Chapter 90
The first emotion they felt looking at the Quest window was confusion.
They hadn't expected a quest to suddenly pop up in this kind of situation.
But only for a moment. Chae-rin and Ha-neul's faces quickly brightened.
They clearly saw this as a lifeline.
‘This is it!’
A way to properly help him had appeared. The best way to do it without running away.
Even though the success conditions seemed incredibly tough, it looked like this was the only way to help him.
So they quickly hit accept and confidently said,
“Don't worry, just trust us! We'll find a way somehow!”
“Y-Yeah! Don't worry, I'll gather a ton of people!”
They looked rather triumphant.
From their perspective, this was a rare opportunity for "girls" to look cool. They couldn't easily miss this chance.
However, Yor was still bewildered.
Because he had the 'Player's Eye', he also saw the quest pop up in real-time.
Thanks to that, he felt a strong sense of dissonance.
The quest appearing in this situation, its content... there were many significant things.
That wasn't the only thing bothering him.
The words 'Future Calamity' popped up in the reward section again.
This wasn't the first time Yor had seen this.
A similar reward had appeared before, when he caught a Lemegeton cultist named Ryan and reported him.
Back then, he just assumed it was because information about Lemegeton had been revealed because of him...
That some kind of damage had been prevented because of him...
He just thought about it alone and moved on.
But this time, the feeling itself was different. This time, it was as if his survival itself was helpful.
‘···Hmm.’
To be honest, Yor didn't particularly like quests.
Whenever something like this popped up, it really made this place feel like a game.
But to him, this place was reality.
Even if other people blindly believed it was a game, it wasn't for him.
Various questions arose within him.
What exactly did the System want from him? How exactly did these quests pop up? And so on.
‘···Ugh, whatever.’
Various questions arose, but he moved on for now. Surviving was the priority right now.
One thing was certain. This was good news after a long time. It was a good thing for him, no matter what.
“Then we’ll be going.”
“Stay safe.”
With that, they slipped out, carrying hope.
“Should we film the video right away?”
“Yeah. Film it and send it right away by email. I’ll add subtitles.”
And that evening, a simply edited video was uploaded to Chae-rin's YouTube channel.
[Urgent! Looking for people to do a quest together! Anyone!]
As if to emphasize its importance, the thumbnail had white text on a black background.
The content of the video was simple. Just sharing a quest within the game and recruiting participants.
“Hello everyone. I received a very important quest…”
Having already created several pieces of content with Yor, she had now reached 700,000 subscribers.
As such, the video's views quickly increased.
“It's a difficult quest. You know. High risk…”
And those words meant that the story would also reach other NPCs.
For example, the Knights' Order.
Her identity was already widely known among the Users, and the subject of the video was quite radical.
She could be arrested as an accomplice the moment she uploaded this.
The Guards might already be looking for Chae-rin and Ha-neul.
“But everyone. Aren't we the kind of Users who dive headfirst into any new option?”
However, she didn't care.
She had been prepared from the moment she accepted the quest.
“If we fail, well, we can all just join Lemegeton.”
With those words, the video ended.
And starting with that video, dozens of emails began flooding her inbox.
＊
“Sigh…”
A man sitting deep within the forest let out a deep sigh.
It was the sigh of the Fourth Knights' Order Commander, Ryleigh.
The initial plan had failed, and worries naturally arose.
The original plan was to capture him during the first clash.
It would be incredibly troublesome if he escaped into the Deep Layer.
The biggest problem was that the Knights' Order couldn't easily pursue him in there.
As seen before, there were more than a few obstacles hindering their path.
Not only the Carnivorous Plants that suddenly popped up, but also the High-Level Monsters that would come running after hearing the commotion.
And it would be really troublesome if they encountered something like the Mountain Lord.
Last time they encountered the Mountain Lord, he was somehow able to injure it and retreat.
But there was no telling if such luck would continue.
Being able to injure it while escaping was only possible thanks to the sacrifice of over 10 Knights.
Even for him, that monster was not something he could easily deal with.
Therefore, the Raiding Party had spread a perimeter outside the Deep Layer and was simply waiting.
So that he couldn't sneak out.
Fortunately, they could somehow handle the Monsters in the Middle Layer.
The injured Knights had also gone outside the forest and been replaced with new personnel.
As a result, their fighting power remained the same. Although they had already suffered several losses…
‘Sigh, that's why I tried to catch him no matter what…’
Ryleigh sighed again.
The problem was that the guy’s choices were bolder than expected. To think he would ignore his Sword and just run away.
Even though they had prepared diligently, they couldn't possibly handle everything.
Anyway, the situation had occurred, and now it was time to explore another plan.
The method he chose was one: maintain the perimeter and slowly conquer the Deep Layer.
“Don't move rashly. It doesn't matter if it takes a long time, so check your surroundings thoroughly for threats before moving.”
Check for Carnivorous Plants on the ground, and eliminate all approaching Monsters.
It would surely take a long time, but this was the only option they had.
“······.”
Well, there was actually another way.
Hope that Yor couldn't endure the Deep Layer and would come running out.
And Ryleigh thought this possibility was even higher.
As far as he knew, the Deep Layer was not a place where people could survive.
It was teeming with monsters that even the Knights' Order struggled to deal with, and there wasn't much decent food since sunlight barely reached it.
The Monsters occasionally descending to the Middle Layer was due to that reason.
Not only that, he surely wouldn't be able to sleep properly.
He had heard that the Monsters there were intelligent and often attacked at night.
So he would definitely die there, or run away after failing to endure.
Ryleigh believed the guy only had those two choices.
······However.
If he overcame all that and survived in the Deep Layer.
And if he used those experiences as nourishment for his growth.
‘Hmm······.’
Ryleigh decided not to dwell on that possibility for too long.
＊
Day 8.
After seeing them off, I made several preparations.
Preparations to survive.
I maintained my weapons as much as possible and counted my Holy Water again.
I didn't forget to pack Dantalian's Ear and Seere's Arm.
They were precious items, and I didn't know when or where I might need them.
It was fortunate that my weapon pouch was quite spacious. The large Subspace I had invested in in the past was paying off.
As I was maintaining things alone for a long time, the conversations I had with them yesterday suddenly came to mind.
The conversations we had briefly after the quest appeared and before they left.
- What are you going to do now?
I plan to endure. Even more so if the other side doesn't want a prolonged fight.
- We'll gather people. But since we don't know when the fight will be, I'm a little worried about whether we can intervene at the right time… Can't we set some kind of signal so we can at least prepare?
She was right. Unlike her, who had access to the Internet, I had no proper means of communication.
Of course, if a fight broke out, the reinforcements they mentioned would come, but there was a chance they wouldn't make it in time.
So, I decided on a time when the fight might occur. Along with the instruction to keep it a secret for now.
I had a specific time in mind.
‘The day after it rains.’
I didn’t know when that time would come, but since it was summer, there was bound to be an opportunity.
When the smell of rain permeated the air, my whole body was damp and uncomfortable, and fog hung everywhere.
When the ground was soaked and soft, visibility was reduced, and movement became difficult.
Honestly, it was the worst fighting condition for me too.
But that wasn't limited to just me.
Because it was a disadvantage for everyone, it would become an opportunity for me.
After finishing my preparations, I stood up and started walking.
I planned to head deeper into the Deep Layer.
I had no intention of staying still until that day came.
I had already been beaten once by them. If I fought in my current state, I could lose even with reinforcements.
Moreover, the opponent would still have plenty of Holy Water.
So I needed to train a bit more than now.
“Well… things have been too peaceful lately.”
I chuckled as I said that.
I suddenly remembered my childhood.
When I first entered this forest.
When I was forced to head towards the Middle Layer to avoid the people who occasionally entered the Outside Layer.
The memory of fighting for my life against Monsters stronger than me, barely surviving, and yearning for a place to rest came to mind.
Honestly, it wasn't a particularly good memory, but thinking about it now, I seemed to have gotten stronger the fastest back then. Because I had to move forward if I wanted to live.
The situation wasn't much different now. So I would return to that time for a while.
To my hungry and exhausted younger self.
“Inhale, exhale…”
I adjusted my grip on my Spear.
I took a deep breath and proceeded deeper.
It wasn't long before ignorant beasts came rushing at me.