Chapter 1078: An Opportunity Seized
Hazard inwardly sighed in relief. The fact that Izroth held no grudge against him and did not outright turn him away was already a huge win in his eyes.
"Leave it to me. I know this place like the back of my hand." Hazard said confidently.
...
Approximately thirty minutes later...
Hazard's steps came to a halt as he stood at the bottom of a steep mountainside. His body shivered as breath mist escaped his mouth.
"I really hate coming to this place..." Hazard muttered to himself.
The air in this particular part of Fragul's Valley was unusually cold and numbed one's movements. If a player stayed too long in this kind of environment, they would be riddled with debuffs and eventually fall to the monsters that lurked nearby.
"This is the place," Hazard confirmed as he looked at Izroth, who seemed completely unaffected by the cold air.
'We didn't run into any trouble on the way here. I detected quite a few monsters in the vicinity, but he took the safest paths to avoid direct contact with them. I suppose his intentions are probably genuine -whatever those intentions may be.'
Izroth nodded and replied, "Is this place where the Golden Imp lives?"
Izroth used his Energy Vision Sense to scan the surrounding area; however, there were still no traces of any mythical creatures or anything that remotely resembled one.
"To be entirely honest, I have no idea. This is only the second time the main guild has sent someone to Fragul's Valley who needed to be guided. Usually, once we complete our mission to guide the person sent by the main guild to this location, we're instructed to leave." Hazard explained.
'I see. So that's how it is.'
Shattered may be a subsidiary guild of Broken Exile, but that did not mean Broken Exile would entrust them with important secrets.
'If it is a secret worth keeping from their own subsidiary guild, then it is definitely worth checking out. Still, since I've already made some previous arrangements, I don't want to waste too much time searching for something that may never be found. Not to mention, I doubt that those from Broken Exile will sit still once they discover what happened in their territory.'
Of course, Izroth was not afraid of a direct confrontation with Broken Exile. There was simply a high chance of them getting to the mythical creature before him since he was unsure of how to locate it. Even if he waited and followed them after they arrived, there was no guarantee that he could see the mythical creature. After all, while he had no idea of the conditions set by mythical creatures, it could be strict enough that only the first person to see it would obtain the reward it granted.
'Since Hazard said that the guides are sent back after accomplishing their mission, seeing as how that guy came here alone, at the very least, approaching it myself should not pose an issue. In order to minimize the risks, I need to search for it by myself.'
"This is as far as you go," Izroth said as he opened his inventory and tossed a small pouch toward Hazard.
Hazard was a little taken aback when Izroth suddenly threw something at him; however, he managed to catch it without fumbling.
"This is...?" Hazard uttered as he checked the contents of the pouch.
Hazard's eyes widened in shock when he saw what was inside the pouch. The first thing that caught his eye was 50 gold coins!
"50 gold coins...! That's almost the same amount I make in two months of working for the Shattered guild...!" Hazard thought to himself.
Hazard, like most others of Shattered, got paid a base monthly salary of roughly 27 gold coins. With the current conversation rate of 1:150, 27 gold coins were equivalent to 4,050 RMB. Because of this, most players from Shattered had to take on a part-time job in the real world instead of being able to focus entirely on developing in RML.
Unfortunately, they could not do anything about it. After all, 27 gold coins was certainly no fortune, but it was enough for most of them to barely scrape by from month to month. Hazard could only inwardly sigh as he released once again who he was escorting. No one knew exactly how much profit was being funneled through the Mystical Realm Palace; however, it was estimated that the shop had already made over 1 billion RMB worth of profits.
Most players would not see 50 gold coins at once unless they had been saving for quite some time or the exchange rate lowered. But, for someone like the owner of the Mystical Realm Palace, it could not even be considered pocket change.
"With this, I can finally afford to pay the contract termination fee..." Hazard thought to himself as he tightened his grip on the pouch.
Ever since Hazard joined Shattered, he felt trapped in a never-ending nightmare. When he first joined RML, the conditions Broken Exile promised through Shattered were too good for any player to ignore. Like many others, Hazard was excited and could not wait to make a name for himself. But the reality was not as straightforward as he hoped.
Eventually, Hazard became trapped and bound by the contract he signed. To make matters worse, if one wished to terminate the contract, it required that they hand over a termination fee equal to six months worth of their base salary.
Hazard's current goal was 162 gold coins. He had been working hard in RML and the real world to steadily save up enough to reach that number and pay the contract termination fee. However, what seemed like a distant dream had suddenly become reality.
Hazard did not even glance at the other contents in the small pouch. The gold coins alone were already more than he could ever ask for. Besides, it would not be anything too extravagant, considering that he only acted as a guide.
"My words alone are not enough to express my gratitude. I, Hazard- No, Xie Shan, will never forget your generosity." Hazard said respectfully in a thankful manner.
"You shouldn't thank me just yet. While part of that is your reward for acting as my guide, another part is merely a welcome bonus. If you wish to truly prove yourself, you will have to work hard to earn and keep your place. Head to the Mystical Realm Palace and ask for someone named Aurora. Tell them I sent you. She will take care of the rest. I will warn you beforehand—my Mystical Realm Palace does not employ useless people." Izroth stated
calmly.
Zeeeeut!
Without waiting for Hazard's reply, Izroth vanished from where he stood, leaving him standing there in disbelief.
"Thank you, Palace Master Izroth! I won't make you regret taking a chance on me!" Hazard yelled at the top of his lungs, as his voice echoed throughout the surrounding area of Fragul's
Valley.
He did not know whether or not Izroth heard him, but it was not important. At that moment, Hazard felt as though he would be unable to move until he voiced his gratitude.
After a few minutes, Hazard managed to settle down in his excitement. He was making his way out of the heart of Fragul's Valley and still had difficulty believing what had just
happened.
"Ah, I got a little too lost in my excitement and forgot to look at the rest of the stuff that Palace Master Izroth gifted me. Looking back, I hope he didn't think too poorly of me. I got too caught up in the moment." Hazard sighed as he took another look at the pouch. When he saw the 50 gold coins again, Hazard could not help but smile. However, when he turned his gaze to the second item, the smile on his face quickly faded as his mouth opened. And, as his eyes landed on the third and fourth items, he halted his steps as his entire body
trembled.
Hazard gulped as he rubbed his eyes and said, "I'm not dreaming, am I? This... It's real,
right?"
In the small pouch behind the 50 gold coins were three additional items. A grade-one pill, a grade-two pill, and a grade-three pill!
Hazard nearly fainted from shock after he finished rubbing his eyes and realized that he was
not hallucinating or dreaming.
A grade-three pill! It was a real grade-three pill!
"Last I heard, a single grade three pill is worth at least 150 gold coins...! This one pill is
basically half a year of the annual salary I would have received from Shattered!" Hazard
exclaimed.
While the value of the grade three pill overshadowed them, the grade one and grade two pills were also valuable in their own right.
In truth, some of Hazard felt guilty for accepting such huge benefits. After all, all he did was
get beat up a bit and then act as a guide.
"Do I truly deserve something like this..?" Hazard said to himself.
"No... I can't think like that. Palace Master Izroth has given me a chance that may never come
again in my lifetime. If I don't seize it with all my might, I only have myself to blame. Deserve it? Even if I don't deserve it, I just have to work hard enough until I do!" Hazard resolved
himself.
"Alright! I won't let you down, Palace Master Izroth!" Hazard roared.
...
Meanwhile, somewhere in Fragul's Valley...
'It should be somewhere around here.'
Woosh! Tap.
'So, this is the place that my Energy Vision Sense is unable to see through.'