That's right, that's what adventure is like!

Ding dong.

The thick mahogany door was gently pushed open, the hanging bells jingled crisply, and the warmth inside was mixed with a slight chill, signaling the arrival of the guests.

Soft light spilled from the magic stones embedded in the ceiling, and the air was filled with a mixture of the smells of old wood, cheap tobacco, rust, and an indelible, faint stench of wild animals.

The woman behind the counter leaned lazily against a recliner covered in gray-blue fur, glanced at the person who had come, and then looked away indifferently.

She didn't think the commoner dressed in coarse linen robes was there to sell her the goods she needed; he was more likely just a curious stranger who had wandered into the shop by mistake.

Roland moved slowly and deliberately. Although the gender of this slave trader was somewhat unexpected, it did not hinder his purpose for this trip.

Reaching the counter, he pressed the remaining seven silver coins onto the scratched, thick wooden board and quietly explained his purpose: "I want to exchange these silver coins for a monster, the lowest level one will do."

The woman raised her eyes, glanced at the young customer briefly, her gaze lingering on the longsword at his waist for a moment, and a faint sneer appeared on her lips: "Another one."

Before Roland could react to what this meant, the woman had already pushed over a booklet and flipped to the last page: "Take a look for yourself. If it weren't for my agreement with the Adventurers' Guild here, I wouldn't bother doing business with you."

This is……

Roland moved the booklet in front of him and glanced at the words at the top, finally understanding why the woman had said those words.

"Dear adventurers, due to the excessive number of innocent civilians who have lost their lives in recent years, the local association has launched a monster rental service. Please make sure you are fully prepared to face death before joining the association."

The words were rather tactful, but the meaning was still very clear.

Perhaps due to the high mortality rate caused by too many newcomers joining the Adventurers' Guild recently, they collaborated with this slave trader specifically to "discourage" young people with unrealistic dreams.

This is a very smart approach, using a controllable risk to offset unnecessary deaths, thus gaining fame while also genuinely protecting the interests of newcomers wanting to enter the industry.

Roland sighed inwardly, then quickly glanced at the basic types of monsters below.

Since they are specifically designed for beginners to practice, most of them are common types, and the price is uniformly set at five silver coins.

Goblins, Flash Bats, Hypnotic Mushroom Boars, and Entangling Vine Monsters... are all relatively low-danger species that can fully provide an adventurous "fun".

"No need to look anymore," Roland said to the woman, closing the already wrinkled booklet. "I want you to recommend one to me."

It wasn't that he didn't want to make a decision, but rather that there really weren't many options. The association seemed to have already defined a general range, and the combat power of the monsters was roughly the same. The slightly stronger ones would even have notes indicating that they had been weakened.

The woman seemed unfazed. She removed the blanket from her body, stood up, picked up the kerosene lamp from under the counter, and led Roland to the back, saying, "Alright, then I'll just let you pick one."

The staircase wound its way down, creaking underfoot, and the darkness began to deepen, with only a faint light illuminating the path ahead.

The sound of dense breathing filled my ears, and the black iron bars separated the cells, through which I could vaguely see some monsters of various shapes sleeping.

They said they would just pick one randomly, and the woman did indeed just pick one randomly.

After getting off, she led Roland to the cell closest to the exit and held up the kerosene lamp in her hand so that Roland could see the monster inside.

It was a deformed humanoid monster, dark green all over and about four feet tall, with half of its cloudy yellow eyes shining slightly in the firelight, and thick saliva oozing from its mouth. It was lying motionless on the ground.

Even through the fence, Roland could smell the strong, fishy stench emanating from it, as if it were a mixture of feces, blood, and festering wounds, making one want to vomit.

"Goblin?" He gripped his longsword and examined it closely, slightly puzzled. "Why does it look a little different from the one in the booklet?"

According to what he had just seen, since goblins are relatively weak in combat and can be killed by an adult male with a simple weapon, the association chooses the stronger ones.

However, this one was not only rather thin, but also had many unhealed scars on its body, making it far from being strong.

"Tsk..." The woman impatiently ran her hand through her dark red hair. "Where are we going to find that many strong goblins? The last one was killed a couple of days ago, and the new one hasn't been delivered yet. So, just tell me if you want them or not."

Roland naturally nodded. His goal was simply to complete a battle, not to truly test his courage, so he didn't care about these details.

"Then go in," the woman said, taking out her key to open the cell door and pushing Roland inside. She then stood guard at the door. "If you can't win, run away, but once you're out of this door, you've failed."

"no problem."

As Roland drew his longsword, he took a deep breath. The cold air rushing into his lungs reminded him that he had to enter a true combat state, and his muscles tensed instantly.

As the woman threw a bottle full of powder, the goblin lying on the ground twitched its eyelids slightly, then swayed as it stood up.

Its short stature made it look slightly comical in front of Roland. Its hands, wrapped in strips of cloth, tightly gripped a bone spur. After its turbid eyes recognized the human in front of it, it immediately uttered a series of strange sounds.

"Wow! Wow! Wow!"

The shrill voice made Roland frown, and then, mimicking what he had seen in movies and TV shows in his previous life, he lowered his body slightly, ready to face the goblin's attack at any moment.

Wow! Wow!

Seeing that his cries went unanswered by his companions, the goblin seemed to finally understand the situation and immediately clenched his bone spikes and began... to kneel down and beg for mercy.

Even though Roland already knew about the creature's weak nature from his memories, he was still somewhat taken aback to see it surrender so quickly.

Turning back, he was about to ask the woman if she could replace him with a monster, but when he saw a smile on her lips, a bad feeling immediately arose in his heart.

Sure enough, taking advantage of the moment he turned his head, the goblin that had been lying on the ground groveling suddenly twisted its body and thrust its bone spike straight into Roland's inner thigh in a contorted posture!

So fast!

The unexpected speed turned the goblin's body into a dark green afterimage. Roland almost reflexively swung his longsword down.

when.

The sharp blade clashed with the rough bone spikes, producing a crisp clanging sound that echoed in the narrow, dark cage, stirring up the still-lingering dust.

Roland was astonished by the soreness in his arm. He had never imagined that such a small goblin could possess such great power, and even adjust the bone spurs to block his fatal attack at the last moment.

Staring at the small goblin before him, his heart began to pound, pumping blood through his body. An unknown power gradually revived within him, invigorating even his spirit.

Humanity's hunting instincts, honed over millennia, seemed to resurface at this first battle. Roland lowered his body, raised his longsword to his side, and faced his first opponent squarely for the first time.

Beneath that dark green skin lurked a cunning and despicable soul with extensive combat experience, who had even learned to feign begging for mercy to launch sneak attacks.

Unlike the monsters in the game that only fight according to fixed patterns, what's in front of you is a living, breathing, independent individual with its own thoughts.

To defeat it, what is needed is not extraordinary strength, but courage and boldness.

Roland then focused his mind and breath, channeling the power from his waist through his meridians and bones, then from his wrist to his fingertips, and swiftly swung his longsword.

Step forward, slash!

Sizzle—