"DIIIIING!"
The sound of the elevator opening echoed through the wide hall, and from within, a figure stepped out, carrying a peculiar dark cat on his shoulders.
His eyes faintly scanned the room before settling on one of the staff members busy on their devices. When his gaze caught one, he walked toward him.
"Hi. What can I do for you?" the man asked without raising his face, as Ryuk replied.
"I’m Ryuk... Ryuk Knull," he said, resulting in the man pausing as he turned to look at Ryuk, his eyes furrowed at the dark cat.
"Yeah. It’s you. I remember you."
"So, did you get the return slip?" the man asked as Ryuk stretched out his hands, a card appearing in them, and he placed it on the table.
The man picked it up, turning the card over as his gaze furrowed for a few seconds before shock flashed through his eyes.
"You... You got a B-Rank!" the man said out loud in shock, his voice anything but quiet.
But thankfully, it barely reached through the echo of the hall.
Only the staff sitting nearby got the word, as they turned to look at the card before returning their gaze to Ryuk in surprise.
Ryuk remained quiet as he watched the man grow back from his shock.
"I’m sorry for my outburst, Sir. Just give me a few minutes, and I’ll print out your ID, Sir," he said as he began typing quickly on the keyboard.
[Notice how his words have changed. Now, he’s putting in ’Sir’...]
The system notification flashed as Ryuk nodded his head.
The man had, more or less, treated him like any average Joe—barely giving him attention before and speaking to him quite normally, like a disinterested staff member would.
But once he saw the card and realized he was a B-rank adventurer...
That treatment had taken a 180-degree turn.
[This man is not an anomaly here, Ryuk, nor is he in the entire universe.]
[With enough strength, you will gain all the respect in the world. Considered for the first seat in all situations and have people ready to believe and die for your cause.]
[If this is used well, you will experience even faster growth.]
[So whatever happens, never stop chasing this precipice of strength.]
[It’s where the best growth lies.]
"Here... Sir. It’s done," the man said as he passed Ryuk a sleek, golden-colored adventurer card.
When Ryuk took it, he felt it crisp to the touch, yet seemingly harder than diamond.
On it was a little dark emblem of the Adventurers Guild—a shield with a sword running through it horizontally. And then there was Ryuk’s name and his rank, along with a tiny barcode.
"That’s your Adventurer Card, Sir. This should give you access to the B-rank Adventurer missions."
"I feel like you must know this, sir, but losing your Adventurer card might take some extra time and extra points to get a new one. So please be careful with it."
"Also, I have sent a communication to the Introductory Building. You will find an official waiting for you to show you around the settings of the Adventurer Guild and all you need to know to get started on your dreams as an adventurer."
"If you need any help in the future, then here’s my contact card. Feel free to dial in..." he said as he passed Ryuk a green card.
"Good luck, Sir," he added.
Ryuk nodded his head.
"Thank you for all the help," he said with a polite smile before he turned back, walking toward the exit.
"B-Rank? Did you just say that dude is a B-Rank, Lincoln?" a staff member beside him asked as Lincoln, with surprise in his eyes, looked at Ryuk’s fading back, before he exhaled with a smile.
"Yeah. He is. Surprisingly polite for someone with his level of power. Even I mistook him for just an ordinary Joe when he came in."
______
"Introductory Building, huh?" Ryuk mused to himself as his gaze furrowed, looking around to find the building out of the ground structures all around. But then, he got it as Void pointed a claw to the side.
"That’s it," it said, pointing to an averagely tall building, and immediately Ryuk resumed his walk toward it.
There were a couple of people going in and out, but not without first having their ID checked by the inside.
Ryuk silently joined the queue, but then his eye flashed when he turned to the side and found one of the staff walking toward him, his eyes looking directly at him.
He was a dark-haired man, seemingly in his early forties, dressed in an official dark suit and tie that bore the emblem of the Adventurers Guild. When he reached Ryuk, he faintly eyed Void on his shoulders before asking:
"Hello. I’m Carson Maynard. Part of the Introductory Group hierarchy."
"Let me guess—you’re Ryuk Knull, the new B-Rank adventurer..." he said, as Ryuk nodded his head.
"We have already been able to confirm your identification from our other protocols. There’s no need to undergo a second identification check"
"Please come with me and let’s get started..." he said, as he took Ryuk off the queue before they moved into the large building, disappearing within, while avoiding all of the officials that were doing body searches for those coming in or out, and those who were required to submit their IDs.
5 hours later...
"Huuuu..." Ryuk exhaled loudly as he walked out of the Interdimensional Organization, as he finally got to where the cars were parked, with people getting in and driving off.
He silently became one with the pedestrian sidewalks as his eyes gazed at the new green ring that was on his finger.
Being a B-Rank adventurer had its perks—Ryuk had come to know from his walk with Carson.
The first?
A high-grade device that could function as a communication device, and where Ryuk could access all ongoing quests for B-Rank adventurers and could sign up for them from the comfort of his bed.
Although he would have to return to the Guild if he wanted to be marked as having completed the quest and to receive his rewards.
The Second and the Bes?
Then there were...