The girl turned back to One-Bolt. "Flexible hours?"

"Of course." One-Bolt's smile started to return. 

"You mean we'll have to work nights and weekends." The girl scoffed. 

One-Bolt's smile fell again. 

"Great perks? You mean we'll have no coverage plans." Looking at One-Bolt's menacing gaze, the girl continued anyways. "Freedom of skill choices? You mean we won't train you. You'll need to figure out everything by yourself. Family group? More like we'll have to attend a bunch of events under peer pressure. Plenty of growth? You mean we won't be paid well. Oh. You are offering me an intern position. We won't be paid at all."

"By the end of the three years, you can pull out any excuse and refuse to give us a formal position. So no." The girl pulled out a wand. "I'm not interested in being a cannon fodder, or porter, or whatever, for free for three years. Now, get out of my way."

"You-" One-Bold squinted. 

"Yeah... I'm not interested either." Jeff handed back the clipboard to One-Bolt. 

In this world, contracts were binding to the character. In other words, it's impossible to escape the penalties. The penalties for breaking the contracts would directly apply to the character, no matter where the character was. 

Contracts, oaths, quests... These were serious business in this world. 

"You two." One-Bolt grumbled. 

"You think any guild is interested in bringing out newbies to the field?" One-Bolt turned to Jeff. 

The girl nodded at Jeff. Without further hesitation, she jumped up the stairs and headed towards the entrance. 

"You-" One-Bolt looked at the girl. But it's already too late. 

"I think I'll be fine by myself." Jeff held the clipboard before One-Bolt. 

"Looks like someone is having a bad day!" Up the stairs, a wolfman recruiter joked around. 

"Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. Looks like Steelfury ain't so attractive anymore!" An elf looked at One-Bolt with a mocking gaze. 

"Do you need a little help buddy? Hahahaha!" A human recruiter heartily laughed. 

Feeling the mocking gazes from the recruiter group, One-Bolt's face fell even more gloomy. 

"Are you playing me newbie." One-Bolt glared at Jeff. "Are you sure you want to mess with us, the Steelfury." 

At this moment, Jeff could only be glad that he came here at late-tier. Being cautious paid off after all. 

'If I'm an early-tier, I'd probably be pressured to signing 3 years of my life away.'

'But now... Looks things are not as I expected.'

'Just like the mist world, I'll have to work alone again.'

"Sign the contract, and we can forget about this unpleasant history." One-Bolt continued. 

"I'll pass." Jeff replied with a cold face as well. 

"You sure you want to mess with us, the Steelfury." One-Bolt grabbed Jeff's shoulder. Gradually, the dude tightened his grip. 

This mid-tier's grip felt like a message at most. 

"Steelfury." Jeff scoffed. "Wow I'm concerned." 

Pluk.

Jeff threw the clipboard by One-Bolt's feet. 

One-Bolt already took the gloves off. Jeff didn't mind playing along. 

"Are you looking down at us, newbie!" One-Bolt looked at Jeff with kill-intent. 

"Newbie..." Jeff chuckled. 

Pa! 

Jeff grabbed One-Bolt's wrist. Just like One-Bolt, Jeff started to tighten his grasp as well. 

"You!" Feeling Jeff's strength, One-Bolt's face paled. 

"Aren't you a mage?" One-Bolt looked at Jeff in disbelief. 

"Sure I am." Jeff raised his brows. Disregarding the chat, Jeff continued to steadily tighten his grip. 

"Alright. Alright. I yield." One-Bolt let go. 

Jeff let go as well. Taking one last look at One-Bolt, Jeff headed up the stairs. With a single hop, Jeff reached the front entrance platform. 

"You better watch out." One-Bolt looked up at Jeff with a cold face. "There's plenty of lethal threats out there."

"Do I look concerned?" Jeff turned around and looked down at One-Bolt. Meeting the dude's malicious gaze, Jeff let out a chuckle. 

'Steelfury huh. It's not like I know nothing about you. A mid-sized guild with only one late-tier at best. Wow I'm so concerned.' Jeff scoffed in his mind. 

'I'll be waiting then...' Jeff headed into the Adventurer's Hall. 'Hope you guys can last a minute.'

...

'Oh.' Jeff took a look around. 

This place was not the 'pub + quest board + quest window' layout Jeff had expected. No. This place was more like a bank. 

Beautiful and bright crystal lights. A clean and spacious area with a calming forest smell. The sound of flipping through papers and writing in the quiet background. 

A waiting zone on the right side. A row of counters on the left. Further in, it's a bunch of office rooms. There is barely anyone in here. 

Taking a look at the signs, Jeff walked towards the registration counter. The cloaked girl had just finished registering. 

"Thanks." The girl nodded as she walked past Jeff. 

Jeff: "No problem?"

"Hey." The girl called Jeff. 

"Yes?" Jeff turned around.

"It's better to grab a few friends and form a newbie group. There's plenty of easy and safe beginner jobs out there. Grow from there."

"Thanks." Jeff nodded. 

Leaving a distant nod, the girl walked off. 

'Why would she thank me?' Blinking a few times, Jeff reached the registration counter. 

The receptionist was a mid-aged dude. A mid-aged dude... He was currently eating a sandwich for breakfast. 

"Hey. Newbie. Show some respect for this retired adventurer will ya. What's up with that disappointed gaze? Youngsters these days... " The receptionist dude grumbled. "Do I need to show you how to fill out that 101A form?"

"Uh... I'm fine." Jeff blinked a few times. On the counter, there was a stack of slips and a pen. Without needing further instructions, Jeff filled the slip.

[ Name: Jeff Norman ]

[ Class: Mage ]

[ Alias: The Mission Machine ] 

[ Guild: None ]

And that's it!

While chewing, the dude snapped the slip out of Jeff's hand. Putting the slip on the counter, the dude took a look. 

Holding his sandwich in one hand, a green magic formation appeared in the dude's other hand. Under the light of the green formation, the slip emitted a green glow as well. 

"Good. None of the names are taken. I can register that as a '700'." The dude nodded. "That'll be five thousand Blings for registration fee."

"Five thousand... That's kind of expensive no?" Jeff chuckled. 

Jeff knew about this cost beforehand. But it still felt really expensive. Jeff clenched fists a little. A pained look flashed by on Jeff's face. 

'I'm poor again...'

"Uh huh... Yeah. Sure..." The dude nodded. 

A transparent transaction screen popped up in Jeff's view. 

"8,800 Blings?" Jeff widened his eyes. "Shouldn't it be 5,000?!"