《Why Do I Regress When They Die》 Chapter 1 Volume 1 ¨C Chapter 01 ¨C Starting Point ¡°Oh. And I¡¯m back again.¡± Glancing around, you can feel the soothing glow of the morning and the refreshing, cozy weather gently shrouding your skin. Combined with the soft passing breeze, carrying whiffs of aromatic flowers from the lush faraway meadows, assemble into a breathtaking, fantasy-like sight. But amidst this stunning scenery was a man sitting on a lofty cliff heaving long, deep sighs, sticking out like a sore thumb amidst the gorgeous landscape. ¡°How many times have I been here now? A couple of dozens of times at least? Honestly, at this point, I really can¡¯t f*cking remember.¡± Frustratingly shaking his head, Yun Qiu¡¯s face is contorted in frustration ¨C as if he had just experienced a massive failure ¨C and miserable helplessness. Sighing again, Yun Qiu brought out a pure black booklet from his arms and unfurled it. The pages in the book were curiously black, and appearing in the center of the first page is clear and vivid white text. ¡®Ensure their safety¡¯, my ass!¡± Seeing this sentence, Yun Qiu couldn¡¯t help but feel the rage burning from the bottom of his heart. Enraged, he lifted the book and prepared to chuck it to the stratosphere before abruptly pausing midway. He hesitated and bit his lips in frustration. ¡°Damnit, why is it so hard to protect one woman? She keeps on dying while being fine in the end. At this rate, I¡¯m gonna be the one who¡¯s gonna break down first. Do I need to try out every past mistake to find the right solution for all of this?¡± As he grumbled to himself, he begrudgingly lowered the black book. Opening the book, he flipped to the second page, only finding only a single text scrawled on the rest of the blank, empty page. Compared with the sentence on the previous page, this sentence isn¡¯t as significant to Yun Qiu. After learning from his countless failures, he discovered there was no point in saying it or not. He tried numerous times to speak to others about his unusual case. But in the end, nothing changed. You can see that he¡¯s still squatting in this same old shitty place. He can only shut it and reluctantly put the booklet back in his pocket. Because, after all, the booklet was Yun Qiu¡¯s only key to returning to his real world. No matter how tormented he is, as long as he wishes to return to his world, Yun Qiu can only diligently and obediently put the book away. ¡°Groan¡­ it¡¯s almost time.¡± Yun Qiu doesn¡¯t need to know the time; with his past ¡®experiences¡¯, Yun Qiu can accurately determine and estimate when that ¡¸Event¡¹ will start. Not long after, a deafening¡¸Boom¡¹and thundering rumbles from the forest reverberated underneath his feet, as if something heavy crashed the earth. The sudden reverberations sent the birds in the forest flying in droves. Everything that happened so far didn¡¯t roam too far from his expectations. ¡°Welp, time to do what I gotta do.¡± Despite how much he whined and lamented, Yun Qiu is well aware that he didn¡¯t have much of a choice. Even if he knew what would occur and what he would encounter down there, Yun Qiu still had no choice but to go. All because of fate. Finally, with a sigh, Yun Qiu jumped down from the lofty slope and swiftly dashed into the woods. ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ In the dense and vast forest, a girl is dashing and weaving through the thick foliage while periodically glancing back. The girl appears 18 and 19 years old, while her long, flowing black hair fluttered behind her shoulders as she sped through the forest. With her delicate features, captivating figure, and pale skin as flawless as jade, it makes that no matter what the occasion, she is undoubtedly an impeccably beautiful girl. Curiously, the girl was wearing a rather luxurious dress. Her attire is not only inconvenient to move in but also not suitable when considering her present surroundings. The forest she is currently in is in the west of the city of ¡¸Norland¡¹, with an area spanning hundreds of kilometers. As a forest frequently infested with monsters, typically, only the city¡¯s Knights or the members of the¡¸Adventurers Guild¡¹shows up in this kind of forest to either explore or patrol. With her attire, which has nothing in common with the uniforms of the Knights or the adventurers, she appeared more like a lost noble. But her movement is remarkably agile and nimble despite her flashy unsuitable dress. She swiftly sprinted and weaved through the overgrown foliage, before soon arriving at a small clearing in the forest. ¡°Huuu¡­ here should be¡­¡± ¡¸BOOM¡ª¡ª¡¹ Just as the girl was about to stop to take a breather, she immediately heard a loud crash behind her. Turning around, she witnessed a towering, dark shadow closing in from a distance. The shadow knocked surrounding trees impeding its path to the ground with its enormous weapon; with each swing, tremendous force shook the earth. ¡°ROOOAR¨C!¡± A few seconds later, the dark shadow emerged from the forest, revealing its true face. With more than 2 meters tall with a sturdy, muscular body that packs immense destructive power, it is an elite orc warrior rarely seen in the forest. Because it¡¯s a monster that mainly operates¡¸On the Ground¡¹, it is difficult for an individual to deal with this level of threat alone. Aware that she had no weapons, she understood that she had no chance of winning a head-on confrontation. The girl is well aware that she has gone deep into the forest, and there is no hope of escaping all the way back to the city from here. If she continues to flee like this, she will be long exhausted before reaching safety, leaving only little energy left to fight before meeting her impending doom. Rather than facing that hopeless situation, the girl is determined to take a risky gamble. With a soaring cliff in her sight, as long as she could kite the orc, she might be able to shift this unfavorable situation in her favor. ¡°ROOOAR¨C!¡± The orc, unaware of the girl¡¯s schemes, bellowed as it noticed its prey halt. The orc viciously and swiftly charged toward her ¨C at a speed that shouldn¡¯t be possible with its size ¨C while brandishing its giant club. At the same time, the girl didn¡¯t hesitate to bet it all on her risky plan. Swiftly turning around, she sprinted out from the cover of the forest and toward the nearby cliff. She relentlessly pushed herself forwards as the rugged, billowing wind coursing from the jagged edges of the cliff crashed against her face. With her actions that will soon undoubtedly determine whether she will be able to live to see the next day, it would be a lie to say that she is not tense at all. But now, only in the face of such risk and danger can she hope for a chance of survival. After all, the girl did not make such a bold and risky decision without giving it weighty deliberation and planning. Seeing how her plan is smoothly working, the girl gradually gains confidence that her method will succeed. After reaching a suitable distance toward the cliff, she halted and spun around; she serenely faced the orc. She firmly stood and motionlessly gazed at the orc rapidly rushing from a distance. Her hands tightly clenched the verdant gem hanging from her unique pendant; whether or not she will triumph or perish in the end will all be ended by her next move. Just as she was about to make her last gamble, a man suddenly bolted out of the woods without warning. The figure-in-question seized advantage of the turned-back and lowered guard of the orc and viciously kicked the orc¡¯s head with a clear, resounding Thud. Taking advantage of the momentum, the man shifted his direction and elegantly landed on the girl¡¯s side ¨C all of this happening in a single, fluid motion. The orc staggered and crumpled to the ground from the brutal unexpected kick ¨C its body dazedly convulsed as its mind tried to process what just happened. Only after a few seconds did the orc¡¯s sluggish mind eventually detect a new arrival of a human male in its line of sight. ¡°Hey, is there a gaping crater in your noggin? Why can¡¯t you even just honestly and obediently run away, huh? Have you ever thought that if you frankly die here, how many people will suffer because of you? And how confident do you think you can be? Hmm? Ah, so you intend to push the orc off this cliff. That sounds good and all, but what will you do if you discover you either failed or couldn¡¯t push it off? What would you do then? Whenever you make a plan or a decision, you must always have a backup or an escape plan ready. So, speaking of which, where is your backup plan, hm? Is it maybe killing yourself and jumping off the cliff?¡± ¡°You¡­¡­?¡± The girl was rendered dumbstruck. Not only did she not expect someone would actually be near her and have the guts and ability to come to her rescue in this treacherous forest ¨C she most likely and definitely did not expect that someone suddenly giving her a long, ruthless, angry scolding in the middle of a grave life and death situation. She really found this current situation to be incredibly baffling. The man appeared extremely irked as if she had just done something that massively pissed him off. But before she could reply, she glimpsed that behind the man, the orc gradually staggered up and trod its way towards the man in the middle of his scolding, wordlessly readying to strike. She couldn¡¯t help but cry out. ¡°LOOK OUT!¡± ¡¸BOOOM¡ª¡¹ Before the man finished lecturing, the massive wooden club shattered the ground where the man stood, forming a new shallow crater. But Yun Qiu seemed to have eyes in the back of his head. He casually sidestepped the orc¡¯s attack in a beat, then leisurely returned to scold her.[1] ¡°What the hell are you sitting around in a daze for? Why you can¡¯t just run for it? Oh, please don¡¯t tell me I have to forcefully drag you away.¡± Yun Qiu¡¯s tone and words aren¡¯t very kind. But it can¡¯t be helped when he and the orc had battled against each other countless times ¨C to the point where he considered the orc to be old pals by now. There¡¯s also her whom he failed to persuade numerous times back in the past. But now, more importantly, he felt something heavy occupying his heart had finally lifted when he finally vented his pent-up frustration. ¡°But what would happen to you if I strand you here? It will keep on relentlessly hounding you until you are dead!¡± The girl, clothed in an extravagant dress, stubbornly retorted. She¡¯s not the type who was absolutely terrified of death and scrambled at the slightest hints of peril based on her past actions, nor the type of person who could bear to flee and strand her rescuer behind to die without looking back. Unbeknownst to Yun Qiu, he sincerely wished that lass would value and cherish her life more, as that would save him a great deal of trouble regarding his goal to return. But unfortunately, the story isn¡¯t written and orchestrated by Yun Qiu, so he can only deal and work around with the girl¡¯s difficult personality. ¡°It¡¯s me who got caught in this mess, so I can¡¯t let a civilian die to save me!¡± Her voice was unwavering as she picked up a meter-long wooden rod at the side. She briskly collected and repositioned herself to the other side as she shifted into a stance and readied to flank. ¡°It is impossible for you to handle this orc alone. I¡¯m fairly proficient in swordsmanship, so if we work together, we may have a shot in winning.¡± ¡°No, why are you so sure I will immediately die when you leave? Have you ever asked for my opinion, huh?¡± Yun Qiu leisurely retorted as he continued to skirt around the orc¡¯s swings by lightly circling. He effortlessly evaded the orc¡¯s simple attacks by anticipating the trajectory of the moves in advance, though at the cost of being unable to counterattack since he¡¯s more focused on evading. ¡°Look, I don¡¯t care at all whether or not you know how to swing a sword or not; what I do care about is that you¡¯re holding an oversized toothpick instead of a actual sword. This orc¡¯s skin is stupidly thick; even if the orc stood still and allowed you to slash it, will that toothpick of yours even scratch it?¡± ¡°But I can¡¯t just abandon you here and flee by myself! If I never try, then how would we know what will happen?!¡± She didn¡¯t bother much to argue against Yun Qiu on the results when in her perspective, she saw Yun Qiu, unarmed, barely dodging the orc¡¯s onslaught by desperately circling around it. Deeply afraid that he would eventually be struck, she hurried to aid him, only to be stopped by Yun Qiu¡¯s angry snap. ¡°STOP RIGHT THERE! If you take one more step, I will truly be seriously pissed off!¡± Yun Qiu snapped as he nimbly leaped away from the orc¡¯s swing. His tone has somehow got even nastier and more cranky than before. Startled, the girl froze in place from the man¡¯s sudden snarl; she found it to be insanely tough to comprehend his bizarre behavior. Does he not understand the danger he is in right now? No matter how strong you are, you can¡¯t just battle orcs with just your bare hands alone. Is it not good to have another person to support you? Translator¡¯s Notes: [1] When I translated this, I just imagined Yun Qiu acting like Gojo during the first 13 seconds of this clip Comments: Yup, this is a pickup. Was browsing SFCAG until I stumbled upon this hidden gem. If you find any mistakes or if you find something that can be improved upon, please let me know in the comments. (Wait, who actually comments in WordPress anymore?) Chapter 2 Volume 1 ¨C Chapter 02 ¨C What ¡®Man¡¯? ¡°Look, if you really wanna help, then go 500 meters to the east ¨C to where you will encounter a roving squad of knights. I heard they are scouring through the woods to find a missing young lady, who I believe is you.¡± Yun Qiu spoke as he pointed his thumb somewhere far away. The girl was slightly taken aback by the man¡¯s strangely detailed directions: from how the man smoothly and concisely stated the location, it almost sounded as if he had just been with the knights a moment ago. ¡°Wait, the Knights are nearby¡­?¡± But then, she immediately understood what Yun Qiu was speaking about, as a glimmer of hope sparkled in her eyes. ¡°Alright, if that¡¯s the case, I shall stall the orc while you go and contact the Knights for help. As long as the Knights arrive, we should be able to get out of this predicament safely.¡± ¡°Whaddya mean by ¡®stall the orc¡¯?! How do you exactly plan to stall it in your current shape and form? There is a better chance that a shooting star will come crashing down and obliterate the orc than you successfully stalling it for long enough!¡± Yun Qiu snapped while outright rejecting her plan without a second thought; if he genuinely considered her strategy viable from the start, he would¡¯ve immediately fetched over the Knights from the beginning. But the problem is that he cannot meet the Knights right now: because, based on his past experiences, if he does meet them, it will trigger the opening of the ¡¸Encounter with the Knights¡¹ route, where its endgame storyline is insanely tough to do and clear. And besides that, if Yun Qiu left, the girl definitely wouldn¡¯t be able to hold on against an armed orc with her current state and gear long enough before reinforcements arrived. Between the lull of conversation between the duo, the orc relentlessly continued to assail Yun Qiu. Although evading the slow and sluggish swings may not be an issue, know that once a swing grazes you for a tiny bit, it will immediately mean game over. Every seemingly slow, sluggish swing packs a lethal amount of raw, heavy power if successfully struck. Beads of cold sweat began to emerge on the girl¡¯s forehead as she watched the man and the orc entangled in an exhilarating deadly game of tag. She began to step toward them as her mind rapidly processed and analyzed the chaotic situation; she didn¡¯t know who he was or what is his goal in risking his neck to save her. But one sure thing is, looking at his unwavering and uncompromising attitude to remain and fend for the rear, she can already see how hopeless it would be to persuade him to switch places. The girl had a conflicting internal debate on whether to leave the man to fend for himself or not. One side inside her claims that the man¡¯s skills and prowess are adequate to last until help comes and that continuing to linger around here will hinder and distract him. The other side further cements that not only will her identity help assemble the Knight¡¯s help quicker, but it might also cut down the time needed for unnecessary explanations. Glancing toward the man, she knew she didn¡¯t have the time to afford to hesitate. So, reluctantly gritting her teeth and making up her mind, she yelled at the man tangled with the orc from a distance: ¡°HEY! ¡ª CATCH THIS!¡± The girl didn¡¯t know what Yun Qiu¡¯s name was, so she could only shout like that. And without hesitation, she yanked off her necklace wrapping around her neck and tossed it to Yun Qiu in the distance. The thin silver necklace sparkled while it drew an elegant parabola in the air before getting snatched by Yun Qiu¡¯s precise grasp. ¡°On the jewel of that necklace¡ª!¡± ¡°¡ªHid a one-time use of a wind magic spell, yes? Yeah yeah, I know. I will properly use it during a crucial moment. Now, will you shoo?¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡± The girl was unexpectedly interrupted by Yun Qiu¡¯s blunt interjection before she could fully finish explaining its uses. Suddenly having one of her secrets revealed that effortlessly and directly, she couldn¡¯t help but widen her eyes in bewilderment. She forced herself to turn around and dash to the area where Yun Qiu had pointed earlier as she forcibly repressed the shock in her heart. I cannot afford to waste a single second! I must get going as quickly as possible! ¡°You must hold on no matter what! I swear that I will be back soon! I promise!¡± ¡­ ¡°ROOOOAAR¨C!¡± ¡¸BOOOM¡ª¡ª!¡¹ The enraged orc swung its massive club; Yun Qiu relaxedly took a few steps back as the club missed and collided with the earth instead, forming a billowing cloud of dust. ¡°Oh, finally, I guess this counts since I was able to shoo her away for once. Geez, no matter how many times I encounter her, the noble young lady¡¯s personality is still a pain in the ass to deal with.¡± Yun Qiu sighed as he helplessly shook his head. Now with the only spectator gone, Yun Qiu turned and properly gazed at the orc for the first time during the entirety of the fight. ¡°Hey, it¡¯s been a while, old chum. Since we¡¯re old pals and all, let¡¯s skip the pleasantries since I¡¯m really in a hurry right now.¡± ¡°ROAR!¡± The orc truthfully doesn¡¯t understand what the man is rambling on about: it can, however, keenly discern various facial expressions of its prey and others. The orc, noticing the man¡¯s taunting face, became even more furious than before; it furiously took massive strides before initiating a frenzied charge. But before the orc could fully charge, a cold glint suddenly glistened from the thin air. Yun Qiu flits past through the orc¡¯s enormous torso, followed by a vibrating, rhythmic¡¸Hum¡¹ of metal smoothly rending the air that echoed through the now silent, still forest. The orc stiffened; it convulsed before eventually collapsing while crimson pooled into a morbidly beautiful pond around its now silent, still body. ¡°I¡¯m sorry bud, but as I said before, I¡¯m in a hurry.¡± Yun Qiu apologizes as he casually sheathes away a dagger he prepared in advance back to his waist as if what he had done was mundane and insignificant. Turning around, he booted the now orc¡¯s now lifeless, bloodstained corpse off the cliff. Now scrutinizing the necklace the girl had hurled in his palms, Yun Qiu¡¯s lips raised into an amused grin. He was quite familiar with the girl¡¯s plans: her plan consisted of luring the orc to the edge of the cliff and then activating the wind spell from her necklace to force the orc off. Sure, the amount of wind magic imbued in the necklace is nothing to scoff on. But if everything went smoothly and according to plan in life, why would Yun Qiu still bother coming over here, even when she has such a powerful item at her disposal? Holding the necklace, Yun Qiu still felt the lingering traces of warmth in his palms. Thinking about it, in this world of magic, many accessories, like necklaces, serve as intimate and treasured objects while at the same time serving as a highly-portable self-defense tool in sudden emergencies and so on for girls. Considering this fact, the noble young lady just now yanked off her necklace and tossed it over to a stranger she had just met for the first time in her life without any hint of hesitation. You can only speculate how anxious and worried she was for Yun Qiu during the prior circumstances. Helplessly shaking his head, he chose not to dwell and think too deeply on that topic for too long. Soon, he put away the necklace and swiftly exited the scene. ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ On the other side, the girl hurried over in the direction Yun Qiu pointed at her quickest speed. Soon, she noticed a party of about a dozen people cruising equipped with heavy plated armor: the standard, recognizable equipment of the Knights of ¡¸Norland¡¹ At the same time when she spotted the knights, the knights also spotted her. The Knights halted and immediately rushed to her with relieved, glad expressions. ¡°Milady! Lady Irene[1], we¡¯ve finally found you at last! You¡¯ve made all of us so worried¡­¡± ¡°Hand me a sword!¡± Irene didn¡¯t have any time to spare to listen to their ramblings. She swiftly bolted towards a nearby Knight and seized his sword hanging from his waist with a ¡¸swish¡¹ in a fluid motion before quickly turning around. ¡°W-Wha!? Wait, Milady! Where are you going? Please, follow us back to the city! It¡¯s too dangerous for you to continue to wander around the forest!¡± ¡°Where am I going? To rescue someone, of course! The man you saw earlier, in order to save me, is desperately battling and holding on against an elite orc warrior as we speak! Are you willing to let such a man suffer from such a vain death here?!¡± Irene, right now, was especially peeved about how the knights were ¡®playing dumb¡® at such a crucial juncture. If the man from earlier encountered the knights, had heard their dilemma, and volunteered to help them, then in her eyes, it was all the more necessary to rescue him back. Earlier, Irene had snuck out of the city to cool off and soothe her anger because of a recent ¡¸Incident¡¹. If someone gets seriously harmed because of her actions, she will surely regret and lament about it for as long as she lives. Most nobles, in general, wouldn¡¯t be held accountable for the well-being of the commoners, nor would they even care. But Irene, possessing a strong sense of justice, was clearly different from these typical nobles. But Irene¡¯s words caused every Knight to glance at each other in apparent bewilderment and perplexity; they appeared to have no clue what the young lady was talking about. ¡°Erm¡­ Pardon us, Milady, but may we inquire who that ¡®man we saw earlier¡¯ might be? We arrived all the way from the city, and we never once encountered anyone during our travel.¡± ¡°¡­¡­Pardon?¡± Translator¡¯s Notes: [1] Raws: °¬ÁÕ, Pinyin: ¨¤i l¨ªn ¡®Aileen¡¯, ¡®Erin¡¯, and ¡®Irene¡¯ are all suitable names, especially Aileen. I chose to stick with Irene instead of these 2 because they sounded more ¡®noble¡¯ and ¡®medieval¡¯, based on the settings and background of the novel. Let me know if you have a better name, or if you want specifically want the different options. Chapter 3 Volume 1 ¨C Chapter 03 ¨C The Mysterious Woman ¡¸¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡¹ ¡°I¡¯m the who caused all of this mess! I can¡¯t let a civilian sacrifice themself for me!¡± ¡°I¡¯m rather confident in my swordsmanship; I will flank and we will attack from both sides!¡± Familiar sounding lines rang in the forest as a girl ¨C wielding a stick in her hand to the best of her ability ¨C supported a man locked in a fierce melee. ¡¸BOOOM¡ª¡ª¡¹¡¸THUD¡ª¡ª¡¹ Traces of fatigue and exhaustion became more evident on the girl¡¯s and the man¡¯s faces as they continued to weave and skirt the orc¡¯s massive swings and blows. The whole purpose of this fight is to have her not worry about me and quickly run away while I continue to distract it¡­ While the man sorted out his thoughts, the orcs club trajectory abruptly changed and swung over to him; he seemingly forgot to evade it during that crucial moment. ¡°WATCH OUT¡ª¡ª!¡± The girl was violently startled by the abrupt shift. Without enough time to consider better options, she instinctively rushed over to the dazed man and shielded him from the titanic, hurling blow. ¡¸CRAAACK¡ª¡ª¡¹ With a sickening crunch, she got viciously struck. Due to the massive power and weight gap between her and the hurtling club, under the full-on collision, before she could even scream from the pain, her body flew and quickly careened off the cliff¡¯s edge. ¡°¡­¡­Eh?¡± The man was utterly shocked by her sudden action and the turn of events; Why and how is she so desperate to save others? Isn¡¯t it very rude to sacrifice yourself for others without asking for their consent? You kept droning on about how orcs are very dangerous, yet in an instant, you wouldn¡¯t hesitate to shield others from an orc without even regarding your own safety! What the hell is up with your thought process? How can a stranger¡¯s life be more valuable than your own?? As her body flew in the air, the girl finally managed to lock gazes with the shocked man. Quickly yanking off her necklace, she chucked it towards the man with her last remaining ounce of strength. The necklace traveled in an arc and flew up from the cliff; Yun Qiu could only powerlessly stare as he listened to the last words from the girl¡¯s frail voice, getting fainter as she plunged to the bottom of the cliff. ¡°Please¡­ get out of there¡­ safely..!¡± ¡¸¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡¹ ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­¡­¡­ ¡­¡­ Yun Qiu arrived to ¡¸Norland¡¹slightly ahead of schedule. Traveling alone is far quicker than the pace of the party of Knights since they have to escort and ensure Irene¡¯s safety during their return. But Yun Qiu didn¡¯t arrive in the first city to meet up with her again; at least, not at the moment. When Irene is getting escorted back to the city to return to her family, it creates a safety period where Yun Qiu: doesn¡¯t need to worry about her wellbeing for every waking second, nor does he needs to protect and guard her 24/7. But that doesn¡¯t mean Yun Qiu can relax and unwind during this grace period. After learning from his countless failures, Yun Qiu deduced which routes have the shortest clear time and highest success rate. For context, to begin with, Miss Irene is a daughter of a notable noble in the city. Since this world¡¯s social hierarchy is heavily founded on the Middle Age¡¯s feudal system, contacting a prominent noble family like Irene¡¯s with Yun Qiu¡¯s current social status is practically inconceivable. Not to mention that since Irene¡¯s family is currently in a rather delicate situation ¨C Yun Qiu needs to take additional steps and detours to reach them. As one arrives at ¡¸Norland¡¹, a border city of the ¡¸Dragon Feather¡¹ Kingdom, one will discover that this city is rather vast and assembled with architecture style reminiscent of Earth¡¯s Medieval Ages Era. With its unique geographical location, it functions as a bustling trade city with close relations with the surrounding two neighboring kingdoms and a prime thriving hotbed for thugs and bandits from various nations due to its prosperous commerce. Primarily dividing the city are two sectors. One is the ¡¸Inner Circle¡¹, located in the Northern District, a relatively clean and safe precinct where the nobility, knights, and affluent locals reside. Everything else besides the Inner circle is known as the ¡¸Outer Circle¡¹: the sector where everyone and everything not privileged or included in the ¡¸Inner Circle¡¹ is dumped. In short, it¡¯s a separator between the rich and the poor. Yun Qiu knew that if he wanted to enter the city from the well-maintained northern gate, he would need to pass a rigorous inspection ¨C which was not ideal since his current identity wouldn¡¯t permit him to enter. Instead, he opted to go to the southern gate, where its security is more laxer compared to the north. Before Yun Qiu could enter the city, a guard halted his advances. ¡°Halt! Rou¡ª¡± ¡°¡ªRoutine inspection, right?¡± But before the guard could finish, Yun Qiu had already filled the rest of his sentence for him. Out of all of the gates, Yun Qiu chose the south not only because the security was lax ¨C but because one of the guards was also one of Yun Qiu¡¯s old pals. The guard liked to specifically choose outsiders and non-locals to conduct ¡®routine checks¡¯ and then proceed to charge them the so-called city entry fee. To bluntly rephrase, this is called extortion. Since Yun Qiu is dirt-broke right now and doesn¡¯t have any time to waste, he decided to get this situation out of the way quickly. ¡°Uh¡­¡­?¡± The interrupted guard was startled for a bit before nodding. ¡°That¡¯s right, it¡¯s a routine inspection. Now go¡ª¡± ¡°¡ªgo stand there for a body check? Hm, how odd, doesn¡¯t ¡¸Norland¡¹ not have a standard practice of conducting routine inspections in the gate barring the Northern Gate, am I right?¡± ¡°eh¡­¡­?¡± The guard was getting more flustered; how could he always guess what I was about to say? But looking at his face, I¡¯ve never seen him before, so he should be new here. ¡°There is nothing non-standard or odd about this; I¡¯m just conducting a routine¡ª¡± ¡°¡ªthe content of ¡®routine inspections¡¯ does not enclose unauthorized searches and checks, no? As you can see, several people have already gone past me, and you didn¡¯t search or inspect a single one. Oh, another few just walked past me, and you still haven¡¯t halted and searched them. Well, do you get what I mean now?¡± Yun Qiu donned a playful grin as he raised and patted the guard¡¯s chest with the back of his hand. ¡°Look, if you wanted to make some extra change just now, you just picked the wrong person. Just do your job properly now and carefully pick which chap to con later.¡± After saying his piece, Yun Qiu briskly strolled into the city gate without waiting for the guard to respond: leaving a very bewildered guard standing there in a stupor. ¡°Wh-what the heck is up with him¡­?¡± It was a piece of cake resolving the problem encounter with the guard ¨C or in his words, before the guard had enough time to react to make things difficult. Entering the city, Yun Qiu then proceeded directly to the halls of the ¡¸Adventurer¡¯s Guild¡¹, where it lays the first step of his next plan. In every major city in this other world, there resides a powerful, influential organization along with its countless members ¨C aside from the knights, who are more specialized in defense and upholding public security ¨C known as the ¡¸Adventurer¡¯s Guild¡¹ From exploring the ¡¸Dungeons¡¹to acquire precious loot and resources, handling monster threats lurking beyond the city¡¯s walls, and many other various tasks, the ¡¸Adventurer¡¯s Guild¡¹ addresses them all. Back then, Yun Qiu put a lot of effort into running errands and investigating all sorts of matters for the guild. But now, he didn¡¯t step into the guild to do transactions and deals like in the past. Stepping into the halls, Yun Qiu went straight to a woman wrapped in a black robe huddling in the corner. Yun Qiu brought out a¡¸Magic Crystal¡¹ and placed it directly on the table with a ¡¸Clack¡¹ ¡°This is a ¡¸Magic Crystal¡¹ of an Elite Orc Warrior. Take it for 2 gold and 50 silvers.¡± ¡°Um?¡± Under the black robe emerges a young woman who appears to be in her 20s. She had stunning long silver hair ¨C the lustrous glimmer of her flowing silver hair was especially eye-catching. Although you can¡¯t entirely catch her face and figure obscured underneath her large robe, you can catch curious glimpses of her marred face ¨C where a frightening, hideous layer of a burning red scar from a fire mantles her face. Judging from the swaths of empty tables surrounding her, she seems unpopular and unwelcome in this guild. Although no one in the guild knew her, Yun Qiu knew in his mind that she was a renowned alchemist in disguise who had arrived in ¡¸Norland¡¹ not long ago. There¡¯s a basis for why Yun Qiu came here and specifically sought this woman out; this stunning yet harsh-looking woman can be considered an imperatively crucial component for the next step of Yun Qiu¡¯s elaborate plans to succeed. Translator¡¯s Notes: Comments: Yo, Instant Coffee here. I was planning to mass release 4 chapters instead of 2, but looking at the, uh, looming major test dates, I decided to translate 2 instead. Hope ya enjoyed these 2 chapters, as they¡¯re a pain to edit into something readable, concise, and entertaining.