Assassin, burst into laughter beside them.

The Ranger girl Miriam had been staring at the new white bow in her hands from beginning to end. It was as though the bow was the only thing in her eyes. She continuously stroked it, unable to put it down.