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“…” Shamin looked somewhat surprised. She had not expected a Wishkeeper to take such an interest in an adventurer like this. “If Miss Elna is willing to vouch for you, then naturally, it’s acceptable.”

“Thank you, Shamin~”

“However, the formalities still need to be completed.” Shamin took out a form. Though it looked like ordinary paper, a faint magical glow shimmered across its surface.

Taking the seal Elna handed over, she stamped it neatly onto the lower-right corner of the form.

“All right. Now then, please tell me the name of your adventurer party.”

“The name?”

No way. Naming things was his biggest weakness. If it sounded bad, they would laugh him to death for sure.

‘Invincible Adventurer Party!’
That sounded ridiculously stupid.

‘Number One Under Heaven?’
…That was even harder to swallow.

“Sir?”

‘Starry Support Group?’
That one wasn’t bad, but considering the very real risk of Starry strangling him on the spot, he decided to drop it.

After turning it over again and again in his mind, he figured it was best to keep things simple.

“Star—veil!” Zane nodded decisively, then traced out the exact characters for Shamin to see.

“Starveil… understood.” Shamin gently brushed her hand across the paper. Though she made no writing motion at all, the words “Starveil” surfaced clearly on the page.

In the next instant, the paper burst into a dazzling glow before dissolving into nothingness.

A free world announcement? That sounded pretty tempting. Every player on the national server would see it, and he could even sneak in a bit of personal flair since he had full control over the wording.

But… people feared fame the same way pigs feared growing fat. Staying low-key was better. He chose no.

“All right. Is there anything else you’d like to do?”

“Huh? Oh, no.” Zane realized there was already a long line forming behind him and quickly stepped aside.

He checked the adventurer party information. It was currently Level 1, with a member cap of twelve, just enough to pull everyone in.

Most of the high-level quests in the quest list required a certain adventurer party level anyway, which made sense. Otherwise, handing them to a bunch of rookies would just be throwing them away.

He sent out the invitations one by one.

Five minutes later, everyone was in.

“Zanny, you’re fast! I heard setting up an adventurer party even needs a referral. Didn’t expect you to get it done in one go,” Nangong exclaimed.

“Yeah, that was quick. That’s how professionals operate,” Shiu nodded in agreement.

“Get lost!”

“Going to Crimson Plains is a hassle anyway. Let’s spend today doing quests to level up the adventurer party,” Endless Sea added. “I checked earlier. A Level 1 party gains an extra 1% EXP when fighting together with members. It’s not much, but even mosquito legs are still meat. Once the level goes up, the advantage really starts to show.”

“Mm, I also want to check out other places,” YoyoPink voiced her agreement.

The others chimed in one after another. And just like that, the plan was settled.

“You guys go take quests first. The quest board is in the guild hall. As for Starry and me… we’re heading to Crimson Plains for a bit.”

After the Gray Wolves and Snowfeather Goblins had fled into their tunnels, there had been no news. Although Morthar had been sent over before maintenance, it still felt better to see the situation with his own eyes.

***

Fifty minutes later, Starry and Zane arrived at Crimson Plains. From afar, they could see several crude, makeshift buildings scattered across the land. Compared to yesterday, there did not seem to be much change.

That was strange. The buildings had not been damaged, and with a full day having passed, there should have been at least some visible progress.

Morthar lay quietly outside the fence. If one did not look carefully, it would have been easy to mistake him for a pile of stacked stones.

At the entrance, Yalu and Mick stepped out, one to the left and one to the right.

“Hero… you finally came…” Yalu’s voice carried a heavy sense of worry.

“What happened?” Starry asked, puzzled. Even from a distance, a faint yet lingering aura of frost could be felt. Had Yalu’s elemental power really become this strong?

Good grief. Even goblins had advanced in rank now!? And not just him. Even Mick had become a Level 25 Epic-rank elite.

“Polly… ran off with the battle puppet.”

“What?”

Thinking back on it… the gnome really had not been present during the earlier gathering.

That was a mistake. Where could he have gone? To the south lay the elves’ Silverglow City. To the east were human territories. To the north, the undead armies were advancing. That meant Polly could only have gone west, into Spiritwood.

That map… even the outermost areas were filled with Level 28 Epic-rank monsters. A single battle puppet might not actually be able to stir up much trouble there.

As the only repair merchant and part-time artisan of this small camp, Polly’s importance went without saying.

The gnomes of Rock Maze seemed rather special. Once they died, they never respawned. Only ordinary Epic-rank monsters appeared afterward.

He had to bring Polly back. Even if he was already dead, that was fine, as long as his body was still intact.

No wonder the construction progress had slowed so drastically.

“I’ll go bring him back.”

Yalu’s expression darkened, as though recalling something truly terrifying. “Hero, please reconsider! I once intended to investigate Spiritwood myself, but… after stepping into a higher realm, I finally understood what kind of existence dwells within.”

“Are they that strong?” He made it sound ominous, but Yalu was a Unique boss himself!

The goblin shook his head. “I only know that their strength far surpasses mine, and that they specialize in light-based magic. The light-element energy swelling within the forest is nearly overflowing.”

“…”

Light? For some reason, it felt intensely familiar.

“After hearing that, I want to go even more.”

Joking aside, after swapping out several pieces of equipment, the attributes of both characters were no longer what they used to be. Unique-grade equipment was a symbol of true power.

Old man, the times had changed.

***

At the heart of Spiritwood.

“Gnome…? Hmph! I never expected that lump of scrap metal to be controlled by such a feeble race.”

Sensing the gaze of those deep crimson blood-red eyes upon him, Polly felt as though he had plunged into an icy abyss. He did not dare utter a single word of defiance. No sooner had he escaped the wolf’s jaws than he had fallen straight into the tiger’s den.

An alluring jade-like finger was raised as specks of white light gathered upon it. Moments later, the light scattered and vanished.

“Forget it. I’ll spare your life for now.”

“Thank you, my lord, thank you, my lord!” Polly hurriedly kowtowed.

“However… the weaker a creature is, the more it loves to fuss over meaningless struggles…”

“…!” Polly did not even dare breathe. Cold sweat streamed endlessly down his body.

“Go stay inside the illusion.”

Bathed in a faint glow, Polly collapsed completely.

“Was there… another goblin outside…?”

Strange phenomena had been occurring more and more frequently lately. It must have been changes caused by adventurers. Recalling the humiliation suffered that day, a cold murmur echoed through the forest, “You won’t remain complacent for much longer—”