“Alright, let’s get to work people. Chop chop. Time is wasting.” Karl clapped his hand, signaling the workers to get going with the mansion renovation.

With the money he scammed from Eldrin’s enemy, Karl hired the best construction group from the Craftsman Guild that Elly introduced. Just looking at the speed they were going and the renovation draft they finished in barely an hour after surveying the mansion spoke volumes of their skills and professionalism.

The only thing Karl wanted to add to their draft was a stage in the front yard smashing down some walls and turning multiple rooms into a giant practicing space that could double as a recording studio if needed.

Once again, he felt the power of money and getting the right people to do the right job.

With the mansion under construction, Karl needed to talk about the plan for the employees’ dome, the building behind the mansion.

“You want to make every room soundproof and the dining room big enough for everyone to eat together?” The leader of the renovation asked.

“Exactly.” Karl nodded

“This might sound like I’m digging into your privacy, but can I know why?” The leader asked.

“Putting the workers’ privacy in their room aside, I want them to have the freedom to do what they want in their free time when they’re away from work. Having to share a room is fine, we can add a few rooms like that. But I believe giving them their own space is still better.” Karl sipped his tea.

“As for the dining room, giving the worker a place to eat their meal without having to pay or having to rush toward the trading district then rush back to work is a good thing. And those who like to eat alone like me can find a spot of their own, while the social butterfly can mingle and talk during lunch.”

“…I see, what about this area?” The leader pointed at a room Karl added.

“It’s the napping room. When the worker feels too stressed or tired, they can go there and take a nap. Of course, to not let them overuse it, each worker can only stay in the napping room for one hour. Top.”

The renovation leader scratched his head, “That’s a lot of things to add for that kind of small side wing.”

“Isn’t that why I said to build it vertically by adding more floor, and not to expand it horizontally?”

“You see, adding more floors could work, in theory. But I already calculated your expenses, and I’m sorry to say this. If you want your idea to come true, it would cost a lot of rare materials combined with adding layers of arrays. Not formations, arrays. We need them to stay for a long time, without needing someone to supply it with Mana so the only way is to use arrays. And they aren’t cheap.” The leader shook his head.

Karl eyed the honest man and placed two banknotes in the man’s hand. “Here.”

The man sighed, “Just two banknotes won’t cover the cos… What in the divine heaven above?”

He looked at Karl, then at the notes, then at Karl, then at the notes again.

“Use them as you see fit and make the best office, I mean, the best mansion and the best workers’ dorm you can make. Spend as much of that as you want.”

“…Aren’t you afraid I would just take all the Tal or make a fail report on the expenses?”

“Elly vouched for you, so if you do that.” Karl shrugged. “I guess I’m just too trusting and naïve. Oh, and those banknotes also include performance bonuses and extra hours paid for all your members by the way.”

The leader laughed out loud and slapped Karl's arm. “I get why little Elly was singing your praise earlier. You really are generous and caring for your workers. Want to build a new Craftsman Guild together?”

“Sorry, I’m not interested in that.”

“A shame.” The leader laughed again. “I’ll get back to work now.”

“Wait,” Karl stopped the man. “How long will it take to finish all of this?”

“I don’t know. The building time, I can estimate. But the time it takes to gather rare materials and to create layers of arrays. That, I don’t know.”

“Then let’s focus on finishing the mansion first. How long would it take?”

“At most, five days.” The leader said with confidence.

“Ok, that’s good.” Karl nodded. “Here is my contact Rune. If there is any problem, call me.”

“And here is mine.” They exchanged contact Runes. “I’m off, little boss. Need to focus on the work.” He laughed wholeheartedly, slapped Karl's arm again, then shouted at some guy as they went back to building the mansion.

With that done, Karl took out a small notebook and checked off one task.

Eldrin and Nanok were still working on the items and the spear. The mansion is under construction. The Mana Smoothing Bracelet was still having an increase in sales, not as much as they were hoping for but it was just the start. Sera was practicing hard for their opening show when the agency’s office completed its renovation.

Karl thought about it, he never gave the hologram item a name. Yeah, let’s just go with Idol’s Gear. He decided.

Outside of school, there wasn't much left for him to do here. He just had to wait.

But waiting without doing anything wasn’t Karl's favorite pastime. And since he was too weak, might as well go train.

Hunting monsters sounds good. Karl decided.

Thus, here he was. At the Adventurer Guild, with the members of Healthy Body Club.

When he walked into the Adventurer Guild, he saw a little commotion going on. When he saw the bodybuilders posing various poses to recruit one more person for their hunting mission, his first instinct was to run away.

But it was too late as Bulka the Dwarf, the club president, somehow saw him, despite being the smallest in the club, and charged at him with a bearhug. Unable to escape his doom, Karl accepted his fate.

How did this even happen? Karl thought.

“I haven’t seen you all week, junior. Finally decided to go out for some hunting?” Bulka laughed as he lifted Karl and brought him to the others.

“Greeting senior Bulka, senior Zack, senior Diana, senior Xil’pul” Karl greeted each one of them.

“Ohhhhh, he not only remembers our names but he even calls us seniors and not perverts. Good, good, the boy has potential. Muscle potential.” Zack Kovolski, the Half-Orc flexed his back as he said.

No, you are all perverts. Why are you all half-naked? Where are your shirts? Even the Elf too? Great heaven above, why you do this?

“What are you looking to hunt junior Karl?” Diana, the Elf, asked him.

“I want to register as an Adventurer and take on some Rank 3 monster hunting missions.”

“Rank 3? And you haven’t registered yet?” Xil’pul, the Wolf Beastfolk, asked.

“Yes, is there a problem?” Karl asked.

“Yeah, if you register now. I’ll be a beginner Bronze Rank Adventurer. This means you can only do some beginner missions like looking for herbs or helping the townspeople with something trivial. You aren’t allowed to go hunting monsters yet. Let alone Rank 3 monsters.” Bulka explained.

“I see.” Karl nodded as Bulka finally let go of him. “If that's the case, what about you all?”

They all had smirking looks on their face when Karl asked that. Diana took out a bag and pulled out four, one Gold and three Silver, dog tag-look alike.

“We are certified Gold and Silver Rank adventurers. We can go hunt up to Rank 5 monster if we want to.” Diana said.

“I see, can I join?”

“Absolutely, let's get you to register.” Bulka dragged Karl toward one of the guild’s booths.

Karl didn’t think he would meet a familiar face so soon. “Hello Miss Elly, I want to register as an Adventurer.”

“Hiya Mr. Kanehiro. I already got your file, so here.” She took out a Bronze Rank tag and gave it to Karl. “I’ll finish the paperwork later. Happy hunting.” She bowed politely, looking nothing like the money grabber she was before.

“Thanks, Miss Elly.” Karl took the tag and left.

“What the? You have connections inside the Adventurer Guild?” Bulka asked.

“Hum. She was my partner, in a sense.” Karl answered.

“WHAT? YOU’RE CHEATING ON YOUR FIANCEE?” Bulka's loud, shocked voice made everyone stop what they were doing and look at Karl. He didn’t care but it would be a problem if this misunderstanding were used against him.

“No, senior Bulka. She's my business partner. She helped me buy a mansion and I’m making her an offer for another building. She hasn’t agreed with my offer.” Karl said calmly.

The people around them quickly lose interest as it wasn’t the love triangle drama they were hoping to see.

“Oh!” Bulka looked down with an awkward smile. “Sorry about that.”

“It’s ok, but. How did you know I have a fiancée, senior?”

Bulka didn’t answer that. When Karl looked at the seniors in front of him, all of them dodged his gazes like they would be pregnant if they looked at him or something.

“I need to have a serious talk about oversharing with Sera,” Karl mumbled.

“Come one,” Zack hooked his arm around Karl’s neck. “Your sister only wanted to show off and talk about her brother and her soon-to-be sister. Why would you punish her when she was talking about you all with such an adorable smile on her face?”

Karl looked at the Half-Orc, “If you have any dirty intentions with my sister, I’ll cut off your balls.”

“Eh?” Zack was taken aback. He looked down at Karl, only to find the most serious eyes he had ever seen in his life. Zack couldn’t help but swallow. Hard.

“Don’t be like that you sister-loving freak.” Diana slapped Karl’s back as she smiled.

“Alright," Bulka clapped. "Since we got enough members for a Rank 4 monster hunt. Let’s get going.” 

He turned toward the corner where Xil’pul was having a call with someone. “Are you done Xil’pul? We are setting off.”

“Yeah, just give me a minute. No, mom, it’s not. Okay, I gotta go now. Yes, love you too mom.”

The Wolf Beastfolk ran back to their team, “Sorry, that was longer than I thought. What are we hunting this time?” He asked Bulka.

“I’m thinking Rock Snake. We haven’t hunted anything that can serve as proof of our superior training method in a while. Since Rock Snake is a Rank 4 monster, it had great mobility and defense thanks to its skin so it’s the perfect monster to hunt.”

He spoke with passion about something they would have a hard time with. It was like the club was going out on a picnic rather than a monster hunt. Every member agreed with Bulka’s idea. They set off without delay.

The warping station was still as crowded as ever, forcing the club to move through the sea of people. Luckily, having muscles to block the sea was their specialty so Karl just needed to follow his senior like a little duckling.

Once they got to the warp gate, they purchased tickets toward Pantho Hot Spring Town in Excaldia.

“The monster we are hunting in is Pantho Hot Spring Town?” Karl asked. “Shouldn’t Rock Snake be in some mountainous area or volcanic active region like in The Dwarf Country?”

“That’s where a regular Rock Snake stays, but we aren’t aiming for that,” Xil’pul explained. “We are looking for Rock Snakes that had their toughness enhanced by natural Mana that flow out from the hot springs in the wild. That way, we can get better training and material from the monster at the same time.”

“Plus, when we’re done, we can go the Pantho for a quick dip before going back. It’s a win-win-win situation.” Zack flexed his biceps.

“That not the way to use the praise win-win, big guy.” Diana shook her head.

The members chatted and sometimes bicker with one another, but they all had smiles on their faces no matter what they talked about. Seeing how they were so close, Karl thought the club members must have been through a lot together.

“What about you junior Karl? Any plan for the first school year yet?” Diana asked.

“I’m not sure of the date yet, but my group will be holding a singing show with Sera as the singer soon. It will be at the mansion that I just bought for the group. If you senior had the time, please come and watch.”

“Really? Little Sera going to have a singing performance of her own?” Zack said with excitement.

But he quickly coughed and tried to hide it when Karl stared at him with murderous eyes.

“Ignore the idiot.” Diana waved her hand. “We’ll surely be there.”

“Thank you.”

“Warp gate number four, destination Pantho Hot Spring Town in The Great Excaldia is open. Travelers, please hold on to your ticket until you reach your destination on the warp station on the other side. I repeat, Gate four to Pantho, travellers please go to the gate.” A mechanical voice spoke the announcement.

“That’s new,” Karl commented.

“Yeah, cool right.” Bulka and Xil’pul both said. “It's something Professor Ragnar help developed. They say it was at least ten years ahead of the current Runes Crafting method.”

“You two are his admirers?” Karl asked.

“Well yeah, to go against the tide and do whatever he wants with his skill and talent alone. Isn’t that cool?” Xil’pul said. His voice almost sounded reverend.

“I wouldn’t say I’m an admirer but he did give me a lot of help when I first made this club,” Bulka said.

“I see,” Karl didn’t know why but his instinct told him he should take note of that.

“Alright gang, time to party.” Bulka clapped his hands and led them toward the gate.

Close to an hour later, the club found their target. But there wasn’t just one Rank 4 Rock Snake there. But two.

And one of them was a Rank 5.