A/N: Only 1 chap today guys, sorry! Lotsa things happening IRL this week. (T_T) Even my main story occasionally suffers 1ch/day now. y’know. Will resume 2ch/day tomorrow!
...
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Seeing the sign (which was pretty well made, by the way), no one wasn’t suspicious.
"Huh? How could there be an inn?"
"This is obviously a trap," Vara said, having no patience for things like this. He was bleeding to death! What are they doing, stopping midway to read random signs?!
The most likely explanation for this was that there was a strong bandit group somewhere who decided to hunt for people desperate for a resting place.
"Still, a sign ? Are they trying to make it obvious that they’re fake?"
The more realistic scam would be a cave or even a cottage, right? But... an inn?!
But it was around here that another monster mob appeared, and in the opposite direction of the path. The mercenaries were at least at the toughened level, and some were even fortified, but their mana had all but run out. They did not have the excess energy to fight right now.
They could run by themselves, but if they lost any more merchants, they could get penalized, so they had no choice but to run in the direction of the sign. They simply didn’t think much of it anymore. If it was a trap, then those bastards ought to be their meat shields instead!
Unexpectedly, they realized there was a proper trekking path there. It could easily fit two or three people walking side by side.
But they were busy defending against the monster mob and keeping themselves moving to really wonder about this. They just noticed them and followed them, because—even if it were a trap—they did not have much of a choice.
"This... are these steps?!"
"Another sign...!"
"There’s another one there."
"Let’s follow it."
At the very least, if it were a trap, they could get whoever made it fight off the rest of the monsters and use their base as a camp!
They fought off the monsters, which were fortunately a lot less than before. For the next couple of minutes, they followed the rough path, dragging their feet through the incline. The fortified-level mercenaries had no choice, however, as little mana remained to keep the rest of the team alive.
This also meant that they were completely spent. If they encountered another mob, people were definitely going to die!
"This better be the right direction, this time!" Vara yelled. "If this is another failure, my feedback to the guild would be low!"
The mercenaries gritted their teeth, annoyed. The mercenary guild had a point system too, but unlike the Adventurer Guild, they had a ranking system that would also determine the resources they could get for free. A bad review could lessen those points!
Some considered just killing them to get rid of weaknesses, but sadly, the merchant was rich and probably had some magic tool to screw them over if they tried.
The more time passed, the more impatient they all felt, feeling dread. They did not dare look at their stat gems anymore.
This changed when, at some point, the tiles got denser, and an odd notification appeared in their heads.
[You have entered the Wanderer’s Refuge. Please pay the entrance fee of 1 gold to stay for 24 hours. You have 5 hours to rest and decide.]
[Within these lands, you must follow the following rules:
1. No Harm Rule - Guests may not inflict harm on other guests, staff, or the inn itself.
2. No Theft and Trespassing Rule - Property of the inn and fellow guests cannot be stolen or moved without permission. This includes vegetation within the protected area. Only assigned accommodations can also be stayed in by guests.
3. No Unauthorized Magic Rule - Offensive or disruptive spells shall be suppressed unless explicitly allowed by the Innkeeper.
Note: The Innkeeper and any of the staff reserves the right to kick out anyone who disturbs the peace of the inn.
[If you wish to stay within these lands, you must agree to all rules within a minute or risk becoming blacklisted.
P.S. Blacklist can only be lifted by the Innkeeper or the Inn Spirit.]
[Do you accept these conditions? Yes | No]
[00: 00: 59]
"What is this?" Vara, one of the merchants, uttered as he looked around, wondering if other people were also seeing what he was seeing.
"Did my status gem turn on?"
"Your hand was amputated."
"It’s on all of us," Clen said, referring to the people who first stepped forward. Their team was still behind them and was confused about what they were talking about.
With narrowed eyes, Clen walked forward and looked around deeper into the forest. The area they entered happened to be the forest area, so there was nothing built at the start.
At some point, they encountered outdoor furniture—some weaved chairs and tables—they couldn’t help but pause.
"What in the..."
It was Clen who walked forward, walking past the chairs. He was also curious, but he wanted to get a larger picture. "I think I see a structure..."
The people were just confused at this point.
They looked at the structure, no noise, clean, but no one was coming out. It felt eerie to find one in the middle of nowhere in the first place, especially one so well-maintained.
A few seconds later, the reminder appeared.
[Please choose to accept the rules or not. Yes | No]
[00: 00: 29]
Most just accepted it, while some of the mercenaries were already at the edge of his patience. One person in particular didn’t like the bossy ’tone’ of these unwelcome text boxes and decided to fight it off.
"What? Who dares order me around?" He yelled at the air and then at the house at a distance.
He immediately said [No] to the rules, and he moved forward without thinking, lunging towards whoever probably ordered him around in the inn.
However, his screen changed almost immediately.
[Rejected the Rules. You shall be blacklisted until the Innkeeper lifts the punishment.]
Suddenly, a black-and-white appeared in front of him. It was really small, but it startled him.
"What is this tiny thing?"
And the next thing he knew, this tiny thing jumped up with raised paw, and—SMACK!
BANG!
"AH!"
He screamed, feeling the pain as he slammed smack against the tree several meters away from where he was.
...
Clen and the others gaped, and they glared at the odd creature who made their companion fly away with a single slap.
Their weapons were out, and they were ready to attack it, except it just looked at them lazily and plodded up to the entrance staircase.
And then...it climbed up its... rocking chair?
The mercenaries and merchants looked at each other, but also slightly calmed down a bit. The other guy had obviously rejected the rules, so perhaps they’d be fine?
That said, many of them started entering the threshold and, unlike the hotheaded mercenary, immediately accepted the Rules.
Some, though, were reluctant to enter. He looked at the mercenary who was tapping on something like an invisible barrier and was unable to get in.
The man was being kept out so thoroughly. What if the rest of them could not get out?
"What if it’s a trap?" Mezo, another merchant, asked, staring suspiciously at the inn. He was grabbing the halfkin’s arm, and neither of them was entering.
"Who could say that is even real? How can it be so pristine when placed here when there could be—
ROARR!
The familiar roar of a monster appeared again. They had already cleared the previous mob, but their bloody state was the best attraction to monsters, even if they were farther away.
"GAH!" Mezo gasped in shock.
He quickly forgot about his cynicism and ran forward to the barrier, not noticing that he had left the tailed woman behind.
He barely avoided the fangs of a few brindlejaws! Granted, he was already toughened tier 1 at 30 years old (with a lot of core buying), but his stamina was already near its end, and his equipment had broken. If he got mobbed by these monsters, he’d still get eaten!
The others also did the same. Their HP and stamina were dangerously low; they could not sustain a fight with yet another mob!
Unfortunately, the banned mercenary outside was not so lucky. "HEY! LET ME IN!" he screamed. And then he squealed when the monsters all turned their attention to him, especially when the rest of his teammates entered the barrier.
ROAAR!
"AHHH!" he screamed as his feet were bitten by brootrats. He cursed and waved around his sword and somehow defended himself.
"HELP ME OUT, DAMNIT!" he yelled, waving around his sword. Because he was not weak, at least in terms of level compared to weak monsters, each hit meant that a monster was either killed or greatly injured.
Sad for him, there were a lot attracted by their numbers, and the fact that a toughened-level fighter was still out there, bleeding, ensured there was more to come.
His stats were already low, and most of his defense equipment had already given way. At this point, he had to run away!
" HEYYY !!" he bellowed, calling on his cowardly teammates who were snug behind an invisible barrier the monsters could not cross!
He saw how many monsters were trying to get inside, only to continuously bump their heads on the barrier instead. In contrast, the ones targeting him were very, very close to biting off an arm or a leg!
The man’s stomach tumbled in regret. He should’ve just accepted those damned rules!!