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n

nWhew...at last, we're done.

nThe six of us - Feng Mian, Yu An Yan, Yu An Xue, Qing Yue, Mei Gui, and I - spent our entire morning shopping at the Coastal Metropolis, ate lunch at the food court on the 3rd floor, then...shopped some more. Yeah, tough (for me). The girls seemed to enjoyed it a lot though, Mei Gui included. She was genuinely happy; I could tell from our link.

nThat being said, I was utterly bewildered at how girls were able to find shopping such a fun activity. In my eyes, spending any more time than necessary on shopping is just a waste. Literally, the whole point shopping exists is just to acquire necessary objects. That's about the original gist of it, yet over time it has became a leisure activity, by reasons beyond my comprehension. How did they find buying stuff interesting? Perhaps this was a question I would never get the answer to.

nIn any case, we left the mall at around 3 PM. All in all, we bought two smartphones (one for me, one for Mei Gui), clothes (again, both for me and Mei Gui), and of course, groceries (ranging from sweets to junk food to fruits to vegetables and all that). Oh, and we also bought a black facemask, since I wanted it. It would be useful for covert missions, when the time calls. The other girls had in fact wanted to buy more, but I stopped them. I still wanted to do something today, after all...

nThis morning, I had told the girls I planned to register at the Hunters' Guild tomorrow, but that was only half the truth. Yes, I would be registering to become a Hunter...just not tomorrow. I would be doing it today. And then, tomorrow, I would tell the girls I changed my mind, and didn't want to become a Hunter anymore. Brilliant plan, isn't it?

nAnd so, after separating from the girls with the lame excuse of 'I want to sleep', I first dropped off all the stuff we bought today at home, then immediately began heading to the Hunters' Guild branch in Shenzhen, using my newly obtained smartphone. The map app, as they called it, was certainly useful. All I had to was enter the name of a location, and it would give me the most efficient directions possible. I've used other peoples' smartphones before, but only for calling someone else in the case of an emergency. Other than that, I had no idea how to operate a mobile device, so it truly was a surprise to me how convenient phones really were.

nAnyway, I followed the directions given to me by my phone, and decided to walk there as to avoid attracting too much attention. It wouldn't be good if someone leaked my whereabouts to one of the girls, after all. Thinking this, I wrapped my hood over my head and began discretely heading to the Hunters' Guild.

n*****

n- Hunters' Guild, Shenzhen Branch -

nThe Shenzhen Branch of the Hunters' Guild was located at the center of the city, not that far off from the Coastal Metropolis. About a 10 minute walk without any kind of speed boosting magic. The building only had one floor, but was still quite big, length-wise. Since the glass panes were all transparent, I could see what was going on inside from the exterior. The entire building gave off a high-tech feel, with its main color being a bright, futuristic blue. I entered the guild to get a better look.

nLarge screens were engraved within the walls on the left and right sides of the room, and multiple tables were scattered in a neat fashion all around. The tables weren't just ordinary furniture, however - they each emitted a bright blue hologram on top of them, and I wondered what they were for. I didn't pay much attention to them though, since my gaze was automatically drawn to the back of the room...

nSeveral young, beautiful girls lined the back wall of the lobby, each sitting at a table on the other side of a transparent pane of glass. I assumed they were receptionists, which explained why they would be gorgeous girls in their prime. After all, most members of the Hunters' Guild were men, since most of the time, they had to deal with absolutely repulsive monsters and occasionally even have to harvest the various body parts of a monster they defeated, as a token of their quest completion, and also for money. The process for doing so can involve dissection, and only the true veterans can withstand looking at the inner workings of a monster without puking.

nThis may not come as a surprise, but Magic Beasts and Monsters both have quite valuable body parts to them. They were mainly used for alchemic or medicinal purposes, but in some cases Magic Beasts can be eaten as a delicacy as well, after thorough preparation. Only the wealthiest people were able to afford such meals, though.

nSuddenly, I noticed a loud commotion at one of the receptionist stations, in particular the one furthest to the right. Several men were crowded around it, and appeared to be fighting over...who was first? Judging by the way they were acting, I figured this conflict didn't just break out, but had been happening for a while now. I didn't notice it earlier, since it only began to get rowdy just now. Curious, I patted the shoulder of a guy who happened to be standing near me.

n

"Hey, dude, you got any idea what those guys over there are fighting about?

" I asked.

nThe man, who was wearing a cowboy hat and similarly fashioned attire, turned around and laughed upon seeing me.

"Howdy! New 'round here, ain't ya?

"

nHuh...so he talks like a cowboy, too. Guess his whole getup wasn't just for show.

n

"Uh, yeah, that's right,

" I replied truthfully, still not removing my hood. Normally, this would be impolite, but considering where I was, I doubted anyone would care. Especially not this fake cowboy guy.

n

"Hmm...no offense or anythin', but ya look kinda weak, ya know?

" he said, inspecting me up and down.

"This business ain't for no namby-pamby half-wits, just sayin'.

"

n

"Er...I understand,

" I went along with what he said just to avoid starting an argument, and changed the topic back onto what I was originally asking him about.

"But still, I'm curious...what is going on over there?

"

nAs the cowboy-esque dude followed his gaze to where I was pointing at, he laughed heartily.

"Oh, that? That's a common happenin' 'round here.

"

nGreat, but does that tell me what's going on? Are all cowboys supposed to be like this? Man...answer the question, I don't care how frequent this ** happens.

nVoicing my thoughts in a slightly less hostile manner, I spoke.

"Cool, but that's not what I was asking. I'm wondering why they are fighting.

"

nThe cowboy then glanced at me skeptically.

"Greenhorn, don't tell me ya really don't know about the top beauty of Shenzhen?

"

nTop beauty? I can name a few, right off the top of my head. But what's interesting is that he didn't use 'one of', just straight up, conclusive - 'top beauty of Shenzhen'.

n

"Er...I'm actually a foreigner around these parts,

" I lied blatantly, just to make it seem more believable that I didn't know about this so called top beauty.

"Care to enlighten me?

"

n

"Ho, her beauty ain't somethin' just words can describe,

" the cowboy chuckled, then pointing his chin at the rowdy men, still fighting stubbornly. I followed his gaze, and was met with...the wild-looking men.

nAre you stupid? How am I supposed to see her when she's being blocked by these bunch of idiots?

n

"I can't see her,

" I told the cowboy, but he merely snickered.

n

"That's the point, greenhorn.

"

n

"Huh...?

" I was genuinely confused.

nThe cowboy, seeing my puzzled expression, began explaining.

"Ya see, that girl is always wearin' a veil. We can only see her eyes, ears, and hair, but those be enough to convince us she's damn gorgeous.

"

nWearing a veil...? Interesting.

nHaving my curiosity piqued, I decided to investigate. Since I needed to register at the here anyway, I decided to go to that receptionist in particular. Two birds with one stone, as they say. I slipped on my new black facemask, which fortunately I hadn't dropped off at home, and walked over to where the men were fighting, plan in mind.

n

"Excuse me, but could you please settle down a bit?

" I asked courteously.

nAll ten of the men who were bickering with each other just seconds earlier now all fixed their angry eyes on me.

n

"Huh?! Who the hell are you, brat?

" one of them asked with a demeaning tone. He had a huge moustache, and a beard to match. Overall, he was the very definition of 'burly'. Just by appearances alone, it seemed he was the strongest of the bunch, with his large muscles and general appearance.

n

"Never seen 'im 'round here,

" another man said in response to the first. This one had a pirate-themed costume, and looked quite the part if I do say so myself. That being said...what's with these Hunters? Do they all have some kind of cosplay fetish?

nI sighed and began speaking calmly.

"Who I am isn't very important, is it? The reason you all are crowded around here is pretty obvious. But do you think fighting in front of the receptionist is supposed to make her like you?

"

nThen, suddenly, contrary to my expectations, all ten men began clasping their cheeks and blushing.

nHold it right there...I don't like where this is going.

n

"T-Then, what do we do?!

" the bulky man who had spoken first earlier asked me in a panic.

"We just want to get a glimpse of her face...

"

nI blinked in shock. Is this what they call a 'simp'?

nQuickly regaining my composure, I cleared my throat and proceeded with my plan.

"A-Ahem...well, for starters, why don't you start lining up in a neat and tidy fashion?

"

n

"Alright...

" the men all murmured, and obediently shuffled into a straight line, behind me, leaving me at the front.

nWhat the hell?! Why are you leaving me at the front? Oh, wait...don't tell me you all got nervous just now...man, why do I feel like a kindergarten teacher right about now? 'Line up in a neat and tidy fashion'...god.

nAnyway...my plan succeeded in the end, so all was well. In fact, it went a little too smoothly. Either way, my purpose was fulfilled, and I came face-to-face with the receptionist they were all clamoring to get a glimpse of.

nIndeed, what that cowboy guy had told me was right on the mark. The girl before me was wearing a blue veil that hid everything on her face except her eyes and above. She had beautiful, long, sky blue colored hair, and gave off a very delicate air overall.

nI took a deep breath, and walked up to the receptionist.

n