The early bird gets the worm, the early worm gets eaten by the bird.
Shi Hanfeng walked toward the Adventurers’ Guild with steady steps.
From a distance, he saw two figures standing outside the guild’s main entrance, like two dutiful guardian statues.
It was Hans and Gelte.
The two of them clearly saw him as well.
They immediately straightened their backs, welcoming him with enthusiastic smiles.
“Mr. Rakshasa, good morning!”
Hans’s voice was loud, filled with an energetic drive.
“Morning.”
Shi Hanfeng gave a slight nod, his gaze sweeping over their slightly weathered faces.
“You two are early.”
His words were purely polite.
The appointed time hadn’t arrived yet, and he had come quite early himself, but he hadn’t expected the other party to arrive even earlier.
Hans waved his hand hastily, his tone filled with utter self-evidence.
“Ah, you say that, but how could we let the employer wait for us? We just got here, just arrived.”
He rubbed his hands together, his face breaking into a smile that, besides enthusiasm, also held a barely noticeable hint of relief.
Hans knew very well in his heart that being able to get in touch with Mr. Rakshasa was pure luck—he had just been the first to encounter him.
In terms of strength, with healing abilities comparable to a high priest and skills that made slaying Goblins look easier than slicing vegetables, the other could more than handle things alone.
Who wouldn’t want to hire such a person?
Ximu Town had no shortage of Adventurers who were poor and unafraid of death.
Having self-awareness was one of his few advantages.
No need to worry about supplies, no fear of injury, and the earnings from a single mission were several times higher than what he used to make struggling all day.
For such easy and profitable work, not being attentive would truly be foolish.
Gelte, beside him, didn’t speak.
He simply nodded vigorously, expressing his complete agreement with Hans’s words through his actions.
Shi Hanfeng naturally saw through their little thoughts but didn’t expose them.
Obedient, somewhat experienced, well-acquainted, and knowing their limits—these temporary teammates were still acceptable for now.
He said no more, raising his foot to walk toward the guild entrance.
“Let’s go in.”
The three of them pushed open the heavy wooden door.
Familiar clamor, mixed with various scents, enveloped Shi Hanfeng once more.
In the guild hall, a considerable number of Adventurers had already gathered, waiting to take on early morning quests.
The noise was like a marketplace.
Behind the counter, the Receptionist with brown braided hair was buried in a pile of documents, her brows tightly furrowed, muttering something under her breath.
She was clearly troubled by something.
However, the moment Shi Hanfeng’s figure entered her sight, she seemed to have a built-in radar and abruptly lifted her head.
The gloom on her face was instantly replaced by a bright, joyful expression, her eyes lighting up as if she had seen a savior.
“Mr. Rakshasa! Good morning!”
Her voice was crisp, carrying evident happiness as she called out from afar, completely ignoring Hans and Gelte beside Shi Hanfeng.
Shi Hanfeng walked up to the counter.
“Good morning, Receptionist.”
He responded.
“We’re here today to take on a Goblin extermination quest.”
“Goblin quest?”
The Receptionist was visibly stunned, confusion surfacing on her face.
She almost blurted out, “You still want to take on Goblin quests?”
It wasn’t her fault for being surprised.
In the Adventurers’ Guild, Goblin quests were considered “chicken ribs” by both Receptionists and Adventurers—a synonym for something tasteless and undesirable.
Perhaps even worse.
The reward was extremely low, often just a few silver coins.
Compared to tasks like beast extermination or herb gathering of the same rank, the cost-performance ratio was pitifully low.
The risk wasn’t small either.
Those green-skinned little dwarves might be weak individually, but their traps, ambushes, and the occasional “favor” from the goddess of dice meant that inexperienced newbies had a higher chance of running into trouble than on other missions.
Once injured, the cost of treatment far outweighed the quest’s reward.
Most crucially, such missions were virtually devoid of profit.
Apart from garbage, Goblin nests held nothing of value.
Even newly registered White Porcelain Rank rookies, after trying one or two times, would mostly keep their distance from Goblin quests, preferring to dig through sewers to deal with Slimes.
At least Slime Cores could be sold for some money.
As a result, these unwanted Goblin quests piled up like snowflakes on her worklist.
Every unclaimed quest meant more follow-ups, record-keeping, and reminders, leaving her suffocating under the workload.
Just yesterday, she thought Mr. Rakshasa was simply curious as a newcomer and picked up a Goblin quest to test the waters.
She hadn’t expected him to actually take on more Goblin quests.
But she quickly recovered, realizing her lapse in composure, and suddenly remembered the astonishing efficiency Hans and his team showed in yesterday’s quest.
This person before her was indeed a newcomer, but not a rookie!
He could genuinely and efficiently clear out nests!
“Yes, yes! Of course there are!”
The confusion on the Receptionist’s face was instantly replaced by wild joy, her voice rising several pitches and drawing curious looks from nearby Adventurers.
She seemed to see the dawn of salvation from the sea of ever-accumulating Goblin quests!
As long as this person was willing to take them, these annoying tasks could finally be crossed off, one after another.
Her workload would be drastically reduced, and she would no longer have to worry every day over a pile of untouched Goblin missions.
Humming a tuneless little tune, she turned, quickly and deftly searching through a stack of obviously older parchment under the counter.
Soon, she placed a thick bundle of densely written quest slips on the counter before Shi Hanfeng.
“Mr. Rakshasa, these are all the currently backlogged Goblin extermination or expulsion quests. Please take a look…”
Shi Hanfeng scanned them briefly.
There were indeed quite a few, most concentrated around the Border Forest near Ximu Town.
He picked up the stack and handed it to Hans behind him.
“Sir Hans, you’re a local and know the terrain. Choose four locations along a convenient route, and we’ll take them all.”
Letting Hans pick not only utilized his local knowledge to optimize the route and save travel time, increasing monster-hunting efficiency, but also demonstrated trust and respect toward a temporary teammate—helpful for maintaining a good team atmosphere.
After all, he needed a reliable “Palulu” to hold the front line, not a disgruntled tool.
Hans accepted the quest slips in shock, pressing his head together with Gelte’s as they carefully studied them, fingers tracing the map as they discussed in low voices which nest locations could be connected into an efficient action route.
“This one… near Grey Wolf Valley, this one upstream of Blackwater Creek, then the Abandoned Lumberyard… and this one close to the Old Mine… these four can be done in one trip, with little detour.”
Hans quickly picked out four quest slips, respectfully handing them back to Shi Hanfeng.
Shi Hanfeng took them and passed them to the Receptionist.
“These four.”
“Understood! I’ll register them immediately!”
The Receptionist beamed, swiftly recording them in the Task Registration Book.
It was as if she were processing lucrative rewards rather than troublesome, backlogged quests.
After the formalities, Shi Hanfeng put away the Task Copy and led Hans and Gelte away from the counter, heading straight for the neighboring general store to stock up on supplies for the operation—plenty of hard bread, dried meat, and fresh water.
As their figures disappeared around the corner of the guild entrance, the Adventurers who had been eavesdropping in the hall exploded into commotion.
“Hey, did you see that? It’s that blond pretty boy again—he’s really going after Goblins?”
A burly man with a battle axe grinned, his tone full of mockery and disbelief.
“Yeah, yesterday he took one, and today he grabbed four at once! Does he have some grudge against Goblins or what?”
A scrawny man in leather armor chimed in, waggling his eyebrows.
“Seriously, with that level of skill, why not take on Giant or Magical Beast extermination missions instead? The pay’s several times higher!”
“Why go out of your way to fight those poor, stinking green dwarves? I just don’t get it.”
The Receptionist behind the counter blushed as she listened to the blatant discussions, her earlier good mood replaced by a nameless anger.
These guys!
Every day they bragged about being Dragon-Slaying Heroes and taking on epic missions, but looked down on Goblin quests as “low-level” tasks—complaining about poor rewards, little profit, and how it lowered their status.
And yet?
They didn’t dare accept high-level quests, and were picky about low-level ones.
As a result, Goblin quests piled higher and higher in the guild, leaving her to clean up the mess and follow up after them.
Now, finally, someone willing to efficiently clear these quests had arrived, and instead of acting themselves, they made snide comments from the sidelines!
The more she thought about it, the angrier she got.
She finally couldn’t hold back and slammed the counter.
“You know nothing!”
She shouted at the group of idle men.
“Mr. Rakshasa is eliminating dangers around the town! If you’re so great, why don’t you take on the quests yourselves? You all talk big, but has any of you cleared even one nest?”
“Just the one quest Mr. Rakshasa completed yesterday—who among you did it faster?”
The Adventurers were stunned into silence, clearly not expecting the usually good-natured Receptionist to suddenly explode.
The burly man with the battle axe looked embarrassed, rubbing his nose awkwardly.
“Cough, the little girl’s pretty fiery. We’re just busy, that’s all! Right, right, we picked up other big quests recently—been swamped!”
He quickly dragged his companions away to the other side of the hall, muttering “Can’t mess with her, can’t mess with her.”
The Receptionist clenched her fist at their backs, then sat down angrily.
But looking at the four freshly claimed Goblin quests in the Task Registration Book, her mood quickly shifted from stormy to clear.
Forget it, getting mad at those guys isn’t worth it.
As long as Mr. Rakshasa keeps up this pace, she’d soon be free of the Goblin quest nightmare!
At the thought, she even began to look forward to tomorrow.
***
Meanwhile, Shi Hanfeng was in the general store, purchasing enough supplies for several days’ activity.
He spread out the newly bought, more detailed map of the Border Forest on the counter, and using the charcoal pen, traced a continuous route connecting the locations from the four selected quests.
What’s the most important thing in monster farming?
Efficiency!
The faster he went, the more he earned.
“Ready?”
Shi Hanfeng rolled up the map, looking at the two temporary teammates beside him.
“Ready to go anytime, Mr. Rakshasa!”
Hans and Gelte replied in unison, their voices tinged with excitement over the generous reward and the prospect of an easy mission ahead.
Shi Hanfeng nodded, his gaze seemingly drifting carelessly over the direction of the bustling Adventurers’ Guild hall.
Then, without hesitation, he turned, leading the two into the flow of people heading out of town.
The idle gossip in the guild was nothing more than background noise to him.
His sights were already set deep within the forest.
The unseen profits there were what truly mattered to him.