The assignment gave them a surplus of information. This isn’t the traditional game quest. It can instead be considered a one time contract.

This contract is essentially to exterminate pests. Later these contract might be something like a normal job. Like managing the farmland, recruiting people for work and more.

People can also do governmental jobs. Later even taking up a powerful position. There was an agenda to push people out of Perpetuity, but the greater one is to assimilate them.

The assignment has a lifetime. Not completing the assignment leads to a fine. Not paying the fine will lead to higher fines. Not paying those, will land you in prison or mandated services.

This information can be found catalogued under failure to complete. The fine is minor, it is only there to introduce the concept.

Without it, people could accumulate too many assignments. Every assignment represent a reality. One where a job needs to be done, and not doing it can cause negative effects.

While contracts to clear out pests might not have sever environmental consequences, due to the amount of people assigned to each area.

In theory, enough people failing to follow the contract can cause severe loss in future harvests. Depending on the severity, it might spread to other areas.

When the boys arrive at their designated zone they can see a small gathering of people. These are people that were ahead of them to the assignment office.

This isn't the entire batch sent here. Most of them were already in the field, hunting pests.

On the ground is a topless man with a scowl. He is holding his hand. It is covered with his shirt, blood seeping through.

“Fuck off!”

“Does it really hurt? How much?”

The man’s scowl doesn’t come from his pain, but the endless questions. He was attacked by some critter one fourth his size. That’s his story at least.

When he finally found his way out of that green maze, what he was met with was a flock of people. More and more arrived.

At first they showed care, but the more people added to the group, the more blatant the questions became. All pretense was lost and people went as far as to poke his lacerated hand.

In truth the pain wasn’t bad, it was only when he moved his hand that it stung. Otherwise it just felt like a numbing cold. He had somehow punctured his hand.

“Fuck off all of you!”

Dart gave the man a cursory glance.

“I want to see the wound.”

He wasn’t talking to the man, he was talking to Sorp. This can be called a habit. He himself could easily deal with the situation, but he couldn’t help but ask Sorp.

Sorp looked at the man. This wasn’t interesting at all. But Dart usually had good ideas. Some were a bit weird but they were usually good.

“Stop it!”

“Shut up.”

Sorp grabbed the man’s arm and ripped off the shirt that had been wrapped around the wound. It was painful.

The man screamed and was writhing about before Sorp grabbed his face. The hand covered his entire face and locked his jaw shut. Leaving only muffled resistance.

The guys were quick to help and held the man back. In the meantime Dart watched the festering wound.

“Look here.”

Dart was point to the veins on the hand. They were becoming darker. The whole forearm was swelling. The reason for the man’s numbing sensation, was a quick acting infection.

“Is it poison?”

“Maybe.”

Dart was knowledgeable because he sought out information. But he isn’t a doctor or a herbalist. He just wanted to see what kind of wound it was.

If this was a more private location, Dart would probably take his time to watch the wound fester. His interests were strange.

“Dart?”

“Ah, you can let him go.”

After being release, the man had already calmed down. He was very aware that he had been manhandled like a doll. He was furious.

The first thing he did was lift his unharmed hand, wielding a B.F.M. the sound of it was obvious. His furious expression and blood shot eyes were met with the unfeeling gaze of six men.

He was still angry. But he wasn’t without reason. Even just the small movement of standing up was causing his arm to throb with pain.

Kom, Pal, Ret and Jarem are not tall, but they are still growing. But Dart is lanky and tall. Sorp’s posture and height caused him to look even taller than he was.

Sorp gave him a glance. He was smiling. Afterall, Sorp always liked a fight. But saw the man wouldn’t attack. He laughed and turned around.

The rest of the guys mimicked Sorp, laughing, they followed him into the tall luscious plantation.

“Where are we going?”

“To find pests.”

It was only now that the guys remember that Sorp hadn’t read the assignment. He only knew what they had talked about.

Kom could adapt to a situation like this seamlessly.

“From what we know, the pests are spread everywhere.”

Kom was enthusiastic. The rest of the group were looking around. Their eyes were flicking back and forth.

They are arrogant and used to tough situations. But this is different. They saw the festering wound earlier and weren’t looking to get one of their own.

“We are already in a team so we can just look for them randomly. We can even split up.”

“Okay, I’ll go with Sorp.”

“Wait. I’ll go with Sorp. You should stick with Ret. You guys are like a super team.”

“That’s true. You guys should stick together. But you Kom and Jarem are notoriously a good team. I’ll go with Sorp.”

Sorp laughed to his heart's content. Afterall he wasn’t stupid. He reached out and nuzzled Kom’s head.

“We brothers stick together.”

There was nothing else to say. Everyone settled down and kept their eyes open for any sudden movements.

Dart was an exception this this. He followed the silhouette of whoever was in front of him and was browsing his palm device. He was looking for information on that wound.

There are already forums up with people flooding in complaints about getting hurt. Some even killed. Perpetual Power was already very clear on the matter, this was all part of Perpetuity.

Numerous people reported festering wounds like the ones they saw earlier. All that told Dart was that it wasn’t uncommon. He still didn’t know if it was poison.

What he did learn was that creatures could be up to three in a group. Many will run if spotted or threatened. Some will ignore everything until they are hit. Some will fight back.

In actual fact, fighting these beast should be easy. It shouldn’t be categorized as fighting, it is extermination.

The threat level is low because this is targeted towards complete beginners.

When they saw the first beast. A green scaled four legged creature eating a three meter high plant stem like it’s nothing.

Once Sorp laid eyes on it, he charged. The beast looked at him. Its eyes were mellow and calm. Even when Sorp struck it with his short sword it only kept chewing.

The sword cut through it’s head like butter. Not even a cracking sound came out. It’s eyes wide open with the same lazy gaze. It’s as if nothing had changed.

This creature was exceptionally stupid. It’s body rigid. So rigid that even in death it remained standing on its four legs. Plant-like spikes jutting out of its body everywhere.

Sorp lost his excited smile.

“What is this?”

He couldn’t help but ask. He was really confused. This thing didn’t react to its own death. This made no sense to Sorp. Even if fearless, there is always a reaction.

“I like it.”

“What’s there to like? It’s a green. Hmm, Dart what is this?”

“This creature is called Gangrenous Papyr.”

Only Dart remembered the characteristics of the various creatures they had to hunt. Most of the group had glanced over it, but without pictures it was a boring read.

“Huh?”

“Don’t eat it.”

“Who would eat this?”

“This creature can lose most of its body parts and still survive.”

Dart is now reading from his palm device.

“This creatures atrophies quickly, making it dangerous to eat. It’s comparable to poison.”

“No one is going to eat it, Dart.”

After discovering what kind of creature they had to hunt, they split up. After Dart explained how to return after they are done.

In every field there will only be one type of pest. In this case it is because the Gangrenous Papyr drop parts of their body and other creatures will eat it and die.

There are beasts that can stomach it, but even they will feel a bout of sickness. The preferable solution is to move to another area.

For the most part, this contract can be considered easy. And that was the intention. This was supposed to be a task where people are introduced to future conventions.

Sorp finished his pest quota. He was somewhat dissatisfied. These creatures were no better at fighting than the plants growing out of the ground.

Having finished the objective he moved towards the new updated compass direction. It guided him to a sizeable three story building.

There were a few people lounging outside of it. Some eating, some curiously watching the air or their palm device. These people had turned in their assignment for a reward.

Sorp walked into the house. The house appeared to be liked an entrance to a small hotel only the rest of the house was a normal living room.

In a comfortable chair sat a tanned man. His complexion varied. From his eyebrows and up he had lighter skin. Presumably this was do to him working in the sun with a hat of some sorts.

“Let’s see it then, boy.”

It has been years since someone spoke like this to Sorp. Sorp didn’t think anything of it, the man had seniority. What was important was the confidence in the man’s voice.

In general, Sorp wouldn’t know what to do in this situation, but the guys had talked about this. Sorp lifted his left hand, in it appeared a palm device, shining blue.

“Good. If you want to repeat the contract, you can request it by scanning the symbol outside.”

Sorp looked at the man and nodded. He was being alerted of the rewards. It was a small sum of Vcoin. This was real money. He could log out now and convert to real currency, with minimal effort.

“Suppose you don’t see yourself as a bug exterminator, aye? Too good for it. You city folk.”

Sorp stood there staring. He had no idea how to respond to this. City folk? As opposed to what? Is there anything other than the city?

Sorp was ignorant in this aspect. All he knew was the city. A city was big. Big enough to take days to cross and weeks to explore.

“See you got’em new fancy weapons. Befems. I don’t care for ‘em.”

With a swing of his wrist Sorp summoned his short sword. It almost looked like a dagger in his hands.

“Very fancy. Suppose I can point in the right direction. Not everyone likes the city or farmin’. If you want to explore I recommend signing up for the Third wave reinforcements.”

At this point the man waved his hand, a screen popped into existence. He waved his hand again and the screen flipped one hundred and eighty degrees.

“Them’s the terms.”

He pushed forward and the window slid into Sorp’s palm device. This is not a direct contract but an opportunity to seek one out.

The actual contract would have to be provided at the designated location, there it would be accepted, ignored or denied.