As she glanced down, Sophia's face twisted in fear.
Cracks of light spread rapidly across her breastplate, webbing out from the center until the tal glowed white-hot. The cracks reached her shoulders, flashing brightly before the entire piece shattered into countless fragnts, clattering to the ground and leaving her chest fully exposed to Jan's horrified gaze.
Boink!
Badum!
Her bosom bounced from the sudden impact, and Jan's eyes widened in shock as their gazes t—hers burning with embarrassnt, his frozen in pure panic.
[Sub Hidden Mission: Humiliatly Defeat Sophia (Completed)]
[Congratulations! You've completed the sub-hidden mission!]
[Reward: 2 Levels Up!]
[You've reached Level 10. You can now distribute your points!]
"You saw it, didn't you?" Sophia's voice dropped into a dangerously calm tone, her eyes blazing with fury.
"I—I… I didn't an to—"
"AAAAAHHHH!!!"
BOOM!
Before Jan could explain, Sophia lunged forward and punched him square in the face.
[-50 HP]
Jan flew backward like a ragdoll, crashing into the arena wall with a sickening crunch.
[-40 HP]
[Your body is in a critical state. You are about to die!]
'I-I won… but it doesn't feel like it…' Jan thought, spitting blood as he slumped against the wall. Through blurred vision, he saw Sophia approaching—one hand gripping her sword, the other covering her chest, her expression murderous.
"You're dead at, hero!" she snarled, sword raised high.
Whoosh!
Clang!
The sound of tal clashing echoed through the air as Erza appeared between them, deflecting Sophia's sword with her own. With her free hand, she tossed her cloak at her daughter.
"Cover yourself," Erza ordered calmly.
"Mom!!!" Sophia shrieked, face burning with embarrassnt.
"Quiet!" Erza's tone was sharp. "You lost—accept your defeat!"
"But he humiliated ! Just let kill him once—he won't actually die!"
"Killing another guild mber is forbidden, even if he's a hero!"
"But Mom!!!"
"I said enough!" Erza's voice cracked like a whip, silencing the arena. She turned to Jan, who was struggling to stay conscious. "Maria! Heal him."
"Yes, Guild Master!"
Maria rushed forward, her face pinched in frustration as she placed her hands over Jan. "Healing!"
Soft green light enveloped Jan's battered body, and warmth flowed through him as the pain vanished, his wounds sealing as if they'd never been there. Even the swelling from Sophia's punch disappeared, leaving Jan blinking in astonishnt.
"Wow! What was that?!" he asked, looking at his hands as if they belonged to soone else.
"It's my healing magic!" Maria said proudly. "Like I told you, hero, I'll be here to help you with anything you need!"
"T-Thanks! Really, that was amazing!" Jan stamred.
"You did well, boy." Erza's voice drew his attention. "That was an impressive duel."
"Impressive?! He was just lucky!" Sophia snapped, tossing a leather pouch at Jan's feet. "I'll rember this, hero! Next ti, it won't end like this!" Without another word, she spun around and stord out of the arena.
"..."
"Don't worry about her," Maria said, noticing the look on Jan's face. "She'll co around... probably."
Jan simply nodded, too tired to argue as he picked up the pouch—it was heavy.
"Congratulations on winning the duel, Hero Jan!" Maria said cheerfully. Then her smile shifted slightly, her eyes gleaming with opportunity. "Now that you're officially a guild mber… how about donating so of those winnings to support the guild?"
Jan raised an eyebrow.
Maria pressed on with a hopeful grin. "I an, think about it—the guild runs on donations from generous mbers like yourself. And gold is fleeting, but good deeds last forever!"
Jan gave her a skeptical look.
"Plus, this arena's a ss after that duel… it's going to take all day to clean up. Not to ntion I'm feeling drained after using my healing magic." Maria sighed dramatically. "And there's still a mountain of paperwork waiting for in the guild…"
"..."
"And, well, I lost nearly half my savings because of Sophia's reckless bet…"
"..."
"And—"
"Alright, alright!" Jan relented, holding up his hands in surrender.
"Thank you so much, Hero Jan! I knew you were a kind person!" Maria clapped her hands together in delight.
"...So, how much are we talking about?"
"Well, it's like asking how much a life is worth! I an, I did save yours, right? Hehehe…"
"..."
***
Jan ended up donating half of his winnings.
He knew exactly what Maria was up to, but he couldn't ignore the fact that she had just saved his life. Even though he was a player and he could revive after death, the experience was not sothing he was eager to repeat.
"Besides, it wasn't really her fault, so I felt bad taking her savings," Jan muttered to himself as he left the town through the west gate, clutching a mission flyer in his hand.
********Collect the Nightshade Bloomleaf********
Collect the herbs located in the Forest of the Dead.
Location: Forest of the Dead
Difficulty Level: E
Requirent: Collect 20 herbs (0/20)
Ti Limit: 4 Hours
Warning: Failure to complete your first mission with the guild will drastically lower your reputation, and your relationship with Erza will suffer.
*************************************************
Jan moved quickly, aware that ti was not on his side. The mission had to be completed within four hours, and dusk was already settling over the horizon.
Luckily, he didn't have a training session with Rollo today, so he had ti to take on this mission.
After helping Maria clean up the arena, they returned to the guild's main hall, where she filled him in on the guild's workings.
The guild operated on a rank system:
Rank E: Newcors like Jan.
Rank D and C: Interdiate adventurers.
Rank B and A: Seasoned veterans.
Rank S: Legends.
To rise through the ranks, Jan needed to complete missions successfully. This herb-gathering task, labeled as E-rank, was supposed to be a good starting point.
He also learned that Erza had once been an S-rank adventurer, and both Sophia and Maria were currently C-rank. Maria ntioned that there were about 20 other mbers, most were scattered across higher floors, leaving the guild feeling deserted.
'No wonder it felt so empty,' Jan thought. 'They really are short on mbers…'
Roar!
Suddenly, a distant roar interrupted his thoughts. Jan froze, staring ahead.
It had been three days since he had last encountered this sight. Taking a deep breath, he muttered, "We et again."
Before him stood the vicious wolves—his first kills and the creatures that had first killed him. While his mission didn't require slaying any beasts, he knew that entering the forest ant dealing with these wolves first. And beyond them lurked even worse threats.
'Gulp—I just hope I don't run into those green bastards…'
Growl!!!
"Okay, shut up," Jan muttered, unsheathing his sword with newfound confidence.
This ti, his confidence wasn't re bravado—it ca from understanding the world's rules.
'It's all about levels.'
After defeating Sophia, he had leveled up twice, reaching Level 10. The words floating above their heads indicated that the highest among them was only level 5, with the others ranging between levels 2 and 4.
Compared to him, they were now nothing more than fodder.
'Six of them, huh? This should be easy.'
From now on, he just needs to check the beast's level before deciding whether to fight or flee.
For that to work, he had to monitor his level carefully. Unfortunately, he had no choice but to morize it—or rely on Rollo to check.
'Maybe if I look at myself in a mirror, I'll see my level?' Jan pondered, sidestepping as one of the wolves lunged at him.
Growl!!
The pack circled him from all sides, their eyes gleaming with predatory hunger.
'Damn, I let them surround . Ti to get serious.'
Jan suddenly darted to the side, breaking free from the encirclent with surprising ease.
'Whoa!'
He knew he could outrun the wolves from his earlier encounters, but now his speed was on a whole different level—it surprised him more than the wolves, who pursued him with swift, coordinated movents, jaws snapping as they closed in.
Whoosh!
Jan's sword cleaved through the first wolf in a clean, lethal arc, and without hesitation, he brought the blade down on the second, severing its head from its body.
Thud.
"What the hell? When did I get this strong?"
The ease with which he dispatched them was startling, but he had no ti to dwell on it. Two more wolves lunged at him simultaneously—one aiming for his leg, the other for his shoulder.
Jan reacted instantly. With a swift thrust, he impaled the airborne wolf mid-leap, then used the montum to pivot, slashing downward to strike the other before it could sink its teeth into his leg.
Planting his foot on the fallen beasts, Jan yanked his sword free. "Maybe the sword Rollo chose for is just that strong..."
Snarl!
The pack leader charged from the side, attempting a sneak attack. But Jan, his senses sharper than ever, swung his sword diagonally in a flash of steel—cutting the beast down with a single blow.
As the leader collapsed, Jan spotted the last remaining wolf bolting into the distance. With a quick shift of his stance, he raised his sword and hurled it through the air.
Thud!!
The blade struck true, and the wolf fell mid-stride.
[You have leveled up!]
Jan paused, staring at the notification in surprise. "And I leveled up... Maybe I should've just hunted wolves instead of taking that mission."
But abandoning the mission wasn't an option—the system had made that clear.
"Well, I'll hunt as many wolves as I can on the way to the forest."
As Jan approached the fallen wolf to recover his sword, its body suddenly faded into a faint shimr, leaving behind a small, glowing object on the ground. Bending down, he picked it up, eyes widening in disbelief.
"Is this... a silver coin?!"
***
[You have leveled up!]
[You have leveled up!]
[You have leveled up!]
...
...
[Ti Remaining: 2 hours.]
Jan stood amid the lifeless bodies of countless wolves, their fur matted with blood that soaked the ground beneath his boots. Catching his breath, he wiped sweat from his brow and let out a bitter chuckle.
"Damn it, I wasted so much ti..."
The thrill of leveling up and collecting loot had proven too tempting. Each kill had brought both power and profit, with glowing notifications marking his steady progress. In the end, he spent two whole hours hunting—ti he couldn't afford to lose.
Besides coins, the wolves had dropped unexpected items. Among them were leather pants and a chest plate that looked like it belonged to a female adventurer. The discovery was bizarre, but after everything he'd experienced in this world, Jan decided it was better not to question it.
"Maybe the monsters here loot their victims..."
Though the leather pants seed more durable than his own, Jan decided to wait until he could properly clean them.
As for the chest plate, he secured it to his backpack, along with anything else that seed useful—or at least clean—and discarded items like wolf fangs, which he found utterly nasty.
"What am I supposed to do with fangs, anyway? Make a necklace? Yeah, right."
With his backpack now heavy with things he mostly didn't know how to use, Jan resolved to stop collecting items unless they were the herbs he needed, or sothing truly valuable.
Brushing dust from his hands, he turned toward the dense treeline ahead, where twisted branches stretched like skeletal fingers against the dimming sky. Shadows pooled beneath the canopy, thick and foreboding.
Jan quickened his pace, glancing at the sky's deepening hues.
"Two hours left... Focus. I need to finish this mission, or everything will be for nothing."
Step—
A cold breeze whispered through the trees as he crossed the threshold of the forest.
[You have entered the Forest of the Dead. Vision is reduced by 20%.]
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