Chapter 9

The sun had risen. The battle ended in victory for Yura and his friends.

They'd been chopping through what felt like an endless horde all night long. At first, everything went smoothly—until the kitsune's worst fears came true: the elixirs started running out. The most unpleasant surprise was that the first to run dry was the bakeneko. Sure, battle spirit could be replenished by kills, but it burned just as fast. And without "Empower," Mister Gennadiy's combat efficiency took a nosedive. Zina stepped in to cover him, but she nearly got killed when Killer, bored inside his defensive circle, forgot to let out his taunt-like roar in time, failing to redirect the new zombies' aggro onto himself.

Only by the combined efforts of the whole team were they able to drag the poor demonologist—who had taken a rusty blade straight to the gut—to safety and then deal with the horde that had broken inside.

No matter how much mana Yura tried to save, eventually his own potions ran out. Not wanting to risk collapsing from mana exhaustion, he had to dismiss his duplicate. At the tavern's entrance, a heap of corpses—slowly crumbling into earth, along with their weapons—had piled up. Yura ended up having to swap out his sword for something simpler but more effective in terms of raw damage. Fortunately, he had plenty of options.

Mister Gennadiy followed his lead. After all, chopping away from behind the safety of a wall with a long weapon was far safer and more effective than duking it out face-to-face, risking a pitchfork to the head from the back rows. This insane tactic only worked because they weren't constrained by the game's usual mechanics and rules.

Killer, thanks to his ability to trade health for mana, managed to use his alchemical magic longer than anyone else. But even he eventually ran out of potions. In the end, everyone had to switch to plain old melee combat, taking turns at the barricaded door. Yura deeply regretted that they'd ended up in the world of the MMO "Grinda," where—unlike those mysterious Japanese isekais—you didn't level up individual weapon skills independently. If only they could have all quickly power-leveled their weapon mastery here!

By the end of the night, Yura's other worry also came true: the walls near the windows, weakened by the endless onslaught of zombies, finally gave way. Blocking the door with an oak table, the team had to shift focus to the breaches and spend the rest of the night in a mad scramble at the windows.

Yura also feared that some overpowered mobs might show up among the attackers—enemies too tough for them, like that innkeeper had been. Thankfully, those fears didn't come true. Zina, who was regularly scanning the undead hordes with her gaze, reported only first- and third-level mobs. The occasional stronger zombies were level five. But Killer, now well-adapted to the fight, managed to take those down too—though with difficulty—apparently relying on his monstrous strength.

At dawn, the zombie horde noticeably thinned out, and by the time the rays of the rising sun dispersed the mist, they were gone. Under the sunlight, the ghostly village lost its substance, fading into the air and revealing a forest clearing in its place.

The party had only enough strength left to patch themselves up with the last of their healing potions and collapse, utterly spent, right there in the grass. They needed sleep.

Yura, like the others, slept on the grass. However, someone didn't want him to rest. Half-asleep, the student began to toss and turn, bothered by an odd sensation—like someone blowing into his ears.

"C'mon, Mom… it's my day off," he muttered, trying to turn away and keep dreaming. In that sweet dream, he was leading a parade on a white steed, surrounded by lovely fox-girls.

"Zinaaa, quit messing around," Yura grumbled, barely conscious, trying a brute-force mental approach to stop this annoying breeze that just so happened to get unbearable right at the moment in the dream when they were about to set off fireworks in his honor.

The blowing in his ears stopped, but then came a long, wet lick across his face.

"Huh?! KILLER?!" The kitsune bolted upright as if stung, instantly checking that her pants were still in place. She looked around.

Standing over Yura was Kocheryzhka, the horse they had basically written off as lost. Apparently, not being tied up properly, the mare had stuck to her old habit of bolting at the first sign of danger. Yura clicked his tongue irritably and got up, shooing away the nag who was now rubbing against his back. It was clear he wasn't getting any more sleep, so in revenge he decided to wake the others.

They set up camp right there on the clearing. Luckily, the horse, which they had never bothered to unpack, still carried all their gear. So they had a place to sleep and something to eat. It was time to tally up last night's battle.

"Screw this extreme survival crap!"

"And I got the most kills!"

"Did we at least get something out of all that?"

This time, it was Zina who voiced the rational question. It was bothering Yura too. He asked everyone to take out their "newbie amulets." The item's description was still cryptic, but visually, the amulets had changed a lot. They looked like metal dragons coiled around elongated glass cylinders or something similar. Now those cylinders glowed softly with a yellowish light—apparently accumulated XP. Even Killer's glowed, despite his having died once and then being resurrected. That was an important discovery for Yura.

Another discovery was that when the village vanished, so did all the corpses and weapons. Only a huge axe remained, the one the bakeneko had fallen asleep clutching. The big pile of loot from the gift boxes was still there, but that was it. This disappointed Yura, who started cursing and scouring the clearing for his well-earned rewards. Suddenly, he stumbled and vanished into the tall grass. Instead of another round of swearing, everyone heard joyful cries. He returned to his friends holding a small wooden chest.

"Perfect!" He looked thrilled. "I've seen these in the game. It's the reward for clearing a location. Damn, maybe somewhere else there's another NPC with a quest reward for the village. We just don't know where to look…"

"Let's deal with this first," the bakeneko said, tapping the chest's lid.

The chest opened easily—it wasn't locked. The first thing everyone noticed was money, of course! It was filled nearly to the brim with coins. Most were copper, which disappointed Yura—they were all worn and tarnished.

"What is this, payment to the tavern for our meals or something?" The bakeneko skeptically fingered the darkened coins.

"Maybe loot taken from travelers. That's the most logical explanation," Yura said as he fished a modest-looking ring out of the chest:

Ring of Perception

Perception +1

"Junk, but we'll take what we can get," he scoffed and pulled out more items:

Ring of Agility

Agility +1

Ring of Perception

Perception +1

Paladin's Ring

Strength +2

Intelligence +1

Mister Gennadiy exploded in frustration, looking like a hardcore gamer who just rolled terrible RNG:

"Seriously?! We nearly died for this junk?! Where's the decent loot for such a heroic feat?!"

Apparently, the RNG gods heard him, because Yura silently thrust another item under his nose: a small ivory plaque etched with strange symbols.

Secret Relic of the Kuk-Fu Master:

Agility +5

+10% damage to Martial Arts Mastery skills

"This is insanely lucky for you, Mister Gennadiy—"

"Just call me Gena," he cut Yura off, practically ripping the prized item from his hands.

There were no more items. The perception rings might help the demonologist with his throwing knives, but Zina wasn't thrilled. They soon discovered that ring bonuses didn't stack, which was another disappointment. The Paladin's Ring went to Killer—given his "bizarre" build, both Strength and Intelligence were useful. Yura kept the Ring of Agility for himself.

They put the money in Zina's care—having worked in a tavern, she was the only one who maybe understood the local economy and prices. The currency system in "Grinda" was simple: 100 copper = 1 silver, 100 silver = 1 gold. After conversion, Zina reported the party's funds as: 4 gold, 80 silver, and 44 copper.

The party continued moving north toward the mysterious Master Zhenya. They proceeded with great caution, since they had no more healing potions. The idea of Killer brewing more wasn't even considered—the lion-headed alchemist couldn't even cook soup, let alone potions.

They reached the hermit's abode the next day. He lived atop a steep mountain—or maybe it was more like a single giant rock sticking up out of the forest like an obelisk.

"So," Mister Gennadiy said, craning his neck to peer at the summit, "I hope he lives at the foot, right?"

"Nope," Yura dashed his hopes.

"Got it. In that case, you go on ahead. We'll wait down here."

Zina and Killer quickly nodded in agreement with the bakeneko. Yura would have to figure out how to get up there himself. Luckily, he already had a plan…

"So… wha dis supposed to mean?" asked the owner of the crag, looking at the young maid who was currently hooking both hands over the edge of the cliff, hoisting herself onto the summit.

The old man looked like a stereotypical Eastern sage—dressed simply in white, with a baby-like face humorously decorated with a long, snowy beard, mustache, and eyebrows. The catch: his eyebrows and mustache seemed to have been swapped. Behind him was a stone garden and an exotic, Eastern-style house.

A kitsune face peeked nervously from the maid's backpack. Clearing her throat, she respectfully addressed him:

"Allow me to explain the purpose of our visit, oh great wise Master Zhen Shen."

She quickly dismissed the maid duplicate before it started flirting with the venerable hermit.

As we all know from books, when isekai travelers appear, all doors are open and everyone's happy to help. And if they aren't, a few swift kicks to the head turn them friendly. Beautiful girls leap into the hero's harem, and ancient sages gladly share their wisdom.

Either Yura had ended up in the wrong world or lacked the charisma of a proper light novel protagonist. He definitely couldn't get away with kicking one of the game's strongest NPCs to make him talk. So, at first, his conversation with the wise man didn't go well.

The sage didn't give out free consultations. Speaking in vague riddles about maintaining balance, he delicately hinted at payment. Yura had to do what most isekai heroes rarely do—actually think.

After explaining the situation with the Tree of Wisdom and the Great Evil, Yura proposed a trade: information about the players in exchange for knowledge about this world. Maybe he was selling out his own side, but the deal was accepted.

To Yura's surprise, the sage was less interested in Earth or their origin, and more curious about his skill window and status screen. The sage examined them, asked questions, occasionally nodding as if he understood, sometimes sadly shaking his head and muttering, "Ugu-ugu. Halaso-halaso…"

This took the whole day. By evening, as he served Yura some tea, the sage concluded his interrogation.

Sipping his tea with a smile, the great sage Zhen Shen summed up his questioning and nodded thoughtfully:

"Halaso. We in deep shet. Very deep crap. Halaso."