After departing from the guild, Daisuke secured lodgings for the night at a familiar inn and promptly made his way to the well situated at the back of the property. Bathing Zephyr proved to be a bit of a hassle, as expected, but he mao get the job done.

  Once he was squeaky himself, he discarded his ragged clothes and dohe tire he had acquired at the equipment store. The dark colors and shade of the clothing made his bright silver hair stand out even more promily.

  Gret, the innkeeper, weled him back with genuine warmth and a bright smile. With a suggestive twinkle in her eye that made his innoce squirm, she personally prepared a special meal for him at supper, which, of course, earned him the murderous gazes of all the male patrons.

  Well, I guess this is better than sleeping outside, he thought, gng down at Zephyr, who was busy gnawing on his boh the table. Which is exactly what would’ve happened if the guild didn’t vely take care of tonight’s aodations.

  After enduring an hour of jealous gres, witnessing Gret viciously sileny who dared to challenge her, and listening to the drunken patrons blech forth tales of adventure and peril, Daisuke finally sank into bed.

  Zephyr promptly cimed his spot atop his chest, curling into a cozy ball. Daisuke gently raked his fihrough the pup’s fur, his mind drifting back to the events of the day. After enduring years of misfortu took but a single moment of ce—of not succumbing to fear, nor running away—to pletely transform his entire life.

  But now what?

  While vengeand finding April and Mia remained his top priorities, what came after? Daisuke pohis question as he y there in the quiet of the inn. He knew he wao honor the life his parents had bestowed upon him and to live fortably, but beyond those desires, what other aspirations and passions did he hold?

  For so long, he had been solely focused on surviving his grief and making ends meet that he hadn’t seriously sidered a future filled with dreams and goals. It was a daunting realization, but also an opportunity for him to explore the depths of his own wishes.

  Despite his fatigue, Daisuke summoned his iory and began skimming through the items he had obtaihroughout the course of the day, paying particur attention to those acquired from the Field Boss raid.

  [Crafted Bamboo Spear]

  [Crude Bonepick]

  [Sturdy Club]

  [Frost Prism x6]

  [Frial Seed x6]

  [Vitaberry x8]

  [Small HP Recovery Potion x2]

  [Burn Heal x2]

  Celestia Flowers x2]

  [Slime Essence x4]

  [Troll Essence x3]

  [Horned Rabbit Hide x16]

  [Malevocroak’s Legs x16]

  [Forest Imp Tail x19]

  [Exiled Hilitroll Chief Tusk x2]

  Lipanthyer’s Fang x16]

  Disregarding the item descriptions, Daisuke closed the iory window and shifted his gaze up to the low ceiling. Though he had inteo allocate his Stat Points, the weight of exhaustion proved insurmountable. Before he k, he surreo the embrace of a deep and undisturbed slumber.

  ***

  In a dimly lit, cavernous chamber, a raucous assembly of men occupied long tables filled with ptters of foods and mugs of frothy ale. R ughter and boisterous chatter echoed off the stone walls, filling the space with an air of festivity. Some men leaned across tables, shariy tales and jokes, while hed with unbridled enthusiasm.

  At oable, a group of particurly rowdy men huddled together, their tankards sloshing with beer. They ughed eically, trading stories about people they had robbed or sin, or with the various women they had id.

  In the midst of their revelry, one man spped another on the back so hard that beer spshed across the table and dripped onto the stone floor. Instead of cursing or throwing fists, the i brought forth a bellow of ughter from both men.

  Before his rade could begin to sober up eveely, the man waved a hand in the air to summon one of the many female Beastkin servers who skillfully navigated the room, their trays den with delicious food and replenishing spirits.

  The young woman he signaled wore a meek expression, her nervousness evident. Regardless, she quickly disposed herself to his and. The metal colr around her delicate neck chimed as she gingerly leaned in to perform her duties, unwilling to incur the wrath of the men.

  As she silently refilled the tankard, the man’s roving gaze shamelessly drifted lower, lingering on the soft, creamy curves of her cleavage. When she finished and bowed to move away, he couldn’t resist smag her rear, earning another round of ughter from his panions.

  At the far end of the room, an immensely ht man sat upon a vish, throne-like chair, his fshy attire almost as extravagant as his appetite. With a flourish, he swept his hand through his permed hair.

  A pair of Beastkin females sat on eae of his legs, caressing him tenderly, heated sighs esg painted lips as he fohem occasionally. They fed him juicy fruits and poured wio his goblet as he observed the festivities with a greedy grin.

  Beside him, a man bat attire stood vigint, his face a mask of stoicism. He exuded an air of professionalism, his attentioed solely to his role as the man’s personal guard. While debauchery reigned around him, the man remaihe embodiment of seriousness, a stark trast to the carousing that engulfed the room.

  Suddenly, the front doors burst open and in sauntered a small-statured girl with a hulking bag upon her back, her face twisted into a fierd ptuous scowl.

  “Whoa~” cries of astonishmeed from the onlooking crowd of men. Some hooted flirtatiously.

  “Damn, look at the size of that haul!”

  “Looks like she hit the jackpot again!”

  Reeza’s knapsack was almost bursting at the seams, filled well beyond capacity with Mana Crystals.

  “Did you use the monster overpass to trample more people in the dungeon?”

  A ?monster overpass?, sometimes referred to as a ?flyover?, inated by ce when an individual was overwhelmed by a monster horde. In their retreat, they ran through the ranks of a small group, uionally passing on the aggro of the moo them.

  Sihen, the method became a on tool in MMs, often used by pyers to ily kill ?bots?. Bots were automated characters, designed by pyers to tirelessly collect gold or valuable items for their main at.

  The bots gained a notorious reputation for taking over prime hunting grounds and making it challenging fitimate pyers to hunt and find resources.

  Sughtering them with monsters offered a way to deal with these nuisances without incurring the ?murder status? and being an outw within the game.

  There were some pyers, however, who used this method for far more nefarious reasons. Instead of bots, they would target legitimate pyers to seize hunting grounds or simply to pilfer valuable items that would occasionally drop when they were killed by the monsters.

  Now, Reeza—an NPC—had adopted the method, utilizing it in a bitter twist of irony. And, from the unremorseful look in her eyes, it was evident she had no iions to curb her treacherous ways.

  The bodyguard looked down at her menagly when she came to a halt a few meters away from their leader, his pierg eyes akin to an endless abyss.

  “Excellent work, Reeza,” the boss praised, even as he sucked down a grape without chewing. “With these two test hauls, you’re ing ever closer to yoal. Just a bit more, and we’ll seal the deal.”

  “Tch,” Reeza clicked her tongue flippantly and cocked her head to the side. “You’d better ensure you keep your end of the bargain.”

  “y heart and hope to die,” the man responded pyfully. However, sensing her dissatisfa, he tinued with a more serious tone. “As arepreneur, I uand the importance of trust. It’s the bedrock of any successful busiransa. Without it, everything crumbles to dust.”

  A ugh of e welled up within Reeza, but she stifled it, refusing to give them the satisfa. “There’s no honor or humanity left in any of you,” she decred, her ruby red eyes abze with disdain as she gestured to the unsavory se around her. “So, all your talk of trust means absolutely nothing to me.”

  With fearless determination, she flung the bulging bag at the man’s feet and spun on her heels, her defiant spirit radiating from her every step. “I’ve already weighed that out, so don’t even think about trying to make a fool out of me.”

  The bodyguard stared at his employer, his bde gleaming ominously in the dim lighting as he slightly flicked it out of its sheath with a thumb. He awaited the and eagerly—a mere whisper, and he would have swiftly separated her head from her shoulders.

  But it never came.

  “It’s fine. Let her go,” was the order that came instead. Then the man licked his lips perversely as he watched the girl’s small frowing smaller in the distance.

  Reeza was a Florian—a demihuman raown for their small statures and youthful appearances despite their actual age. Although she looked like a child, standing at no more than 128cm tall, she was already a teenager.

  “Hey, Reeza,” a younger boy intercepted her he door. He didn’t reek of alcohol like the others, but his ideologies stunk just the same. “I’ve been scouting a group of adventurers hunting ohird floor of the dungeon for a few days now. Their gear looks pretty expensive. What’d yah say? Wanna take ‘em? lit the rewards 40-50?”

  Reeza frowned, her gaze darkening. The fact that he didn’t distinguish between the adventurers, whether they were Locals or ?The Fallen?, indicated his indiffereo who got hurt or killed.

  The Fallen was the term NPCs used tard the pyers, and Reeza had made it her point of duty tet them exclusively sihey harbored strong animosity towards demihumans. Plus, they ruly died, no matter how many times they were killed. NPCs, or the ?The Locals?, oher hand, had only one life to lose.

  “Not ied,” Reeza scoffed with derision, shoving him aside so that she could leave.

  The youth watched her go, the enthusiasm in his eyes transf into something sinister.

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