Anjelit and I completed the team registration at the counter, paying a one-silver registration fee.

When we registered the team name "Silver Holy Knights," even the guild clerk—who usually moved and spoke like a robot with no extra expressions—couldn’t help but shoot us a weird look.

My face burned crimson...

Later.

Anjelit and I took on many quests, earning a few silvers.

The longer we worked together, the closer we became.

I realized Anjelit wasn’t a girl who enjoyed violence; she just excelled at solving problems with it...

Somehow, that made her scarier. Especially after I saw her send a male archer—who’d teased her about her flat chest—straight to the Sanctuary. I swore never to mention "flat chest" around her again.

Plus, I figured out another thing.

I was different from the locals here.

I’d noticed it earlier, but only recently confirmed it.

Anjelit and others couldn’t earn money from killing monsters. But I did. Every monster I personally killed dropped coins. I wondered how monsters even carried human currency... what did they need it for?

Also, locals didn’t have constant system notifications in their heads. They couldn’t get someone’s stats or monster info just by knowing their true name. But I could—and in real-time. Even level-ups didn’t slip past me.

Simply put, I seemed to have my own independent system.

Given my class, I called it the "Hero System," a unique innate talent for Heroes.

That news washed away most of my frustration about the Hero class being useless. At least it wasn’t totally worthless, right?

I even thought about becoming an informant later—it’d be super profitable.

I hadn’t told anyone about this system, not even Anjelit. Not that I was hiding it on purpose... okay, I was hiding it.

...

Anyway, teaming up with Anjelit was way more comfortable than I’d expected.

Every morning, she dragged me to the Adventurers’ Guild bulletin board for quests. Every evening, we returned with backpacks full of quest items, turned them in at the first counter, then spent our earnings on a feast at the nearby tavern. Finally, we’d rent a cheap room at a village-north inn for fifty coppers—just one bed. She took the bed; I slept on the floor. Then next morning, back to the bulletin board...

This went on for three days straight.

My level shot up rapidly. Anjelit was a level-14 veteran in this newbie village, so carrying a newbie like me was easy.

I quickly hit level 4.

"She’s a ruthless executioner. Nearly a hundred slimes have met tragic ends by her hand. She’ll unleash a bloody storm across this newbie village..."

"What are you muttering about?" Anjelit turned her head, walking ahead of me. "Badmouthing me?"

I quickly said nothing—just complaining about all the bugs here.

Right now, we were on a special quest.

The description read: "Evil bandits appeared west of the village. They’ve been ‘handling’ merchants visiting the village, leaving them sore..."

Wait... "handling" meant *that*?!

So, suffering merchants banded together to post this quest: "Eradicate the Bandits."

Anjelit took it mainly for the high reward. Completing it meant cash from the guild plus an extra gold coin from the merchants!

One gold coin!

Enough for Anjelit and me to rent two fancy rooms for a month—no more freezing floors!

I was so done with sleeping on floors!

"Shh. Quiet."

We crouched in the bushes, eyeing a camp nearby.

Outside it, bandits paced around, patrolling.

These "bandit" monsters looked human, but their insides had long changed.

"...Acquiring monster data. Identifying..."

A familiar system ping.

"...Identified. Updating info..."

——————

Monster Name: Bandit

Level: LV6

Habitat: Pack-dwelling

Skills:

Toxic Strike [Passive]: Cruel bandits coat weapons in poison, inflicting continuous damage that leaves enemies in agony.

Abnormal Orientation [Passive]: Trapped in an all-male tribe, bandits have turned to same-sex relationships.

...

Same old cringy setup... but I was getting used to it. My吐槽 had lessened lately.

Honestly, I could accept the bandits’ "Abnormal Orientation." At least it made sense.

When males get desperate enough, gender stops mattering... ahem.

Last time, during a "Collect Slime Fluid" quest, the slime’s data popped into my head. Its "Pleasure" skill disgusted me.

Pleasure [Passive]: When a slime latches onto an enemy and attacks, it feels stimulated pleasure♂, speeding up its wriggling.

It reminded me of that slime clinging to my arm at birth...

Just thinking about it wriggling in delight on my skin made me shudder.

"Stick to the plan. I’ll go first—" Anjelit turned her head to whisper.

She was so close, her breath tickling my face.

"Wait!"

I raised my right hand between us, cutting her off.

"Before that, I have a serious question."

"...Ask."

"Did you eat garlic just now? Whoa! It stinks! I can’t take it—turn your head away!"

"... " Anjelit fell silent. Then she gave me a gentle smile. (￣v￣)

Next...

Anjelit lowered her head slightly, her cute cheeks flushing.

Anjelit activated Intimidation.

Anjelit stretched out her strong yet slender hands.

Anjelit grabbed my collar.

"Get lost, you jerk!" she roared, hurling me with all her might!

Then.

I flew out of the bushes, landing perfectly in front of the patrolling bandits.

"Afternoon, gentlemen."

I greeted them politely.

The bandits replied with equal courtesy.

Their gesture? Left hand forming a circle, right index finger poking inside...

I clenched up in terror.