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Crimson Plains.

“Hero, this is…?” Yalu looked at the butterfly in confusion.

“This is Lyra, the queen of the neighboring Spiritwood.” Zane said, then pointed toward the goblin as he introduced him. “His name’s Yalu, the chief of the Snowfeather Goblins.”

“Goblin? Is he Big Bro’s friend?”
“More or less.” Zane nodded. “Yalu, can you let her stay here for a while?”
“No problem. As long as she’s someone you trust.”
“Good. Oh, and don’t go bullying her just because she looks cute!” Zane added uneasily.
“…” Yalu wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. “You must be joking.”

Having already stepped into Unique rank, he could clearly tell that this butterfly’s strength far surpassed his own. Anyone reckless enough to lay a hand on her was simply tired of living.

As if suddenly remembering something, Zane spoke again. “Right, Polly, come out.”

The gnome following behind slowly stepped forward.

Yalu stared at him in shock. “You’re still alive!?”

Yet Polly was even more stunned. Seriously, after a horde of undead that massive yesterday, these guys still hadn’t died? Judging from the numbers, they had barely suffered any casualties at all. Even the camp remained perfectly intact.

“So? I didn’t lie to you, did I?” Zane said calmly.

“Guh…” The gnome suddenly found himself speechless. After a long pause, he hesitantly muttered, “After what I did… there’s no way they’d still take me in…”

“No, quite the opposite.” Yalu interrupted him. “We desperately need your intelligence. Honestly, I didn’t believe we could hold them off either, but with the Hero’s help, we actually managed to survive.”

“…”

“Ah, just go already. You’ve already destroyed those Battle Puppets from your antics anyway. Staying here’s the only way you’ll have a future.” Zane shoved him lightly.

The gnome staggered forward a few steps until he reached Yalu. Taking a deep breath, he lowered his head and asked, “Lord Yalu… can I really come back?”

“Of course.” The goblin chief nodded without hesitation.

Seriously, if they still didn’t get some proper professionals who understood construction to guide them… he glanced at the crooked, uneven camp around him and felt utterly exhausted.

Polly was so moved that he spread his arms and instinctively lunged in for a hug. Yet before he could do so, his body suddenly became weightless as he was lifted straight into the air.

“Big Bro, what’s this?” Lyra held Polly up curiously while staring at the tiny particles hidden in his hand.

A chill instantly ran through Polly’s entire body. Even though he had already been extremely careful…

“Polly, don’t tell me you thought the contract had already lost its effect?”
“H-How could that be?” the gnome forced himself to stay calm.
“Forget it. I figured you’d pull something eventually, I just didn’t expect it to happen this fast.” Zane sighed speechlessly. “Perfect timing though. Lyra, help me keep an eye on him. Don’t let him cause trouble.”
“Yes! Mission accepted!” Lyra replied seriously.

Hearing those words, Polly’s eyes instantly dimmed as though he had completely lost all hope in life.

***

By the time everything had finally been settled, it was already one in the morning. Zane glanced at his friend list. Endless Sea was still online, while everyone else had already logged off.

He had originally wanted to send a few messages, but an overwhelming wave of exhaustion suddenly crashed over him, so intense that he nearly fell asleep on the spot. One thing after another had happened throughout the entire day, leaving him no time to rest at all.

“Starry… I’m so sleepy… let’s talk about everything tomorrow instead.”

No response came.

“Starry?”

“Ah, got it.” She snapped out of her thoughts and answered absentmindedly.

Zane didn’t pay much attention to it. After logging out, he quickly washed up and collapsed onto his bed. In less than a minute, he had already fallen into deep sleep.

***

Sleep always seemed to pass incredibly quickly. One moment he had just fallen asleep, and the next, ten whole hours had already passed. Zane squinted at the numbers displayed on his phone.

‘Holy crap, I slept all the way until noon!?’

He pulled open the curtains, and the blazing sunlight immediately poured through the glass window. At the same time, someone knocked on the bedroom door.

“Bro, are you awake yet?” It was Zina’s voice.
“Just got up. What’s wrong?”
“It’s almost time for the helmet sales to start, so I’m heading out soon. What do you want for lunch?”

So the helmet sales started at twelve o’clock… yeah, right. Wait, why was she buying a helmet in the first place? “You’re playing Dreamscape too?”

“…Bro, are you pretending to have amnesia or something? Do you seriously think acting dumb will make me forget what happened yesterday?”

So what exactly happened yesterday? Forget it, food came first. “Bring me an Orleans chicken cutlet rice bowl!”

“Got it,” Zina replied.

The sound of footsteps gradually faded into the distance. Less than three minutes later… Much quicker footsteps hurried back toward the room.

“Bro, open the door for a second.”
“What now?”
“I’ve got something for you.”

‘Something for me? It’s not even my birthday today.’

“Coming.” The moment he opened the door, he saw Zina dressed in a red short-sleeved shirt and blue hot pants. In her hands were two stuffed bags.

“Bro, I spent the whole night thinking about it. Everyone has some weird hobbies, yours is just… a little more unique. But no matter what, you can’t expose that kind of thing out on the streets! These are some of my older clothes that are on the looser side. Don’t worry, I washed them all properly already. If you really can’t hold it in, just release your urges in your own room, okay? Absolutely do not expose yourself in public, got it?”

The nonstop barrage of words completely stunned Zane. What the hell was she even talking about? The moment Zina shoved the bags into his hands, she turned and headed for the front door.

“Wait!” Zane finally snapped back to his senses.

“Don’t even think about my underwear!” Zina shouted over her shoulder before opening the door and leaving.

“…”

Opening the bags, Zane immediately froze. Good lord, they were completely stuffed with women’s clothes!

“???”

***

Staring at the two bags, Zane fell into deep contemplation.

**Bzzzt bzzzt bzzzt—**

Suddenly, his phone vibrated violently. Picking it up, he saw it was Shiu calling. He answered the call.

“Zane, what the hell were you doing yesterday? You vanished for the entire day.”
“Ah, don’t even mention it… remember Spiritwood next to Crimson Plains?”
“Yeah, what about it?”
“There’s an illusion realm hidden inside. I accidentally got trapped in there. The death penalty was dropping ten levels and reducing all stats by thirty-three percent. Plus, there was no way to contact the outside world.”

“Oh my god…” Shiu sucked in a cold breath. “There’s actually a dungeon that crazy?”

“Of course there is. And that’s not even the craziest part. Yesterday I ran into six bosses at once. Five Unique ranks and one Legendary rank!”

“…”

“Why’d you stop talking?”
“I’m listening to your b̲u̲l̲l̲s̲h̲i̲t̲.” Shiu replied speechlessly. “So can you get out today or not?”
“No problem!”
“Oh right, you know about the dungeon already, yeah?”
“Huh? Dreamscape has dungeons too?”

“…Just check the forums yourself. Once you’re done, hurry online. Those rando’s gameplay are genuinely unbearable to watch, and they can’t take even the slightest criticism. Another ten minutes and I’m gonna die from anger.”

***

Opening the forums, Zane discovered that in just a single day, the hottest topic had already shifted toward discussions about a newly discovered dungeon; Pursuit of the Frostcrystal Giant.

According to players who had cleared the simple difficulty mode, completing the dungeon unlocked a hidden CG scene.

The rough story behind it was that the Frostcrystal Mine had once been the burial site of an ancient powerhouse. The scattered remnants of that being’s power eventually formed the vast frostcrystal ore deposits within the mine.

As time passed, the lingering pressure of that ancient expert gradually faded away, and the once-hidden Frostcrystal Mine was finally exposed to the eyes of the world.