There Are Many Similar Quests

At this moment, looking at the situation here, Zheng Yichen mused that if someone were shouting about bringing in newbies for a fee of XXXX, with experienced support ready for a violent speed-up... he wouldn't feel any sense of incongruity.

"You're alone? Want to join our team?" Seeing Zheng Yichen standing alone in the wind, someone approached him. However, after seeing Zheng Yichen's license, their expression changed: "Sorry to bother you."

They were looking for teammates, not to babysit newcomers. They couldn't afford to take on someone who hadn't been a Hunter for a month.

Zheng Yichen was also very interested in the strange creatures appearing in the Deep Southern Forest. From the simple information provided in the commission, the creature appearing in the forest this time should be... a Unicorn?

Anyway, the blurry photo looked very similar, and Zheng Yichen really wanted to try it out. However, the current scene made him lose interest.

But since he was already here, it wouldn't be good to just go back. He checked his equipment, especially the firearms he had bought but hadn't fired a single shot from, and Zheng Yichen walked into the Deep Southern Forest. Many people saw him enter alone, but they didn't pay much attention.

If the strange creatures in the forest were that easy to find, there wouldn't be so many people here, nor would anyone directly commission Hunters to search for them here. Although, after the news leaked, even without a commission, Hunters would specifically come here to search for that strange creature.

Profit isn't something that requires a bounty to obtain.

Upon entering the forest, Zheng Yichen took out his phone to check. The signal was already affected in the outer areas, which was one of the reasons why the Deep Southern Forest was rarely inhabited.

Zheng Yichen had never thought of venturing into the depths of the forest to court death before. However, with guns in hand, he felt confident. Although his marksmanship was untested, his weapons were relatively... useful in this kind of environment?

Probably.

Along the way, Zheng Yichen saw some traces of activity left by others. Some trees still had clear scratch marks. Before his phone signal completely died, Zheng Yichen very wisely chose to turn back. He went to the Twilight Chapel.

Hunter Arno was also here today, and the drinks Zheng Yichen had prepared came in handy. As for other things, he did want to make Mahjong and Poker, but there wasn't enough time. He'd do it next time.

"Deep Southern Forest? That place is also a place where Anomalies frequently occur. Compared to the inside of the city, Anomalies in the Deep Southern Forest are harder to deal with," Arno educated Zheng Yichen about the situation there. The Deep Southern Forest had a massive Magnetic Field, severely interfering with all signals.

Signal interference combined with the cover of Dense Fog made the place prone to accidents even if there were no Abnormalities present.

Once Anomalies appeared in the Deep Southern Forest, they were sometimes difficult to detect, and the Countermeasures Bureau couldn't fully cope with the Anomalies occurring there. This directly turned the depths of the forest into a very dangerous place. Besides getting lost, the main danger was the Abnormal Creatures that filled it.

The appearance of Anomalies could affect the surrounding environment, causing some creatures to mutate. Although humans were not within the high probability range of mutation, there was still a chance. Even if this chance was very low, the factors of High Intelligence, High Physique, and High Will could make creatures less likely to mutate when exposed to the environment of an Anomaly.

Of course, considering that the probability of humans mutating from abnormal environments was already low, further reducing it on top of that was negligible. In any case, the probability was ignorable.

Moreover, even if a mutation occurred and one became an Aberrant, it wasn't necessarily a good thing. The probability of Chaotic Mutation resulting in a Benign outcome or having no Side Effects at all was not high.

"Whether Aberrants will undergo new changes based on their own condition, I'm not sure about that. But the Deep Southern Forest is definitely full of all sorts of Abnormal Creatures. These Abnormal Creatures are not necessarily mutations of the forest's native creatures; some also come from Anomalies and can't go back."

Zheng Yichen felt he had gained new knowledge. He himself was an Aberrant. According to Arno, he didn't need to worry too much about the influence of Anomalies. If so many Ordinary Persons were fine, why would he be an exception?

Also, regarding the matters of the Deep Southern Forest, when he was an Ordinary Person, he truly couldn't access this kind of information. This also led to new doubts: "Since there are so many Abnormal Creatures in the Deep Southern Forest, why is there still a commission like this? No, I mean, are there actually many commissions of this type?"

He felt like he had misunderstood something...

"Of course," Hunter Arno nodded matter-of-factly. "The Deep Southern Forest is too dangerous. I don't even want to go there. Most other Hunters are the same. No one knows if there might be dangerous Abnormal Creatures inside that can instantly kill most Hunters."

"If they don't go in, but some special Abnormal Creatures run out, that's another story... What's wrong with you?"

Seeing Zheng Yichen rub his forehead, Arno felt quite curious.

"I just realized I was thinking too self-centeredly about some issues." Zheng Yichen's mouth twitched uncontrollably. When he went to the Southern Forest, he thought all the Hunters there had the same commission. Now, with Arno's explanation, he suddenly understood.

Thinking that those Hunters had the same commission as him was purely his wishful thinking. There might be others in the same profession, but not all of them. It was no wonder the Bartender had asked Zheng Yichen to look at other commissions as well.

"Hahaha, once you get a license and become a Hunter, you'll always feel different from ordinary people. You'll get used to it slowly. Want to play cards?" Arno chuckled twice. Although he didn't know what Zheng Yichen had encountered, it was good that he could recognize some issues.

Since Arno had educated him with new knowledge, Zheng Yichen wouldn't refuse. Looking at the Beast Cards Arno took out, Zheng Yichen wondered if he should recommend some other card games to him. Would this Hunter then transform into a veteran card player?

However, Zheng Yichen's impression of other card games was faint. Besides poker and mahjong, he only knew about others from his childhood and the internet. Unfortunately, his childhood hobbies hadn't been preserved. Although he occasionally paid attention to related information after growing up, he was a "cloud player."

While playing cards, Zheng Yichen exchanged opinions with Arno. Since there were many Anomalies in the Southern Forest, could he get closer to the Anomalies there without being disturbed?

In response, Arno advised Zheng Yichen, a young man, not to court death. The idea was good, but the problem was that once you entered the depths of the forest, without being able to determine your direction, would you encounter an Anomaly first or the powerful Abnormal Creatures inside?

Anomalies appeared dynamically, while those Abnormal Creatures were the Natives of the forest, the kind for which there wasn't a complete Creature Compendium record yet. It wasn't that they couldn't be recorded, but their variability was too great.

Anomalies in the depths of the forest would bring new Abnormal Creatures and take away some existing ones. A Creature Compendium updated today might be partially outdated tomorrow.

Under these circumstances, when operating in the depths of the forest, guess whether you'd encounter an Abnormal Creature or an Anomaly first?