Novels by Omega_Moon

AT THE SAME TIME HUANThe guild doors finished opening with a long wooden creak, sunlight stretching across the floor like a pale road leading straight into the hall. Three figures stepped through it, they didn't hesitate at the entrance the way travelers usually did. No pause to adjust to the noise, no glance around to find the counter. They walked in like people who had already decided exactly where they were going. Toward us."More attention."Charlie leaned slightly toward me."Looks like trouble."Garrick adjusted the new axe Henry had given him.Henry simply watched as the three adventurers stopped a few steps away from our table. The woman in front spoke first."My name is Serena Vale." She said clearly, resting one hand on the spear strapped along her back. "C-rank lancer.""This is Dorin Hale. Shield specialist."She gestured slightly to the man beside her.Dorin gave a small nod, the large shield on his back shifting with the motion."And Kieran Ash." Serena continued as the q

THE NEXT MORNINGHUANMorning came slower than usual. The guild hall was quieter than the night before, though the faint smell of spilled ale still lingered in the air and a few exhausted adventurers slept across tables like fallen soldiers after a battle with barrels instead of monsters. Charlie walked in beside me and rubbed his temples."Next time." he muttered. "We celebrate with fewer mugs.""You said that after the fourth mug."Garrick snorted."I remember none of that."Charlie sighed.Henry walked behind us, perfectly composed as always."Discipline." He said calmly. "Includes knowing when to stop drinking.""You also drank."Charlie pointed accusingly."I drank one."Henry said.We stepped into the main hall and conversations immediately lowered. Not stopped, but lowered."That's them."One of them said."Black Lotus."Another said."The Cold forest party."Third one added."They jumped to C-rank in one mission."Another said."Oh no."Charlie noticed instantly and grinned."What."Gar

AT THE SAME TIMEHUANThe last hearth monster staggered backward across the clearing, smoke rising from its cracked stone hide where the earlier explosion had scorched it. Its glowing veins pulsed like embers under stone as it growled and lowered its head."Still breathing."Garrick rolled his shoulders."Rude of it, honestly."Charlie spun one knife in his fingers."Finish it."Henry's voice remained calm.The monster suddenly lunged toward the herbalists, claws digging through frozen moss."AH-!"The younger healer screamed.Before Henry could intercept, I pulled the final grenade from my pouch."Back."I ordered.Charlie instantly grabbed the herbalist and dragged him aside."I trust the explosions!"He shouted.I threw the grenade low across the clearing. The iron sphere rolled under the monster's chest. A heartbeat passed. Then BOOOOOM. A column of heat and steam erupted upward, blasting frost and debris into the air. The monster was thrown sideways and slammed into a boulder with a he

AT THE SAME TIMEHUAN The mission parchment remained tucked inside my coat as we crossed the city streets toward the market, the afternoon crowd moving around us in a constant stream of merchants, guards, and wandering adventurers. The Cold Forest was dangerous even for experienced parties, and although the guild had allowed us to accept the B-rank escort, that didn’t mean we would walk in unprepared. Preparation meant tools, tools meant explosives. Charlie spotted my destination before I even stopped."Oh no." He said with a grin. "You are buying more of those grenade things, aren't you?""Yes."I said."Smart kid."Henry said.Henry folded his arms, studying the stall."Controlled chaos." He muttered.The alchemist behind the stall looked up as I approached."What do you need?"He asked."Heat grenades."I said.The man reached under the counter and placed several heavy iron spheres on the wooden surface. Each one had small engraved runes around the seam. The man reached under the coun

AN HOUR LATERHUANThe afternoon sun had barely shifted when we stepped back inside the Guild Hall, the warmth of the street fading behind us as the familiar noise of adventurers, clattering mugs, and rustling parchment filled the air again. Normally, the guild's rhythm followed a predictable pattern, adventurers taking missions, clerks stamping requests, hunters boasting about kills that were probably exaggerated, but today the atmosphere carried a subtle tension that hadn't been there earlier. Ina stood behind the counter again, flipping through a stack of parchment with unusual speed, her brows slightly furrowed. Charlie leaned casually against the desk."That look means trouble." he said.Ina didn't look up."That look means paperwork."Garrick said."Which is worse."Charlie said.She finally raised her eyes."You four just came back." She said. "Don't tell me you are already looking for another mission.""We are."Garrick crossed his arms.Ina stared at us for a moment, clearly re

AT THE SAME TIMEHUAN POVThe Guild Hall buzzed with the low hum of overlapping conversations, the scratch of quills against parchment, and the metallic rhythm of coins being counted across wooden counters, and for a brief, fragile stretch of time everything felt almost ordinary as Ina pushed our completed mission slips aside and began dividing the reward with precise, practiced movements. Charlie leaned forward far too eagerly, as if the money might evaporate if he didn’t guard it with his entire upper body, while Garrick stood solid and satisfied beside him, wolf pelts bundled neatly and scale plates stacked in orderly fashion at our feet like trophies of efficiency rather than violence."Two C-rank missions in one day." Ina muttered while finishing the tally. "You are either ambitious or reckless.""Optimized." I corrected calmly, collecting my share of coins and sliding them into my pouch, already calculating material costs for armor reinforcement and what adjustments would be pos