Chapter 1: Rotten Fish and Shrimp
【Worn Standard Longsword】
Type: One-Handed Sword
Level: Common (White)
Description:
25 Gray-skinned Rats, 12 Goblins, and even a Bear Goblin... Buddy, how can you bear to ask for more from it?
Remarks:
"Original! Intention!"
--Legendary Sword Saint of the Thousand Iron Flow, Vice-Captain of the "Eternal Radiance Throne" Adventurer Group, Titus
...
"This should be my cheat, right?"
By the bonfire, Xia Nan stared at the longsword placed across his knees, muttering.
This was his second day transmigrating to this world.
In his previous life, Xia Nan hadn't experienced much hardship. Born into a comfortable family, he relied on studying and doing problems to get into a decent university.
After graduation, he followed the crowd and joined an internet company, enjoying the blessings of "996" (9 am to 9 pm, 6 days a week), finally reaching the position of department manager on his thirty-second birthday.
After the celebration party, drunk, he refused his colleagues' offer to see him off, planning to walk home and let the evening breeze sober him up.
Unexpectedly, not long after leaving the restaurant, walking on the night road, he only heard a sudden honk and braking sound from behind.
Then his vision went black, and he arrived in this world, reborn in the body of an eighteen-year-old youth.
"Sigh..."
Silently sighing, Xia Nan was slightly distracted by the memory.
The attribute panel above the one-handed sword, visible only to him, also dissipated.
Having inherited all the memories of the youth, he had a rough understanding of the world he had transmigrated into.
The good news was that this world was a fantasy world where extraordinary powers genuinely existed.
Whether it was the few tricks the bard performed in the village during his childhood memories to substitute for a meal, or the glowing two-handed axe on the back of the burly Barbarian he saw when he passed a tavern not long ago, all could prove this point.
But the bad news was that in this life, he was just a very ordinary farmer who had to worry about three meals a day.
Apart from the little he brought from modern society in his previous life, the most knowledge in his mind was about skills completely unrelated to the extraordinary powers of this world, such as "how to plow more efficiently" or "what crops should be sown in the corresponding season."
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 often fantasized about moving out of the big city after earning a large sum of money, finding a place with a good environment to rent a small plot of land, and living a pastoral life of working from sunrise to sunset.
It's just that in this world, a few meager fields simply couldn't support a large family.
And this was precisely why his predecessor left the village where he had lived since childhood and came to the dangerous wilderness.
Xia Nan withdrew his gaze from the one-handed sword.
Slightly raising his head, his sight looked forward.
This was a camp that couldn't be simpler, without even tents, with just a few sleeping bags scattered around the bonfire.
Several figures of different sizes were sitting scattered around the bonfire.
Accompanied by the crackling sound of the fire burning, a few whispers could faintly be heard, though it was unclear what they were saying.
Human, Dwarf, Half-orc.
It seemed like a classic four-person adventurer team setup.
But in reality, Xia Nan could say without reservation that he and the others were a team of Rotten Fish and Shrimp.
The Dwarf Aier Ji, whose race's lifespan of up to five hundred years offered no bonus to him at his current age of just over twenty.
His knowledge and experience were even inferior to that of his predecessor, an eighteen-year-old farmer who worked the land.
The two daggers tucked into his waist looked decent, as if he were some kind of Assassin or similar professional.
But in fact, Aier Ji was a genuine right-hander. Forget holding a knife with his left hand, he even struggled to hold a fork – Xia Nan once personally watched him take a full three minutes to unbuckle the bracer on his right arm with his left hand.
The only thing slightly exceeding normal people was probably just his self-proclaimed family-inherited optimistic mindset and somewhat ill-timed sense of humor.
The Half-orc Gagu.
Although he was called a "Half-orc," Xia Nan estimated that the Orc bloodline in this guy was only one thirty-second or even less.
Because apart from slightly sharper canine teeth and a sturdier build, his appearance looked almost no different from a normal Human.
But regardless, he could barely be considered a front-liner – "At least he can let the beasts in the jungle take a few more bites," those were the exact words of the Dwarf Aier Ji.
The last one, and also the captain of the Rotten Fish and Shrimp Squad.
Maji, a Human Hunter.
He was probably the most reliable member of their squad.
It is said that he was once a famous Hunter in several villages on the western border of the kingdom, but because he offended a certain noble, he had to flee his hometown under a changed name.
Aier Ji seemed to know a little bit of the inside story about this.
"Sigh, women," he said when Xia Nan mentioned it once.
All in all, a right-hander, a half-breed, a Hunter, and a farmer, that was the entire configuration of their squad.
Normally, at least in Xia Nan's understanding, a standard adventurer team configuration should be a Warrior, a Priest, a Magician, plus an Assassin or a Ranger.
The classic Warrior, Magician, Priest setup.
But for the Rotten Fish and Shrimp Squad, this was undoubtedly a luxury.
Let alone the rare spellcasters, their team didn't even have a single lowest-level professional.
Even the most experienced Hunter Maji was still a long way from becoming a Ranger and gaining his first professional level.
To some extent, calling their team an "adventurer team" was completely flattering Xia Nan and the others.
Of course, it wasn't that there were no professionals in this world.
It's just that the conditions for becoming a professional in each class are quite strict. Unless one is extremely lucky or has a solid background, ordinary people will never reach that level in their lifetime.
After all, the bounty for just one Goblin is three silver and seven copper coins – that's almost two days' wages for a dock worker!
High risk, high reward is the consensus among all intelligent creatures in this world regarding "adventurers."
And this is precisely why the Rotten Fish and Shrimp Squad came here.
"It's still half a day's journey to the sighting location mentioned in the mission report." Hunter Maji sat by the bonfire, organizing his quiver. "We should arrive around tomorrow morning."
"Tsk tsk, that's a whole squad of Goblins! I've never taken on such a big job, buddy!"
Aier Ji waved his dagger with his right hand, his face reflecting excitement in the firelight, though his short stature made him look a bit comical.
"What, scared?" The Half-orc on the other side grinned, saying rather maliciously, "Don't worry, they're just little green rats about your size. I can crush two with my toes."
"Of course!"
Aier Ji nodded in a feigned manner, agreeing wholeheartedly:
"A tough guy like you definitely wouldn't cry for his mom in his sleep."
"%@#*&! (Orc slang)"
