Rat Forest[2].

Ethan's words shocked Charlotte — one could say it was the first time someone had ever called her stupid. Those she met always carried some degree of respect for her, sometimes even fear.

During the day, she was a law enforcer — a title that still earned respect these days — and at night, she was an assassin, one of the rarest professions in the world. After all, assassins were generally looked down upon… especially those not affiliated with the government, powerful families, or ancient clans.

Charlotte considered Ethan's words before shaking her head. Maybe he did want them to die together. But as a teenager herself, she knew he couldn't be ruthless to himself… who wouldn't fight for a chance to live?

Thinking this through, Charlotte stopped holding back. She figured Ethan wouldn't teleport them away from their current level. Most likely, he couldn't — or maybe teleportation only worked at dungeon entrances.

Charlotte swung her dagger once. A red arc flashed from its tip, slicing cleanly through the rat monster and splitting it into two halves.

"Wow…" Ethan clapped lazily, strolling forward. Charlotte followed behind him. Ethan walked; Charlotte killed, flicking her wrist lightly. Now and then, a cold gleam would flash in her eyes.

"We're here," Ethan announced, stopping in his tracks. "See that?"

"A statue of a rat?"

"Yep. A real nasty one. Last time I fought it, I had to run and gun — literally. If you can't beat it head-on, don't be scared to hit and run."

"It's just a statue," Charlotte said, raising an eyebrow. "And you're telling me it holds the cure for my sister's disease?"

"Did I say that?" Ethan tilted his head. "I said we're here. If you can't defeat that thing, we can't enter the rat's food shed. You don't expect me to knock politely, do you? We could, but trust me — that guy's stingier than a tax collector."

Charlotte stared at the statue for a while. She'd grudgingly accepted by now that Ethan knew a thing or two about these monsters. If he said she had to defeat it, she figured it must be a golem. Golems were rare in dungeons.

"Oh… and the easy way to kill him doesn't exist," Ethan added cheerfully. "You just gotta keep hacking at his skin. He'll die eventually."

He whistled a tune and leaned back against the wall to watch the show.

Charlotte flicked a dagger at the rat statue. True to Ethan's words, the statue moved, deflecting the blade with a casual flick of its finger.

Its gaze turned to Charlotte, full of disdain and arrogance. It clearly didn't think she could hurt it.

Charlotte charged. Her speed was terrifying — the ground quaked under her feet. She was nearly on the statue when she heard Ethan's voice behind her:

"Oh, and he can spawn rat monsters. Watch your back."

Charlotte sighed deeply in her heart. There was no turning back. She couldn't stop her momentum midway — she was practically flying now.

Meanwhile, Ethan rummaged through the bag, popped a lollipop into his mouth, and continued watching. Charlotte fought gracefully, her movements a blur. The rat monsters couldn't even touch her; they only screeched in frustration as she clashed with the rat statue.

Of course, Ethan hadn't told her the whole truth — that the statue was actually the Rat King's statue, and those rat monsters would protect it at all costs. Because Ethan hadn't attacked it himself, the Rat King didn't see him as an enemy… yet.

Still, some rats stayed back, warily watching Ethan. Anyone could tell there was a conscious, intelligent mind controlling them.

As the battle grew fiercer, the rats assigned to watch Ethan couldn't resist joining the fight.

Charlotte managed to break one of the statue's arms.

"Watch out! They're about to self-destruct!" Ethan called.

"What's a little self-destruct gonna do to me?" Charlotte scoffed, dashing through an explosion without flinching.

Her words, and her sheer disdain, made the rats even angrier. Some blew themselves up just to weaken her… but Charlotte was almost a rank three demigod. How could these low-level monsters even scratch her?

"True, they can't really harm you…" Ethan yawned dramatically, sneaking a glance at Charlotte's exposed skin under her torn dress.

In truth, Ethan could've helped her avoid this whole fight — he knew secret ways around the rat dungeon. But he couldn't resist the temptation. Charlotte was one of his favorite characters from the novel. When the game version was released, he'd even bought it just to compare her appearance to his imagination.

As the battle turned chaotic, none of the monsters noticed Ethan sneaking into the rat's storage room. No matter how fierce Charlotte fought, she couldn't truly win against the Rat King — she was only fighting a puppet. The real King lurked on the eighth level.

Inside the storage, Ethan whistled softly, grabbing the herbs he needed for his healing potion. He also grabbed extra herbs to cure Charlotte's sister, stuffing them into his backpack.

He moved deeper inside, wanting to confirm a suspicion.

After a while, he found a skeleton sitting cross-legged.

Ethan's face darkened. He bowed slightly toward it. "You were a good man... may your soul rest in perfect peace."

But as Ethan turned away, ghostly green light flared in the skeleton's eye sockets. It floated up — then shot straight toward Ethan's head.

Anticipating it, Ethan spun around, pulling a glass bottle from his bag. He popped the cork, forming a vortex that sucked in the green light, trapping it inside. The light screamed and wailed inside the bottle.

"Fuck your peace," Ethan muttered. "I hope you suffer in the underworld. Your 'good man' act cost me countless retries before I finally beat you. Vicious old bones... refusing to die even after death."

The trapped light bashed against the glass, begging for freedom.

Ethan shook his head, smirking. "Relax. I'm not gonna use you to make a weapon soul. I have better plans. After that, maybe I'll let you go."

At his words, the green light quieted, trembling inside the bottle.