Raymond lay on the bed for a while, allowing some of the exhaustion in his body to fade. Once he felt a little refreshed, he got up. He needed to put his next plan into action and finally find a systematic way to earn income.
Turning toward his roommate, who was lying with a book covering his face, he asked:
"Mark, is there a Player's Guild in this city?"
Mark removed the book from his face, lifted his head, and stared at Raymond as if he were looking at some strange creature. Then he burst into laughter, unable to hold it back.
"Are you really that stupid, or are you just naïve?" he said between laughs. "Anywhere there are Players and a System, there will obviously be a guild! Otherwise, how would people get missions? How would they increase their rankings?"
After hearing that, Raymond didn't know what to say for a moment. His lack of knowledge about even the most basic facts of this world kept putting him in awkward situations.
After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, he asked again:
"If you know where the guild is, could you explain how to get there?"
"It's located in the city center. If you can't find it, just ask anyone on the street and they'll point you in the right direction," Mark muttered before stretching out on his bed again. He placed the book back over his face and rested both hands behind his head.
"That's enough. Leave me alone. I'm going to take a nap, so I can't guide you there."
"Alright... Fine, then I'm off," Raymond replied calmly before leaving the room.
As soon as he stepped outside the inn, the bustling life of the city swallowed him whole. The noise of countless people, the shouts of merchants, and the conversations of Players echoed through the streets.
The roads were crowded with people of all kinds as well as NPCs. After asking for directions several times, Raymond finally stopped in front of a massive and magnificent building in the center of the city.
This was the Player's Guild.
On the building's facade was a giant sword-and-shield emblem covered in System Energy, glowing with a radiant blue light. The power emanating from it was so intense that Raymond could feel it throughout his body.
Taking a deep breath, he pushed open the heavy doors of the building that would become the foundation of his new life and stepped inside.
The interior of the guild resembled a beehive.
Huge mission boards hung on the walls, filled with white, green, and yellow quest papers that shimmered faintly. Seeing this, Raymond immediately understood that missions here were categorized according to their danger levels.
He walked straight toward the registration counter.
The young woman sitting behind the desk glanced at his black armor and serious expression before greeting him with a polite smile.
"Good day, Player sir. Welcome to the Player's Guild. Would you like to register, or are you looking for a new mission?" she asked.
Trying to appear confident, Raymond answered in a firm voice:
"I'd like to register. And I'd also like to take my first mission appropriate for my level."
The receptionist placed a magical device resembling a glowing blue screen in front of him.
At its center was a clearly marked handprint.
"Please place your palm here. The System will automatically determine your abilities and level before entering your information into the database," she explained, pointing to the handprint.
Without hesitation, Raymond pressed his right hand onto the cold surface.
At once, blue light spread from the device and flowed along the lines of his palm. Text began appearing across the screen at lightning speed:
[Name: Raymond Cross]
[Title: Light of the Darkness]
[Ability: Night Vision]
[Level: Lvl 2]
[Rank: F]
The receptionist looked over the displayed information and nodded in satisfaction.
Seeing his title displayed on the screen, Raymond felt slightly embarrassed.
"Player, you have now been officially registered by the System. You may proceed to the mission board and choose any quest suitable for your level and rank," she said in the same perfectly steady tone as before.
From the way she spoke, stared at a fixed point, and maintained her constant smile, Raymond was convinced she was not a real person but merely a program—an NPC.
After all, no real human could speak with such flawless precision and consistency without the slightest interruption or mistake.
"Alright, thank you," Raymond said quietly before turning and heading toward the enormous mission board at the far end of the hall.
Before he even reached it, his personal System window suddenly appeared before his eyes.
[Notice: Player has been officially registered.]
[Reminder: You do not need to register again when visiting guilds in other cities. Once recorded in the System, your information is automatically added to the guild records of every city in the world.]
As soon as Raymond finished reading the message, the screen dissolved into the air and vanished.
He stopped in front of the mission board.
At the bottom section, reserved for F-Rank Players, several white quest papers were pinned in place.
Running his hand over his new black outfit and the empty sheathes hanging at his waist, Raymond carefully examined the available missions.
Then, a remarkably interesting idea suddenly entered his mind.
To test it, he summoned his personal System screen once more.
The screen flickered into existence, displaying three primary options:
[View Status]
[Complete Quests]
[Ask Questions]
Raymond selected the second option, [Complete Quests].
Immediately, a list of personal quests offered by the System appeared before him:
[Green Slime — Lvl 1]
[Green Slime — Lvl 2]
[Green Slime — Lvl 3]
[Green Slime — Lvl 4]
He stared at the updated list in surprise.
Every single quest involved Slime-type monsters.
"Why did the quests change? Weren't my first opponents in the graveyard Grave Hounds?" he wondered.
However, he didn't dwell on it for long.
"Whatever. That's not important right now. I need to test the idea that just came to me."
Raymond selected the quest that perfectly matched his current level:
[Green Slime — Lvl 2]
The personal quest was immediately activated.
Afterward, he turned his attention back to the guild's mission board and began searching for a quest identical to the one he had just accepted from the System.
After carefully examining the board, he finally found it among the F-Rank missions near the bottom—a white sheet labeled "Green Slime."
Raymond tore the paper from the board and returned to the registration desk, where the NPC receptionist was still waiting.
Placing the paper before her, he calmly said:
"I'd like to take this mission."
The receptionist took the paper and passed it over the magical device. Moments later, the mission was officially registered to his profile.
"Mission successfully accepted, Player sir. I wish you good luck."
As Raymond walked toward the guild's exit, excitement surged within him.
His dangerous yet incredibly clever plan had worked.
"If my plan succeeds all the way through, I'll kill two birds with one stone!" he whispered to himself happily.
"I'll receive double the rewards."
"I'll accept a personal quest from the System menu and then take a guild mission for killing the exact same monster."
"That way, I only have to go into battle once and can complete both quests simultaneously."
"And I'll receive rewards from both sources separately."
"I think I've successfully found a loophole in the System."
With that, Raymond set off to put his plan into action.