Chapter 65: Adventurers’ Paradise

Outpost 7C82 was known locally as Worry-Free City. The origin of this name lay in the outpost’s history: it had endured numerous beast tides in the past, suffering heavy casualties. To express their hope for a brighter future, the people had named it Worry-Free City. Strangely enough, ever since it received this name, it seemed as though fate itself had favored the outpost. For several centuries thereafter, not a single beast tide erupted again.

Now, the entire city moved at a gentle pace. Its residents lived in peace and security, their lives tranquil and untroubled—truly, it had become a land without worries.

When Lin Huang arrived in Worry-Free City, it was one o’clock in the afternoon. He did not set out right away but instead headed to the Adventurers’ Paradise.

Adventurers’ Paradise was formerly a subsidiary of the Hunter Association, once called the Adventurers’ Guild. It specialized in recruiting strong individuals who relished adventure for exploration-type missions. However, as the Hunter Association gradually shifted most adventure-related tasks to its main operations, the Adventurers’ Guild was spun off as an independent organization and renamed Adventurers’ Paradise.

The Hunter Association itself was rather loosely structured, functioning more as a training institution that continuously nurtured talent but could not retain them, especially the top-tier experts. The initial creation of the Adventurers’ Guild was meant to stem the loss of such talent.

Nowadays, Adventurers’ Paradise had become much more regulated. It operated under a set of rules entirely different from the Hunter Association’s. Members of the Paradise were required to accept assignments at regular intervals; compared to the Hunter Association, its management was far more formal.

Though Adventurers’ Paradise had long been independent, the two organizations still shared a fraternal bond.

Lin Huang sought out the Adventurers’ Paradise outpost because he could not venture deep into the Forget-Worry Forest alone.

Forget-Worry Forest was a region some three thousand kilometers southwest of Worry-Free City. In that direction, there wasn’t even a single small outpost. In fact, many had been established in the past, but each was repeatedly destroyed by beast tides, with catastrophic loss of life, so eventually people gave up on rebuilding.

With no outposts, there were no landing points for windhawks—let alone teleportation gates. The absence of human habitation meant that the entire three-thousand-kilometer stretch was wild territory, teeming with all manner of untamed zones, ranging from level one to level three.

Even with Lin Huang riding the third-rank Iron Black Sand Reaper, the journey would be far from safe. Thus, he needed to join an adventurer team with at least a Silver-rank expert as its anchor to enter Forget-Worry Forest.

He quickly located the Adventurers’ Paradise outpost within the city. The entrance bustled with people coming and going.

Inside, Lin Huang glanced about. The place resembled the Hunter Association’s outpost—the architectural style was similar, though the atmosphere was somewhat different. There was the same vast, square office hall, the same tall, multi-faceted, translucent dome ceiling over ten meters high. Yet the warm, pale yellow walls created a completely different impression compared to the Hunter Association’s austere gray-white. Even the floor color varied; here, it was also pale yellow, whereas the Hunter Association favored gray-black.

As Lin Huang surveyed his surroundings, a young female attendant approached. “Sir, may I help you?” she asked.

“I’d like to join an adventurer team heading to Forget-Worry Forest,” Lin Huang stated his purpose.

“Let me check for you.” The attendant smiled and nodded, then led Lin Huang to a service desk. In no time, the results appeared. “You’re in luck. There’s a team departing for Forget-Worry Forest in four days. The team leader is Gold-rank and has a mission in the forest, so they may stay there about a week. The next team after that won’t leave for another twelve days.”

“Of course, you could also hire a team to escort you there and back at your convenience, but that would be much more expensive,” she added.

Lin Huang had already researched this online. There were two ways to travel with an adventurer team: one, to tag along when a team had a mission in the desired direction; the other, to directly hire a team. The latter cost at least several life crystal shards’ worth of credits per day, while the former required only one or two shards for a round trip.

Learning that the team’s leader was Gold-rank, Lin Huang naturally chose the first option. “No need to hire a team. I’ll wait a few days.”

“The cost for joining is two hundred thousand credits. Before you pay, there’s a special clause for journeys to Forget-Worry Forest that you need to review,” the attendant said, and a page appeared before her. “Please read it carefully before deciding whether to accept.”

Lin Huang looked over the clause: it was a liability waiver. It stated that after arriving in Forget-Worry Forest, the client’s personal safety was no longer the responsibility of the escort team—they were only responsible for safe passage to and from the forest. Should the client perish within the forest, the team bore no liability, and no fees would be refunded.

He nodded after reading. “If they finish their business in the forest after a week and I haven’t completed my own, how long can they wait for me?”

“They’ll wait at most three days. After that, regardless of your status, they will depart. According to our rules, if you fail to return to the rendezvous point within those three days, we will consider you deceased.”

“Of course, if you encounter unexpected delays, you may apply online for an extension, but the extra fees will be calculated as if you were hiring a team privately. Whether or not the team accepts the extension is up to them,” the attendant explained in detail. “If they refuse, you must reapply for a private hire, which means the new team will charge for both journeys.”

“Understood. I accept,” Lin Huang replied, decisively scanning a blank space at the bottom right of the waiver with his Emperor’s Heart Ring. His identity information appeared instantly.

“Please review the contract. If there are no issues, scan the payment code at the end,” the attendant said, displaying another page.

It was a straightforward employment contract. Lin Huang skimmed through, then turned to the end and scanned the payment code with his Emperor’s Heart Ring. The code was rather like a payment barcode on Earth but far more elegant, with beautiful colors and patterns.

A moment later, a deduction notice arrived, and the attendant’s end showed confirmation of payment.

“The employment relationship is now established. The adventurer team will contact you soon. Please make sure to note the meeting time and place,” the attendant reminded him.

“Understood. Thank you.” Lin Huang nodded and walked out of the outpost.

Having left Adventurers’ Paradise, Lin Huang planned to find a hotel. The team would not depart for another four days, so he could use the time to practice his swordsmanship and see if he could accumulate a complete skill card before leaving.

As Lin Huang was searching for hotels online, a message popped up—just a brief line of text: “Departure in three days at nine in the morning. Meet at the south gate.”

Reading it, Lin Huang’s lips curled up. “Even the messages are this terse. Seems like someone who doesn’t care for small talk. All the better—at least I’ll enjoy some peace on the road.”