?Sushi stepped out of the tailor shop wearing a simple shirt and trousers. While the old man bid him a naive farewell with a warm smile, Sushi was busy weighing the pouch he had snatched from the daughter in his pocket.

  ?'Half copper, a quarter silver, and the rest... photos of a boy band made of Kingdom Knights?' He scoffed internally. 'What trashy taste. But the copper and silver are all that matters to me.'

  ?He headed straight for the Adventurers' Guild. His goal wasn't heroism; it was "Immunity."

  ?'If I stay in this city without an official status, I'll be branded a vagrant and arrested. But with an adventurer's card, I'm a "Freelance Employee" with the right to carry a weapon and trade.'

  ?The Guild: Scams under the Law

  ?Sushi paid the exorbitant registration fee with a bleeding heart. 'This fee is highway robbery! I'll get this back tenfold.'

  ?Standing before the bulletin board, Sushi gripped his bronze ID card marked with the cursed rank [D]. He looked at his leather wallet, which now looked like a diseased lung struggling for breath... completely empty.

  ?"I did it... I spent my last copper to become a 'Low-Tier Adventurer.' What a stupid investment!" He sighed, wiping imaginary sweat, then walked straight toward the cheapest, most ridiculous quest available: [Collect Green Chicken Eggs].

  ?By dusk, Sushi looked like he had survived a world war. His clothes were covered in sticky green feathers, but in his basket lay the treasure: glowing eggs that smelled like fresh grass.

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  ?As he prepared to head back, "She" appeared.

  ?A girl with silvery-white hair and long elf-like ears peeking from beneath her locks. Her tattered clothes suggested she was a victim of a cruel fate. She looked at him with tearful eyes, her voice trembling, "Sir... I've lost my way. Can... can I stay with you tonight? I'm so scared."

  ?Sushi didn't look at her beautiful face. His eyes were locked onto a small pouch dangling from her waist—it looked suspiciously bloated for a "homeless girl."

  ?Sushi hesitated for a second... (or so she thought). Then he flashed a dull smile and said, "Ah... sure. The forest is dangerous. Come along."

  ?Inside, the girl—who was actually a professional thief—was about to burst into laughter: 'Hehe! Another idiot hunter! He didn't even suspect me. I'll wait for him to sleep, take all those precious eggs he gathered, and leave him with nothing but feathers. Hahaha!'

  ?Midnight...

  ?Fatigue eventually claimed her eyes. When she woke up, darkness still shrouded the area, but a strange sensation hit her... the cold.

  ?She looked around. No Sushi. No basket. And... no wallet!

  ?Beside the spot where she had slept, she found a neatly folded small note. She opened it to find elegant, stylized handwriting:

  ?"Dear Miss 'Lost,'

  ?Since the forest isn't free, I've deducted the fee for 'Hotel Security Services' from your pouch. I hope you enjoyed your stay under my supervision.

  ?Note: Your wallet was far too heavy for a delicate girl like you, so I've lightened the burden for you."

  ?The girl's blood froze. She let out a scream that shook the forest: "YOU BASTAAAAAARD! I'LL CURSE YOUR ANCESTORS TO THE TENTH GENERATION! JUST TELL ME YOUR DAMN NAME!!"

  ?But Sushi was already far away, whistling a calm tune as he calculated his first real profits. He didn't care about her curses; after all, he was a "stranger" to this world, and his ancestors were perfectly safe in another dimension.