Morning. The slums outside Thousand Masts City, the largest city in the Northern Lands.
"Just two Silver Coins left."
Colin stared at the few small metal discs clinking on the table and muttered to himself, "That's still eight Silver Coins short of the one Gold Coin rent."
'I might get kicked out and end up homeless.' Having only transmigrated three days ago, Colin couldn't help but feel terribly anxious at the thought of his future.
If the body's original owner still had his job, the two-Silver-Coin daily wage would have been just enough to cover the shortfall after the foreman's deductions, food expenses, and union fees.
The currency in this world was decimal-based, using Gold, Silver, and Copper Coins. Gold Coins still had a place in the lives of Ordinary people. He had heard the city folk say that large-scale commodity trades were conducted using gold ingots or Gemstones, which could also serve as high-level Magic components... Of course, none of that had anything to do with a poor boy from the slums.
He reined in his wandering thoughts.
Colin stretched and casually opened the door.
In the distance stood a snow-white city wall, over twenty meters tall. Far beyond it were a castle with fluttering banners and a sky-piercing Magic Tower engraved with Magic Runes.
In this fantasy world where Magic existed, such a scene wasn't out of place at all.
His days as a corporate drone in a big city just a few days ago felt like they had happened in a past life...
Before Colin could finish his reflection, a sea breeze carrying the stench of blood from the butcher's shop and the foul odor from the tanner's house assaulted his nostrils.
He looked at the scenery closer to him.
The slum was filled with dilapidated wooden shacks pieced together from planks. Shivering refugees and beggars huddled in every corner of the streets.
Colin sighed, closed the door, and sat on the small bed behind him.
Yes, he could reach the door just by stretching out his arm from the side of the bed.
The small attic room was only about four square meters in total. Besides a straw-padded bed and a set of a table and a chair, there was no other furniture.
Compared to the magnificent view in the distance, all this felt like a bad joke...
'This is no time to be spacing out. I need to figure out how to make money first.'
Colin shook his head to clear his thoughts.
He recalled the memories he had sorted through over the past two days.
The original owner of this body was a low-level Adventurer.
The jobs he took were mostly menial tasks with little pay, like guarding cargo at the docks.
Although he never encountered any monsters, the money he earned was barely enough to get by.
Moreover, a month before Colin transmigrated, a large number of refugees from the north had arrived in the slums, and all the available jobs had been snatched up.
The original owner hadn't received a single commission for nearly half a month. He couldn't even find work as a laborer at the docks.
Under these circumstances, prices skyrocketed with the influx of refugees.
It was as if the entire city was trying to digest its excess population, giving the poor no chance to survive.
No matter how he looked at it, transmigrating into such a situation was a desperate affair.
Fortunately, Colin hadn't fallen into a situation where all he could do was wait for death. There was still a glimmer of hope.
He pulled a folded piece of paper from his pocket.
This was a commission he had managed to get yesterday through sheer luck.
The paper read: "Commission: Escort a coach to Silverpine Village. Reward: Four Silver Coins per person, spoils are your own to keep."
At the same time, as he focused his attention, a few lines of text appeared before his eyes.
A Panel that only he could see suddenly materialized over the paper, looking like an open notebook.
This was the mysterious book that had transmigrated with him, existing only in his mind: the Task Log.
[Commission: Escort Coach]
[Rating: Not Started]
[Reward: Not Calculated]
[Note: The rating is based on your performance during the commission. The higher the rating, the better the reward.]
These few lines of text eased Colin's anxiety somewhat.
He had no idea how many times he had looked at this Panel over the past two days. After all, it was his only chance to crawl out of the slums and his only hope of earning this month's rent.
According to the original owner's memories,
in this world, besides Magic, there were also many monsters and Adventurers who handled commissions. Of course, common Adventurer Professions from games, like Warrior, Mage, and Priest, also existed.
'If I could become a true Adventurer, I surely wouldn't have to stay cooped up in the slums, worrying about rent, right?'
Colin sighed. He didn't want to spend his whole life struggling for food and lodging.
'If I had to say what I'm looking forward to after transmigrating...'
'It's pretty much the same as what I wanted in my last life: find a decent job, maybe buy a house in the city, and live a peaceful life. Only then could I say I've truly made a life for myself in this Otherworld.'
'But for now, I have to get the four Silver Coins from this commission first, then find some other work to earn the other four...'
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Someone suddenly started pounding on the door, followed by a booming, muffled shout.
"Colin! Are you awake? Colin!"
"Kase, stop knocking," Colin said as he opened the door.
Standing in the hallway was a burly man taller than the doorframe. He was over two meters tall, with yellowish hair tied back in a ponytail. The face beneath his hair was hard to describe, and his earthy-yellow-skinned body was unbelievably muscular.
Clearly, he was a Half-Orc.
Colin had seen this image in countless movies and animations in his past life. This was also the original owner's good friend and his only current teammate.
"Let's go, the coach is about to leave. This job was hard to come by, and we haven't found any work for a month," Kase said, handing over a so-called Short Sword that was large enough for a human to wield with two hands. "Here, borrow my Short Sword."
"Alright." Colin quickly gathered his things and followed him out of the room.
After they had walked a little way, Kase, who was in front, said, "You should take an extra Silver Coin this time."
"Are you kidding?"
"Without you vouching for me, I wouldn't have even been able to rent a place," Kase said. "Besides, this is your first time taking a job like this, right? As a genuine Adventurer, I should really look after a small fry like you."
Colin laughed. "There was no need for that last part."
A hint of excitement crept into Kase's voice. "Also, are you really ready? We might actually run into monsters this time. A real fight."
The two chatted as they walked, and they soon arrived at the main entrance of the slums.
Four coaches fully laden with cargo were parked there.
A large crowd of ragged refugees and beggars had gathered around the coaches.
If it weren't for the few weapon-wielding Adventurers on the coaches, the cargo would have probably been carried off already.
Of course, they were called Adventurers, but even the most well-equipped among them looked like nothing more than a shabby Militia member. The rest were just wearing linen clothes and carrying small sickles.
This wasn't surprising.
Most low-level Adventurers were only at this level, not to mention the many desperate refugees who were forced to become Adventurers to make a living.
"You're the ones who took the job from the Coachman's Union?" the lead coachman, an old man, yelled at Colin and Kase.
He had a full beard and was quite old, but he looked hale and hearty.
Colin quickly pulled out the commission form, waved it, and shouted, "That's us, sir."
The coachman glanced nonchalantly at the kid in linen clothes with a sword hanging from his waist. It was only when he saw the frighteningly muscular Half-Orc next to him that he took a closer look.
He nodded and said, "Alright, get on. There are a lot of clay pots in the back of the coach, so be careful not to sit on them and break them."
Colin didn't mind. He climbed onto the coach and sat next to the driver's seat.
He was used to this kind of reaction.
Compared to a hulking Half-Orc, a human kid like him was like a freebie thrown into the deal.
Getting this commission was really all thanks to Kase. Colin wouldn't have even minded if Kase took the larger share of the reward. He never expected the Half-Orc to offer him more money instead.
Once the Half-Orc was settled, the convoy moved on.
After passing through the city gate and leaving the foul-smelling slums behind, the scenery on both sides of the road slowly changed to wheat fields with rippling waves of grain.
The convoy gradually relaxed, and the sound of lighthearted conversation began to fill the air.
Colin's heart pounded as he looked at the surrounding scenery.
'As long as I complete this commission, I'll get my first reward.'
This very moment was perhaps his first step on the path of an Adventurer.