The Adventurer Guild

The group set off, heading towards what the minimap indicated was the Adventurer's Guild. Upon entering, Kaito was immediately enveloped by the familiar atmosphere he'd only ever read about in novels. Adventurers, clad in various gear, sat around sturdy wooden tables, their boisterous conversations and clinking tankards filling the air.

Kaito approached the front desk, where a receptionist, whose appearance could only be summed up as 'cute,' sat with a feathered cap perched jauntily on her head.

"How may I help you today?" she asked, her voice bright.

"We want to register as adventurers," Kaito stated.

"Very well, please fill out this form," she replied, pushing a sheet of parchment and a quill towards him.

"Paperwork. It's really realistic," Kaito muttered under his breath, picking up the fountain pen. As he filled out their identities, he realized he could apparently make up anything, and it would work. Once completed, he handed the papers back.

"You'll start out as F-rank," the receptionist explained. "You can take requests from the board over there to advance in rank and unlock more challenging tasks. If you would like to change your job, please use the crystal ball to the right of me. Here are your adventurer cards." She handed the group four plain cards, each bearing only a name and an 'F' rank.

Kaito moved towards the large crystal ball and tapped its surface. A digital menu of numerous jobs immediately lit up: Warrior, Martial Artist, Magician, Priest, Hunter, Thief, Guard, Merchant, Fortune Teller, Scholar, Performer, Engineer, Spiritualist, Novice Hero, Esper, Unemployed, and many more.

As he clicked on each basic job, he saw further job advancements, splitting them into two or three intermediate jobs. The system allowed them to choose two jobs: one main job and one sub job. The job could be changed at any time, but required gaining experience to level it up again from scratch. There were also advanced jobs, which required specific combinations of main and sub jobs to be equip and were only applicable to the main job slot. It was a complex system with a ton of customizability.

After a moment of contemplation, Kaito picked Novice Hero as his main class and Warrior as his sub. Maria chose Esper and Scholar. Tamamo opted for Magician and Martial Artist. Durandal, after a brief pause that suggested deep consideration, selected Priest and Performer.

The newly registered adventurers approached the request board. Kaito's eyes scanned the illuminated listings. The vast majority were high-tier requests: slaying dragons, stopping the revival of an evil god, mapping out the infinite labyrinths. These were S to A rank tasks. Among them, a pitiful three F-rank requests were listed: gathering herbs, helping with chores, and killing rats in a basement. The pay was equally abysmal, only around 1-3 copper coins per task.

For now, the group decided their immediate goal was to kill some rats. But first, they needed weapons, as they were all unarmed. Kaito led them into the local weapon shop. Even the most basic gear—a dull sword or a flimsy wooden staff—cost around 5 silver coins. Players apparently didn't get any kind of starting money or items, just the plain clothes on their virtual bodies. Was this truly intentional game design, or a massive oversight?

Kaito recalled it cost one gold to free Tamamo from the virtual prison, or she'd to wait 24 hours to be automatically released. Kaito remembered the currency system: one hundred copper coins equaled one silver, one hundred silver equaled one gold, and one hundred gold equaled one platinum. If that was truly how the economy worked, it seemed utterly broken. Although Kaito currently had a near-infinite amount of virtual money, this was a worrying issue if new players were to join the game. This virtual world was unlike anything he had ever experienced in terms of gaming realism and immersion, and would naturally attract countless players. However, they would effectively slave away just to afford basic necessities. Though he wasn't entirely sure yet; there were probably some better money-making methods hidden within the game.

Then, Kaito noticed it: a prominent cash shop interface, allowing players to exchange real money for a daily limited amount of in-game currency. A cold dread settled in Kaito's stomach. 'Is the Association a bunch of capitalists?' The thought was unsettling, but he quickly shook it off. Setting his concerns aside for the moment, Kaito paid for the most expensive gear available for the entire party. Armed and armored, the group then set out into the requested basement to kill some rats.

 _______________________________________________

"Isn't this a basement?" Maria mused, looking around in surprise. "Why does it seem like a dungeon?"

The space was vast, far beyond what any ordinary basement should be. Lanterns flickered on numerous support pillars that stretched into the gloom, casting dancing shadows that seemed to swallow the distant walls.

"It's a newbie area," Kaito speculated. "Maybe they designed it to be spacious to accommodate the number of players."

"We've been walking for some time, but we haven't found a single rat yet. Oh, there's one." Tamamo's voice cut through the quiet.

Her eyes immediately locked onto a lone, scurrying rodent darting across the floor. Without a moment's hesitation, she raised her staff, and a small burst of fire erupted from its tip. The tiny rat squeaked once before being instantly incinerated, leaving only a wisp of smoke. No loot sparkled on the ground, and no experience notification popped up. It had simply vanished.

The group continued to navigate the seemingly endless corridors, the silence occasionally broken by the distant drip of water or the faint scuttling sound that promised, but rarely delivered, another target. The rat spawn rate was excruciatingly low. They spent what felt like an eternity, patiently stalking and searching, with each subsequent rat falling to a swift, often overkill, attack from Tamamo's magic or Kaito's oversized sword. Finally, after what felt like an hour of tedious searching and extermination, they had dispatched five rats, officially completing their quest.

As they made their way back to the surface, Kaito began mentally compiling a list of suggested improvements for Yumi. The game's realism was astounding, but the player experience for low-level quests was clearly underdeveloped. The massive dungeon layout for a mere "rat extermination" felt disproportionate to the actual number of enemies. He considered suggesting denser enemy placements, perhaps mini bosses that offered more substantial rewards for early players, or even environmental puzzles to break up the monotony of endless walking. The lack of loot drops was also a glaring omission, removing any sense of immediate gratification beyond quest completion. He figured this 'newbie area' needed a serious overhaul to be engaging for the inevitable influx of new players.

The party returned to the Adventurer's Guild and approached the receptionist to turn in their quest. A notification popped up: they received a grand total of 2 copper coins to split among the four of them, and a truly tiny amount of experience points. 'Was the only way to gain experience be by completing quest?' Kaito wondered. He also noted that he'd need to complete nine more F-rank quests just to advance to E-rank.

"I'm not repeating that again," Tamamo declared with a huff. "I'm going to ask that human to increase our rank."

Before Kaito could respond, Tamamo logged off, disappearing from the virtual world. She reappeared a mere moment later, a smug look on her face. Instantly, all four of them received a notification: You are now S-Rank!

'Isn't this a bit much?' Kaito thought, but a part of him was relieved. It certainly cleared away the tediousness of the early game, allowing them to test more interesting aspects.

Given their newly acquired S-rank and gears, they decided to challenge a D-rank request: killing some goblins in a forest outside the city.

As they journeyed towards their destination, Kaito turned to Durandal, who seemed to be enjoying the novelty of walking on solid ground.

"Hey, Durandal," Kaito began, "do you think you could share the information of the monsters you've recorded to Yumi? It would be interesting to see them implemented in this game." In truth, Kaito just wanted other players to suffer as he had when they inevitably encountered Durandal's monstrous archives.

Durandal's eyes seemed to perk up at the idea. "That sounds interesting. Let me see." With a ripple of distortion, a physical book materialized in her hands, shimmering with visible glitches and flickering effects before settling into a solid form.

Maria, observing the strange phenomenon, looked at the book with a puzzled expression. "Monster? What is that about?" Her gaze shifted between Durandal, the strange book, and Kaito.

"It's nothing," Kaito quickly interjected, trying to wave off her questions. "Just, when I sleep, I can fight simulated battles of what Durandal has recorded before."

Tamamo let out a triumphant, mocking laugh. "Oh, so every night you would willingly choose to be ravished by my esteemed self, as I effortlessly defeat you, proving your utter inadequacy time and time again? How very pathetic of you, human!"

Kaito pointedly ignored her.

Durandal held up the book. "I'm not sure if this will work, but all the combat information, environments, and behaviors of the monsters are recorded in these pages." She paused, her small eyes seeming to gaze through the world around them. "I'm not certain if they can directly access it, but from what I've experienced so far in this strange world, there's a high possibility they might be able to."

"I'm sure the Association can figure something out," Kaito said as he patted Durandal's head.