Newbie's Quest: Awaiting Challenge
Chapter 5: One of Our Own

"A silver contract? They're offering a silver contract!"

"Avalon Guild is being so generous!"

"What's a silver contract?"

"A [Silver Contract is a type of agreement between a guild and a player. The highest level is a Gold Contract, followed by Silver, Bronzell, and Ordinary Contracts, along with others like leasing agreements. Usually, gold and silver contracts are reserved for core members of the guild, promising not only high salaries but sometimes even positions in the guild's management."

"Avalon Guild, being among the top 20 in the rankings, offering a Silver Contract straight away shows how much they value this newbie."

"Is he just any ordinary newbie? That's the 'War God of the Rotten District', Ethan Two-Hammers!"

"Ethan Two-Hammers, what a hilarious nickname!"

"Avalon must be trying to recover from their last instance's heavy losses, bringing in a monster newbie like this is like a shot in the arm for them." "They probably didn't expect a regular A-level instance to unveil an SSS-level hidden storyline. They went in with fewer people and nearly lost everyone." At the moment, Mr. Two-Hammers, Ethan, was arguing with college student Oliver Wright.

Oliver accused him of double standards, slapping him during the spider attack but then telling Emily to look at a flower.

"I wasn't prepared the first time," Ethan defended himself with conviction.

"Slapping you was also unexpected."

Oliver couldn't believe it.

"Bro, you hit me, and now you're being stubborn about it!"

"Did I or did I not save you?"

"You did," Oliver gestured wildly, "but at the cost of my dignity!"

"Next time I'll apologize before acting."

"That's more like it."

"Sorry."

"...Huh?"

Ethan's unexpected apology took Oliver off guard, who instinctively turned his face left, only for Ethan to reach out and slap him squarely on the left cheek. "Damn!"

Ethan didn't linger on the incident, readying his hammer for another mode switch when a long scythe suddenly intercepted from nowhere!

The human-faced spider was cleaved in two by the scythe, wielded by none other than Max Turner, who had been at odds with Ethan since the beginning. Max twisted his wrist, withdrawing the scythe and slinging it over his shoulder, smirking coldly at Ethan.

"Trying to hog all the glory again? Dream on."

Ethan remained silent, but Oliver, sporting matching slap marks, jumped in.

"Hey, what's with that attitude? If you're so capable, why didn't you step up for the first two monsters?" Max, dismissive of the inexperienced Oliver, continued to lead from the front.

"Bro, look at him-"

Oliver tried to argue but was stopped by Ethan.

Another game scene was approaching, and Ethan didn't want to start a pointless dispute.

"Does Max Turner have a grudge against Ethan Walker?"

"Doesn't seem like it. The ten of them look like they were just thrown together; they don't know each other." "Probably just plain jealousy. I can smell the sour grapes through the screen."

"Ethan's got a great temperament. If it were me, I'd have whacked him with the hammer straight away."

"But Max does seem to have some combat talent. That scythe strike was no joke."

"If all ten of them survive this life-and-death instance, probably two or three will get contracts from big guilds." "Offering a silver contract? That's huge!"

"Avalon Guild is generous!"

"What is a silver contract?"

"A [Silver Contract is a type of agreement between a guild and a player, with Gold Contract being the highest, followed by Silver], Bronzel, and Ordinary Contracts, as well as leasing agreements. Generally, gold and silver contracts are offered to core guild members, promising not only high salaries but sometimes even positions in the management."

"Avalon Guild, ranked in the top 20, offering a Silver Contract directly shows how much they value this newbie."

"He's not just any newbie, that's Ethan Two-Hammers, the War God of the Rotten District!"

"Ethan Two-Hammers, haha, what a funny nickname!"

"Avalon must be recovering from their last instance's heavy losses, bringing in a monster newbie like him is a boost for them."

"They probably didn't expect a regular A-level instance to turn into an SSS-level hidden storyline. They went in with fewer people and nearly lost everyone."

At that moment, Ethan Walker, aka Mr. Two-Hammers, was arguing with college student Oliver Wright.

Oliver accused him of being hypocritical, slapping him during the spider attack but then telling Emily to look at a flower.

"I wasn't prepared the first time," Ethan defended himself with conviction.

"Slapping you was also unexpected."

Oliver couldn't believe it.

"Bro, you hit me, and now you're being stubborn about it!"

"Did I or did I not save you?"

"You did," Oliver gestured wildly, "but at the cost of my dignity!"

"Next time I'll apologize before acting."

"That's more like it."

"Sorry."

"...Huh?"

Ethan's unexpected apology took Oliver off guard, who instinctively turned his face left, only for Ethan to reach out and slap him squarely on the left cheek. "Damn!"

Ethan didn't linger on the incident, readying his hammer for another mode switch when a long scythe suddenly intercepted from nowhere!

The human-faced spider was cleaved in two by the scythe, wielded by none other than Max Turner, who had been at odds with Ethan since the beginning. Max twisted his wrist, withdrawing the scythe and slinging it over his shoulder, smirking coldly at Ethan.

"Trying to hog all the glory again? Dream on."

Ethan remained silent, but Oliver, sporting matching slap marks, jumped in.

"Hey, what's with that attitude? If you're so capable, why didn't you step up for the first two monsters?" Max, dismissive of the inexperienced Oliver, continued to lead from the front.

"Bro, look at him-"

Oliver tried to argue but was stopped by Ethan.

Another game scene was approaching, and Ethan didn't want to start a pointless dispute.

"Does Max Turner have a grudge against Ethan Walker?"

"Doesn't seem like it. The ten of them look like they were just thrown together; they don't know each other." "Probably just plain jealousy. I can smell the sour grapes through the screen."

"Ethan's got a great temperament. If it were me, I'd have whacked him with the hammer straight away."

"But Max does seem to have some combat talent. That scythe strike was no joke."

"If all ten of them survive this life-and-death instance, probably two or three will get contracts from big guilds."