Mike let out a small breath of relief.
"One down," he said.
Katarina smiled slightly.
"I wish all newbies were like you. It would make my job a lot easier," she said, showing him a small green vial.
"What’s that?" Mike asked.
"It’s an antidote to Velvet Poison—the poison from Night Roses," she replied. "Just in case you got poisoned, like ten out of ten newbies who attempt the highest-difficulty E-rank quests."
Mike nodded.
"Good to know."
Katarina put the vial away and looked around the valley.
"Alright," she said. "E-rank quest is done. We’ll head back and register it."
Mike carefully secured the container with the Night Roses and stood up.
"Next is D-rank, right?" he asked.
"Yes," Katarina replied. "And it won’t be just harvesting. You’ll need to fight."
"That’s fine," Mike said calmly.
Katarina glanced at him for a moment, then nodded.
"Good attitude."
They mounted Emperor again and headed back toward the city. The valley grew quieter behind them as the poisonous glow faded.
By the time they reached the city gates, it was late night.
At the guild, Katarina handed over the completed quest report.
"Evaluation quest—E-rank. Passed," she said.
The receptionist nodded and stamped the document.
"One down," Katarina said to Mike as they stepped aside. "Tomorrow, we start D-rank."
"Hmm, I think that depends if any suitable Quests are available" Mike said looking at receptionist as she nodded.
"We actually have a suitable one," she said. "Given how Miss Katarina praised your mana control and your reported level, I think you can take this."
She handed him a paper.
"Goblin extermination... and it’s C-rank," Mike said.
"Yes," she replied. "Currently, there are no suitable D-rank evaluation quests available. But based on your performance, as reported by Miss Katarina—a reputable A-rank adventurer—we believe you can skip directly to C-rank."
Mike raised his brow.
"So I don’t have to take the D-rank evaluation?" he asked.
"That’s right," the attendant nodded. "Of course, if you insist, you can still take a D-rank quest first and then move on to C-rank."
"No, I’m fine," Mike said, nodding.
He knew most goblins were Rank 0, and even when they acted in groups, they rarely went beyond that. And even if something unexpected happened, he had Emperor—and the Eldritch Lich he could summon—to back him up.
Mike nodded and took the quest paper.
"I’ll take it," he said.
The receptionist stamped the document and handed it back to him.
"C-rank evaluation quest accepted. Deadline is three days. Report back once it’s complete."
"Got it," Mike replied.
Katarina glanced at the paper and nodded.
"Goblin extermination. Simple, but don’t get careless."
"I won’t," Mike said.
They left the counter and stepped outside the guild.
Back at the White Cat Inn, Mike rented the same room for the night. He checked his equipment once more, then lay down on the bed.
"That’s enough for today," he muttered.
He logged out of the Origin World.
Mike opened his eyes and found himself back in his real-world room. Morning light filtered through the window.
He stretched and sat up.
"Goblin extermination tomorrow," he said to himself.
Mike then took out his phone.
"Hey, Lily. Let’s meet at the dungeon at ten."
"Yeah," Lily replied. "I’ve got something to do in the Origin World too, so let’s do the dungeon run in the morning."
"Alright," Mike said.
Lily nodded, and the call ended.
Meanwhile, in the Origin World—
Katarina returned to her residence.
It was a large mansion on the upper side of Valor City, old but well-kept. Inside, several young women were moving around—maids, trainees, and guards.
"Katarina-sama, you’re back," one of them said.
A small girl ran up to her and hugged her waist.
"Big sister! You’re late today!"
Katarina smiled and patted her head.
"Sorry. Work took longer than usual."
They walked inside together.
At the dining table, a few other women looked over and smiled.
"How was your evaluation assignment?" one of them asked.
"Interesting," Katarina replied as she took off her hat. "The kid is calm, skilled, and doesn’t panic. Rare type."
"Oh?" another woman said. "That good?"
"Yes," Katarina nodded. "He skipped D-rank and took a C-rank evaluation."
The small girl looked up at her.
"Is he strong?"
Katarina paused for a moment, then smiled.
"He looks like he might."
"Can I meet him?" the little girl asked curiously.
"Of course," Katarina said, patting her head.
The girl giggled, smiling happily.
Next Day
Mike arrived back at the Adventurers’ Guild, where Katarina was already chatting with the receptionist.
"Are you ready?" Katarina asked, looking at him.
Mike nodded.
"Yeah, let’s go. The sooner it’s done, the better for me."
The receptionist cleared her throat.
"There have been some changes, actually."
Mike looked at her.
"The quest rating has gone up. It’s now a B-rank quest."
Mike frowned slightly.
"What happened?"
"Last night, a C-rank adventurer team was ambushed," she explained. "Only one member survived, and he confirmed it was goblins—along with larger ones. Hobgoblins."
She continued,
"The C-rank team consisted of five members: two damage dealers, one mage, one tank, and one healer. They were wiped out. The tank survived, but he sustained heavy injuries. Because of that, the quest is no longer considered suitable for you."
Mike glanced at Katarina.
"Then why did she ask if I was ready?"
"Because the decision is still yours," the receptionist replied. "You’ve already accepted the quest under your name. We can’t forcibly cancel it—we can only advise you not to take it."
"I can do it," Mike said calmly.
Katarina looked at him seriously.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah," Mike nodded.
"You should think this through carefully," the receptionist said, looking at him with concern. "We advise you not to take this quest."
"Don’t worry," Mike said with a smile, pointing at Katarina. "Besides, I have her."
Katarina snorted.
"I’ll only step in when you’re about to die," she said bluntly. "Meaning you can still get crippled even if I intervene."
"I doubt they can even harm me," Mike replied calmly.
His Unique-grade knight set wasn’t just for show. With its defense, only someone at Rank 2 or higher could even injure him.