City in ruins [2]

Chapter 16

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Episode 5 - City in ruins [2]

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Sitting on a chair, Yuri rested her head on the wooden table, covering her face with her arms.

Though it was a makeshift table, just like the chair.

The village was already finished, but some necessary furniture was still missing.

It was a stroke of luck that they had managed to build a village.

Yuri thought.

'Why do you want me to survive?'

'Why didn't you let me die?'

Yuri had asked Zeth again. She had forced herself to approach him.

And then Zeth gave her a straightforward answer.

'Because if you die, you'll regret it.'

Regret dying?

Wasn't that paradise? To finally rest after so much suffering?

After having carried a life full of pain.

They say that when you die, you see your entire life in an instant. A review filled with joy, but also with sadness.

Because you also relive the worst moments.

Like watching your parents die again… just as you yourself are dying.

What could be crueler than that?

Yuri pressed her lips together.

'Even so… even so, I…'

She wanted to see her memories one more time.

'It doesn't matter…'

It really didn't matter.

But Yuri wondered.

'Why did Zeth prevent my death?'

A bitter smile appeared on her face.

'He'll use me, won't he?'

'If that's the case, then I really want to die.'

However, Zeth had said she would regret it.

Wasn't dying the only thing she desired now that she had nothing left?

Yuri didn't even know…

That dying meant becoming a slave in the abyss.

People went to the abyss even if they were 'good.'

No matter how they had been in life, they would always end up in the abyss as slaves.

The only way to avoid it was to have the protection of a constellation.

Good people made mistakes too.

Just as villains weren't always as bad as they seemed.

'It doesn't matter…'

Of course, she wanted to die and relive those seconds of happiness with her parents.

'But I can't do it…'

It was fear. Probably.

Yuri pressed her lips together again.

"Yuri."

Then she heard a familiar voice.

Yuri lifted her head and looked over her shoulder.

"What do you want?"

Seth got straight to the point.

"We're going to the ruined city."

"….?"

Yuri frowned.

"Administrator Jerry said going to the city would lead to death. Why go die like that, just because?"

She wanted to die.

But not in a foolish way, like being devoured by monsters.

And as if Seth already knew it would be hard to convince her, he said:

"Zeth, Clarisse, and I are going. You decide if you come or not."

"But Jerry suggested we don't…"

Seth raised his hand, interrupting her.

Yuri fell silent for a moment. Then Seth added:

"As you know, the monsters in the ruined city drop coins. For us, those coins make us stronger. We'll just go to get as many as we can, and if something unexpected comes up, we'll return immediately."

Yuri knew.

The coins weren't just hard to obtain; they were key to strengthening skills.

An enhanced skill increased its power and effects.

Yuri was at level 50, and she could no longer increase her stats without the coins.

She was worried about not knowing how long she could keep improving her skills.

"Fine."

Seth smiled and said:

"Good, then we'll go discuss the details. We haven't planned anything yet."

Seth turned around.

As he was leaving, Yuri suddenly grabbed his shoulder.

Seth stopped for a moment and looked over his shoulder. Yuri slightly lowered her head.

"What do you want?"

Yuri remained silent.

"Seth, I want to ask you something…"

She pressed her lips tightly and finally spoke.

But at the last second, something clicked in her mind. Her question didn't come out.

"Forget it, it's nothing."

"..…"

Seth frowned slightly but then sighed and left, leaving her alone.

'Why didn't I ask him…?'

It was a question about Zeth, but the words simply wouldn't leave her mouth for some reason.

Yuri clenched her fists and walked out.

***

Two golden screens floated in front of me.

— — — || Ascension Mission || — — —

Type: Special.

Difficulty: E -

Conditions: To ascend to the next rank, you must kill 10 level 50 Rank F monsters and 20 level 25 Rank F monsters.

Reward: Rank E

Time Limit: None.

Failure: None.

Progress: In progress.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

'It's not hard to complete.'

I let out a long sigh.

The first rank ascension was straightforward, but the subsequent ones involved defeating higher-ranked monsters.

The difficulty steadily increased with each ascension.

Rank ascension missions were hardly easy.

Even the mission to ascend to Rank S had the same difficulty as a main scenario.

'And now this…'

I looked at the second screen.

It was the special mission that appeared upon meeting the requirements.

— — — || Special Mission || — — —

Type: Special.

Difficulty: E -

Conditions: Enter the Sanctuary of Limits and complete the four specialties.

Time Limit: None.

Reward: Certificate: No Limits.

Failure: The Certificate will not be obtained.

Progress: In progress.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

Just as I finished reading, a notification appeared before my eyes.

「You have met the conditions for the Sanctuary of Limits. Do you accept to enter the Sanctuary of Limits?」

☞「Yes」

「No」

Seeing the option in front of me was tempting.

Of course, I wanted to choose "Yes," but… at this moment, I had no intention of starting the special mission.

'I first need the Sword of Faith before completing both missions.'

First things first.

The Sword of Faith was located in a display case inside a church, right next to a large museum.

The only museum left in that ruined city, across the nightmare forest, was the central museum. It was located in the heart of the city.

'The problem is the monsters…'

The closer I got to the center, the stronger they would be.

In particular, there were three Rank E, level 40 monsters.

'I don't even need to talk about their stats…'

I couldn't even face a monster of that level. I could barely handle a Rank E level 5, or even less.

Then I looked at the Survival Window once more.

'Survival Window.'

A golden screen suddenly appeared in front of my eyes.

— — — || Survival Window || — — —

「Zeth Dover」

Rank: F

Level: 50 「99%」

「Stats」

Strength Lv 100 | Endurance Lv 100 | Agility Lv 100 | Magic Power Lv 100

「Stigmas」

Obtained: Requiem of Devoured Souls

「Skills」

Weapon Master Lv 9 | Intellectual Genius Lv 10 | Perfect Synchronization Lv 10 | Instinct Mastery Lv 9 | Step Master Lv 10

「Coins: 58」

— — — — — — — — — — — — — —

Using soul extraction, I had been able to level up all my skills in the Labyrinth Detour.

'Level 10 is the maximum, but few know that if you invest 1,000 coins, you can evolve skills to a higher stage.'

I planned to evolve them all. I knew the possible evolutions were impressive.

'Skills have three stages in total, and each one caps at level 10.'

But with each evolution, the coin cost increased, just like with stats.

'To raise a stat in Rank E requires a much larger amount of coins.'

That's why coins were power for the chosen ones.

Setting that aside, I thought about the Sword of Faith again.

'I need to avoid those three Rank E monsters at all costs.'

But how?

With Seth's help, maybe we could handle one. The problem was that the three were close enough to intervene.

If all three attacked at once, even with Yuri and Clarisse's help, we wouldn't survive.

"There are no options…"

But that wasn't entirely true.

'I need to evolve the Step Master skill.'

It was a gamble.

I had no idea what that skill would evolve into. Considering it's related to speed, I had some guesses.

'Master of a Thousand Steps? Grand Step Master? Ultra Steps?'

I didn't know.

There were so many possible names and effects…

'Evolving a skill normally requires coins, but in my case, I only use a soul from any monster, and the skill levels up.'

If that was true, I'd need two souls to test it. I'd find out when I reached the ruined city and tried it.

Just then, Seth reappeared.

"Did you manage to convince her?"

Seth nodded seriously.

"Yes."

I leaned to one side and, over his shoulder, saw Yuri walking toward us.

Clarisse was sleeping somewhere, but that wasn't important right now.

'That lunatic doesn't even use her brain properly.'

Yuri sat in front of me without saying a word. Seth remained standing.

"How will we avoid the greatest danger?"

"The goal is coins. However, I personally plan to go to the city center."

Seth frowned.

"Why? My instincts tell me it's more dangerous…"

"Indeed."

"Then…"

A smile spread across my face. I couldn't tell them about the Sword of Faith, so I made up an excuse.

"I think there might be Detours. It's a city, after all. My goal is to gather information about them."

Seth watched me for a second and then nodded.

He always understood things quickly. He didn't need much explanation.

Besides…

'Coming from me, Seth will believe me.'

I knew he trusted me more than anyone else.

"I get your point. But won't that make it harder to get coins?"

I nodded calmly.

"I know. But we can always come back for more, right?"

Seth nodded again.

I sighed deeply and concluded:

"Now, about when we'll go. It'll be in two days. For now, we need to find food. The shortage is already worrying."

"You're right. The problem is there are no animals around here."

Seth replied, rubbing his forehead while squinting.

"Is that all?"

Yuri, who had been silent until then, finally spoke.

I looked at her and gave her a slight smile before nodding.

"Yes. That's all for now."