It looked like a tavern mixed with a stock exchange.
Hunters were shouting, trading items, looking for parties, and finding gambling partners to rip off their ornaments.
"Milana mentioned the Freelancer Hub," Julien remembered. "She said it's where the desperate people go."
"We are desperate people," Chris noted.
"Exactly," Julien straightened his jacket. "We can't register the shop today. But maybe we can solve our other problem. If we can't beat the bureaucracy, we need someone who knows how to cheat it."
"The Accountant," Alice realised.
"Let's go fishing," Julien grinned.
The Hub was an assault on the senses. If the registration line was depressing, the Hub was chaotic. It was a massive open floor filled with round tables, digital quest boards, and hundreds of hunters drinking alcohol at 11:00 AM.
Smoke spread in the air, some hunters smoked "Mana-Leaf" to calm their nerves. The noise was ear-splitting: the clatter of dice, the shouting of raid leaders looking for healers, and the occasional brawl being broken up by bouncers.
"Keep your wallets close," Julien warned, looking at the surroundings.
[Streetwise] was going haywire in his head.
[Target: Pickpocket (Level 3).]
[Target: Scammer (Selling fake maps).]
[Target: Undercover Guild Spy.]
The room was a minefield where one wrong move could attract everyone.
"I like it," Chris grinned, puffing out his chest.
In his tight 'MOMMY'S LITTLE BOY' shirt, he looked less like a warrior and more like a gym bro who lost a bet, but his B-Rank aura, hidden but palpable, kept people from bumping into him.
They made their way to the "Requests" board. It was a plain corkboard covered in handwritten notes, pinned over each other.
"Need Healer for Rat Dungeon. Must not be afraid of rats. 50/50 split on the spoils."
"Selling lightly used Shield. Bloodstains are removable with detergent."
"Looking for husband. Must be B-Rank. Contact Martha."
Wait, what?
"Slick," Alice observed, looking at the board.
Julien pulled a piece of paper and a marker from his pocket.
"Okay," Julien said. "If we put up a normal ad, we'll get normal applicants. Boring people and rule followers who won't be of any use. We don't need them."
"We don't?" Chris asked.
"No. We need someone who sees the system and wants to break it. Someone who looked at Ms Grimble and thought, 'I could embezzle her pension into my wallet'."
Julien uncapped the marker.
He wrote in big, bold letters:
[WANTED: FINANCIAL WIZARD]
[Are you tired of the Stronger Guilds?]
[Do you know where the bodies are buried, literally and financially?]
[Can you turn a pile of shady income into a tax-deductible charity?]
[New Shop in Fringe Needs an Accountant. Must be okay with Ghosts.]
[PAY: Commission + FOOD + Shelter.]
He pinned it right in the centre, covering Martha's search for a husband.
"Now," Julien said, stepping back. "We wait for someone to take the bait."
"Isn't this bad?" Chris whispered, eyeing the bold, angry letters on the corkboard.
He pulled nervously at the collar of his tight yellow shirt, glancing at a group of hunters nearby who were sharpening axes. "We are directly hating on the Guilds. 'Tired of Stronger Guilds'? 'Shady income'? That's like poking a bear and then asking if it wants to do our taxes."
"It's fine," Julien dismissed, capping the marker with a satisfying click. "Think about it, Chris. If you saw this poster, would you think 'Mastermind Criminal Empire'? No. You'd think 'Bitter F-Ranker with a grudge on strong hunters.' It's the perfect camouflage for our work. We aren't a threat but a joke to them. And nobody looks closely at a joke."
"I like jokes," Alice murmured from under her bonnet, her voice muffled. "They usually end with someone crying."
"Exactly," Julien said, ignoring the ominous undertone. "We just need one person crazy enough to take it seriously. Until then, we blend in with the rest of them."
They retreated to a sticky table near the back, nursing their acid coffee, which tasted just like its name. Julien watched the board like a hawk, waiting for someone, anyone, to stop and read the poster.
Ten minutes passed.
A few people glanced at it.
One guy laughed and spat on the floor near it.
Another ripped off a tab from the "Looking for Husband" poster underneath it.
'These fuckers.'
Then, the atmosphere in the Hub suddenly shifted.
It was like someone had sucked all the oxygen out of the room. The echo of conversation died down instantly, replaced by a low, vibrating cheer of excitement.
Chairs scraped against the floor as hunters stood up, abandoning their drinks and card games.
"What's happening?" Chris asked, standing up and looking around. "Is it a raid? A fire in the hall?"
"Someone's coming," Julien noted, narrowing his eyes.
[Streetwise] was pinging... adoration.
Suddenly, the double doors of the Hub burst open.
The crowd surged at an incredible speed. It wasn't a panic but more like people running for a fanfare. Hunters rushed toward the entrance, forming a human corridor, cheering and clapping.
"Make way!" someone shouted, shoving a waiter aside. "They're back! The Blaze Team is back!"
"Blaze?" Chris stood on his tiptoes. "Who are they?"
"Must be local celebrities," Julien said, his voice tight. "B-Rank party. They operate out of the Inner City but slum it in District 9 searching for the 'easy' gates. They treat this place like a tutorial zone."
Through the parting crowd walked five figures.
They didn't look like the rest of the people in the Hub. Their accessories didn't have duct-taped armor or rusty swords. They looked like they had stepped out of a magazine cover titled 'Power & Glory' from Vogue.
The leader walked in front.
He was a tall man with hair dyed a dark shade of crimson, wearing armor made of polished Wyvern scales that shimmered with heat. He held a helmet under one arm, waving to the crowd with a practised, arrogant smile.
[Streetwise Analysis]
[Target: Ignis (Rank: B+ - Spellsword).]
[Party: 'Blaze'.]
[Status: Victorious / Arrogant.]
[Gear Value: Estimated 5,000,000 Credits.]
Ignis swept his gaze across the Hub, swimming in the attention like a king surveying his domain.
Then his eyes landed on the quest board.
On Julien's poster.