I Am Also An Extraordinary Creature

Want to buy it? Of course not. Zheng Yichen mulled it over and decided to sell it directly through the Night Banquet Bar as an agent; the earnest money was the price the bartender had just quoted. The final commission would be taken from the ultimate sale price with any differences settled appropriately. The bartender professionally drew up a contract for Zheng Yichen.

"You'll have a result within three days, usually, you can come back here the next day."

After saying this, the bartender changed the topic, "As a new Hunter, you might be interested in some assignments."

"Of course, that's what I'm here for."

Zheng Yichen was very interested in this topic.

"Come with me."

He thought the bartender would take him to some secret room that looked very prestigious, but instead, he was led back to the bar. After washing his hands, the bartender presented Zheng Yichen with a 'menu' listing some of the recent task commissions, like a weekly patrol assignment at an XX breeding farm, security duties at a research institute, and the like.

The shortest duration was not less than three days and the longest would not exceed half a month. This gave Zheng Yichen a strange sense of déjà vu—were they looking for Hunters for significant tasks, or merely for temporary workers who happened to be called Hunters??

"The start for newcomers." Seeing Zheng Yichen's slightly skeptical look, the bartender said with a smile, "These are quite suitable for novice hunters."

"Are there... more advanced ones?"

"That would require going outside." The bartender didn't bother with idle chat and immediately brought out a new menu for Zheng Yichen to glance over. He merely glanced at it before moving on, deciding that, at this time, it would be better to choose some of the simpler ones. Those listed were clearly beyond what he could handle.

Zheng Yichen also saw there was a commission to hunt a mysterious dragon beast, which in a game would typically be the standard for a 25-person raid, right?

He thought it best to progress step by step, leveling up through fighting monsters, and then consider those commissions after gathering more intelligence. Picking up the initial menu again, Zheng Yichen selected an assignment from a research institute, "This one then."

He had had enough of farms, and a research institute seemed far more interesting since he hadn't experienced it yet.

"Well, I personally suggest that you shouldn't be too fixated once there; give up when necessary." The bartender spoke as Zheng Yichen made his choice, pulling out a tablet to bring up the relevant details: "Face scan or card scan?"

"Card." Zheng Yichen pulled out his freshly acquired Hunter license, still new and hardly warm. After scanning it, the bartender nodded at him, "All set."

"Those research institutes should have their own private forces, right? Why do they still need security personnel?" Curious after having his task registered, Zheng Yichen asked.

The bartender laughed without answering, and Zheng Yichen then understood, "Another of what I had last time."

After pouring him another drink, the bartender finally spoke up, "Security duty is just the public facade; in reality, they are looking for test subjects."

"So, you're saying that whenever someone takes on the commission and goes there, there's bound to be something that goes out of control? Seems superfluous."

The bartender shook his head, "Strictly speaking, this is a form of live combat exercise. The research institutes do have their own security forces, but those are trained and brought up through collective training, which is different from the civilian Hunters. The institutes aim to gather more practical data and can't suffice just with their in-house security force."

Oh— Zheng Yichen nodded in understanding, it was roughly similar to civilians skilled in martial arts versus soldiers trained in the military. Soldiers who had undergone rigorous training were good at fighting, and so were martial arts experts with no military training—they were both good fighters, but their specializations and combat habits were completely different.

"If that's the case, why couldn't you have just explained it on this thing directly, instead of making such a fuss?" After understanding the specific reason, Zheng Yichen clicked his tongue.

"It's not the same," said the bartender, without explaining too much on the matter. As a Hunter, encounters with anomalies wouldn't be few, even controllable research at the institutes could go awry, including the commission Zheng Yichen had taken on. Zheng Yichen typically worked alone and found this procedure somewhat troublesome, but for those research institutes, it was a necessary process.

"The information has been registered. Just head to the Nephita Research Institute in the Flowing Cloud District in two days and you can come back here to get paid," the bartender put away the tablet computer, "If you want to have fun here, I can recommend some good drinking buddies for you."

"Sounds expensive. I won't run out of money in one night, will I?"

The bartender was noncommittal, "That depends on your choice, but usually that doesn't happen."

"I'm very curious about these unusual circumstances!!"

The usual circumstances involve simply looking for someone who likes to drink and have drinking contests, where the loser pays the bill – as long as you're having a good time, that's all that matters. The unusual circumstances include the company of beautiful women on-site, which is more suitable for the veterans; for a novice hunter, it's anybody's guess who is keeping whom company.

"I'll stick to this one, any stronger and it's too bitter for me," Zheng Yichen swirled the fruit wine in his glass, "How many Hunters are here? If it costs money to ask, then never mind."

"This one's on the house," the bartender smiled, "Actually, once you're familiar with the scene, you can usually tell. I can tell you now, no problem, about half of the people here are Hunters, and many of the rest are thrill-seekers."

Zheng Yichen had been able to find the Night Banquet Bar before, not to mention others. However, just because people could find it didn't mean they were keen on dealing with dangerous anomalies; they were only after the thrill. If they couldn't become Hunters, making friends with one was good enough.

"Now that you have your Hunter's license, picking up girls is easy," the bartender gave Zheng Yichen a knowing look that young men understand, then motioned for him to move over, as he needed to attend to a new customer.

Two days later, Zheng Yichen returned to the Night Banquet Bar and saw the bartender talking to someone else. He found a spot and sat down; there were other bartenders at the Night Banquet Bar, but he wasn't familiar with them.

Once the bartender's customer had left, Zheng Yichen immediately went over. Seeing Zheng Yichen approach, the bartender smiled and said, "The same as before?"

"...Sure," and so another glass of the previous fruit wine was placed before him.

The bartender continued, "Your recording, including the conversation, adds up to a total of 120,000, minus the service fee that's 114,000, and it's already taxed."

"The research institutes are that generous??" Zheng Yichen was surprised.

"How else would they attract people? The content of your recorded conversation was too simple. If there were more, the price could have gone up quite a bit," the bartender suggested Zheng Yichen suffered from a lack of experience.

Zheng Yichen thought...

"This money is really easy to earn."

Hearing his comment, the bartender chuckled lightly, "That's because you're lucky. When luck isn't on your side, it's not just about this kind of conversation anymore – there can be life-threatening dangers. The money is not easy to earn; you can't always just look at what you've earnt."

After all, everyone only looks at those who earned money, hardly noticing those who have had mishaps.