The Red Armguard

"She's really cold," Xin Mu said flatly.

"Well, the more experienced a receptionist is, the colder she tends to be toward adventurers." Zhang Ruofeng recalled a scene from the story he'd read before. "You wouldn't want to see your friends die every day, either. So receptionists gradually choose not to get too involved with adventurers. But she was so direct and resolute in her rejection that maybe she just lost a friend." Zhang Ruofeng sighed, slipped the issued dagger into the simple leather sheath they'd been given, then stood up with Xin Mu to look around some more.

--Heluo's perspective--

Another two rookie adventurers? Heluo wondered. She'd made her departure so obvious that the two of them must have noticed her rejection. As she thought about it, she clutched the lapel of her shirt. In the end, they all died, just like her younger brother. He'd been hailed as the most promising rookie of the previous year, the newest member of the Flower Goddess's Familia, and the only family member she'd been proud of. He'd been just sixteen, and in the end, nothing was left of him—only the news of his death. There wasn't even anything to put in a grave.

She'd lost count of how many times she'd cried. What remained in her heart wasn't acceptance, but hatred for the Flower Goddess Flora. She hated her for letting her brother join the Familia, hated the rumor that every rookie she took in was doomed to fail to level up, and hated that she couldn't even find her brother's body, leaving her to cry alone every day.

"People from another world, huh?" Heluo muttered. "So what? If they join that goddess's Familia, they won't last long."

"Ah, I really didn't think through the fact that everything costs money. And it's so hot." Zhang Ruofeng complained as he looked at the shops and stalls lining the street. He and Xin Mu had come out to get familiar with their new surroundings, but they didn't even have any money. The currency in this world consisted of metal coins, and he thought it was called the Faris. The denominations ranged from one to ten thousand, depending on the amount of precious metal and the size of the coin. He hadn't asked anyone, but from watching the prices and the way people exchanged money, he figured he was probably right.

"I really want a beer at a bar," Zhang Ruofeng complained as he passed a shop with a sign bearing a beer logo.

"No drinking without paying," Xin Mu said flatly.

"Okay, okay, but I really am thirsty." Zhang Ruofeng shrugged helplessly. "They don't take paper money, my phone won't turn on, and there's no point even mentioning Alipay. Also, I think someone keeps watching us." Zhang Ruofeng turned around, but didn't see anyone. Xin Mu hadn't noticed anything, and didn't care.

"Maybe people are curious about our clothes? Or maybe they've found out we're from another world?" Zhang Ruofeng knew the feeling was familiar. For a split second, someone had definitely felt hostile toward him. Being bullied had taught him to read people's expressions and tell whether they were hostile toward him. At the thought, Zhang Ruofeng gave a wry smile. He wasn't sure whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.

"Then we only have one option: the Dungeon. We can earn some money to buy a drink, at least. And if we go back now, we'll have to eat the goddess's cooking again. My stomach can't take it." Remembering breakfast, Zhang Ruofeng shuddered. It would be better to find a way to earn some money and buy ingredients to cook for himself.

"It'd be better to go back," Xin Mu said. Zhang Ruofeng knew she was saying that because she was afraid Flora would worry.

"According to the game's rules, each monster on the first floor only gives one or two experience points. Since they don't drop coins, the Magic Stones are basically like 'mana' in a sense. We can just sell them for coins. I wonder if they're useful for alchemy, too..."

Xin Mu saw Zhang Ruofeng lost in thought again, so she simply took him by the hand and silently led him toward the flower shop she remembered.

"You're back." Seeing the daggers at their waists, Fura knew they'd finished registering. She called them over to have lunch. This time they had fried dough rings bought from a shop outside. They tasted traditional and perfectly ordinary, but after remembering the goddess's dark cooking, Zhang Ruofeng thought they were wonderful.

"The Dungeon. Are you sure you want to go?" After hearing what the two of them had in mind, the goddess briefly looked pained, but quickly smiled again. "I suppose that makes sense. You're adventurers, and you're hoping to find a way home, so of course you'd want to go to the Dungeon."

"And it must be hard for three people to get by on this flower shop's income," Zhang Ruofeng said. "Aside from the pale flowers by the entrance, the other flowers don't seem to be selling very quickly."

"You're... quite observant," the goddess said, her shoulders drooping. "Most days, we only make enough to feed three people. We can't use our divine powers, so we're just like ordinary people. And no one gives us special treatment just because we're gods. The children of this world are already used to living alongside gods." As she spoke, the goddess put on a sorrowful expression, though it was obviously fake since she wasn't trying to deceive anyone.

"Even though all my stats are zero, I feel like I'm much stronger than I used to be," Zhang Ruofeng said, assessing his physical condition.

"That's right, that's right. You're definitely much stronger than before, but don't push yourselves too hard. Our finances are too tight for us to afford potions. After all, your predecessors are all only level one, so our Familia is pretty poor." The goddess smiled in defeat. "Oh, right. We don't have any money, but we do have a weapon you can use. It used to belong to that violent woman, Cortanast."

The goddess ran upstairs and brought down an armguard made of pale red metal. It gleamed in the sunlight, and Zhang Ruofeng and Xin Mu could tell how carefully the goddess had looked after it.

"It's a one-handed weapon that can be used for both attack and defense. Pretty cool, right?" The goddess stroked the weapon. "That violent woman saved up for ages to buy this so she could level up, but she still fell in the Dungeon."

"Are you sure?" Zhang Ruofeng asked.

"Of course. I'm sure that woman would want someone to use it again. It's been gathering dust beside me every day, and letting it go to waste would be a shame. Which of you wants it?"

"I'll pass." Xin Mu looked at the pure-metal armguard, which weighed at least ten kilograms, and immediately ruled herself out. Zhang Ruofeng took it instead. The inside was hollowed out and fitted with a springy, soft material, while the outside was a solid layer of heavy metal. The hand was exquisitely designed, allowing each finger to move once he put it on. Its metal fingertips were sharp, and the inside was lined with cotton-like padding to protect him from hurting himself when he punched. It fit him well, too, and Zhang Ruofeng instantly took a liking to it.

"All right. Make sure you use it well." The goddess watched as the armguard found a new owner, patted it, then went to arrange the flowers.

"Mm. We've rested long enough. Let's go," Zhang Ruofeng said.

"Mm." Xin Mu picked up the waist pouch the goddess had given them to hold their spoils, stood, and followed Zhang Ruofeng.

"Leveling up in this world seems pretty vague," Zhang Ruofeng murmured.

"Mm. You have to go on adventures to level up," Xin Mu said, drawing on her memories.

"I've been in plenty of fights, but I've never actually killed a living thing." Zhang Ruofeng still felt a little uneasy. Hurting someone and killing them could sometimes be only one action apart, but the psychological burden was completely different.

"It's okay." Xin Mu silently rose onto her tiptoes, patted the top of Zhang Ruofeng's head, and smiled.

"Haha, right." Seeing Xin Mu comfort him, Zhang Ruofeng mocked himself for overthinking things so much that he'd made his teammate worry. That wouldn't do. He quickly pulled himself together.

"Then let's see for ourselves—the legendary Dungeon."

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