Needy Lizard's Sweet Night and the Bratty Dragon Mentees
"Then I'll go take care of that request."
Tier, who'd been tormented all night long the previous evening, was still in high spirits, her swishing tail thwacking against my lower back as if to say handle it yourself. Daphne, given her condition, just wore a resigned expression.
"Gotta earn enough for a nice place, right?"
She even cracked a joke at my expense. Their warm, family-like vibe made my chest feel all fuzzy inside.
"Yeah, for... four? People to live comfortably, so don't worry about it."
Even though I'd subtly hinted that one more might join us, they just flinched a little without much reaction. That's why I melted Tier so thoroughly last night. Nodding in satisfaction, I got up from my seat.
"See you later~"
"Come back safe, boss."
Leaving their farewells behind, I stepped out of the inn and headed toward the guild along the roadside.
Ding-a-ling.
The door opened with a bright chime that didn't quite fit the guild's vibe, and I stepped inside to find adventurers of all sorts huddled around request boards, recruiting party members. Fixed parties often struggled to stay together due to various issues, so this must be the norm.
As I scanned the room and made my way to the receptionist, familiar faces—adventurers I'd crossed paths with during my beginner-floor rampages—greeted me.
"Hey! Rookie."
"Huh? Oh... James. What's up?"
"Got time for some orc hunting?"
Once you clear the beginner floors, you hit the plains terrain. It's all orcs up to the floor boss, so James's invite wasn't a bad idea.
"Sorry, next time. Got business at the guild today."
"Tch... too bad. Wanted to see that rumored skill of yours. Heh."
Even trash mobs like goblins and orcs—I'd sliced through dozens, hundreds of them. That's why fellow adventurers treated me like this.
"I'll be solo for a while too, so catch you later, James."
"Alright! Sounds good. Heh heh."
Brushing off James, I approached the receptionist. Her fidgeting and twisting made me sigh inwardly.
Sigh... this face's popularity.
Seeing busty, healthy Tier and fairy-like Daphne every day had ruined me for this kind of attention.
Ugly bitch.
As I pondered how to handle it, the receptionist hesitantly spoke up. A confession? Awkward...
"Um... Mr. Berg, by any chance."
"Yeah?"
"Are you not planning to take Leon back into your party?"
Leon, out of nowhere? Hadn't we cut ties with that loser already?
"Why? Something happen?"
"Well..."
Her calm explanation matched my expectations perfectly. Parties recruit mages for firepower. But Leon, who'd twisted his growth to fit our party, was garbage at offensive spells. His specialty, support magic? Useless. He wasn't just dead weight—he was a total liability.
An NPC who knew this was a game world, yet too dumb to tell reality from pixels.
"Uh... our party's in rough shape health-wise, so we're going solo for a bit."
"Oh, no! It's fine. Leon actually asked me to feel you out..."
Her subtle groundwork made me chuckle.
Keep dreaming, bug. Heh.
I let her words slide and got to my real point.
"Anyway, how do I go about getting a house? Party's banged up, so thinking of grabbing a party house for some R&R..."
Not only true, but spreading word that we were resting might deter Leon's schemes. The receptionist frowned briefly at my words, then nodded and pulled a thick ledger from under the desk, flipping through it.
"Hm... The guild does handle real estate brokerage for adventurers, but you need a minimum contribution points to qualify, Mr. Berg."
"Contribution points?"
"Yes. Think of it like a credit score? The guild has to vouch for it, after all."
In short: no brokering for shady adventurers. Build credit with contribution points first. Annoying as hell, but made sense. Adventurer cards were handed out like candy—zero trust. Guilds wouldn't eat losses for noob deadbeats, high-rank or not.
Guess I'd have to grind those points for now.
"So how do I rack up contribution points?"
"One sec..."
She flipped through the book again, pondering, then her face lit up.
"Ah! Perfect request for you."
"What is it?"
"Beginner party mentoring quest!"
"...?"
Seeing my tilted head, she smiled and continued.
"As I mentioned before, beginner parties don't change or refill unless something major happens."
"Right."
"So parties that do suffer casualties obviously need refills. But if the new members' levels are way off, it's a headache for the guild."
Her explanation boiled down to party level balancing. A standout in a scrub party rejects everyone else, leaving scrubs in the dust.
Like Leon in our party?
We'd been nice enough to avoid drama, but these guys had tower incidents and attitudes.
"Mixed-gender party. One male adventurer died, one female went miss... ing."
Missing? Probably goblin breeding stock. No wonder her face looked like she'd eaten shit.
"Now it's one male swordsman and one female mage waiting to hit floor 6. Familiar turf for you, right, Mr. Berg?"
Way past beginner floors—I'd butchered orcs by the hundreds. Perfect support for the guild. They had skills, so no need for four; three would do.
"This cover the points?"
"Yes. Real estate points aren't high, but mentoring beginners? Guild loves that. Finish this, and you're golden."
"Cool, sign me up. Meet tomorrow and head in?"
"Yes. Come by morning for briefing, then go."
A pain, but smart to build guild cred early. Like VIP status in games—get it ASAP. Nodding, I wrapped up the paperwork, grabbed basics from a general store, and headed back.
No big prep for orc-slaughtering anyway. Just enough not to get nitpicked by prickly noobs.
Briefed Tier and Daphne quick, then back in my room, the giggling from next door made me smirk as I lay down and closed my eyes.
Who needs ASMR when you've got beauties laughing? That's ASMR.
The guild's basement bar. I ordered wine and sausages to fill up lightly while waiting for the newbies. Per the receptionist, they'd arrived and were getting warnings and my intro.
Makes sense—they'd need to see my request logs for trust. Our party's record was nuts, apparently. Good thing folks saw us haul trophies ourselves; otherwise, it'd be dismissed as bullshit.
Average adventurers topped out at 1-3 stars—total garbage characters.
These kids around 4 stars?
Noobs don't slack off on guild requests unless they're confident.
Sipping my glass, heels clicked—the receptionist's steps, followed by my mentees.
Hallelujah.
Plang swept in, dress fluttering like a haughty princess out of place among adventurers. Zeke followed in light armor, greatsword on his back, sighing heavily.
"Kept you waiting, huh? Mr. Berg!"
"Nah, all good."
Their entrance brought a smile to my face unbidden.
"This is the Mr. Berg I mentioned. Chat it up. I'll leave you to it."
The receptionist bowed and handed them off before departing. Plang tapped the seat irritably, grimaced like she had no choice, and sat. Zeke eyed her, sighed again, and followed.
"Plang, mage. Looks decent enough."
Chin sky-high like that was all. My vein throbbed.
What a bitchy cunt. So goddamn arrogant.
Sensing the vibe from me, Zeke jumped in desperately.
"I-I've heard a lot about you, Mr. Berg! I'm Zeke, greatsword user. Nice to work with you!"
Looked like Plang was the fuckup who wrecked their party. Zeke cleaning up her messes, sighing away—made me uneasy.
Fuck. Just ditch 'em?
Her prickly mug screamed cancer character.
Grind the points and cut 'em loose.
Fiery wavy red hair, wild dragon eyes. Scales peeking through skin, dress accentuating her tits—pure male fantasy fuel. But personality like dogshit.
Party with her? Disaster waiting.
Is this why Jeong Jae-kyung warned me off?
Shuddered at his foresight.
"Yeah, I'm Berg. Martial artist, frontliner. Hired for the job, so trust me to floor 10."
"Hmph!"
"Ahaha..."
What a shitshow.