Tavern Maint. I could not see any big difference between this tavern and others, except for the lack of users visiting this tavern.

So I walked across the empty bar and approached a large guy sitting at the counter.

"I came to find Kihanna," I said.

"I don't know who you are. Why are you looking for Kihanna here?"

The man asked back without hiding his jaundiced gaze. I didn't care because I suspected that this guy was perhaps from the Salte clan. As such, he probably had strong regret and resentment towards users like me, thinking that we robbed them of what they had achieved.

"I'm Asirante!"

"Gosh! I'm so sorry that I didn't recognize a precious guest like you!"

I introduced myself with my pseudonym, Asirante. As soon as I revealed my pseudonym, the man with a jaundiced attitude immediately stood up, shook my hands hastily and apologized.

"Please come this way and sit down. Let me bring Kihanna right away."

The man, who didn't let go off my hands, showed me to one side of the bar, and I sat down.

He asked, "Do you need anything else?"

"No, I don't."

"Oh, I see."

Then he moved around here and there. Soon Kihana appeared, who looked bright and cheerful like the tavern's owner.

"Hi, Asirante!"

I greeted her with a smile when she welcomed me cheerfully.

I didn't know what would happen until I accepted the quest, but now that I chose the A-class quest, I was in the same boat as her.

I immediately asked, since she was smiling at me, "Can you tell me where the Gahwa Guild members usually hunt?"

Obviously, my sister had already told me that the guild was nothing special and was located in the little-known periphery of Pioneers' City. But that was not a reason for me to go straight into their stronghold, for I was currently alone.

So, last night I thought about the best approach, and decided on using guerilla tactics. Of course, I could turn to the power of my family to achieve this goal, but I wanted to save this card for something else.

Little did I know I was burning with the desire for victory.

'Let me try first. If I can't do it after trying, then I …'

Like others from rich families, I had quite a few options because I was born with 'a gold spoon in my mouth ' referring to someone who could get whatever they want since they were born in a rich family. So much so that I didn't have to struggle to get rich. In fact, I led quite an affluent life until now.

But this game was different. So far, I've been working hard to achieve my goal. Unlike reality, I get rewarded for the efforts I make in games. For example, I received items such as EXP, golden rings and miscellaneous items. As a result, I gradually became stronger.

So, I wanted to try as much as I could.

So what if I can't succeed?

In that case, I would use another option right away because I have already experienced achieving nothing in the name of 'making effort'.' If there is a better option available, it's only natural that I choose that option. So, I chose the A-grade quest without any concern at all.

Kihanna replied, "Of course I can find out where the Gahwa Guild members usually hunt and their number!"

She answered without hesitating even for a second, as though she was waiting for this question. As if she was satisfied that her predictions were right, she took out a small map from her pocket and opened her mouth, pointing to one place with her finger.

"They control all hunting grounds around Pioneers' City even though they unconditionally collect golden rings from the few users using the hunting grounds. However, there is one place they tightly control, but don't receive fees or tolls from. It's right here, in the Rocky Zone. As far as we know, most of the Gahwa Guild members are hunting right in this Rocky Zone."

"What is in this Rocky Zone?"

I was a little curious about this Rocky Zone.

Users could use golden rings in the areas they controlled, but if they tightly controlled this Rocky Zone, it meant that there must be some special monsters or special items in this area.

"Stone squirrels appear in this Rocky Zone."

"Stone squirrels?"

From the name along, it did not seem to offer any EXP or special items.

But Kihanna mentioned something surprising which overturned my guess.

"Well, it is a monster that doesn't strike first."

No-first-strike monster. In other words, the monster would not strike first.

All the hunting grounds I've been to so far were places with aggressive monsters because that would increase the efficiency of hunting speed. The monsters in those places raced to attack me first just because they noticed me.

Generally speaking, the monsters that didn't strike first were very weak. So much so that they were regarded as rookie monsters.

Because of this, I couldn't help but be puzzled by Kihanna's words that they were hunting while controlling this place tightly.

"Are they strong?" I asked immediately.

I was curious about whether these no-first-strike monsters were strong, contrary to my expectations.

"No. While we were developing this area, we encountered them several times. They were not that strong. However, they were very quick and had a high defense, as their name sake 'stone' suggests. So, it was almost impossible for us to catch them."

The fact that they were not strong meant that they did not give much EXP and their item drops were not good.

So, I became more curious. But I refrained from asking her further because I could confirm it by myself.

"Got it."

I got up from the seat since I had confirmed most of the information that I was curious about.

At that moment, Kihanna grabbed me and said, "Asirante, please carry this map with you. I think you will find it useful because we have documented important details while developing this area. Moreover, I've marked the Gahwa Guild's stronghold and location."

"Thank you."

I did not refuse the map. Like she said, it would certainly be useful to me. With the ravern's owner who I first saw and Kihana seeing me off, I walked out of the bar.

The place I was heading for was the Rocky Zone she mentioned. So, I first moved to the Teleport Zone of Pioneers' City with great strides because I was fully prepared, armed with the new skills, new items and information.

***

Pioneers' City's Teleport Zone.

"Move to the Rocky Zone."

[You are moving to the Rocky Zone. ]

By the way, I had a very pleasant experience when I walked out of Pioneers' City to use the Teleport Zone. The Gahwa Guild member, who asked me to pay the toll of 30 golden rings, saw me off in a very friendly manner when I got out of the Pioneers' City. Giggling at me, he asked me if I finished my work, expressing concern to me like a very old friend and imploring me to come visit again so he could collect another 30 golden rings from me. He even said if I didn't have enough golden rings, he would let me in free if I did cute things before his eyes.

So, I felt grateful to him for his kind words because he reaffirmed my decision to launch an attack against the Gahwa Guild soon.

I was now standing in the Rocky Zone.

Soon, I saw the Rocky Zone's safety area.

It was noisy and hilarious.

"What the heck? Who the hell are you?"

"Who brought you here?"

"Uh? A guy who's not one of our members got in here?"

"Man, this guy must be an idiot who got in here without knowing anything. Just send him back. Otherwise we might be in trouble."

"Sure."

There were a lot of users here.

Aside from the swampy areas, there were many more users here than in their stronghold city Pioneers' City.

Some of them who noticed me approached me and said almost threateningly, "Hey dude, you cannot hunt in this place unless you are a Gahwa Guild member. So, get lost quickly if you don't want something terrible to happen to you!"