"I would like to register as an adventurer," said Shiki with a sigh of resignation. His way of playing games had always been the same, starting from scratch as a beginner.

"Very well..."

The receptionist immediately fetched a form for Shiki to fill out.

Name...

Shiki Kujo.

That was the ID he had always used. It wasn't his real name, but it was close enough to Shiki Kokonoe.

With the registration complete, Shiki asked, "Do you have any quests?"

The receptionist smiled and said, "Let me check for you..."

Inside the armor was a handsome guy, and she was floating on cloud nine. Conversations with handsome guys were always so enjoyable.

"There's currently only one C-rank quest. Recently, four adventurers who were on a goblin extermination mission have gone missing..."

"I'll take that one then." Shiki accepted without waiting for the receptionist to finish or even knowing the reward.

He didn't care what the mission was, as long as it didn't involve delivering letters or going into sewage pipes.

"Great! Let me give you the information right away..."

The receptionist, seeing his equipment, could tell he wasn't a newbie, so she immediately fetched the data on the four missing adventurers and related information.

With the documents in hand and his helmet back on, Shiki left under the gazes of everyone in the room.

"Isn't it a waste to use A-rank equipment for a C-rank mission?"

"Who knows? Maybe he's not strong himself, so he relies on the equipment to enhance his abilities."

"That's possible. Should we follow him? If he messes up, we can take his equipment as a bonus..."

Some adventurers had already started having inappropriate thoughts. Regardless, they wouldn't lose out by following him, and it would be a good opportunity to see his strength. If he was strong, nothing would happen, but if he was weak...

The system recorded the mission assigned to Shiki in the taskbar, and the reward was the usual one from the Adventurers' Guild.

Fortunately, the system had organized the mission information.

It had to be said that this update had made things much more convenient for players.

The four adventurers had gone missing at the border between The Kessel Duchy and The Stan Duchy.

Judging from the terrain there, they were likely attacked and disappeared in the forest.

It was highly likely that they were ambushed by goblins.

Shiki understood this plot all too well. It was clichéd, but that was a good thing. He could predict the development. If it was some strange plot, he would have to rely on luck.

He found a carriage and hitched a ride, heading to the location where the four adventurer team had disappeared.

At the same time, the five adventurers who were tracking Shiki made their preparations and followed him. There was no choice; Shiki's equipment was just too tempting. Even if there was only a slight chance, they were willing to take the risk. After all, opportunities like this were rare.

"Thank you for the ride," Shiki said politely to the carriage driver. Next, he needed to find the four adventurers.

But just as he took a step, Shiki felt something was off. Someone was following him.

"...So you're eyeing my equipment?" he thought, without even needing to think about it. These people clearly thought he didn't have much power and was just a rich person with good gear playing as an adventurer.

Typical reactions from bystanders. Ignoring them, Shiki walked into the forest.

The five adventurers hidden in the shadows immediately followed, being extremely cautious.

Using his spear to push aside suspicious bushes, Shiki's cautious attitude didn't seem like that of a newbie. He seemed more like a veteran.

Not for any other reason, but as a novelist in reality, he had thought about too many story plots. The plot of being attacked in the bushes wasn't limited to books; there were many examples in games as well.

"Blood stains..." Shiki found a place with dried blood stains, and...

"This trap seems to be a magical trap?"

So, there should be a monster here that is at least C-rank and capable of using magic. Whether it was a goblin or not, was yet to be seen.

Although the ground was concealed, Shiki could still see traces of dragging.

And if something was being dragged, it was definitely a corpse. Those four adventurers might already be done for.No matter what, even if it's a corpse, it has to be brought back as proof, otherwise who would believe it without evidence.

Shiki continued to advance deeper into the forest, with the five adventurers silently following behind, afraid of alerting Shiki.

In a cave deep within the forest, it was the goblin's stronghold.

The green goblin player was drinking the red liquid in his cup with great interest in his own cave, while outside the other goblins were celebrating.

"This game is really good, tasting the flavor of human blood for the first time..."

After taking a sip, he raised his cup in front of the bound mage girl.

"Beautiful lady, I invite you to share this glass of blood Mary with me..."

The ragged mage girl pursed her lips, turning her head away. She was now exposed to the leering gaze of a disgusting monster.

To be honest, she wanted to die. If she were caught by this disgusting monster, she knew she wouldn't have a good outcome.

"Just take a sip, it contains the fresh blood of your companions..."

The green goblin finished drinking the blood in the cup, smashing it on the ground.

The mage girl's heart tightened at the sound of the shattered cup.

As they say, when one is full of food and drink, one thinks of other things. The green goblin finally couldn't resist making a move on the mage girl.

"What's going on?"

Outside, the goblins suddenly fell silent. The green goblin felt something was wrong.

Just as he was about to go out and check, a spear flew out from nowhere and hit him directly in the head.

Game Over!

"It turns out he was also a player, no wonder..."

Shiki easily won the battle, relying on the combat skills he learned from the treasure room. The system's simplification quickly allowed him to learn things that would usually take regular people a long time.

Shiki walked towards the player's corpse, the green goblin. He didn't know the player's ID because the system only notified him of killing a player. It seemed that the game still had many areas that needed improvement.

Taking back his spear, Shiki discovered the pink-haired girl who was bound in the cave.

Seeing someone coming to save her, the pink-haired girl's face lit up with joy, forgetting about her partially exposed body.

"Are you alright?" Shiki asked with a slightly concerned tone.

The pink-haired girl shook her head. After the ropes were untied, she covered her partially exposed body and said with a slightly shy expression, "Thank you..."

Outside the cave, the group of adventurers had already started to ambush Shiki. They had set up traps at the cave entrance and, combined with the explosive potions they purchased at a high price, success or failure depended on this move.

"Sir, may I ask what your name is?" the mage girl asked Shiki as he was cleaning up the cave.

"Just call me Shiki."

Except for this mage girl, the other three people had already died. If their deaths were described, it would probably cause controversy, so let's not mention it.

The mage girl put her hands together in front of her chest, her right palm wrapped in bandages. She lowered her head and expressed her gratitude, "Mr. Shiki, thank you very much for your help again. You saved my life!"

"It was nothing..."

After packing the bodies of the other three persons and storing them in the storage space, Shiki said, "Let's go. You go out first, I will burn this place down..."

"Okay!" The mage girl nodded vigorously. "I'll wait for you outside!"

As the girl left, Shiki raised his spear, and black flames spewed from the spear tip, igniting the entire cave.

Boom!

A loud noise, not coming from inside, but... from outside?