We stood in a long line that barely seemed to move. People—or at least things that looked like people—stood ahead and behind us. Some wore armor, some robes, others looked half-human, half-creature. A few even had claws or glowing eyes.
Riri stood calmly beside us, not at all fazed.
"They're here for new registrations," she explained, hands clasped behind her back. "Some might also be here to show the body parts of creatures they've hunted to claim their rewards."
Ayush glanced at her. "Wait, what currency is used here?"
Riri tilted her head, looking confused. "It's Asps."
My eyes widened. Not again. I should've known. Of course everything here had to be related to them.
She reached into her pouch and showed us a gold-colored coin. A serpent was engraved across its surface, twisting in an elegant but ominous curve.
"It's a gold coin," she said. "You get ten of these for hunting a top-tier creature. Five for a mid-tier, and two for small-tier monsters. One gold is worth five silver, and ten bronze."
Ayush did the math quickly. "So we basically get fifty silver or a hundred bronze coins for top-tier creatures."
Riri smiled. "You catch things quite fast."
He grinned and shrugged. "Of course. I was a topper in mathematics back in school."
She tilted her head again. "Are you also studying sorcery in a university?"
Ayush blinked. "Wait… you guys teach magic here?"
Riri nodded. "There are many kinds of academies. I'm from a university where all sorcerers specialize in magic related to a particular element. Some also get to study Paidea, Manthanein, Historia, and more."
Rudransh scratched his head. "What even are those?"
Before Riri could reply, Shon answered, "Those are ancient Greek words. Paidea means general education, Manthanein is learning, and Historia is history. Basically, what we call normal subjects."
Ayush muttered, "A lot of things here feel like they're pulled from ancient times… but the rest? Straight out of a fantasy novel."
I heard Rizu groan beside me. "My head is spinning," he said. "I'm trying to follow your conversation while also accidentally reading the minds of people around us. I can't control it. I'm hearing random thoughts all over the place."
He rubbed his temples. "If this keeps going, I won't be able to sleep at night. I'll need sleeping pills in a world where they probably don't even exist."
I offered, "Try focusing… and clear your mind. Think nothing. Silence might help shut off your ability."
He nodded and closed his eyes tightly.
"Is it working?" I asked.
He smiled. "Yeah… I'm not hearing anything right now."
Then a second later—"AAAUU!" He clutched his ears with both hands. "Too soon. I lost it."
He sighed. "Guess I need to work on increasing the time I can keep other people's thoughts out. Looks like meditation is the key."
Riri turned her head forward. "Look ahead. We're already at the front."
Rizu blinked. "Oh… it's our turn already?"
Riri stepped up. "Please register all six of them as new hunters."
Behind the desk stood a dark-skinned woman with a lizard's face and a humanoid body. Next to her was a short guy with pink skin and a pig's face, also in a humanoid body. Both wore flowing chiton-style robes, like something from ancient Greece.
I felt a cold sweat build on my neck. Why am I constantly surrounded by these creepy-looking creatures?
The lizard woman handed us some parchment, filled with symbols I couldn't understand.
Jatin stared at the page. "What even is this? I can't read a single thing."
The lizard lady looked at him and sneered. "You are illiterate."
Jatin's face turned red. "WHAT did you just say?!"
Shon and Ayush immediately stepped in, holding him back.
"Calm down, bro," Ayush whispered.
"She doesn't know where we're from," Shon added.
The pig-faced guy narrowed his eyes. "Watch your tone, pal."
Riri quickly intervened. "I apologize for their behavior. They're new here—they need to learn how things work."
Then she turned to us. "I understand now… You're either from a very different place… or a completely different world."
Jatin crossed his arms. "Took you long enough to figure that out. But yeah, glad you finally caught on."
Shon shot him a look. "She's helping us with housing and money. The least we can do is show some respect."
Jatin rolled his eyes. "Okay, okay. I get it."
The lizard woman pointed to the document. "This simply states that if you die or are seriously injured while hunting, it's your own responsibility. You must return with a body part—like a horn, eye, or tail—to prove you completed the hunt."
She pointed at the bottom. "Sign here."
Jatin raised an eyebrow. "Signatures work in this fantasy world too, huh?"
One by one, we all signed the parchment.
Then the lizard woman gestured to a wooden board behind her. It displayed drawings of various monsters.
"It's categorized by tiers—Top, Mid, and Small depending on the row they are placed in. The topmost row has top-tier, the middle row shows mid-tier, and the bottom one is for small-tier creatures. Their names are etched underneath."
I stared at the board, heart sinking.
"Hey, what's this spider's name?" Ayush asked, pointing at the giant arachnid in the mid row.
Riri replied, "Its name's Megarachne."
Rudransh pointed at a creature on the top row, a monstrous humanoid-crab hybrid with a lizard-like tail. "And what's that freaky one?"
Riri answered, "That's Karkinos."
He grinned. "It's been my dream to use my full strength without holding back. Damn, this is gonna be fun. Finally, I can beat something to a pulp without worrying if it'll survive."
I slowly moved my eyes down to the mid-tier list. My breath caught.
A massive python, with glossy black scales and crimson eyes.
Riri suddenly looked at me. "Its name is Delphi."
I felt my stomach twist.
This is getting worse. A nightmare. I don't want this.
Please, God… I want to go home.