After the middle-aged man left, everyone heaved a sigh of relief and went inside the building to look for the reception. The building itself was big enough to accommodate over 300 people but wasn't well maintained, which was fair considering that this was an outpost to the safe zone. Upon entering the building, they were greeted by the sight of an empty hallway leading up to a table behind which a robust man was sitting in formal clothing, a complete contrast to his build.
When everyone got there, the man asked robustly, "Are you the newbies supposed to go on the hunt 3 days later?"
"Yes, that middle-aged man said we'll find out everything we need to know at the reception," a young guy from our group replied.
"Well, indeed you'll find out everything you need to know here, but before that, line up and fill out this form," the robust man said while giving out a pile of papers.
Everyone took the papers and started to fill them out, and so did Hob. "We even have to fill in the information of the lamb we picked!" Hob found it interesting.
"What's your name and age?" asked Hob to the young girl he had chosen to be with him.
The girl looked at him skeptically. "It's for the form," said Hob.
"The name's Friz, and I'm the same age as you, 21," said the young girl in a calm voice.
Soon everyone had filled out the forms and submitted them to the robust man. The robust man collected the forms and examined them one by one, calling out the names of everyone to confirm that there were no mistakes in the number of people.
"Now that this part is done, let's move on to the things you need to know for now:
1. There's a map here in the hall showing all the areas in this safe zone, and some of the monster lairs are also marked on it. Those marked in black are inaccessible to anyone as no one leaves alive upon entering. As for the rest, you're free to roam if you think you're capable of it.
2. All of you will be provided with a small map of the area around the outpost marked with the same markings as the large map, but do remember these markings are not 100% accurate as monsters tend to wander around to hunt.
3. All of you will be allowed one weapon per person from the warehouse. You must choose which weapon you want and register it with me; it'll be delivered to you when leaving for the hunt.
4. None of you are allowed to leave the outpost under any circumstances before your hunt begins.
5. You can ask for any resources you want from me. As long as it is allowed, we will provide it to you before the hunt.
And with that, you know what you need to know. So for now, collect your keys from me and head over to the room you're allotted on the first floor."
And with that, everyone, including Hob, collected their keys and went to their rooms. It was pretty awkward, as the lambs weren't given separate rooms, so Hob and Friz had to stay in the same room.
After entering the room, it became even more awkward as there was only a single bed in the room, attached to a bathroom and toilet. If they had to stay here, they would have to sleep on the same bed.
"Care to explain now?" Friz said, sitting on the bed without much discomfort while looking at Hob, which made Hob feel a little embarrassed.
"Well, about that, I guess it's not much of a secret how skillfully you used your darts on the battlefield and the grace and swiftness with which you moved, never losing sight of your targets. It was captivating. And you don't look bad either; I can bet you'll be one of the top beauties in our safe zone. So, I felt like it would be a pity for you to die as a lamb. Though I knew someone would definitely pick you, I didn't want to risk it being someone who would use you as bait and have you killed instead of taking a little more risk," Hob explained himself.
"It does make sense, but that part about me being beautiful—do you really think that's true?" Friz said, getting up from the bed and whispering into Hob's ear.
Hob grew tense and answered, "Yes, I do."
"Then did you choose this room on purpose? I mean, a single bed for two adults like us of opposite sex—what is it that you want to do?" Friz said menacingly into Hob's ear.
Hob felt his heart throbbing but calmed down and said, "I never meant to do anything like that without your consent, and it is but an accident that our room has only one bed. If you want, we can take turns sleeping so that you won't have to worry about anything bad happening while we're asleep and can make sure we stay energized for the hunt."
"You don't seem to be lying, but it's alright. We've only got 3 days to prepare and can't afford to sleep in turns. It's okay for us to sleep together in bed, but don't try anything. Otherwise, don't blame me for being bad," Friz warned Hob.
"If it's that you're worried about, you should relax. I'll never do something like that to a woman without consent, but yeah, sleeping together will indeed help us prepare better for the hunt," Hob agreed.
Novel Bin 