Bab 19: Codenames (Edit #1)
"Also... Sam." Looking at Samantha, uncle Chad sighed.
Samantha was carelessly picking at her teeth at the moment.
"If you were more ladylike, I wouldn't be like this." Uncle Chad had concern written all over his face.
"Oi. Old man, can you be more clear with what you are saying?" Samantha leaned forward and punched the table again.
Auntie Martha also glared at Chad.
"You are not a parent. You won't understand..." Uncle Chad slowly shook his head. He looked confident with his decisions.
Samantha rolled her eyes in response.
At the same time, Jake had returned to the penthouse. Just like caffeine, alcohol couldn't affect him either now.
Even though uncle Chad was injured, Jake was not that worried. (EDIT)
It's just a small injury. Uncle Chad was a wood-type caster. These guys were all blessed with high health regeneration speeds.
'However... Maybe I should give uncle Chad some regeneration talismans and protection talismans just to be safe.'
'I can prove my artisan identity this way, and show that I'm living well... So they won't worry about me anymore.'
'Yep. I'll use those as gifts for my next visit.'
'Only 4 days left to my first realm entrance...'
Turning on his crafting station, Jake decided to prepare a bit for his first exploration trip.
Jake was not interested in engaging in a 'MudaMudaMuda-OraOraOra' fist fighting with any monsters.
Sure, his body was strong and sturdy. However, his clothing weren't.
'If I could make the Big Angry (copyright) Green Man's underpants, things would be much less complicated...'
'I will also need to pack some clothing for change...'
...
Visiting the gun range. Watch a nice movie. Attend the classes. Play a few games of ranked...
Practice a few sets of his Nautilus Body Refining Guide before sleep... Yep. Jake found another usage of this guide. This exercise really drained his energy. As a result, Jake had been having pretty good sleep so far.
Or it could just be due to caffeine immunity...
Also, Jake dropped by the Artisan Tower a few times. However, after realizing that the friendly receptionist girl knew all the materials, Jake had been enjoying online ordering since then.
Life in general was... Tsk. Very nice.
Just a week ago, Jake could have never imagined that he could live like this.
'What a magical world...'
Just like this, the rest of the classes ended. It was time for the final exam. Time to enter the magical realm.
...
June 21st, 2018. A nice cloudy day.
Even though it was only 5:30 AM, the sky was already brightening up.
Holding a cup of fresh coffee, Jake walked towards the green pillar of light at the edge of the district.
At this hour, there were groups of explorers heading in that direction as well.
Most of the explorers were in groups of five. Some had groups of four. There was a background reason to this.
If you wanted to spawn at the same spot with your teammates, 5 was the max number accepted by the pillars of light.
You can also step into the pillar as a group of 6. But all 6 of you would be teleported into different spots.
The pillar of light was not even a kilometer away. The explorers all chose to walk this distance.
Just like Jake, these guys all had big but mostly empty backpacks on them. Some seemed rather energetic. Most wore a sleepy and tired expressions just like Jake.
'Looks like most people are not morning-persons after all...' Jake took a sip of his hot coffee.
There was also a reason behind this entrance time.
The sunset and sunrise times inside the realms were synched with the outside.
Heading into the realms during the night might not be a good idea. The combination of low visibility and monsters trying to kill you might be troubling.
Entering too late would mean less time available to find a temporary settlement.
Yep. There were usually four temporary settlements set up in the realms, one on each side.
The explorers could gather up and have a sound night of sleep there.
In other words, on day 1, the primary objectives for all explorers were to reach a settlement.
Mindlessly following the crowd, the explorers passed through a simple fence.
Even a child could have jumped this useless fence. But there's really no point in doing so.
It's not like there's an entrance fee or an exit tax or anything. The only purpose of the explorer license was to track an explorer's status - Alive or 'Missing in Action.'
After crossing the fence, they had to line up and go through a station. It was like one of those border crossing stations.
Show your certificate. The worker inside registers the information. Then next person. And so on.
By the looks of it, this might take a while.
"Jake Collins... Over here." Someone spoke with a flat tone.
The explorers here were mostly quiet, still half-asleep.
As a result, Jake could hear that he was being called without any trouble. Looking in that direction, it was a dude wearing a grim expression. Wearing a set of thin armor, metallic-looking shoes, holding a short sword by his waist, this guy had by far the best equipment here.
Holding a clipboard in hand, the dude lifelessly stared at Jake.
Threat level by instinct: Very Low
Beside this dude were two newbies applying to be professional explorers. Jake had seen these guys in his classes before.
A big dude wearing a black tight suit. Lightly raising his head and looking around, he seemed rather confident. Yet, his sweating and shaking hands say otherwise.
The other guy wore a simple brown T-shirt and jeans. Putting on a slightly shy smile, this guy looked like a simple and honest person. His backpack seemed much fuller than the rest of the explorers here. Seemed pretty prepared.
Threat level by instinct of these two: negligible (Ignorable / Dismissible)
"Since everyone in my group is here, I will make one thing clear." The well-equipped professional-looking dude spoke. "One. I am not a tour guide. I do not answer questions."
"Two. I am not your nanny. So do not expect me to take care of you. If there is a threat that's life threatening to me, I will not hesitate to leave you behind. You can count on it."
"You can call me Beetle. Now, you can make your codenames." Beetle looked at the big guy.
The big guy in the black tight suit thought for a moment. "Reaper. You can call me reaper."
"Oh?" Beetle looked at the big guy with some playfulness in his gaze, some mockery. The name probably touched upon some unspoken rules or taboos or something. By the looks of it, this name might bring this big fella some unwanted trouble.
Without any further explanations, Beetle looked at the simple-looking guy.
"Is- Umm... Is Earth Mage alright?"
Beetle did not look impressed. "Mage it is then."
"Detector." Jake nodded at Beetle with a blank face.
Beetle shrugged and nodded back.
"We all agree that I'm the team leader for this trip? Good." Beetle nodded and put the clipboard into his large backpack. "Let's line up."
"By regulation, I will have to give you all one last warning."
"Once we step into the realm, there will be only two outs."
"You either make it to the exit pillar at the center of the realm."
"Or you get kicked out of the realm naturally at the end of the month."
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone