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Needlewood Province, bordering Westriver Province and Mapleleaf Province, was named because almost ninety percent of the trees in its entire territory were needlewood trees. Human residential areas were mainly concentrated in the plains in the north-central part, while the rest were areas where wild beasts and Demonic Beasts multiplied and lived. However, most of the Demonic Beasts here weren't very strong, making it one of the holy lands for Elementary Adventurers from nearby provinces. Or rather, one of the Beginner Villages.
Needlewood Town, a small town with a permanent population of only about 200,000, surprisingly had a branch of the Adventurer's Guild. The reason was simply that it was one of the entrances to the Eastern Needlewood Mountains.
At a table in the main hall of the Guild sat two men and two women.
These four were Victor, Caelan, Nicole, and her childhood friend, Priscilla of House Rushbrook.
Priscilla's home was near Nicole's, and she'd grown up with Nicole. She couldn't endure the hardship of physical training, so she specialized as a mage. Her family was very wealthy, but because she had an average appearance and was a bit chubby, neither the single Caelan nor the possibly single Victor showed any interest in her.
Cassius walked over, frowning. "Mapleleaf Adventure Group and Crimson Leaf Adventure Group were chosen by people thousands of years ago and have been passed down to this day. Even if there was a generational gap, someone quickly registered them first."
Victor: "It's a normal phenomenon for such names to be taken, isn't it? If we can't use them, then just pick any name. That's fine."
Cassius: "How can our first Adventure Group be so casual? That's why I came to ask if you have any good suggestions for naming?"
The two girls looked at each other, and Nicole said, "Among us, you and Victor are the strongest, and both of you are primarily fire-elemental. How about naming it 'Flame Adventure Group'?"
Cassius: "Someone already took that name. And it's from abroad."
"Blazing Crimson Adventure Group?"
"...Don't you think that name sounds idiotic?"
"Then, Crimson Blaze Adventure Group?"
"Uh, that's also been taken."
They suggested several more names, but either someone was dissatisfied or the names were very common and had already been used.
Caelan said, "Then can't we add Imperial numbers? Like Flame of 1999 Adventure Group?" (Actually, the First Emperor named them "Divine Pillar Numbers," but later everyone called them "Imperial Numbers" or "Holy Emperor Numbers." These are essentially the Arabic numerals from Earth, which were actually invented by ancient Indians.)
Cassius replied, "The Guild does not allow Imperial numbers to appear in Adventure Group names." After all, there was no such thing more than five thousand years ago.
So what to do? Everyone's gaze slowly turned to Caelan.
Caelan: "?"
Caelan: "Why are you all looking at me?"
Don't you know my naming ability?
Nicole: "Caelan, you've made so many games, and so many characters in them were named by you. You should be better at naming, right?"
(I'm good at what? Naming is what I'm worst at...)
Caelan: "All those names were given by people from the Other World. Basically none of them were named by me."
Cassius's eyes, however, lit up. "That's right! We can name it after games."
As soon as this suggestion was made, everyone responded enthusiastically, immediately proposing more than a dozen names.
"I'll go to the counter and ask right now," Cassius said, then excitedly went to inquire.
A moment later, Cassius returned dejectedly. "Contra, Elemental Contra, Enemy, Salamander, Brawl, Street Fighter, Wave, Rising Dragon... all these names have been taken."
"Ah?" The remaining four exclaimed in surprise.
"Not only that—I just asked, and Green-Haired Turtle Adventure Group has also been registered."
Caelan was speechless. Even such a terrible name was taken.
"What about Akuma? Akuma Adventure Group?"
Cassius quickly went to ask. After a while, he returned, indicating that it was also taken—and by people from Stickfall Kingdom.
"Bah, those Stickfall people are really good at snatching," Victor cursed.
Caelan thought for a moment. "King of Fighters Adventure Group. Has anyone taken this name?"
"King of Fighters? Many people should use this name too," Cassius said, but still went to inquire. The staff member picked up the runestone tablet and checked, finding that no related members had appeared for over thirty years. Therefore, this name had been canceled.
"Then it can be used. Do we want to use this name? Let's vote by show of hands," Cassius asked.
Victor raised his hand. "I have no objection. This name is quite domineering, and we often use our fists. I think it's good."
Nicole and Priscilla also raised their hands. "No objection!"
Cassius nodded. "Then that's the name."
Thus, the King of Fighters Adventure Group was officially established.
Captain: Cassius of House Everflame, 19 years old, Fifth Circle Peak combat strength.
Vice-Captain: Victor of House Blazeheart, 19 years old, Fifth Circle Peak combat strength.
Treasurer: Nicole of House Swiftdrake, 19 years old, Fourth Circle combat strength.
Logistics Officer: Priscilla of House Rushbrook, 19 years old, Third Circle combat strength.
Ordinary Member: Caelan Ashford of House Oxhand, 19 years old, Second Circle combat strength.
Caelan: So I'm the only slacker, huh.
Later, everyone laughed and discussed for a while, then assigned Caelan a position as well.
Emotional Counselor. Well, with Caelan in the team, everyone could almost play games and relax anytime, anywhere.
After the laughter and fun, everyone approached the staff again to see if there were any tasks they could take on.
A runestone tablet was brought over, displaying a list of tasks:
"Capture Lightning Rat, four gold crowns per rat. Points +1 — Publisher: Adventurer's Guild"
"Capture Needlewood Bear Cub, thirty gold crowns per cub. Points +10 — Publisher: Adventurer's Guild"
"Several Adventure Groups have recently gone missing in the Eastern Needlewood Mountains. Please find the reason. Reward starts at 100 gold crowns, points start at +100. — Publisher: Adventurer's Guild"
"Search for the missing Chun-Li Adventure Group, reward 200 gold crowns, points +50. — Publisher: Sandstone City, Earl Blacksand of House Stoneguard"
"Search for the missing Cloudweave Adventure Group, reward 30 gold crowns, points +10. — Publisher: Ironstone City, Bai Qing of House Cloudweave"
"Search for the missing Hopper Adventure Group..."
"Oh, so many missing Adventure Groups?" Nicole exclaimed in surprise.
The Adventurer's Guild staff member said helplessly, "Yes. Four Adventure Groups have gone missing recently, all in the Eastern Needlewood Mountains. We have already notified the City Lord of Sandstone City, and he has sent people to investigate in the Eastern Needlewood."
"Could it be that they met with misfortune?" Priscilla said.
Nicole glared at Priscilla reproachfully. Priscilla also realized that such talk was inauspicious and quickly lowered her head.
"No. The Cloudweave Adventure Group was the first to go missing—a week ago—but one of its members has a special Bloodline connection with his father, so his father can sense and confirm that they are not dead. Only unable to locate them."
Cassius nodded. "How do we accept these tasks?"
The staff member said, "You don't need to accept them. These are public tasks. You just need to bring the relevant proof after completing them."
Cassius and the others asked the staff member about related matters but didn't get any useful information, so they simply gave up and started browsing other tasks.
Caelan didn't go forward. After all, he was just there to tag along, experience what an Other World adventure felt like, and incidentally make up the numbers for the Adventure Group.