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The first emotion they felt upon seeing the quest window was bewilderment.

They never expected a quest would suddenly pop up in such a situation.

However, it was only a brief moment before Chaerin and Haneul’s faces lit up with hope.

It was clear this was their chance!

‘This is it!’

Now they had a way to help him properly. The best way to achieve it without necessarily running away.

Even though the success conditions seemed incredibly strict, it looked like this was their only option to assist him.

So, they quickly pressed accept and confidently spoke up.

“Don’t worry! Just trust us! We’ll figure out a way!”

“Y-yeah! No worries, we’ll gather a whole crowd!”

They appeared somewhat triumphant.

From their perspective, this was one of the few opportunities for a ‘girl’ to look cool. They couldn’t afford to pass this chance up.

However, from Yor’s standpoint, confusion still reigned.

Having the ‘Player’s Eye,’ he calmly witnessed the quest unfolding in real-time.

Because of that, he felt a profound sense of unease.

It was significant that a quest emerged in such a situation, not to mention its content held a lot of weight.

But that wasn’t all that weighed on his mind.

Once again, the rewards column flashed the phrase ‘Future Catastrophe.’

This wasn’t the first time Yor had seen it.

He had previously caught a Lemegaton cultist named Rian, and a similar reward popped up back then.

At that time, he simply thought it was due to having released information about Lemegaton…

And perhaps, due to that, some damage was averted…

He had cared little as he pondered it by himself.

But this time, the feeling was entirely different. It was as if just surviving would help.

‘…Hmm.’

To be honest, Yor didn’t particularly like quests.

Every time such a thing popped up, he got a strong feeling this was becoming a real game.

But for him, this was truly reality.

Even if others were blind enough to call it a game, it wasn’t for him.

A multitude of questions bubbled up inside him.

What exactly did the system want from him? How did such quests appear, and so on.

‘…Ugh, enough.’

Though many questions swirled, he pushed them aside for now. Survival was the priority at this moment.

One thing was clear: it was an encouraging piece of news. No matter how one looked at it, it was good for him.

“Then we’ll be off.”

“Stay safe.”

With that, they sneaked out with hope in their hearts.

“Should we start filming right away?”

“Yeah. Film it and send it via email. I’ll add subtitles.”

That evening, a briefly edited video appeared on Chaerin’s YouTube channel.

[Urgent! Looking for people to join a quest! Anyone!]

As if announcing something monumental, the thumbnail displayed white text against a black background.

The video content was simple. They were just sharing a quest in the game and recruiting participants.

“Hello everyone! I received a significant quest…”

Having already run several pieces of content with Yor, she had reached 700,000 subscribers.

As such, the video views increased rapidly.

“It’s a tough quest. You know, the risks are high…”

And that sentence meant it would soon reach other NPCs as well.

For instance, the Knights’ order.

Her identity had already spread widely among the users, and the video’s theme was fairly provocative.

It was possible that, from that moment on, she could be treated as a conspirator and captured.

The guards might already be looking for Chaerin and Haneul.

“But everyone, we’re the type of players who always charge headfirst when a new option arises, right?”

However, she brushed it aside as she thought it didn’t matter.

She had been prepared the moment they accepted the quest.

“If we fail, then what? Let’s all just jump into Lemegaton together.”

With that remark, the video ended.

From that point on, dozens of emails began flooding in towards her email address.

*

“Phew…”

In the deep forest, a man let out a long sigh.

It was Rayleigh, the leader of the Knights’ Fourth Division.

After his initial plan failed, worries naturally began to surface.

Originally, he intended to capture the target during their first clash.

If he escaped into the Deep Layer, things would get really troublesome.

The major issue was that the Knights couldn’t easily pursue inside there.

As seen previously, there were numerous obstacles in the way.

Not only the suddenly emerging man-eating plants but also the high-level monsters responding to all the noise.

And if he ran into that Mountain Lord creature, things would get really tough.

Back when he encountered the Mountain Lord, he managed to injure it and retreat, but…

There was no guarantee such luck would hold forever.

The reason he could inflict injury while fleeing was solely because over ten knights sacrificed themselves to do so.

For him, that monster was not an easily defeat-able foe.

Thus, the hunting party was currently laying a siege outside the Deep Layer, waiting without doing anything.

They couldn’t allow him to escape undetected.

Fortunately, they could somewhat manage the monsters in the Middle Layer.

The injured knights had gone outside the forest and switched with fresh troops.

In conclusion, their strength remained intact. While they had suffered some losses…

‘Ugh, I was trying to capture him somehow…’

Rayleigh sighed again.

The issue was the target’s choices were more daring than expected. To think he’d ignore Rayleigh’s sword and run away just like that.

They had prepared hard, but they couldn’t prepare for everything.

Regardless, the situation had unfolded, and it was time to seek other options.

One choice remained: to maintain the siege while slowly advancing into the Deep Layer.

“Don’t rush! Even if it takes time, ensure to check for threats around you before moving!”

They would scan for man-eating plants and eliminate any attacking monsters ahead.

This method would undoubtedly take a long time, but it was their only option.

“……..”

Actually, there was another possibility.

Namely, hoping that Yor wouldn’t be able to endure in the Deep Layer and would have to flee.

Rayleigh found this possibility increasingly likely.

As far as he knew, the Deep Layer was a place where no human could survive.

Monsters that overwhelmed even the Knights roamed everywhere, and sunlight barely reached there, meaning food sources were scant.

Occasionally, monsters would descend from the Middle Layer for that reason.

Not to mention, chances are he wouldn’t get any decent sleep.

He heard that the intelligent monsters there often launched surprise attacks at night.

So he figured Yor would either die there or flee in desperation.

Rayleigh believed the options left for him were only those two.

…However.

If that guy were to overcome it all and survive in the Deep Layer…

And if he absorbed those experiences as nutrients for his growth…

‘Hmm…’

Rayleigh decided not to dwell too long on that possibility.

*

On the eighth day.

After sending them off, I made numerous preparations.

What preparations, you ask? The preparations to survive.

I organized all my weapons to the best of my ability and counted my Holy Water once again.

I also made sure not to forget Detalion’s ears and Seere’s arms.

They were precious items, and you never know when or where they might be needed.

Thankfully, my weapon pouch was quite spacious. It felt worth it to have spent a fortune on a large-dimensional space in the past.

As I spent a long time honing my gear alone, yesterday’s conversations with them suddenly sprang to mind.

The quest had emerged, and we briefly chatted before they left.

– What do you plan to do from now on?

I plan to endure. If the opponent doesn’t want a long battle, then even longer.

– I’ll gather people. But I worry about whether I can slide in on my timing since I don’t know when we’ll fight… Can’t we set some signal to at least prepare?

That was a valid point. Unlike her, who had the internet, I had no proper means of communication.

Of course, once a battle starts, the reinforcements she mentioned will come, but there’s a chance they won’t manage to arrive on time.

Thus, I pre-appointed a time in case a fight broke out. For now, I told them to keep it secret.

My timing was already set.

‘The day after it rains.’

I didn’t know when that would be, but since it was currently summer, a chance would surely arise at least once.

When the air smelled of wetness, my entire body was soaked and uncomfortable, and fog hung everywhere.

So the ground gets muddy and soft, visibility diminishes, and movement becomes difficult.

To be honest, it’s the worst fighting condition for me.

But that story wasn’t confined to just me either.

It would be adverse conditions for everyone, which is precisely why it became an opportunity for me.

Having finished my preparations, I rose and began to walk.

I was heading deeper into the Deep Layer.

I had no intention of sitting idle until that day arrived.

After all, I had already been beaten by them once. If I fought in the same state as now, even with reinforcements, I might still lose.

Not to mention, the opponents still had 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.

Suddenly, childhood memories came flooding back.

Just after entering this forest, and while trying to avoid the occasional visitors to the Surface Layer to head toward the Middle Layer.

Battling monsters stronger than me and desperately seeking a resting place felt nostalgic.

To be honest, those weren’t great memories, but looking back, it felt like that was when I grew the fastest. Because if I wanted to live, I had to move forward.

The current circumstances weren’t all that different. So I decided to briefly return to then.

Back to the hungry and exhausted me of my childhood.

“Haah, phew…”

I gripped my spear tighter.

Taking a deep breath, I pressed on into the depths.

It didn’t take long for beasts unaware of the situation to charge at me.