Rex froze mid-sip, his eyes widening. "A kid?" He slowly turned toward Christian, voice dropping. "Wait—soone actually took a fancy to you? Or did you steal a kid from soone else?"
Smack!
Christian slapped Rex across the shoulder and shot him a glare sharp enough to cut steel. "I’m talking about Cypher."
"Oh..." Rex’s expression imdiately shifted, understanding dawning on his face. He leaned in closer and lowered his voice. "Right. That kind of kid. So... what happened?"
Christian rubbed his face tiredly, fingers dragging down his cheeks. "You know when I accidentally told him that Remillia beca a rcenary?"
Rex’s head snapped toward him. "Wait—you told him that?" His voice dropped to a sharp whisper. "That was supposed to stay between us and Whitney!"
"I know that!" Christian hissed back. "It just slipped out! The guy’s burning himself out. High-risk missions, back-to-back contracts, no rest. If this keeps up, he’s going to snap—or get himself killed and I thought that if I told him a little bit of information about her, that she beca a rcenary, he’d calm down at least a little."
He laughed bitterly and leaned back. "Turns out that was the worst move I could’ve made."
Rex frowned. "Why?"
Christian glanced toward the other side of the room. Cypher sat quietly, sipping a glass of whiskey.
"He started partnering up with every rcenary group he could get his hands on," Christian continued, voice low. "Every mission. Every deploynt. If there’s even a rumor that a rcenary was involved, he’s there."
"Every single mission?" Rex repeated, brows knitting together as he leaned back against the couch. His playful expression faded, replaced by sothing more serious. "That sounds... excessive."
Christian ran a hand through his hair, clearly exhausted just thinking about it. "Excessive doesn’t even begin to cover it. He takes missions back-to-back. If one rcenary group declines, he just finds another. He doesn’t care about compatibility, risk level, or even efficiency. As long as it increases the chances of running into her—or soone who knows sothing about her—he takes it."
Rex clicked his tongue. "That idiot."
From across the room, Whitney pretended to be engrossed in adjusting her gloves, but her ears were fully tuned in. She had already read the reports, of course. Seeing it confird out loud only made it more troubleso.
"And that’s why I say I’m taking care of a kid," Christian continued, lowering his voice further. "I’m constantly covering for him. Cleaning up sses. Apologizing to rcenary groups he offended."
Rex let out a long, weary sigh and leaned back against the couch, rubbing his temples. "It’s your fault anyway," he said flatly. "You really just can’t keep your mouth shut, can you? You know that witch will co find us herself when she’s ready."
Christian stiffened. "Hey—"
"And when she does," Rex continued, lowering his voice, "it won’t matter how much you’ve tried to ’prepare’ Cypher. He’ll still lose his mind."
Christian slumped forward, elbows on his knees, fingers lacing together. "Yeah... yeah, I know. I’m regretting it now, alright?" He scratched the back of his head in frustration. "Luckily, I still haven’t told him that she’s also the CEO of Nocturna Agency—"
"Why," Rex said slowly, cutting him off mid-sentence, "am I hearing this now?"
Christian froze.
The room seed to go quiet for a split second, even though Edge and Angela were still bickering faintly on the other side. Rex turned toward Christian inch by inch, his glare sharp enough to make even seasoned dungeon raiders flinch.
"Ohhh..." Christian said, realization dawning too late. "Did Whitney... not tell you yet?"
Rex stared at him, utterly unamused. His fingers tightened around the whiskey glass, the ice clinking softly from the pressure. "You’re telling ," he said in a dangerously calm tone, "that Remillia didn’t just beco a rcenary but also casually built an entire agency powerful enough to rival mid-tier guilds—"
"And you forgot to ntion that?"
Christian shrank back. "I wouldn’t say forgot—"
Rex leaned forward abruptly. "Maybe I should just officially rena you Blabbermouth."
Christian clicked his tongue. "That’s unfair. If anything, I’ve been holding back."
"That’s the terrifying part," Rex shot back.
Christian rolled his shoulders and let out a lazy sigh as his gaze shifted to Angela. "Wanna spar later?" he said, lips curling into a familiar, teasing grin. "You know. Just like the old tis."
Angela crossed her arms and smirked back at him, eyes glinting with confidence. "Sure," she replied smoothly. "But don’t cry when I’m the one beating you into the ground this ti."
"Tch, bold words," Christian scoffed. "You say that every ti."
Rex leaned forward, clearly entertained, a sharp grin spreading across his face. "Why don’t we make it more interesting?" he said. "We take turns sparring. Free-for-all rotation. The last one standing wins."
Edge raised an eyebrow. "You’re just itching to show off again, aren’t you?"
"Obviously," Rex replied without sha. "I’ve been leading high-ranking dungeon teams for months. It’d be a waste not to test that experience."
Whitney gave a soft chuckle, lifting her glass. "Fine by ," she said. "I am curious how much the rest of you have grown," her gaze swept across them one by one.
Christian cracked his knuckles. "Looks like this reunion’s about to turn violent."
Angela rolled her neck, loosening up. "Good. I’ve been bored."
Just then—
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Every smartwatch in the room lit up at the sa ti, vibrating sharply against their wrists. The casual mood vanished in an instant.
Whitney was the first to glance down, her expression stiffening. "Ergency broadcast..."
Rex frowned as he read. "A portal?"
Christian leaned over to look at his own screen, eyes widening slightly. "In the middle of the Seraphis Ocean?"
Edge let out a low whistle. "That’s bad."
The alert continued to scroll.
————————————
Urgent Notice
A previously unrecorded portal has manifested in the Seraphis Ocean.
Sea monsters within a wide radius are exhibiting extre aggression.
Mariti routes are advised to shut down imdiately. High-ranking Heroes and Guilds are requested to respond.
————————————
Christian straightened, the playful edge gone from his posture. "Looks like our sparring session’s postponed."
Rex stood up, rolling his shoulders as well. "Guess the ocean decided to invite us instead."
Edge cracked his neck, eyes gleaming with anticipation. "Seems like we’ll all be getting busy again."
~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~
Nightjars Hideout
I was leaning my back against the couch, one leg draped over the armrest, eyes fixed on the screen while sipping Margarita as the broadcast continued.
"There is currently nothing known about this Portal," the reporter continued, footage shifting to shaky aerial shots of the Seraphis Ocean. "It appears to have manifested following a deep-sea earthquake that occurred approximately twenty minutes ago. Due to its depth and unstable structure, experts believe it is impossible to access through conventional ans."
I let out a soft chuckle and muted the TV. "Impossible, huh."
A slow smile curved my lips.
The Gateway of Vision.
I reached into my expansion pouch and took out the scrolls Ezekiel’s guild had recovered. They floated in front of , suspended midair—one glowing faintly purple, the others dull gray and green. When I first laid eyes on them, I had been underwheld. Too ordinary. The scroll I’ve been looking for is not there.
The purple scroll suddenly pulsed.
"Hm?"
The parchnt vibrated lightly, reacting on its own, as if responding to the news playing monts ago. Intrigued, I unfurled it. The blank surface shimred, ink bleeding into existence line by line, forming words.
I read silently at first.
The scroll started glowing so I unfurled it and the empty scroll had now words in it.
————————————
This scroll is limited to one person per use only.
By having this scroll in your possession, you can enter a designated place on the Gateway of Vision on a promised date.
The scheddate is July 1st, 2028.
Good luck, adventurer!
Note: After the promised date has passed and this scroll hasn’t been used, it will automatically be destroyed. So have fun finding another one!
————————————
Guessing by the pattern, if July 1st was the first opening, then the next date would likely fall soti in September. A clean two-month interval. Too clean to be coincidence.
The purple parchnt was still warm, faint traces of mana lingering on my fingertips.
"Is that the scroll you’ve been desperately looking for?"
Seth’s voice ca from behind , casual as ever, he just ca out from the infirmary.
I didn’t flinch. "It is," I replied calmly. "But I was hoping for a different color."
He walked closer, boots echoing softly against the stone floor of the hideout. When he leaned over my shoulder, his eyes imdiately locked onto the scroll.
"...Purple," he said. "That’s already rare enough. You sound disappointed."
"I am," I admitted without hesitation.
Seth raised a brow. "You’re unbelievable."
It’s rare but still not the one. Scrolls had different rarity levels.
————————————
Scroll Rarity Classification
Common (Gray): Owners can choose the difficulty level of the Tower’s level, tailoring their initial experience.
Uncommon (Green): Includes all benefits of gray scrolls, plus a level-only food supply to aid survival during the initial stages.
Rare (Blue): Adds to green scrolls by allowing owners to receive a basic weapon, increasing combat readiness.
Epic (Purple): In addition to blue scroll benefits, owners can select one companion to enter the portal with them. They may also choose to enter alone if preferred.
Legendary (Gold): Owners can only select the highest difficulty level available. They receive no incrental benefits and begin at a disadvantage. However—The reward can grant the owner skills capable of defeating any opponent encountered inside the portal.
————————————
"What would you use them for anyway?" he asked again, still staring at the scroll like it might suddenly bite him.
"My ticket to heaven," I said simply.
There was a solid two seconds of silence.
Then—
"Wait, what?" Seth’s eyes widened. "Are you dying? Since when? How long have you been hiding this? Let’s go to the clinic right now—no, don’t argue, if it’s internal damage I can still patch you up—"
"I’m not dying," I cut him off imdiately, my voice sharp enough to stop him mid-step. "What I ant was—I found a way to enter the Portal."
Seth froze. "...Oh."
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