He had no doubt that in front of this man, he wouldn't last more than a few breaths, and he might not even be able to take out a Teleportation Scroll or activate his mana in time.

He had no idea... what level this man really was.

After the president gave a brief opening, Sherry and the secretary followed up with detailed explanations and answered questions.

Gauss gained a clear understanding of the Winter Hunt event.

Regarding the schedule.

The Winter Hunt would begin roughly a month later, but the exact time was still uncertain. They needed to further scout the monster movements outside the Emerald Forest. The final results would be notified to each team one week in advance.

So everyone didn't need to stay in Grayrock Town the entire month. They just had to reserve enough time to return to Grayrock Town within a week after receiving the notice and try not to stray too far.

The Winter Hunt itself usually lasted about a week.

Next, the benefits policy for the Winter Hunt.

Every day, a fixed attendance subsidy would be given. For a one-star Bronze-rank adventurer like Gauss, the reward was 50 silver coins daily. Of course, this required him to act alongside the Winter Hunt main team. If he stayed holed up in town without venturing out, he wouldn't get this tempting subsidy.

Another important aspect was the monster bounty price list.

In this Winter Hunt, monsters were divided into different prices based on their race and combat strength.

Gauss focused on a few targets that concerned him. The bounty for ordinary Goblins was 1 silver coin and 30 copper coins each, which was 30 to 40 copper coins more than usual quests.

Goblin-like creatures were slightly cheaper, at 1 silver coin and 15 copper coins.

Slime Slimes were 1 silver coin and 10 copper coins.

For the younglings, the price was halved.

As for stronger elite monsters, the bounties were much higher. For example, a level 1 challenge Mantis Man had a bounty of 3 gold coins.

A level 1 challenge Big Goblin had a bounty of 2.5 gold coins.

Of course, facing these elites meant greater risk.

This risk wasn't just about the battle itself, but also other factors.

Elite monsters were smarter, so when encountering them, they were often accompanied by low-level minions that obeyed their commands, adding difficulty to the fight.

They would also flee if the situation turned unfavorable.

Especially against highly mobile monsters, even if the adventurers had the upper hand, unpreparedness could let them escape, requiring teamwork from the squad to corner them.

This Winter Hunt would generally adopt a large-team regional operation with small teams conducting flexible combat.

As long as coordination was good, the annual Winter Hunt was like a major festival for Bronze-rank professionals. Some even called these stages the Winter Hunt Festival.

In a week, Bronze-rank adventurers could easily earn a few to a dozen gold coins.

Those with slightly more strength and diligence, in well-arranged teams, might even double that to earn dozens of gold coins.

But for Gauss, he wanted even less.

He had to repay a 20 gold coin debt and set aside money for spells and mounts. Although he hadn’t fully checked mount prices, they were probably affordable, and generally, the more expensive the mount, the better its abilities.

Mounts affected load capacity and long-distance travel endurance. Some mounts could even fight alongside their owners, offering superior mobility and evading enemy attacks.

Every arrangement cost money.

Gauss silently pondered.

To reach his goal, just killing small monsters wouldn't cut it.

He had to find chances to hunt elite monsters!

Or rather, this was the core objective of the Winter Hunt—to kill those elite monsters.

Without the leadership of these bosses, the lower-level monsters would quickly collapse. Then, instead of uniting to raid human villages and towns, monsters of different races might start fighting among themselves first.

It was important to know that different monsters in the forest were already in competition, not friendly neighbors helping each other.

Recently, Gauss had increased his intelligence attribute slightly and his combat power had risen significantly. He felt very close to a level 2 professional.

At his current strength, taking down an elite monster head-on was no problem. The key was preventing their escape. Chasing them deep in the forest was difficult, but with Aria and her gray wolf Ulfen helping to restrain and control, it should be enough.

Each level 1 challenge monster offered about 2 to 4 gold coins. After splitting the bounty, each kill would net 1 to 2 gold coins.

If he could kill two each day, in a week, just the elite monster bounties would amount to around 20 gold coins!

And this was only the bounty amount for elite monsters themselves.

Later, the guild would help unify the processing of various monster corpses, and after deducting fees and labor costs, distribute the remainder to the respective adventuring teams.

According to an approximate 1:1 ratio between loot and bounty money, the proceeds from selling the loot might also reach nearly twenty gold coins.

Not to mention the earnings from casually killing other small monsters, which would add up to a decent sum overall.

Fifty gold?

Gauss took a sharp breath.

This money was something he really needed, so he had to seize this once-a-year Winter Hunt opportunity.

Such a chance was rare, and both the Adventurers Guild and the city hall had to invest significant manpower and resources to provide as much convenience as possible for adventurers like him.

The adventurers just needed to mindlessly kill, but the guild had a lot to handle: reconnaissance magic, dedicated statistics, liaising with the trade guild, massive loot sales, and money distribution...

Because of this, Gauss believed this Winter Hunt might net him around 50 gold coins, a chance to get rich quickly.

He turned to exchange a glance with Aria, both reading each other's thoughts.

After the briefing ended, several high-ranking officials left the meeting room, leaving the time to the adventurers present.

Groups scattered, some formed temporary teams, discussing their plans for the next month, bustling energetically on the entire second floor.

Gauss also pulled Aria aside to find a corner for discussion.

A month was not too long, but not too short either, and it was very likely the event could start earlier than expected.

This year's cold wave came earlier than usual, so an early start was a high probability. The question was only how much earlier.

However, the Winter Hunt schedule did not depend on the adventurers but on when the monsters outside the forest gathered.

Therefore, the secretary had specifically reminded everyone during the meeting to minimize long-distance outings in the near future.

Otherwise, it might be impossible to notify everyone in time.

Gauss felt this Winter Hunt was a rare opportunity and preparation had to be targeted.

He needed to quickly advance several skills that were close to breakthroughs.

He also had to focus more on training Insight Technique.

There was also the matter of preparing supplies. Although caravans would follow to provide basic materials, he couldn't leave all logistics to outsiders.

Gauss then turned his attention to Aria.

In recent days, during their free time, he had discussed with Aria about her training of the Divine Berry Spell. It was visibly clear that her learning progress was now orderly.

At this rate, she might fully master it before the Winter Hunt arrived.

"Aria, you should start your preparations soon too."

"I understand. I can sense I should master the Divine Berry Spell soon," Aria nodded.

Perhaps motivated by Gauss's leadership, after officially teaming up with him, she felt her progress had mysteriously accelerated compared to before.

"See if you can contract a bird of prey like a hawk or falcon," Gauss said after some thought.

He had wanted to suggest this since hearing Aria mention she could contract an ordinary beast. This time he took the opportunity during their discussion.

A bird of prey might not help much on the frontline, but its value in intelligence reconnaissance far outweighed other options.

From the meeting earlier, he had gained more information about the Winter Hunt.

Intelligence was a critical part.

Although they would deploy intensively, monsters did not move tightly packed in a straight line.

They were more loosely distributed than usual across the boundless forest, just slightly closer together.

The Winter Hunt team operated similarly, with large teams active in certain areas.

At the small team level, they still needed to find and discover suitable opponents in the forest.

If there was a bird soaring high above, it would be like having an eye in the sky with hundreds of times magnification, able to detect monster trails early in the vast forest, greatly improving hunting efficiency.

"Alright, I'll keep an eye out," Aria nodded in agreement.

As they whispered, Gauss's sharp hearing caught nearby murmurs.

"So young."

"Looks pretty good too."

"His nickname is Goblin Killer? Haha, interesting."

"Yes, I heard since he started adventuring... most of the monsters he’s killed are Goblins?"

"Should we invite them? Leon left, we're missing a mage, even though he’s the 'Goblin Killer'..."

Gauss noticed their gazes subtly fixated on him, and a cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

Where on earth did they hear these rumors about him? It was clearly gossip.

His kills of Goblins barely reached half of his total monster kills, so how did it become “most” according to others?

Who was spreading these rumors about him?

But, whatever.

Gauss thought, people have their own mouths to run their own mouths.

He couldn't control what others said, and it was just a few people hearing some random hearsay.

Soon, the team Gauss suspected was referring to as “his” approached.

The team leader, Pat, showed a warm smile and invited Gauss and Aria to join, filling their missing mage slot.

Gauss naturally refused. Not only had he overheard their discussion about him beforehand, even without that incident, he wouldn't agree.

The more members in the team, the more the bounty would have to be shared. The final profits would likely be less than now.

At this stage, he only needed Aria and the gray wolf Ulfen to assist him.

Switching impulsively to an unfamiliar new team, especially one likely harboring some strange prejudice against him, just sounded unpleasant.

Listening to them walk away still talking about Goblins, Gauss shook his head.

He wouldn't change his path because of others’ opinions.

Even if other professionals saw Goblins as insignificant small fry, even if they labeled them as "only daring to bully the weak," as long as it helped him grow stronger, that was enough.

He would firmly continue his crusade against Goblins.

From Bronze to Black Iron, Silver, Gold, and beyond, he would never give up hunting Goblins.