Foothold No.7C82 was known as the Carefree City. It was given such a name as the foothold had encountered monster hordes so many times and the residents were severely injured. In order to show that they hope for a better future, the human had named the foothold a Carefree City.
One odd thing that happened was, ever since it was given such a name, fortune had particularly favored the foothold and monster hordes have never invaded them for over hundreds of years.
The city had a slow pace of life. The residents were living and working in peace. Indeed, it was a carefree place.
It was one o'clock in the afternoon when Lin Huang arrived at Carefree City. He did not depart immediately but he headed towards the Adventurer Paradise.
Adventurer Paradise was a subdivision of the Hunter Association's so-called Adventurer Association. It was specially established to recruit the adventurers going on exploration missions. However, as soon as the Hunter Association slowly transferred the explorer jobs out from the Adventurer Association, it was separated and became an independent organization, eventually changing its name to the Adventurer Paradise.
The Hunter Association used to be a loosely organized organization. It was actually a training organization that cultivated talents. However, they could not control these talented people, causing the loss of top-class talent. The initial objective of establishing the Adventurer Association was to retain the talented individuals.
However, the Adventurer Paradise imposed strict obligations whereby they had a totally different set of rules and regulations compared to that of the Hunter Association. The members of the Adventurer Association had to accept a mission within a specific period of time. Compared to the Hunter Association, it had better management.
Despite Adventurer Paradise becoming an independent organization, both organizations in many ways were still interrelated.
Lin Huang was seeking for a station at the Adventurer Paradise as he could not enter Wangyou Forest on his own.
Wangyou Forest was located in the southwest of the Carefree City, approximately 3,000 kilometers away from the city. Towards this direction, not even a small sized foothold was found. In fact, small sized footholds had been built before but they had been repeatedly destroyed by monster hordes, causing injuries and casualties. Eventually, the authorities had decided to cease building them.
Without the foothold, there would not be any stopping points for eagle rides, let alone traveling from one portal to another.
It was an uninhabited area. The regions within 3,000 kilometers were wilderness that ranged from level-1 wild zones to level-3 wild zones.
It would not be safe on the road even if Lin Huang rode on his iron-level rank-3 Sand Monster. Therefore, he was looking for a silver-level adventurer as a companion to enter Wangyou Forest.
Soon, he found the Adventurer Paradise's station at a foothold. The entrance was crowded.
As he entered the station, Lin Huang looked around. It was somehow similar to the Hunter Association's station as the design of the buildings were alike. The only difference was the atmosphere.
Similarly, it was a square-shaped office that had a transparent polygonal dome at a height of around 10 meters. The wall was painted with light, warm, yellow paint. It felt totally different from the grayish-white colored wall of the Hunter Association. Besides, the color of the floor was different as well. The color of the floor was also light yellow here whereas the Hunter Association's floor was a dark gray color.
As Lin Huang was looking around, a young female staff came up to him and asked, "Mister, can I help you?"
"I'm looking for an adventurer team to go to the Wangyou Forest," Lin Huang asked her.
"I'll help you to check on it," the female staff nodded her head and smiled. She led Lin Huang to the customer service counter. In just a short while, she had gotten the results. "There is a team going to Wangyou Forest four days from now. You're considered lucky as the leader of the team is of a Gold-level. She had a mission with her and had to stay at Wangyou Forest for a week. The next team heading towards Wangyou Forest would have been 12 days from now," she said.
"Of course, you may consider hiring an adventure team to escort you. After getting things done, they'll escort you back here. However, the expenses would be a lot higher," she continued.
Lin Huang had inquired about this before through the network. He knew that there were two ways that he could follow the adventurer team. The first one was the adventurer team had to go on a mission and lead him to his destination while the other method was to directly hire an adventurer, the latter of which being more expensive. The credit points one needed to pay for were equal to the Life Crystals he consumed each day. However, the former cost only two credit points for a round trip.
As he heard that he'd be having a Gold-level adventurer as the team leader, Lin Huang made up his mind. "There's no need of hiring an adventurer, I'll just wait for a few days," he told the staff member.
"Alright, the full cost will be 20,000 credit points. Before making any payments, here's one special requirement for those who are heading towards Wangyou Forest." As soon as the female staff finished her sentence, a web page popped up in front of her. "Please read carefully before you agree to accept the terms and conditions."
Lin Huang took a look at it and realized that it was a disclaimer. It was briefly about the safety of the visitors heading towards Wangyou Forest. Upon arriving at Wangyou Forest, it was no longer the team's responsibility to protect the visitor. The team was only responsible for the visitor's safety during the journey. If the visitor died in Wangyou Forest, the team would not bear any responsibility and the fees once paid would not be refunded.
Lin Huang nodded his head after he read. "If they had completed their task in Wangyou Forest after a week, but I'm not done, for how many days will day wait for me?"
"At most, three days. Three days later, be it you're alive or dead, they'll be coming back. According to our rules, if you did not show up at the gathering point after three days, you're considered dead," she said.
"Of course, if there are some valid reasons that caused the delay, you may apply it through our network. However, additional charges will be incurred according to the expenses of employing an adventurer. Approval for deferment is subjected to the team's willingness." The staff explained the details. "If the team declines your application for deferment, you may apply to hire an adventurer team. However, the cost of the new team would be double the fee," she continued.
"I understand and accept the terms," Lin Huang nodded his head and scanned his Emperor's Heart Ring on the lower right corner of the disclaimer, which was an empty space. Soon, his personal identity information was printed on it.
"Please check the contract. If there's no other problem, please scan to confirm your payment by scanning the payment streaks at the end of the contract," the staff continued. A new page popped up.
It was a simple employment contract. Lin Huang briefly looked through the contract and flipped to the last page of the contract. Using his Emperor's Heart Ring, he scanned the payment streaks. It was somehow similar to the payment barcode that existed on Earth. However, the payment streaks looked nicer in color with a picture.
In just a short while, a notification message to confirm transaction was completed and received. Also, the staff showed that payment was accepted.
"Employer-employee relationship is established. The adventurer team will contact you soon. Please remember to record the venue and time to meet up," the female staff reminded him.
"Yes, I know. Thank you," Lin Huang nodded his head and walked towards the exit of the station.
Leaving the Adventurer Paradise, Lin Huang looked for a hotel. Since the adventurer team would depart four days later, he would have some extra time to practice his sword technique with the hope of collecting a complete set of skill pieces before his departure.
Lin Huang checked the information of the hotel on the network. Suddenly, a notification message popped up. The content was short and simple, "Depart three days later. Gather at the south door of the foothold at nine o'clock in the morning."
Looking at the message, Lin Huang grinned. "The message was clear and concise. He seems to be a guy who did not talk much. That's great. I can enjoy the silence on the trip," he thought.