The Hero Turned Into A Potato And The World Fell To Ruin Chapter 92: Single-person Jobs

Staffs are incredibly useful tools.

While it's technically possible to cast all types of spells without using a staff as a conduit, the difficulty level when going staff-less was entirely different.

Imagine going grocery shopping without a cart or basket—you could still carry the groceries, but you would be limited to what your two arms could hold, making the process cumbersome and inefficient.

A staff, in this analogy, is like a shopping cart. Not only does it make channeling magic easier and more fluid, it also helps stabilize the intricate spell structures, preventing them from collapsing if the caster's concentration falters.

Advanced techniques, such as multilayer casting, pausing a spell mid-cast, or preparing spells in advance, all required the assistance of a staff.

As for instantaneous casting, a technique so powerful yet seldom used, it necessitates a highly specialized, top-tier staff.

Even though the staff Myza possessed was top-tier, it couldn't perform instantaneous casting because its structure wasn't designed for that purpose.

In any case, now that Liu Ji had started learning magic, he needed a basic practice staff at the very least.

Just like when shopping at the supermarket, though one might not need a cart, they should at least grab a basket.

However, with Yaine's knowledge and discerning eye for magic, Liu Ji picking out a cheap, flimsy wand for a couple of hundred coins just wouldn't cut it. With Yaine's standards, nothing under a million Kaga even caught her attention.

The problem was, they didn't have that kind of money.

Yaine did have some savings, which she initially thought would suffice, but the currency conversion left them with only a few hundred thousand Kaga after selling the precious metals. After spending the entire day wandering the market with Guoguo, they hadn't bought and only gained a growing wish list of items.

Guoguo, especially, was disheartened. During their last battle, she had burned through an entire quiver of specially crafted arrows, which were meant to be reusable.

Seeing the quality arrows in the market yet lacking the money to purchase meant that she had to settle for a bundle of standard arrows crafted with slightly better materials.

After lunch, the three of them made a decision. It was time to earn some money.

After informing Calidora, the trio prepared to head to the Hunter's Guild to find some work. But just as they were about to leave, the well-fed potato younglings emerged from the inn, lining up and burrowing into the ground. It was as if they had sensed something and instinctively formed a line behind Liu Ji.

Liu Ji eyed them, then looked to Yaine and asked, "Um, perhaps they might be useful?"

"Yeah, why not? Let them come." Yaine nodded. "They don't cost anything besides food, so no harm bringing them along."

Thus, the tio departed the inn together with the bunch of potatoes.

Calidora sat at the front desk, chin in her hands, sighing deeply. She had known this would happen, but still…

"Sigh, it's really just me left to mind the shop, huh," Calidora muttered, burying her face in her arms and blowing bubbles out of sheer boredom.

Just as she was settling into her ennui, she heard a cocky voice from in front of her.

"Well, well, what kind of establishment is this?" Three low-tier hunters swaggered in, the leader flicking his hair as he leaned on the counter and asked, "Hey, miss, how much do your services cost here?"

Calidora glanced at him and replied with a sigh, "A single room is eight hundred, a double bed is a thousand, and a standard room is one thousand two hundred and eighty. Two cups of hot water included."

"Woah, that's pricey." The man raised an eyebrow. "Your services must be top-notch, huh?"

"Huh?" Calidora gave him a sidelong glance. "What kind of service are you looking for?"

"Come on, you know what I mean." The man grinned. "Something fun, of course…"

As he spoke, he reached out toward Calidora.

"Oh, I get it." Calidora casually stepped back, dodging his hand. She then turned her head back and shouted, "Hey! Time to work. Three deluxe oil massage packages, stat!"

"Got it!"

With a roar, a group of muscular men burst out of the kitchen. Before the three hunters could react, they were hoisted up by the burly men and carried off into a back room.

What followed was a cacophony of screams.

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"Huh? Why do all these requests look so lame?" Yaine muttered while carefully scanning the posted jobs. "Guoguo, have you ever been to a Hunter's Guild before?"

"Ah, no, but if it's these sort of bulletin boards," Guoguo glanced nervously at the crowded room and whispered, "perhaps all the good jobs have already been taken."

They were speaking in the common tongue, so Liu Ji didn't understand. He tugged on Yaine's sleeve and asked, "What's wrong? Are there no suitable jobs?"

"Yeah, the payouts are pretty bad." Yaine shrugged. "Seems like all the good jobs have been taken."

"I see." Liu Ji scratched his head. "Should we ask when new jobs will be posted?"

"No need, it's written right there," Yaine pointed to a countdown timer next to the bulletin board. "It says new jobs will be posted next week."

"Oh, is that so." Liu Ji had seen it, just that he couldn't understand what was written.

"Um… Should we just take a whole bunch at once?" Liu Ji suggested. "If we can complete a few jobs in one go, it might be worth it."

In the MMORPGs of his previous life, this was everyone's go-to strategy.

Players would grab as many quests as possible from one area, complete them all in one go, and then turn them in all at once. Even if the rewards weren't huge, seeing the map clear of exclamation marks was incredibly satisfying.

"I think Hunter's Guilds have a rule that you can only take one job per team," Yaine answered hesitantly.

"But they don't stipulate how many people are needed for a job." Liu Ji spread his hands. "We could each take one."

"That's only three jobs…" Yaine started, then suddenly looked at the potatoes surrounding Liu Ji.

Hmm… There are seven of them.

Adding the three of them equated to ten, and coincidentally, there were exactly ten jobs left on the board…

The figures lined up too perfectly to resist the temptation of taking them all.

"These are the leftover jobs anyway, so I doubt anyone would mind if we bent the rules a little, right?" Yaine mulled for a bit before making up her mind. "Let's do it. We'll aim to finish them all before the new jobs come out next week."

Having said that, Yain began pulling down the job requests, stacking them into a neat pile, and plopping them down on the reception desk as the receptionist stared at her in astonishment.

"Hello, we're taking all these 'single-person' jobs. Please provide us with the necessary details."

Yaine placed a special emphasis on the words "single-person."

The receptionist glanced at her, then at the stack of job requests, and surprisingly, broke into a smile. He enthusiastically assisted her, quickly preparing all the necessary documents without questioning the legitimacy of their approach.

Other hunters in the hall gawked at them, muttering among themselves in disbelief.

Soon enough, they had everything they needed. The receptionist even escorted them to the door with a friendly wave.

Yaine, Guoguo, and Liu Ji walked out, bewildered by the cheerful send-off and couldn't help feeling like something was off.

Having never participated in a hunt before, they were completely oblivious to what they had just done.

Shortly after the party left, Master Luo entered the hall with a fresh batch of jobs. As usual, he glanced at the bulletin board.

And then, he froze.

He distinctly remembered putting up the backlog of jobs the previous day, so how were they all gone today?

Could it be that the legendary Charity Hunter, unsung hero of the industry and Job Board Sweeper, has reappeared after all these years?

No, that can't be. Wasn't the Job Board Sweeper the current Hunt King?

Has that fella taken on an apprentice in secret?