Chapter 12: Need to Start Running

Carrying a simple small backpack, when he returned to the Citadel Guerrillas' lodging, the other two people sharing his room were already back.

Because Qiaoda and Shaji had already greeted the two of them, they weren't surprised by Aolang's arrival — if anything, they were quite warm.

"Nuri, Two-Star Gunlancer." A young man who wasn't especially tall but was very sturdy, looking about twenty, extended his hand and shook with him.

To Aolang's surprise, the Citadel Guerrillas Armor this Gunlancer was wearing was actually bright red.

He had never seen a Guerrilla Squad uniform in this color scheme in the city — did it have some special meaning?

Seeming to notice the surprise in his eyes, the Gunlancer named Nuri patted the Weapon leaning against the wall and explained with a smile: "My Weapon isn't suited for use inside the city, and the daily patrol missions have nothing to do with me either.

So the boss is more lenient with managing people like us, and allows us to go find craftsmen to dye our Equipment.

I'm a Frontliner, and red draws Monster attention the most, so I dyed it this color."

Aolang nodded to show he understood, and at the same time briefly introduced himself: "Aolang, One-Star Hunter. Seniors, please guide me well."

"Don't mention it!"

The one who answered was the other person. He looked a bit younger, around eighteen or nineteen. The color of his armor was the standard scheme, but it was the Archer style.

Aolang's gaze swept around, and sure enough, he spotted a Heavy Bowgun on one of the beds.

That person also walked over and shook hands with Aolang. "Asa, One-Star Heavy Bowgun User. Sigh, speaking of which, can we not specifically announce this 'One-Star' thing next time? It feels kind of embarrassing."

Aolang smiled. This Heavy Bowgun User senior's personality seemed a bit livelier than the Gunlancer senior's, though it still didn't reach the level of chattiness of that Traveling Merchant called Karim.

"Nuri and Asa are blood brothers, meow." Shaji, curled up on the cushion, added a line. "Although they don't look alike at all, meow."

Aolang subconsciously compared the two men's features — one had a flat nose bridge, the other a hooked nose; one had a square face, the other a pointed one. Indeed, they didn't really look alike.

"A lot of people say that." Nuri, the elder brother, laughed and sat down on his own bed.

Asa also shrugged. "We two also have a blood sister, and she doesn't look like us either. That's really great — otherwise, who would she marry in the future?

By the way... Aolang, how old are you? You look really young."

"Two months short of seventeen."

Asa couldn't help but stick out his tongue. "Oh my, a genius. You shouldn't be from the Loc Lac Hunter Training Camp, right? Otherwise it wouldn't make sense that we hadn't heard of you."

"Mm, I trained under a teacher."

"How nice." Asa flopped onto the bed. "My big brother and I don't have that kind of talent that lets a powerful Hunter take one look at you and take you in as a Disciple."

"Asa." Nuri frowned and chided.

"Ah, sorry, sorry!" Asa sat up and pressed his palms together. "My stupid mouth never engages my brain.

Actually, the Training Camp was pretty good too. The instructors were fierce, but we really did learn a lot, and they also introduced us into the Citadel Guerrillas.

Haha, looking at it this way, didn't we all end up back on the same path anyway!"

"Asa!"

"I'm sorry!" Asa raised both hands and said loudly: "My apology comes from the heart!"

"......"

Aolang was a bit speechless. This Heavy Bowgun User senior really did have a bit of a loose tongue. If he couldn't sense that there was no malice, these words would really sound a bit like cold mockery.

"Alright, Boss Qiaoda stuffed me with a mission earlier and told me to bring you two to complete it. Ahlun's Little Brother, come over and take a look too." Afraid his foolish younger brother would say something weird again, Nuri quickly got down to business.

"This mission has a relatively high danger level. Boss Qiaoda asked me to emphasize to you — whether or not to participate is entirely voluntary, don't force yourselves. This isn't One-Star level difficulty to begin with.

If you don't go, he'll rearrange more suitable personnel."

"Hey! If that's how it is, doesn't that make it even more of a must-go?" Asa jumped up from the bed.

Aolang, on the other hand, didn't immediately state his position. Instead, he came to Nuri's side, and the three people and one cat gathered together, reading that crumpled mission slip.

——

Subjugation Mission: Creatures Swimming Beneath the Sand (★★)

Mission Content: Subjugate 5 Sand Dragons

Mission Location: Desert Northwest of Loc Lac

Mission Time: 7 days

Reward: 2000z

Possible Monsters: Sand Long Wang, Yellow Velocidrome, Sand Fish

Citadel Guerrillas Leader: Recently, a group of Sand Dragons migrated near Loc Lac, seriously affecting the smooth flow of the trade route northwest of Loc Lac, and caused casualties.

After the Guild's judgment, it was decided to subjugate this group of Sand Dragons.

Attention! A Sand Long Wang exists within this group of Sand Dragons. That is not an opponent you can handle. Other Hunters will be arranged to hunt the Sand Long Wang. You only need to focus on reducing the number of Sand Dragons.

Once the Sand Long Wang appears, retreat in time and ensure your own safety.

——

"A Two-Star mission?" Aolang was a bit puzzled. "Setting aside our willingness, the two of us One-Star Hunters participating in a Two-Star mission — is this allowed by the Guild?"

Nuri smiled and explained: "You mean this? I was also puzzled about it before. It was Boss Qiaoda who explained it to me before I understood.

Roughly ten or twenty years ago, the continent went through a period of chaos, with frequent Monster unrest incidents. At that time, in order to accelerate the cultivation of combat power, the Guild increased investment in all aspects and also relaxed some restrictions.

At first, the heads of Guild branches everywhere could grant some privileges to Hunters they had their eye on.

For example, Aolang, you're a One-Star Hunter. If our Loc Lac Guild Master thinks you have a lot of potential, he can stamp a hollow star on the cover of your notebook, just like this."

Nuri drew a "✰" on the paper.

"This way, added to the star seal that originally symbolizes rank, doesn't it look like two stars?"

Nuri added a few strokes to the paper and drew a "★✰"

"This is colloquially called a 'Half-Star.' Hunters possessing this mark, on the premise that someone is leading them, are permitted to participate in missions one rank above their own Hunter rank.

Just like I'm Two-Star, so I can take you, a 'One-and-a-Half-Star,' to execute a Two-Star mission."

Aolang, Asa, and Shaji gathered around Nuri's bedside, nodding away as if listening to a story.

"Later, the Guild's higher-ups discovered that, under the guidance of seniors, participating in missions slightly above one's own strength range, although there would be risks, could effectively accelerate the growth of young Hunters.

It even spawned a saying: "Try to run before you learn to walk," which many ambitious young Hunters regard as a supreme truth."

"That saying makes so much sense! From now on, I'll take it as my motto!" Asa excitedly clapped his hands.

Nuri made a "quiet" gesture to his younger brother and continued, "Up to now, the so-called 'Half-Star' system has been abolished, replaced by an unwritten rule.

—As long as local Guild approval is obtained, Hunters may join missions one star higher than their own Hunter rank, provided they are led by a senior.

This is why Boss Qiaoda allowed me to take you two on this Two-Star mission."

"Why have I never heard of such a rule?" Asa couldn't help asking.

Aolang was also puzzled. "I've never heard of it either."

Nuri shrugged. "Because if anything goes wrong, the local Guild that approved the mission will be held accountable by the Guild Headquarters.

So, from the local Guild's standpoint, they naturally won't publicize this; even if one specifically applies, approval isn't guaranteed.

I only learned this after Boss Qiaoda told me. He also asked me to remind you not to talk about this everywhere."

The two humans and the cat nodded repeatedly.

"So, will you join this mission? Let me emphasize once more: it's voluntary, there are risks, don't force yourselves."

"Of course we're going!" Asa answered very readily.

Aolang, however, thought a bit deeper.

Since local Guild approval is required, what Boss Qiaoda said shouldn't count; someone higher up must have approved this matter.

Who could it be? It doesn't seem hard to guess.

The figure riding a Mushroom Boar, twitching his small mustache, jumped around in his mind.

"I'm going too."

ps. In the official worldview (referring to the official novels), the classification of Hunter ranks is actually not that detailed.

(Actually, each part differs slightly; the novels of the first generation series include ranks like Knight, Castle, Queen, and King, likely referencing chess; this was also the method for classifying Guardian Stone ranks in early works.)

A novice Hunter, fresh out of the gate, going to hunt a Great Jaggi and returning half-dead and beaten is something that has appeared in official novels.

I initially wanted to write something like that, but I worried about logical and rationality confusion, so I created this so-called setting of One-Star Hunter to Nine-Star Hunter.

But this setting has a problem: if you complete missions strictly step-by-step to level up, you lose much of the thrill and excitement; you can't have monsters randomly intruding every single time, can you?

So I went to the trouble of patching it up (facepalm).