Chapter 10
The old castle, banquet hall.
The bespectacled girl set down the empty potion bottle and looked at the potions in her storage space. Suddenly, she felt that the money she’d paid to save her life had been well spent.
Yes, in the bespectacled girl’s eyes, the money she’d just spent on potions was life-saving money, while the potions themselves were merely a free bonus.
Though the freebies were pretty good quality...
Just as the bespectacled girl was wondering whether she’d make it out of this world alive, Mo Xi’s departing figure in the distance caught her attention.
For some reason, the bespectacled girl suddenly called out to Mo Xi.
“Wait!”
Seeing the bespectacled girl hurry over to her, Mo Xi blinked in confusion, not quite understanding why she’d called out.
“Y-You have to be careful around the others. They’re all awful!”
The bespectacled girl’s voice grew quieter and quieter, because the girl before her had suddenly leaned in close, her eyes brimming with undisguised curiosity.
Realizing this was a perfect opportunity to learn what had happened, Mo Xi asked, “Would you mind telling me what you all did underground?”
The bespectacled girl was taken aback by the question, but then began to recount what the four of them had experienced.
A moment later, after hearing the whole story, Mo Xi furrowed her brow and asked in disbelief, “So you’re saying that after you found the underground altar, the golden-haired woman—who’d never revealed her abilities—didn’t turn in the quest, but instead tried to absorb the souls sealed inside?”
The bespectacled girl found it hard to believe someone could be so reckless, too. But she’d seen it with her own eyes, so all she could do was nod helplessly.
“That explains it. That explains it,” Mo Xi murmured thoughtfully.
Mo Xi remembered that the mistress of the castle had been capturing children. Combined with the main mission to investigate the truth and what the girl had just said about the sealed souls, the mistress’s goal was obvious.
She wanted to harness some kind of power.
Thinking of this, Mo Xi could only shake her head helplessly. She didn’t need to imagine what happened next: the golden-haired woman’s actions must have attracted the mistress’s attention, triggering the upheaval throughout the castle.
“But what exactly is Eye Corruption?” Mo Xi murmured, stroking her chin as she fell into thought.
The only connection she could think of was the iconic eye motif in the Nightmare series of worlds. Beyond that, she had no idea.
Seeing Mo Xi lost in thought, the bespectacled girl glanced around and said, “Um, I don’t know what you’re thinking about, but I’d like to get out of the castle as soon as possible.”
Hearing this, Mo Xi paused, then realized the bespectacled girl wanted to leave with her.
Other contractors might have been put off by the girl’s timidity, but Mo Xi didn’t mind. After all, the girl had seemed quite comfortable handing over all those Paradise Coins. Clearly, she was a prime mark—er, a valued customer.
After making brief preparations, Mo Xi led the bespectacled girl from the banquet hall to the castle’s main gate. They encountered no trouble along the way, apart from a few blackened monsters blocking their path.
Mo Xi had been worried some boss or other obstacle might be waiting for them, but then a notification from the Paradise appeared.
“Main mission ‘Escape the Castle’ completed.”
“Leaving the world in 30 seconds.”
As soon as the notification appeared, the ground began to shake violently. At the same time, the castle, which had held out until its very limit, began to collapse.
Just as Mo Xi was worrying about whether Little Six had run into any trouble, a distant call caught her attention.
“Oi!”
Following the sound, Mo Xi leaned over the cliff’s edge and looked down at the ocean. A small wooden raft was floating on the water, and Little Six, dressed in white, stood on it, waving up at Mo Xi.
Seeing this, Mo Xi finally let out a sigh of relief and waved back at Little Six.
Before Mo Xi could offer any final reminders, the Paradise’s countdown came to an end. Feeling an overwhelming drowsiness come over her, Mo Xi could only close her eyes.
After an unknown amount of time, Mo Xi opened her eyes again and found herself back in her personal room.
The next moment, a notification from the Paradise appeared.
“Contractor detected to have completed a world mission. Beginning mission settlement.”
Mission World: Tiny Nightmare
Difficulty: LV3 (Fairly Difficult)
World Source Obtained: 16.7%
Missions Completed: 2 (Main Mission—Investigate the Truth, Main Mission—Escape the Castle)
Overall Rating: B (Note: Overall ratings range from E to S+ and are determined by world difficulty, number of missions completed, and World Source.)
Rewards: Green Treasure Chest ×1, Free Attribute Points ×7, Paradise Coins ×5,000 (including main mission rewards)
Overall Rating: B. Contractor level increased by 1, to LV2.
“Settlement complete. Rewards have been automatically deposited into your storage space.”
Looking at the Paradise Coins in her account and the treasure chest in her storage space, Mo Xi let out a long sigh, then flopped backward onto the bed.
Though Mo Xi hadn’t fought much during this world mission, all the enemies she’d encountered had been bosses or elite monsters. One careless move could have gotten her killed.
Fortunately, after a whole world of adventure, Mo Xi had come away with generous rewards.
Thanks to the bespectacled girl’s contribution and the reward for completing the world, Mo Xi now had over 7,000 Paradise Coins in her account.
As for equipment, she had the growth-type item Academic Gloves. The mistress had said she was only lending them to Mo Xi, but she never asked for them back, so Mo Xi decided to take that as permission to keep them.
Most importantly, Mo Xi now had 7 free attribute points and two small Soul Fragments. Which meant...
“Time to allocate my points!” Mo Xi abruptly sat up.
But just as Mo Xi was about to head to the Paradise’s Upgrade Hall, she suddenly remembered something and hurriedly took a heavy object out of her storage space.
Looking at the treasure chest’s sweet-looking exterior, Mo Xi couldn’t help exclaiming,
“You’re beautiful.”
In reality, the treasure chest wasn’t alive, nor was it particularly exquisite. But the first time Mo Xi saw it, she felt as if wealth itself were beckoning to her.
In her previous life, Mo Xi had been a wage slave ground down by the 996 work schedule. She naturally had a great fondness for wealth of any kind, which was why she couldn’t help sighing when she saw the treasure chest.
Mo Xi gently stroked the chest, from its slightly raised edges to its drooping lock. She could feel it; she could almost see all kinds of dazzling treasures calling out to her.
After stroking it for a while, Mo Xi felt that luck was on her side and abruptly opened the chest. At that moment, her expectations soared through the roof!
However...
“Congratulations! You received 1,000 Paradise Coins.”
Mo Xi: ?
The feeling of waiting so eagerly only to get a “Thanks for playing” was like having a bucket of cold water dumped over her, chilling her to the bone.
Unwilling to give up, Mo Xi picked up the chest and tipped it toward the floor, but the empty chest yielded nothing—just like the hollow feeling in her heart.
“How could this be...”
The girl knelt on the floor in disbelief, unable to accept that her luck could be so terrible.