World Tower – Level 65
The iron scent of blood hung heavy in the air.
The battlefield stretched eternally. A graveyard of twisted shapes. Man-wolves with jagged teeth and broken limbs littered the ground. Bodies dissolved into motes of white light that drifted toward the void overhead.
Thud.
A body tumbled to the blood-drenched ground.
Not a monster.
This one.
The lone adventurer sprawled on his back, breathing heavily as crimson aura flickered around him.
"Still no boss..." he groaned, throwing one arm across his eyes.
"Where are we now, Klein?"
The speaker yawned. A brawny man with scars sprawling his exposed arms, he sounded exhausted yet oddly satisfied. As if he'd just awoken from a nap instead of survived a bitter fight.
Klein sat on a nearby rock and sighed. The glowing interface flickered before his eyes. "That was wave ten."
The lying adventurer shot up.
Wild.
Tired.
"Wave ten?!" He ran a hand through sweat-drenched hair. "We've been here nearly a month, you know that?"
Klein chuckled at the response. "So even the great Berserker knows how to get tired, huh?"
The Berserker scratched his head sheepishly before flopping back down. "Everyone knows that long fights like this are my weakness." Frustration and boredom colored his voice. "I'm actually lucky we share the same system quest."
Klein snapped his fingers. Four dull stones materialized in his palm, their internal runes barely glimmering with light.
"How's your runes doing?" the Berserker asked.
Klein sighed. The stones floated slightly before he scattered them back to nothingness. "Still not recovered."
A pause.
"Honestly, I feel like I'm the lucky one. Runespeaker isn't quite made for giant fights like this."
The Berserker suddenly wailed, throwing his arms up dramatically.
"Ahhh!"
Klein raised a brow. "Screaming like a child? What's the matter now?"
The Berserker jumped up and crossed his legs, hand under his chin. "I want this system quest to be finished already." Klein groaned once more, then suddenly grinned. His eyes sparkled with anticipation as he rifled through his pack, magically drawing preserved meals and a flask.
"My reward from the quest is five full levels! Five!"
"After this, I'll be at level 80!"
Klein shrugged indifferently, gnawing at jerky.
The Berserker's grin stretched wider. "And then... that Orc Dominion?" His eyes sparkled with certitude. "By then, it'll be a breeze."
Klein hardly raised his eyes. "You and that again? What is so damned important about defeating it?"
The Berserker shot him an incredulous look before snorting. "You're not from the capital, are you?"
Klein shook his head.
A knowing smirk tugged at the Berserker's lips. He leaned in, voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "It was posted by a woman named Amanda. And do you know what the quest reward is?"
Klein blinked. "Gold?"
"No, no, no." The Berserker chuckled. "She is the reward."
Klein stopped chewing.
Stared.
Expression unreadable.
"Is that common for people who can't pay?"
"It is." The Berserker exhaled, his voice becoming wistful. He looked toward the ceiling as if imagining something divine. "But Amanda is not common."
Klein raised a brow. "What, is she a noble or something?"
The Berserker let out a dreamy sigh. "She's like... a goddess. Like an elf who has fallen straight from the sky."
Klein gave him a blank stare. "...Sure."
The Berserker laughed at the plain skepticism. "Tsk. You think I'm kidding, but just wait until you see her." He leaned forward, eyes gleaming. "I'm telling you, she's the kind of woman that can bring a war-hardened system user to drop his sword."
Klein smirked. "And yet nobody has taken the quest?"
"It's because of the system quest season." The Berserker smiled knowingly. "Everyone's too busy getting ready for the legendary World Event."
He straightened his shoulders.
Confident.
"While all those idiots are busy with that, I'll take Amanda for myself."
Klein snorted. "And you don't think any other system user is thinking the same thing?"
The Berserker's expression darkened. "...you know you're the curse upon my hopes."
Klein chuckled and resumed unpacking their meal, shaking his head. "Keep dreaming, big guy."
The Berserker muttered but picked up food Klein had laid out. Beneath his bravado lurked another drive. A deeper determination that went beyond simple desire.
They ate in silence.
The battlefield around them held an eerie quiet. Bodies long dissolved. Ground empty save for scattered weapons and torn cloth.
Then.
Rumble.
The floor shook.
Klein froze mid-chew. The Berserker's gaze snapped to the expanse before them, eyes suddenly alert.
The air changed.
Thicker.
Heavier.
Imbued with malice.
A guttural growl reverberated from the darkness beyond their sight. Torches along the chamber walls flickered, casting wild shadows across stone mountains. Something massive stirred in the depths. Something that had been waiting for them to exhaust themselves.
The Berserker smiled. Energy flowed back into his limbs as he stood, cracking his knuckles.
"...Looks like we won't have to wait much longer."
Golden afternoon light streamed through farmhouse windows.
Amanda walked in.
There was something different about her movement. Weightless. As though she'd cast off a burden carried for years.
Leo glanced up from his seat against the table.
Then he saw it.
The smile.
Not the weary, rehearsed one she used to hide pain. Not the bitter, resigned expression when discussing the past.
No.
This was real.
She looks... free.
Amanda had told the story countless times over the years. How their party had been slaughtered by the Dominion Lord. How Samuel and Claire had forced her to flee.
His parents.
Because she was the only one who could escape.
The only one with Recall.
The elven race skill allowed its caster to teleport away. But only themselves. It couldn't bear another person. Could save no one except the person who cast it.
So they made her use it.
And Amanda lived.
For Leo.
While they had not.
That memory had tormented her for twenty years. Every morning, he'd seen it in her eyes. The weight of survival. The guilt of being the one who escaped.
But now?
Gone.
Leo found no restlessness on her face. None of the bitterness. None of the guilt that all the sweetest fruit in the world couldn't ease.
Only relief.
"It's over." Amanda's voice came quiet, reverent.
She walked in circles, unable to sit still. Her hands touched furniture as if grounding herself in the present. The table. The chairs.
Real things.
"Whoever did this... they've freed me," she breathed. Then she shook her head, half laughing at the absurdity of it all. "I don't even know who that person was, but I owe them everything."
Leo watched her.
Silent.
You don't need to know.
Then she hesitated.
Something in her expression changed. Uncertainty replacing joy. She turned toward her bedside, movements suddenly purposeful.
Leo perked up, gaze sharpening with interest.
Amanda reached into a hidden compartment and pulled out something wrapped in thin fabric. She approached him slowly, placing it in his hands with care.
A scroll.
Edges worn.
Seal long broken.
Leo frowned. "What's this?"
Amanda exhaled deeply. "I gave a request twenty years ago."
A knot formed in Leo's stomach.
"The revenge is what I desired," she continued. "For my friends. For your parents. For myself."
His fingertips gripped the parchment tighter.
"The reward required was staggering. More than I could ever afford."
She looked at him then.
Steady.
Unflinching.
"So, I offered myself."
Silence stretched between them.
Leo blinked. "You... what?"
Amanda closed her eyes briefly, composing herself. When she spoke again, her voice came measured. Calm. But underneath, Leo heard the tremor of old pain.
"I offered myself to whoever could clear the Orc Dominion."
The words fell over him like a weigthed blanket.
Heavy.
Suffocating.
Amanda continued. "Quests are sacred, especially to elves. If someone comes to collect their reward... I won't be able to stop them."
She met his eyes directly. No wavering. No hesitation.
"I need you to promise me, Leo." Her voice dropped.
"Promise me you won't do anything reckless."
Leo didn't respond.
Wasn't even listening.
His eyes scanned the scroll's contents rapidly. The formal language. The irrevocable nature of the quest contract.
Then.
He grinned.
"So..." He tilted his head, amusement dancing in his eyes. "So does that mean I get you for the rest of my life?"
Amanda winced.
Scowled.
Exasperated.
She swatted his shoulder with more force than necessary. "Leo, this is serious!"
He laughed, half-heartedly dodging her strikes. "I mean, technically..."
"No." She interrupted, voice sharp. "Only the one who completed the quest may claim the reward."
Leo's smirk faded instantly.
Reality setting in.
Amanda sighed, massaging her temples. The weight of twenty years suddenly visible in her posture. "I wasn't thinking back then. I was desperate. But what's done is done."
Leo opened his mouth to respond.
Then.
Bang!
The door slammed open with enough force to shake the walls.
At that exact moment, Leo spoke.
"I defeated the Orc Lord."
The words left his mouth just as Ranna burst through the doorway, dragging Cris behind her like a sack of grain.
Everyone froze.
Ranna stopped mid-stride.
Cris, mid-struggle, went still.
Amanda's sharp intake of breath cut through the silence.
Leo's statement hung in the air. Pressing against the walls. The floor. Their very breath. The farmhouse, which had been alive with distant sounds of life outside, fell completely silent.
Even the wind stilled.
Cris, who'd been scowling defiantly moments before, now simply blinked. Anger replaced instantly with utter confusion.
Amanda opened her mouth.
No words came.
The curtains stirred in the faintest breeze. A single mote of dust drifted through the golden light. Time itself seemed to pause, waiting for someone to break the impossible tension.
Then Ranna turned to Leo.
Slowly.
Deliberately.
Her piercing eyes locked onto his. Demanding. Searching. Finding something in his expression that made her own face shift from surprise to something else entirely.
"...What did you just say?!"