The receptionist hadn't finished yet. She lightly smacked her forehead and informed Parita that she had forgotten to mention something important.
"I'm sorry, miss. I forgot to mention. There is a registration fee."
Parita inwardly clicked her tongue, but her smiling face was fixed because of the weird transformation. She could not express her irritation and dissatisfaction.
"Sure. How much?"
"One silver coin, please."
Parita was relieved. Although she wasn't sure about the real value of the silver coin, she paid the fee. The receptionist took it and fiddled with the orb on her desk.
The orb gleamed with iridescent light, and the bronze token in Parita's hand trembled. A symbol indicating her F Rank, appeared on its back.
"Congratulations! You can now accept the tasks. Would you like to take a request right away?"
"…Sure."
"You can visit the F-Rank board on the right and choose one of the request papers. Bring it to me, and I'll handle the legal stuff. Bear in mind that you can take only one request at a time at your rank. Once you've completed 10 F-rank requests, you will be promoted to the E-rank, and you can accept a more difficult task."
The rules were similar in every Isekai world that Parita knew. She nodded and walked toward the F-Rank corkboard, which was plastered with stacks of parchment papers.
While she walked there, the system flashed, updating her system quest.
DING
[You have become a member of the Adventurers Guild.]
[Your CHARM attribute has increased by 1.]
[A skill book has been deposited into your temporary inventory.]
DING
[Initiating the tutorial quest #4.]
[Accept any F-rank quest.]
[Rewards: TEMPORARY live-stream system. Permanently increase your charm attribute by 1.]
Parita noticed a pattern. She wanted to ask the system about the "Temporary" prefix on her system feature rewards, but there were too many spectators in the hall. Moreover, the charm attribute intrigued her.
'Can I see my status attributes, system?' Parita asked the system in her mind.
DING
[The status feature will become available once you finish the last tutorial quest.]
Parita was relieved. At least she could communicate with the system.
'How long are the tutorial quests? When will it end?'
DING
[There are a total of seven tutorial quests. You're halfway there.]
'Thanks. I guess. Also, what about the random skill book?'
Parita stood in front of the F-rank request board, full of papers. Surprisingly, no adventurer lingered in this area. She inspected some of the requests.
House cleaning, chimney cleaning, sewer cleaning, latrine cleaning, fixing roof tiles, cutting grasses—they were all handyman's jobs. The rewards were two to five copper coins.
Parita looked at the E-rank board, which had a smaller number of quest papers. The payouts were a bit improved, varying from 10 to 20 copper coins for each quest. However, the quests involved more demanding activities, including finding uncommon herbs, tracking down wild animals, and delivering handmade goods.
She couldn't see the D-rank and C-rank boards. Numerous parties of adventurers clustered around them, appearing to be in discussions about accepting the quests.
Since Parita couldn't access the better-paid jobs, she returned her attention to the F-rank board and snagged a random paper.
Chimney Cleaning - Two Copper Coins.
She shrugged. What could go wrong?
Parita gave the paper to the receptionist she had spoken to earlier. The staff received it, read the content, and stamped it. She grabbed a small piece of paper and drew a rough map for Parita.
"The client is an elderly alchemist from 4th Alley Street. There's only one alchemy store there. You can't miss it."
Taking the small map and the quest paper, Parita nodded. However, the receptionist reminded her.
"Once you complete the request, don't forget to ask the client for a stamp or proof of completion. Without those, we can't hand you the quest rewards."
It sounded complicated, but Parita nodded in understanding. Ignoring the eyes of other adventurers, she exited the building.
* * *
After Parita had left the building, Sars, the barbarian, returned to his post. He sat on his favorite wooden stool by the front door and rubbed his neck. He was still dazed by Parita's surprise belly-to-belly suplex. The attack knocked him unconscious for a few seconds, and he couldn't remember how he had been defeated.
While Sars rubbed the back of his neck, a blond-haired highland knight, Tetanus, walked over. He was a childhood friend of Sars, who also shared the same race. He teased his kin.
"Miss Rubella told me they're cutting your wage this month to pay for floor repairs."
Rubella was the name of the receptionist, whom Parita talked to. She handled most of the guild's tasks, and she was also a former A-rank adventurer. Everybody in the guild respected and feared her.
Sars pursed his lips and snorted. "It wasn't even my fault!"
"You pissed off a unique class and got schooled. Obviously, the guild will make you a scapegoat to get on her good side. Say, if you lack money next month, come find me."
"What is she anyway?! Who could have thought that a skinny elf had that strength?! She used only one magic! What the hell was that magic?!"
"Who knows? Ask other elves around here, not me. I'm as clueless as you!"
Because of their loud noise, a green-haired elf from an all-female party table shouted. "That's what you get for picking on a small elf! She's probably less than a hundred years old! If it were adult elves, they would have killed you right there!"
"Hah?!" Sars looked back and bickered with her. "Parrot! You know that girl?"
"Nope. Never seen her before."
"The heck? And what do you know about that girl?"
Parrot, the green-haired elf, smirked and shrugged. "It's common sense for us. She must have recently gotten the leave permission from the chief. Do you know that elves don't normally leave their home forest before they're 100? If she can come out early, that means she has something special!"
Parrot turned to her friends and grinned. "Come to think of it, Sparrow, does our party have another room for another member? That pink girl looks interesting."
Sparrow, a red-haired knight in crimson armor, was a B-rank adventurer. All her party members consisted of B-rankers, and they had been on the same team for half a decade. The knight was studying a dungeon map that her friend had made and was drafting their next dungeon-diving plans.
The red knight raised her head and swiped her long red hair aside, looking at Parrot. She sighed.
"We don't have time to babysit a newbie. Also, she's too new to the world. Let her experience an adventurer's lifestyle for a couple of years."
"The other teams might snatch her though? She has a unique class!"
"Unique class holders aren't immortal. How many times have we seen them dying or quiting being an adventurer?"
Parrot puckered her lips and chose not to pursue the topic any further. The group resumed chatting about other matters. As for Sars and Tetanus, they looked at each other and shook their heads.
They dropped the subject regarding Parita's abnormal physical strength and minded their own businesses, though some of the spectators and adventurers secretly speculated about Parita's mysterious sorcery and the perks of her unique 'IDOL' class.
* * *
DING
[You have accepted a guild quest.]
[Your CHARM attribute has increased by 1.]
[Temporary live-stream system has been unlocked.]
DING
[Initiating the tutorial quest #5.]
[Use the random skill book.]
[Rewards: Idol's Cleaning Tool. Permanently increase your charm attribute by 1.]
'Again with the charm attribute.'
Standing in front of the guild building, Parita stared at her system screen. Taking her time, she inspected her new outfit and shoes.
Parita found it odd that she could still feel the texture of the motion capture suit from before. As she ran her hands over her arms, she couldn't feel her skin; the only sensation was the scratchiness of the dark clothing from before.
Despite the irk, Parita moved on with her life. She took out a white book, which was presumably the random skill book the system had described.
'So, how do I use this?'
Parita flipped it around. As she opened the book, a burst of white light suddenly flashed. She was blinded for several seconds, yet no pedestrian could see the light or notice the book.
When the light faded, Parita rubbed her eyes. She frowned and stared at the message log, waiting for the explanation.
[You have used a random skill book.]
[You have obtained a new skill: Idol Meeting.]
"…"