"Back."
When Gauss returned to the Broken Shell Shallow Beach, Aaliyah and the others had already collected the spoils of victory.
"Yeah, let’s head back to town and submit the commission first."
Gauss nodded, not wasting much time.
It’s still not noon yet, there’s plenty of time left today.
Unfortunately, commissions accepted by elite Professionals cannot be taken consecutively all at once.
So they have to return once more.
Of course, Gauss thought this might be a little trick by the local Guild.
Other adventuring teams participating in this hunting contest must also be racing against time to execute commissions and hunt monsters.
On their journey, if they encounter wild monsters unrelated to the commission, would they ignore them?
Likely, due to consideration for ranking points, they will clear them by convenience, right?
In doing so, extending their time in the wild would help this strong group of adventurers reduce the monster density around the town.
Fortunately, Gauss has a dragon.
No need to arduously trek over mountains and rivers on the ground.
Soon, he returned near Lakeside Town.
Jumping off the dragon, he switched to another mount.
Gauss’s team entered the town and headed towards the Adventurer’s Guild.
On the street, besides them, there were many familiar faces of adventurers, probably those going out or returning to submit commissions.
The pier in Lakeside Town was bustling with civilians hosting a lively civilian fishing contest.
The civilian competition of this lake event is held first, to ensure enough audience for the Professional group projects that start later.
Gauss only briefly watched from the shore before leaving the lake.
Overall, the competition atmosphere was lively.
After arriving at the Adventurer’s Guild hall,
Gauss headed straight to the counter.
As he submitted the commission, he also synced the point status by the way.
"Hello, how may I assist you?"
Due to Gauss having been at this counter just two or three hours ago, and as a new face, he submitted over two hundred points right away.
The counter staff still remembered him.
"Submit the commission and sync the latest points for the hunting contest," Gauss stated concisely, as he submitted the commission receipt.
"Alright, let me process this for you."
"..."
Though somewhat surprised at Gauss’s speed, the staff showed no expression, quickly checked the commission receipt and Crystal Stone.
After a brief check, confirming everything was correct, the staff displayed a respectful smile and returned the Crystal Stone to Gauss.
Because Gauss, in order to accumulate a total of 8000 monster kills, cleared an additional twenty-something goblins, his latest points had quietly reached 582.
After syncing,
his ranking quickly rose.
Gauss and his team looked at the leaderboard not far in the hall.
Herbert: 906
Koman: 736
Blin: 666
...
Compared to two hours ago, the rankings had changed a bit.
It should be because they came this morning to register the points earned from yesterday’s hunts.
Gauss’s 582 points had already placed him in the top ten of the five-town alliance.
Just reached 10th.
But actually, except for the first place, the other rankings aren’t too far apart.
Not only he, the person involved, was following the leaderboard changes.
In the hall, some idle adventurers noticed this unfamiliar name that appeared out of nowhere and became intrigued.
"Look at the leaderboard!"
"This contestant named Gauss suddenly jumped to 10th!"
"Was he on the leaderboard before?"
"Probably not, I have no impression at all."
"What’s his background?"
"Could be a dark horse, right? Suddenly over five hundred points, nearly six hundred, how did he manage it?"
"Shh... keep your voice down."
Some keen-eyed people noticed the luxurious level of that unfamiliar team at the counter and suspected the leaderboard changes matched their timing at the counter.
"Could that team be?"
"...Hard to say."
"How come there’s a level 6 adventurer, weren’t only up to level 5 Professionals allowed to register for the contest?"
"Exactly, so the registration probably wasn’t that level 6 adventurer."
"Then, isn’t this cheating?"
"Persuading a level 6 Professional to voluntarily help out is a skill in itself."
"Besides, if this point acquisition speed has no anomaly, it can’t be explained solely by a level 6 Professional."
The crowd was buzzing with discussion.
Some questioned, while some savvy people realized something was wrong with this point acquisition speed.
This hunting contest mandates each contestant to register and update their points at least once a day, to create a chasing scenario among the participants, allowing them to know each other’s approximate ranking.
In other words, Gauss’s points had just skyrocketed recently, appearing like a rocket from others’ perspectives.
In the other four towns, many adventurers are probably also monitoring the leaderboard changes in real-time.
People naturally have a competitive spirit, even if not for the competition rewards, as adventurers they hope to outperform as many other adventurers as possible.
Gauss could naturally hear the gossip in the hall, surprised at some people’s keen perception.
However, his expression did not change.
He’s already past the stage of needing to prove himself.
In fact, most people’s remarks, whether good or bad, aren’t particularly important and thus aren’t worth dwelling on.
After a brief stop in the Adventurer’s Guild hall,
Gauss’s team quickly accepted a commission on a scale similar to Iron-Claw Giant Crabs.