Flashy Adventurer System : Show Off to Get Stronger!

"Haaah! Finally! I thought we wouldn't make it!"

"Tch! Look at you, if not for Miss Shirley motivating you, then we actually wouldn't have!"

"Hahaha! Vienjoe, why are you so lame?"

As a party of six adventurers—a mix of both veterans and rookies—traveled along a well-trodden path, a young woman with short marmalade hair, eye-catching facial aesthetics, and a smokeshow of a body, gazed at the familiar city gates of Nookbury city with a sigh.

'At this rate…I'll never catch up to him…' Shirley inwardly lamented, dissatisfaction written all over her face.

Their quest was a success, yet, she didn't feel happy.

She knew that if it was Shye, he would've completed the quest alone AND in a shorter time.

Naturally, Shirley, who was trying to catch up, would end up frustrated.

She felt like Shye was slowly flying away from her.

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No matter how hard she worked, she wasn't able to catch up—the gap simply became wider and wider.

She was even able to close the enormous gap between her and the other Colzen representatives, hence, she couldn't understand how Shye could grow so fast.

Something just doesn't add up!

'Haah…Perhaps he belongs to the type of individuals who could be considered as 'sons of heaven'...' She inwardly sighed as their party neared the Nookbury city gates. 'Well, the only thing I can do is work harder…maybe I need to take a few crazy risks like him?'

"Nookbury badges, please."

The city guard's sudden enthusiastic voice dragged Shirley back to reality, prompting her to swiftly retrieve her Nookbury badge from her newly bought spatial bag and hand it over for inspection.

The guard worked masterfully, finishing the verification for all party members in just a single minute.

Allowed entry, the party made its way towards the branch headquarters, chatting merrily as they did so.

"M-Miss Shirley, I apologize if we're too noisy." The man named Vienjoe said.

The guy was actually someone who finished in the top 10, however, with how subservient he was acting towards Shirley, one would think that he was some random loser.

"Ahh…Don't worry about me, I'm just tired…" Shirley replied awkwardly, not very used to such overly caring teammates.

"Ahh…haha…hahaha, that's good then." Vienjoe replied in an even more cloddish manner.

Fortunately, Shirley didn't have to deal with such conversations any longer as their party arrived in front of the branch headquarters.

What she didn't expect was that she would have to deal with a different type of bullcrap.

"H-Hey, look! The ice queen has returned!"

"Oh? Nice! Just in time to watch the duel!"

"I wonder if she would actually fall for the winner?"

"The illustrious ice queen? I highly doubt it!"

Hearing the hubbub as soon as she got back, Shirley felt her head throb in mild pain. Judging from people enthusiastically talking about her, the freaking "ice queen", she knew that something big happened in the guild again.

'Haaah…Why can't I just focus on my career in peace?!' She inwardly raged as she looked coldly at her guildmates chilling outside the headquarters. 'It would've been easier if I wasn't attractive…No, wait. I take it back…'

Now that she was a professional adventurer, she felt that her attractive looks and physique were nothing but a burden.

However, upon remembering that she probably wouldn't have captured Shye's heart otherwise, she instantly regretted her thoughts for fear that the Gods and Goddesses might retract such blessings.

Her boyfriend was quite the lecher, after all.

Naturally, such a commotion captured the attention of Shirley's party members, prompting them to temporarily go their separate ways to ask their friends about what happened.

On the other hand, the ice queen herself doesn't have many friends, hence, she simply decided to wait in the lobby in front of the rewards desk.

"Oh! There you are! Miss Shirley, I've been waiting for your arrival."

Eva's soothing voice suddenly sounded from near the quest board, prompting Shirley to turn her head in surprise, not expecting Receptionist Eva to approach her.

"Hello, Miss Eva. May I know the reason?" Shirley politely replied, her face adorned with a confused expression.

"Ah, yes. Someone named Shye Crowley, a rookie from the Balkrow branch, dropped by, telling me to hand you this note." Eva said, expecting Shirley's expression to turn into one of cold annoyance.

From what little Eva understood about Shirley, she believed that Shirley wasn't someone fond of entertaining suitors, believing that such a beautiful and talented young female adventurer would be out of reach for someone in a similar age group.

As a woman herself, Eva naturally wanted to be under a capable man's care, hence, by default, she promptly assumed that such a capable young woman would be looking towards a more mature and equally, if not more capable man.

Shye Crowley, the ace representative of this year's champion academy, indeed had an impressive resume, probably enough to shake the ice queen's heart.

However, every year there is a new "ace representative of this year's champion academy", thus, she didn't believe that Shye's accomplishments were enough to snatch Shirley Locke's heart.

Only, she didn't expect Shirley's subsequent reactions. Never had she seen the ice queen show such intense emotions.

"W-Who? Did you just say, Shye Crowley? Did I hear correctly?" Shirley unintentionally said in a loud voice, garnering everyone's attention. "W-where is he?"

"H-He didn't tell me where he went…however, there will be a duel tomorrow at 10 AM in Nookbury arena between him and Sir Jason Mulch…"

"A…duel?"

"Y-Yes, Miss Shirley. That's all he instructed me to do. Now then, if you'll excuse me."

Realizing that there was now a short line in front of her counter, Eva offered Shirley a profound bow before swiftly returning to her post.

As for Shirley, a dumbfounded expression remained steadfast on her face for a few seconds before turning into the sweetest of smiles, tugging a few heartstrings in the hearts of the guildsmen and allowing them to deduce that things probably weren't as simple as they initially thought between the two.

Then, shortly after reading the note, Shirley swiftly walked towards Vienjoe.

"H-Hey, Vienjoe, here's my adventurer license and guild token, can you please hand them over to Miss Macy for me when you guys turn the quest requirements in?" Shirley politely asked, slightly bowing at Vienjoe who was so captivated at her rare cute appearance to the point that he immediately agreed without thinking.

"Y-Yeah, sure, leave it to m-me!"

"Thanks! I owe you one!"

Handing the mentioned items over with a sweet smile, Shirley sprinted out of the branch headquarters like a lovestruck young maiden.