Chapter 1: Scum and Small Fry

【Worn Standard Longsword】

Type: One-handed sword

Grade: Common (White)

Description

25 gray-skinned rats, 12 goblins, and even a hobgoblin... Buddy, how could you have the heart to ask for more from it?

Remarks

"Beginner's! Spirit!"

——Titus, Legendary Sword Saint of the Thousand Iron Flow, Vice-Captain of the "Eternal Throne" Adventure Party

……

"So this must be my golden finger, right?"

Beside the campfire, Xia Nan stared at the longsword resting across his knees and muttered to himself.

This was his second day since transmigrating into this world.

In his previous life, Xia Nan hadn't experienced any major storms. Born into a middle-class family, he had relied on studying and test-taking to get into a decent university.

After graduation, he followed the crowd into an internet company, enjoying the "996" blessing, and eventually sat in the position of department manager on his thirty-second birthday.

After the celebration party ended, he, drunk and tipsy, refused his colleagues' offers to take him home, intending to walk back while letting the night breeze sober him up.

Little did he know, not long after leaving the restaurant, while walking on the night road, he only heard a sharp honk and the sound of screeching brakes behind him.

Then, everything went black, and he arrived in this world, reborn in the body of an eighteen-year-old youth.

"Sigh..."

He sighed silently, his focus slightly drifting due to the memories.

The attribute panel that only he could see, hovering above the one-handed sword, dissipated along with his focus.

Having inherited all the memories of the youth, he had gained a rough understanding of the world he had transmigrated into.

The good news was that this was a fantasy world where extraordinary powers truly existed.

Whether it was the few parlor tricks performed by a bard who stayed in his village during his childhood to cover his meal costs, or the faint glow he saw on the back of a burly barbarian's two-handed axe while passing a tavern not long ago, all of these proved it.

But the bad news was that in this life, he was just a most ordinary farmer who had to worry about his three daily meals.

Aside from the bits and pieces brought over from his modern life, the knowledge most prominent in his mind consisted of techniques completely unrelated to the extraordinary powers of this world, such as "how to plow fields with less effort" or "which crops to sow in the corresponding seasons."

It wasn't that Xia Nan had any prejudice against this profession that provided the source of life for countless people; in fact, in his previous life, he had often fantasized about moving out of the big city after earning enough money, renting a small plot of land in a place with a nice environment, and living a pastoral life of working at sunrise and resting at sunset.

It was just that in this world, a few thin fields were simply not enough to support a whole family.

And this was precisely the reason why his predecessor had left the village where he had lived since childhood and come to the dangerous wilderness.

Xia Nan withdrew his gaze from the longsword.

He lifted his head slightly, his eyes looking forward.

This was a camp that couldn't be any more crude; there weren't even tents, just a few sleeping bags scattered messily around the campfire.

Several figures of varying sizes sat scattered around the fire.

Accompanied by the "crackling" sound of the burning flames, faint whispers could be heard, though it was unclear what they were saying.

Human, gnome, half-orc.

It seemed to be a classic four-person adventurer party configuration.

But in reality, Xia Nan could say without hesitation that they were a bunch of losers.

The gnome "Erki"—his race's five-hundred-year lifespan offered no bonuses to him, as he was only in his early twenties.

His knowledge and experience didn't even surpass that of his predecessor, an eighteen-year-old farmhand who spent his days facing the soil and his back to the sky.

The two daggers tucked at his waist looked professional enough, as if he were some kind of assassin or similar professional.

But in truth, Erki was a genuine right-hander; his left hand couldn't even hold a fork, let alone a blade—Xia Nan had once watched with his own eyes as the guy spent a full three minutes just to unbuckle the bracer on his right arm using his left hand.

The only thing slightly above average was probably his cheerful attitude, which he claimed was a family legacy, and his ill-timed sense of humor.

The half-orc "Gagu."

Although he was called a "half-orc," Xia Nan estimated that the orc blood in this guy's veins was one-thirty-second or even less.

Because, apart from his slightly sharper canine teeth and a sturdier build, his appearance was almost indistinguishable from a normal human.

But regardless, he barely counted as a front-liner—"At least he can let the beasts in the jungle chew on him a few more times," was the gnome Erki's exact words.

The last one, and also the captain of the "loser" party.

Maji, a human hunter.

He was probably the most reliable one in their party.

It was said that he was once a famous hunter in several villages on the western border of the kingdom, but because he offended some noble, he had to hide his identity and flee his hometown.

Regarding this, Erki seemed to know some inside information.

"Sigh, women," the guy had said once when he mentioned it.

In short, a right-hander, a half-breed, a hunter, and a farmer—that was the entire configuration of their party.

Normally, at least in Xia Nan's understanding, a standard adventurer party configuration should be a warrior, a priest, a mage, plus an assassin or a ranger.

The classic "tank, healer, DPS."

But for the loser party, this was undoubtedly a luxury.

Let alone rare spellcasters, there wasn't even a single low-level professional in their team.

Even the most experienced hunter, "Maji," was a long, long way from qualifying as a "Ranger" and obtaining his first professional level.

In a sense, calling their team an "adventurer party" was giving Xia Nan and the others too much credit.

Of course, it wasn't that there were no professionals in this world.

It was just that the requirements for each profession were quite harsh; unless one had excellent luck or a solid family background, ordinary people would never touch that level in their entire lives.

After all, the bounty for just one goblin was three silver and seven copper coins—that was almost the pay for a dock worker for two days!

High risk, high reward—this was the consensus among all intelligent beings in this world regarding "adventurers."

And this was precisely the reason why the loser party had come here.

"We are half a day's journey from the sighting location in the mission report," the hunter Maji said, sitting by the campfire and organizing his quiver. "We should be able to arrive by tomorrow morning."

"Tsk tsk, that's a whole squad of goblins! I've never taken on such a big job, buddy!"

Erki waved his dagger with his right hand, his face illuminated by the firelight revealing excitement, though his short stature made him look somewhat comical.

"What, scared?" The half-orc on the other side grinned, quite maliciously. "Don't worry, they're all just little green-skinned rats the size of you. I could crush two of them with my toes."

"That's for sure!"

Erki nodded pretentiously, looking in full agreement

"A tough guy like you definitely wouldn't cry out for your mommy while talking in your sleep at night."

"%@#*&! (Orcish slang)"

(End of chapter)