"Yeah, no. I already made up my mind, I’m not going anywhere near that lake," I refused without hesitation.

It was a couple of days after the Knights had left around 9 AM in the morning, and I’d come to take on one last quest before hitting the road again sometime tomorrow. I took on a couple of simple Monster extermination quests yesterday, successfully completing them without a problem.

So, I figured I’d take on one more quest that I should be able to complete without any trouble and leave this town on a high. And as I approached the reception desk, Rosary made a rather unappealing proposal...

"At least hear me out and let me finish. You’ll primarily be there just to observe, maybe assist and support where you can. I’ll be leading this quest myself along with a few of our other high ranked and experienced Adventurers, including the only other Diamond rank who’s currently in town. In all likelihood, you won’t have to do anything," She explained in an effort to convince me.

Hm...actually, that’s not a bad deal. Getting to see Diamond ranked Adventurers in action against a high level Monster will be a valuable experience, especially if I’m not expected to be involved. Yeah, not a bad deal at all...

"Okay, when you put it like that, it’s hard not to see the merits, but...what’s in it for you? Won’t it just make your job harder?" I pointed out with a raised eyebrow.

"Perhaps, but this is with long-term benefits in mind. Since you’ve registered with our Guild, you’ll have to come back here whenever you want to raise your rank, so it’s in our best interest to make sure we help maximize your potential," She replied with a smile.

I guess that makes sense...though I imagine it’ll be a while before I come back here, I’ve got a ton of ground to cover in searching for my brother. I just have to hope I don’t pass him by in the process, the sooner I find him, the better.

"Well, I can’t say all my doubts are cleared, but I suppose that the benefits outweigh the drawbacks, at least a little. Alright, then...I accept," I relented, after mulling it over carefully.

"Great! Then be here at 3 PM, on the dot, we’ll depart for the quest then," She informed me.

"Yeah, got it. Gotta say, I am pretty intrigued to see you while you’re on the job as an Adventurer, Rose Thorn," I grinned in response.

"Please don’t call me that when I’m on duty as a receptionist," She groaned in dismay, turning red with embarrassment.

"If you find it so embarrassing, why pick that name?" I inquired curiously.

"I-I picked it when I was young, okay? And it stuck, people continued using that name even after I started asking them not to. Though it wasn’t so bad when they didn’t actually know who I was, that’s changed now that they know it’s me," She sighed in exasperation.

Ah, so it’s like the edgy email address you pick for yourself when you’re a teen and then change to something more normal once you’re older. Heh, looks like teasing her about this should be quite effective.

"I see, so it’s a dark past you can’t escape, huh?" I surmised in amusement.

"You’re enjoying this way too much. Go on, get out of here, come back at three," She responded with a dismissive wave of her hand.

"Yeah, okay. Can’t wait to see how you look in full adventuring gear!" I replied with a grin as I headed for the exit.

Now, then, I’ve got almost six full hours to kill, how should I spend that time? Ohh, there’s that arcade I spotted before, that could be fun. I’m curious to see what kind of games it has, I’ve never been to one.

I mean, I had a high spec gaming laptop and various consoles in my old world, so I never considered going to a place like an arcade. But I haven’t played any games in this world...Rhyle and Lycia couldn’t afford a console, so yeah.

I’m not complaining, I really enjoyed my life with them while it lasted. As simple as it was, I was happy and content. Alright, time’s a wasting, let’s get to that arcade and see if it lives up to the hype!

I headed towards the arcade with a sense of rising anticipation, feeling kinda giddy...I haven’t had any proper fun in ages. Well, that movie came close, but the shitty ending ruined it too much.

On the inside, I may be over thirty years old, but I am physically still not even thirteen years old yet...while I have the knowledge of an adult, this current brain is still developing. It’s not yet fully matured, and my thought processes and mindset might be affected by that. You get what I’m trying to say.

This is my first opportunity in ages to just relax and enjoy myself in a carefree manner, and I’m really excited about it. I’m pretty serious about accomplishing my goals...finding Argent, saving Rhyle and killing every Noble who was involved on the attack of my old village.

But that said, I’m certainly not opposed to taking a break for some down time every now and then. A mental health break, if you will.

As I arrived at the arcade and headed inside, I looked around in fascination...this really does look like the arcades from my old world, the ones from the 90s. This is pretty cool, I gotta say.

Ooh, crane games, I’ve always wanted to try those. The prizes look pretty cheap and low quality, but that’s fine, I’m not interested in plushies anyway. I then headed to the counter and bought a bunch of tickets, before heading for the crane machines.

I picked one which was filled with large snake plushies...hm, those could be useful as pillows while I’m traveling. Then again, I could just buy some regular pillows instead...eh, whatever, doesn’t matter if the toy is useful or not.

Let’s see if I can get it...I put one of the tickets into the machine, the buttons and joystick lighting up as I did. Okay, let’s see here...I use the joystick to move the crane, and these arrow buttons to lower and raise the crane.

Pressing this buttons opens and closes the claw of the crane...alright, got it. Let’s give this a go...I then moved the crane above a plushie I eyed and then lowered it, before clamping it shut around the plushie.

I then began to raise the crane...but the plushie slid out of the grip and fell back onto the pile. Huh, I thought I’d secured it pretty well...maybe I should try to pinch it between the claws of the crane instead of trying to wrap the claw around it? Only one way to find out...let’s try again!

I then tried it again...and again. And again. One more time...alright, last time for sure. One more try won’t hurt...crap, I almost had it that time! Okay, time to get serious...final attempt for real, here we go...!

...I failed. Eleven tries in total...and I failed every time. I grimaced as I forced myself to walk away in defeat...damn it, what the hell!? That game is totally rigged, there’s no way it’s actually possible to get a prize!

Hmph, whatever, it’s not like I wanted one of those crappy plushies anyway! Forget the crane games, it’s not all that fun. Let’s give something else a try...after I get some more tickets, I nearly used up all the ones I bought.

I went to buy more tickets, before exploring the building more. I started with a game of skeeball, which was pretty fun. I’ve only played it before as a mobile game, this is the first time I’m playing it physically...it’s pretty simple, but I’m enjoying it.

Next, I tried a shooting game, the controller was shaped like a gun so I got pretty immersed in it. It was a first person shooter in a zombie apocalypse setting...are zombies a real thing in this world or are they fictional like in my old world?

Hope it’s the latter...I don’t want to have to go through a zombie apocalypse. First off, it’s way played out, zombies are totally overused and kinda boring monsters. Plus, the whole one bite and it’s over thing is stupid.

Alright, I think I’ve had my fill of this, let’s try something else. I walked past a row of bowling lanes, table tennis tables and ice hockey tables, ignoring them...I’d like to try them, but those games require another player, and I’d feel awkward playing these kinds of games with a stranger.

Hm? Ooh, a fighting game...huh? The title...it’s Road Brawler. Road can be a synonym for street. And brawler can be a synonym for fighter...coincidence? Who knows?

Ah, there’s another one...Mortal Warfare. Warfare could be a synonym for combat. Alternatively, mortal doesn’t sound too dissimilar to modern. Has someone been ripping off game titles from my previous world or something?

Doesn’t matter, I freaking love these type of games! I sat down in front of one of the games with a sense of excitement, stifling a giddy smile as I put a ticket in and waited for the game to load...

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