Two silver pieces slammed into the counter. They oozed a strange aura of malice and ill will, little demons visible for those that were specialized to see them. Neither the sound or the aura made the woman behind the desk flinch, blank eyes staring straight ahead. Stupid receptionist. She was the same one that had given Kyoko trouble yesterday.

"What is your request?" said the doll. It had to be a doll. No one could look that stiff and be human. She was probably animated with magic to save money since they seemed to be so short on money that they had to charge stupidly ridiculous prices for struggling adventurers.

"I got them," said Kyoko, pressing the coins further into the wood. "My two silver liin for admission into the guild."

It would normally have been one silver, but because of Kyoko's level, the guild charged a higher fee. Or at least, that's what they had said.

The doll pried the coins from Kyoko's fingers, sliding them deftly behind the counter, never to be seen again. Her hands came back a second later, holding a small transparent disk. The center housed a large crystal, the size of Kyoko's palm.

"Please place your hand on the sensor," said the doll with zero emotion. "It will assess your level and skill to record it for the guild."

Kyoko lifted her gloved hand, placing it above the crystal. The thing started to shine, slowly transforming from clear white to yellow. Two large numbers materialized, several small paragraphs of text appearing on the transparent portion.

The disk was yanked away before Kyoko could examine their words.

"Level 27," said the doll. Her eyes drifted up and down Kyoko, managing to express her surprise and disgust without changing expression. "That's interesting."

If you didn't suspect that, then why the freak frack did I have to pay a higher fee!?

"I didn't ask for your opinion," ground out Kyoko. Afterall, It was their flipping fault she had to resort back to her level five equipment. She'd had to sell everything else to pay for the stupid guild fee. Now all she had left with were unenchanted, patched and dirty clothes. Her dull tunic did nothing for her figure, brown pants just adding insult to injury. It was hard to determine if she was an adventurer just by looking at her, a huge disgrace. The higher levels prided themselves on colorful garments and revealing armor that identified their level and class, especially if you were a woman.

The doll poked at Kyoko's statistics, judging eyes raising to Kyoko again.

"According to your stats, you'd be a craftsman," she said.

"I don't want to be a craftsman," said Kyoko flatly. "I want to be an adventurer. That's why I'm her in an adventurer's guild. To be an adventurer."

"Craftsmen are needed in guilds," said the doll. "Your cooking skill sets are especially good. I could find you work cooking almost immediately."

"I don't want to be a support class. I want some sort of some sort of job that involves destroying monsters and completing quests."

"There are plenty of quests for craftsmen such as yourself."

Kyoko groaned, wanting to slam her head into the counter. She had anticipated this, known that they'd try and stick her in some sort of supporting craftsman class. It still irritated her to death. Well, Kyoko was done being a support. Done helping others. This time, she was going to be the one in the lead.

And there was a certain idiot she was aching to leave behind in the dust.

"No support jobs," said Kyoko. "You can give me any class, anything as long as it's some sort of front line fighter class."

The doll hummed, tumbing down through Kyoko's stats and abilities.

"You've already earned several craftsmen's titles," said the doll. "Including master chef, journeyman jewelcrafter, expert enchanter and-" the dolls eyes roamed back to Kyoko's clothes. "-expert tailor."

"Those are not my class," said Kyoko, wondering if this doll had a negative ten intelligence stat. "Those are professions. Professions! Tell me what I can register for my class."

"Understood."

The doll took another moment to study the stats. Kyoko's foot tapped impatiently, wanting to hurry up and start doing quests.

Finally, the doll finished. Her long fake eyelashes fluttered to Kyoko, face unreadable.

"I'm afraid you don't have any of the qualifications to be titled as any class."

"What?"

Kyoko yanked the disk from the woman, staring at her personal information. Her movesets and abilities were there, clear as day along with a very unflattering picture of her in her level five garb. Ugh, it looked worse in the foggy image. How could she not register as any class?

The doll snatched back the disk, her painted smile a tad strained.

"I'm afraid that despite your numerous abilities," said the doll. "you haven't completed any class changing quests, acquired items or completed any other special events that present you with the option of changing class. You can either stick with the class of craftsman or stay as unspecialized."

"Are you serious?" said Kyoko. "This high of a level? It will be impossible for me to get approved for a class change quest. They'll think I'm trying to steal class secrets or something. And no one hires unspecialized adventures for decent quests."

"I'm afraid those are your options," said the doll, without a shred of mercy or sympathy for Kyoko's plight. "Craftsman, or unspecialized."

Kyoko's hands balled into fists. Well this was just freaking peachy! Of course there had to be something else to get in her way. Of course something had to go wrong. Because Kyoko wasn't allowed to move forward without slamming her face into the ground at every step. Only pompous, frivolous pricks like Shotaro managed to get through life with ease as they stepped on the lives of others.

His words still echoed in her ears, the merriment of all those women as they had laughed forever branded on her ears. Those women had been aware she was in the room, waiting to surprise him. Those scantily clad and dazzling skanks who had crawled around Shotaro, cooing and asking about 'the woman that followed him around.'

"She's just my supporter," Shotaro had said. "Like a puppy that brings back the spoils of a hunt. She means absolutely nothing to me."

If it had ended there, she might have forgiven him.

Kyoko closed her eyes tight, ridding the words and images from her mind.

"I want to be unspecialized," said Kyoko. "I will get a quest to change my class. I will become a famous adventurer, and I will beat Shotaro."

A loud thump made Kyoko jump. She opened her eyes, noting that the doll held out a card.

"Then you're all set," said the doll, completely back to her business-like attitude. "This is your guild card. It marks you as a potential member of the guild. It's also enchanted to you, meaning only you can access its information. If you lose it, it's three silver liin to replace." She pointed to the side of the room. "You can now look for quests on our guild board. Return with them and I'll officially assign it to you, providing you meet the application requirements. Remember, the guild vault and store, along with other privileges will become open to you as you rise up the ranks."

Kyoko wanted to sigh. That's right, she was staring at the bottom. She was simply a guild trainee now, not officially part of the guild until she completed a certain number of tasks.

"Thank you," said Kyoko, managing to remember her manners despite her anger earlier. She took the card, noting the LME guild logo on one side. The other side showed her profession ranks, class, and level. A gem nestled in the corner shone the same yellow as the previous test crystal, indicating she was in the level twenty range.

"We look forward to working with you in the future," said the doll, giving a very pointed smile. "Please have a good day."

Kyoko took the hint, sulking away from the front so the next person could be helped.

It wasn't what she had anticipated, but it was a step in the right direction. She may be unspecialized and still a trainee but hey, was at least in the guild now. The thought lifted her spirits.

She quickly hurried to the guild board, or boards would have been a more accurate description. There were three main slabs of wood, several other fellow guildmates eyeing them. She crept toward the gaps, aware that no one would bother moving aside for her. Not for some noob that still wore level five garb and didn't have any companions.

She eventually wiggled through, able to make out the individual quests. The boards held all sorts of requests, everything from babysitting Chowicks to slaying nearby dragonkin. There was also a separate small board where guild announcements would be posted. It was currently occupied with two wanted posters, showing images of men who had caused damage to the guild. Huh, well she wasn't nearly high enough level for those.

Kyoko hummed to herself as she browsed, actually enjoying herself. Before, Shotaro had always chosen their quests, never giving Kyoko a say in what they would choose. True, she had never spoken up, too enraptured and dependent on him to think about saying anything. Well, things had changed… a lot.

Her hand paused on a request for herb gathering. It was a relatively simple quest, but it would give her the copper to eat and sleep for a few days. She could complete it before deciding which class she wanted to become.

What made her pause was the picture of the plant. It reminded her of a hyacinth, a flower she had used in floral arrangement back in Japan.

Japan.

It seemed like such a distant memory now. The place she had lived before coming here. It had been four years since she and Shotaro had appeared in this world. She still wasn't sure how they had been summoned here, or if they'd been summoned at all. All she knew was that one moment, Shotaro had been talking about his dream of moving to Tokyo to become a singer, and the next, they'd appeared in the middle of the woods, completely lost and unable to speak the language.

They'd been confused, and more than a little put off by this world that was strangely reminiscent of a fantasy RPG. But they'd pushed through, overcoming everything together as they struggled to survive.

Those days of relying on Shotaro had obviously passed, along with her life in Japan.

Kyoko shook her head, yanking the notice from its thumbtack. Now was not the time to get homesick. Her life, whatever it had been before was gone. This was where she was now, and she would make the most of it.

The doll at the front took Kyoko's request, raising an eyebrow but saying nothing as she struck it from her records.

"You have three days to complete the quest," said the doll. "After that, the quest will automatically be submitted as failed and you'll be charged a small fee."

One I wouldn't be able to pay, thought Kyoko.

"Thanks," said Kyoko, taking back the request and stuffing it into her bag. She hurried for the door, eager to get started.

As she exited, she bumped into someone shrouded in a long cloak.

"Excuse me," she muttered in Japanese, a knee-jerk reaction. "Ah, I mean, sorry."

They wouldn't be able to understand her, but the idea should be obvious. She hadn't meant to bump into them.

Kyoko hurried past, unaware that the person had stopped to watch as she left, nor that they kept staring until she rounded a corner.

I couldn't help myself.

Thanks for reading!