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ShangriLa Frontier Chapter 304 Part 1

ShangriLa Frontier Chapter 304: The Fastest Capping Girl In the World Part 1

Whoa there, the limit of three minutes is almost up, so time for an equipment change.

I only noticed that now, but the BGM for this place seemed to be a soothing smooth jazz: a combination of trumpet, violin and a piano. It was creating a rather relaxing mood here.

Going after the woman in the cabaret-styled dress, I look around the place: it was dim, with very little lights, with no windows or doors in sight. A really mysterious place.

In the distance, there was a counter behind which an old man stood, probably a master of this place, as well as yet another clone of the shopkeeper of the “Snake’s Apple”. At the counter there was also a little girl who was wearing a strangely exposing bikini armor. Could it be that she was one of the Bounty Hunters that the Dress-Up Corps was talking about?

「This place almost feels like a headquarters of some shady guild…… But that being said, you don’t seem to have that many members, do you?」

As for this whole “Avenger” shtick that was presented to me…… Apparently it is a hidden profession that only deals with the specific quests of the highest possible difficulty setting.

「You see, there are wishes in this world that cannot be fulfilled by any of the standard means. For example…… Yes, a contract presented by the knights of the local kingdom to discreetly get rid of the particularly difficult monster that was originally their job, but the beast proved to be too much for them. Or a poor girl’s of harvesting the healing herbs that only grow in the most remote of places on the continent.」

「I am really fine with the difficulty part, but…… Isn’t what you are doing here basically a charity work?」

As far as I can see, the jobs here would be a kind of volunteer work for the sake of making the world a better place. But when I asked that woman about that, she only shook her head while giggling, covering her mouth with a small fan she was holding in her hand.

「That is merely half of the reason for why this place exists. The other half is to give people like yourself an opportunity for facing a challenge……」

「…… Ahh, now I see.」

Using of violent means that would otherwise not be allowed anywhere else, potentially high risks coming with each job…… So this is a place that deals with that kind of problems. As long as society exists, there are those who needs to get the job done by any means necessary, and the daredevils who would wish to partake in those jobs, either be it for the betterment of the world or the thrill of difficult battle.

Thinking about it now, “Bounty Hunter” job is that kind of system, although only for the NPCs of this world. After all, PKs are dangerous players that even other players have difficulty with, so there must be someone who is going to put those unruly bunch in their place. Or at the very least teach them not to pick up fights within the city’s limits.

「So? Does the fact that I was invited to this place means that I am going to receive my first contract right away?」

「Let’s see…… I get it that the fact that you have received the invitation pretty much guarantees that your abilities are more than suitable enough, but could you perhaps tell me more about yourself? Maybe something to brag about?」

Something to brag about, so it’s like a self-promotion of sorts? So maybe depending on this part right here I am going to receive even better, more dangerous jobs? But oh well, I have quite a few things I can write home about, so why not?

I searched through my inventory for a moment and finally took out the needle of the Crystal Scorpion that I happened to have there for some reason. Must have omitted it when I was giving Break the materials. However, contrary to the previous crystals like that, this one was empty, without that bright glow inside of it. It was basically an oversized amber crystal right now, so its value in the game’s world must have been relatively low.

「I often go to the Crystal Nest Cliffs to dig up ore and other materials. If you would like, I could give this here amber crystal to you as a gift.」

「Oh my, oh my…… I was wondering of the rumors about you were indeed true, but it looks like that they were not far-fetched in the end after all.」

Rumors…… Rumors, you say……? Whoa there, three minutes are almost up once more. Time for an equipment change.

「It’s been bugging me for a while now…… What are those rumors that circulate about me?」

「Let’s see…… If memory serves me correctly, they say about a “Nocturnal Monster rampaging about, a monster who challenged the Night Prowler itself.”」

「A nocturnal monster……」

It makes me so embarrassed that I wanted to crawl under a rock and die there. Who was spreading such ridiculous rumors? Was it an NPC? It must be an NPC. I will never forgive you for this, Luukan!

「Sometimes it wears a mask imitating a bird’s head, and sometimes it is a fish head…… There was even one rumor that indicated said monstrosity to walk around in some sort of sheet covering its whole body, so some people think that the concept of gender cannot really be applied to it. Many people think that it is a suspicious entity, balancing on the borderline of being a monster through and through.」

「I would like to deny all those rumors, but I really can’t here. I mean, it pains me to admit it, but all those rumors are based on facts, so……」

I turn my head away in embarrassment. I know it’s all based on my daily activities here, but…… No, really. I cannot forgive you for this, Luukan! No matter what!

This time around I could not be bothered to change my clothes before the time limit was up, so I just kind of let them turn to ash and vanish. On a side note, even though I was constantly changing clothes here, no one of the bar’s inhabitants raised any questions about it, and their expressions were unfazed all the time. Not even an eyebrow twitch. Talk about some amazingly done NPC right there.

Then I notice something about the master behind a counter. The clothes he was wearing. They looked normal at first glance, but they were in fact a combination of a suit and a maid outfit fortunately with a long skirt instead of mini one). Looking even closer, the suit part was not really a male version, but rather a female one, the ones you could spot around time in the afternoon or in the evening when the office ladies and salarymen were all coming back home. So a theory emerged in my head: they did not say anything to me simply because they were accustomed of seeing weird shit happening all the time.

I wonder, were those clothes order-made by some of the players? The Dress-Up Corpse surely have some weird tastes…… But my God, does it look funny!

「Let’s see here, today was only meant to be a sort of a light introduction to our establishment, so how about we discuss the details of the job some other time?」

「…… Sure thing, fine by me. Then I guess I’ll be going home now.」

So I stood up from the counter, walked towards the magic circle that was carved up on the floor, and got transported back to the “Snake’s Apple”, the same way that I got into the “Wandering Sword”. When I exited the private room, I was handed a package full of apple pie that I ordered beforehand. I got a whole bunch of them, since they do a good job at getting rid of hunger stat and recovering a moderate amount of HP. After that, I went back home.