The sun rose on a day destined to go horribly, gloriously wrong.
We were up early — well, Lina was up early, Iris was already magically awake because she "doesn't need much sleep," and I was very much being dragged out of my comfy tent by the collar.
"Come on, sleepyhead," Lina huffed. "We're officially registering our first group quest today! Don't you want to make history?"
"Can I make history at noon?" I mumbled, brushing twigs out of my hair.
"Nope. Chaos starts at breakfast."
We made our way to the nearest QuestHub — a tall stone building that looked like a church, a bar, and a school project had all fused together. Adventurers bustled in and out, laughing, shouting, and bragging. Weapons clanged. Someone was juggling daggers. Someone else was on fire — possibly on purpose.
"Feels like home already," I said, ducking as a drunk wizard rode past on a broom. Backwards.
We stepped up to the main desk, where a tired-looking receptionist with enchanted glasses stared at us like she'd seen a thousand hopeful teams and buried nine hundred of them in paperwork.
"Welcome to QuestHub Central. Name of the guild?"
"Linked Hearts," Lina said brightly.
The receptionist squinted at us, then at my basic equipment, then at Iris's expressionless stare and Lina's literal flame-wreathed hair.
"...Unregistered, I assume?"
"Well, technically yes," I said. "But spiritually, we're extremely qualified."
"Uh-huh." She handed me a clipboard longer than my arm. "Fill this out. And no, you can't skip the liability waivers. Even if you can stop time."
I looked at Iris, who blinked innocently. "What?"
Half an hour, three arguments about handwriting, and one short-lived debate about whether "Guildmaster" was a real word later, we were officially registered.
Team Linked HeartsRank: Copper (Starter Tier)Status: ProvisionalGuildmaster: Raizen "Definitely Not Panicking" [Last Name Pending]
"Okay," I said, holding our quest list like it was a sacred scroll. "This is it. Our first real job."
Lina leaned over. "Please tell me it's not something dumb."
I skimmed the list.
"…Worm removal. Vegetable escort. Lost chicken recovery…"
She groaned. "It's something dumb."
"I say we go with the lost chicken. Chickens are easy."
Iris tilted her head. "Statistically, poultry quests have a 43% chance of hidden complications."
"…Wait, what?"
"Don't ask," she replied flatly.
Still, we took the job. Because no matter how silly it sounded, it was ours. Our first official mission. A real step toward building something — even if that something currently resembled a three-person disaster club with one shared brain cell.
As we left the building, papers signed, quest scroll tucked under my arm, I turned to the girls and raised my fist dramatically.
"This is it. The beginning of our legend. I hereby vow—"
Lina groaned. "Oh no. He's doing a speech."
"Shush! This is important!"
I cleared my throat, planting one foot on a nearby crate for dramatic effect.
"I, Raizen, future Guildmaster of Linked Hearts, swear that I will lead us to greatness, power, fame, and probably a lot of confusing romantic misunderstandings!"
"…That last one's guaranteed," Iris murmured.
Lina just gave me a smirk. "Well, Guildmaster. Let the chaos begin."
And so it did.
We had no idea that behind the scenes, our names were already being flagged. That strange entities were watching our formation. That our systems — and my particularly buggy one — were catching attention from all the wrong places.
But right then?
We were just three misfits on a new adventure.
A guild forged in awkwardness.
Fueled by chaos.
And ready to make a mess of the world.
End of Chapter 15