Wizard: The exploration panel keeps me pure.

As evening approached, a boy walked along the cobblestone path in the academy, carrying a bulging bundle on his back.

The stench of blood on his body could be smelled from a great distance.

The people around them, who were originally rushing by, couldn't help but cast curious glances their way.

Although he had seen many "strange" people in the academy, the boy's youthful face and the fierce aura he exuded indicated that he was no ordinary person.

Upon arriving at the office's task area, the young man put down what he had been carrying and said in a slightly hoarse voice:

"Could you please help me settle the quest and exchange the remaining items for magic stones? Thank you."

The old wizard, who had been sitting behind the counter writing something on a piece of paper, looked up and glanced at him indifferently. Then, his gaze fell on the contents of the package, and his eyes suddenly narrowed:

"Are all of these?"

The boy nodded, and at the same time, he took out his identity card from his pocket and handed it over.

The old wizard looked the young man before him over again, and asked somewhat uncertainly, "A freshman?"

"right."

The old wizard didn't speak again, but simply took the identity card handed to him and placed it in a slot behind the counter. Then, the information of the person in front of him appeared before his eyes one by one:

Name: Ron Seraphim

Age: 15

[Rank: Novice Wizard Apprentice]

[Talent Rating: High]

[Year of enrollment: 10489 in the Red Moon Calendar]

Task completion status: None

Indeed, the ragged boy covered in blood was none other than Ron, who had recently returned from the Corrupted Forest.

After confirming his identity, the old wizard said nothing more, opened the bag on the table, and took out the items one by one.

"Four pairs of black boar tusks, two black-scaled crocodile skins..."

After all the items in the bag were taken out, the old wizard's indifferent face was now full of surprise, not understanding how a mere novice apprentice could have obtained these things.

He glanced at Ron, who remained calm and composed in front of the counter, before continuing, "Complete the low-level apprentice quest [Collect Black Boar Tusks]. There are four pairs in total, which can be exchanged for four magic stones. There are also some other materials, worth twenty-eight magic stones, for a total of thirty-two magic stones."

"According to the college's regulations, 10% of the income from the task is subject to personal income tax, and freshmen are required to deduct 10% from the income from the task to repay their student loans."

"After removing the six and a half magic stones, twenty-five and a half magic stones remain."

"Here you go, kid."

Ron reached out and took the bag from the old wizard, feeling a pang of regret, since it meant a 20% deduction from his earnings. But when he thought about the nearly 30 magic stones he still had, he felt much better. Indeed, money was the most comforting thing.

He felt a pang of emotion; no wonder Senior Fiona was so greedy for money—it made perfect sense.

By this time, some people in the mission area had noticed what was happening and were looking over, rubbing their eyes in disbelief.

"Hey junior, can you tell me how you got all this stuff?"

A young man who looked to be no more than twenty years old, about the same age as him, approached and asked, while secretly handing him a magic stone.

Seeing this, Ron calmly took what was in the other's hand, then leaned close to his ear and whispered:

"Monsters have appeared in the Corrosive Swamp. Many monsters have been killed. These are what I picked up."

He then smiled at the man, who returned the smile, before turning and leaving without a second thought.

Seeing this, the people around gathered around.

How could their actions have escaped the notice of a group of powerful wizards? In less than a minute, he "got" back the magic stone he had just lost.

Ron was in high spirits upon returning to his fortune of thirty-two magic stones and walked lightly back to his house.

As soon as he entered the room, Ron closed the door tightly.

He placed the magic stone on the table and then took out a small bag from his pocket, inside which was the irregularly shaped red gem.

[A crystallization of wisdom and depravity]

[Rank: Zero Ring]

Pollution level: +0.05/day (pollution is only spread when the energy contained within the substance is absorbed)

[Comment: Everything has two opposing yet unified aspects; it is both a spreader of pollution and a guide to wisdom.]

The following solutions are recommended for absorption.

[Option 1: Establish an ultra-miniature purification array as its core, which can reduce pollution levels and increase cultivation speed.]

The boy in the room fell into deep thought as he fiddled with the things in his hands.

After killing that monster today, he found this thing among the leftovers from the burnt remains. After examining it with the detection panel, he felt it would be quite useful to him, so he kept the gem when he handed over the materials.

As for the items he handed over, they were naturally the medical expenses and emotional compensation given to him by the monster.

The next day, Ron went to class as usual.

However, what he didn't expect was that as soon as he entered, he overheard the others discussing "himself":

"Have you heard? Something terrible has happened at the Corrosive Swamp!"

"What's the big deal? Tell me quickly."

He glanced at the guy who was mysteriously showing off his "insider information" to everyone, and was somewhat surprised. He didn't expect the news to spread so quickly.

However, considering that he had sold the information to many people yesterday, he understood.

It's likely that someone actually managed to find something useful in his pile of "junk" that he didn't want, which is why the story spread like wildfire.

"Hehe, I heard that a freshman happened to stumble upon the mysterious creatures hunting inside, and then he was lucky enough to find a lot of rare materials~"

"Really?"

"Of course it's true. A senior went there yesterday, and it's said that the place is full of materials that guy didn't want, at least several hundred magic stones."

???

When Ron heard this, he was speechless and wondered who was spreading such rumors.

Several hundred magic stones? These people really dare to say that.

"Doesn't that mean that guy earned thousands of magic stones just from the materials he picked up?"

"Hiss!" The others gasped in disbelief, finding it hard to believe that such a large number of magic stones could be obtained by a newcomer like themselves.

"Maybe so. The senior who told me about this went to the Corrosive Swamp again today..."

Upon hearing this, everyone's eyes flickered, and they seemed to have some thoughts in their minds.

Ron was a little confused. He clearly remembered that he had dealt with the monster not long after it mutated, and he had picked up most of its belongings, leaving only some items that were not very valuable or too large to carry.

"That guy..."

Staring at the person who was still babbling on and on, a hint of suspicion flashed in his eyes. His intuition told him that there was something wrong here, a big problem.

"Has someone set this up?"