Hours had already passed since the start of the second night.
A lean young man was standing on the rooftop of a building a few blocks away from the hospital. Together with a handful of other suspicious people, he was spying on Jay's room through binoculars. That man wore black monk pants and an oversized dark red shirt.
"What a joke." he sneered in his deep voice as he slicked back his bob-cut black hair.
"As planned, we will move tomorrow. I want you to take care of the small fries while I head inside." he added, grinning confidently with his chin lifted.
"Yes, boss!" the others replied.
Without using his binoculars, the so-called boss of the group stared in the direction of the hospital. It was only during the start of the second night that things had become messy—mostly because of the other version of Jay—but since then, the situation had calmed down. While Erik was guarding Jay, who was resting in his bed unconsciously, Luna and her friends managed to defend the hospital's main entrance. Out of all things, the fact that a small group of rookies could go up against dozens of other Challengers was probably the most surprising to the enemies. They were exhausted and beaten up, but they were still standing tall.
"I have high expectations of you. You know what will happen if you fail, right?" he said sharply.
"Yes!" the group responded firmly, not intimidated by their leader's tone.
Among all his men, the ones behind him were the strongest Challengers. If it were them, then they should not fail in dealing with Luna and the others. And in the meantime, he—the leader of the whole operation—could take care of Erik and Jay.
"Alright then... Let's screw with them a little, shall we?" he suggested slyly as he crushed the binoculars in his hand and formed a ball with them. Taking up his stance, the man threw the ball-shaped binoculars like a baseball at the hospital.
"We will meet at the usual spot." he stated, relaxed before snapping his finger.
He suddenly vanished from the spot, with only the binoculars—that he had thrown previously—being in his place.
"Yo, you liked my surprise?" the man chuckled as he greeted the people in front of him.
Standing on glass shards, his gaze shifted between the still-sleeping Jay and the vigilant Erik, who was already in his fighting stance.
"What? No need to be so on edge. I'm just here to say hello." he said, acting hurt as Erik did not reply.
"So you're the one leading them?" Erik asked sternly, his staff still pointing at him.
"Who else if not me, Erik?" he responded, smug.
The man felt at home and casually plopped down on the bed, glancing at Jay. When his fingers were reaching out to Jay, a staff was about to slap his hand away.
"Relax, dude! I was just checking if he was really asleep!" the man shouted frantically.
"I mean, do you know how surprised I was seeing you two here? I didn't recognize him at first, but after taking a closer look now, I'm certain that it's him." he followed with a sneer before standing up again.
"On every other occasion, I'd gladly avoid a fight against you, but how could I possibly not use the current conditions to my advantage?"
"I've spent last night and today figuring out what and how you would tackle the quest. And trust me, I was actually dumbfounded when I found out how frail your current team was." he laughed.
"Jeff Dynos... If you want a fight, I can give you one right now." Erik declared, his eyes sharper than ever.
"Oh, so you remember me, too? I'm honored." Jeff responded, acting as if he was in delight.
"But the time's almost up." he added, glancing at the night sky that was slowly brightening on the horizon.
Jeff took out a pack of tissues from his pants and threw it out of the window.
"I will come back tomorrow. Then, we can fight all we want..."
He pointed his finger at Erik before it was directed at Jay.
"...and then I will claim him." he announced cockily.
Erik's eyebrows twitched as he tried to maintain his poker face.
"Knowing you two, you wouldn't settle for a normal plan for such a quest. If your territory had been your current stay or this hospital room, then I'd be pretty disappointed, you know? I had a rough guess on what your territory could be, and after eliminating the other options and seeing your reaction, it's pretty much confirmed." Jeff explained, sticking out his tongue to insult Erik further.
[The second night is officially over. Please cease any actions toward claiming [The Jay Family]'s territory.]
However, ignoring the system message, Erik charged at Jeff with his transformed ax. Jeff reacted in time and blocked the attack with a dagger he pulled out of his pocket.
"And before I leave for today, I wanted to express my gratitude for taking care of Jay." he said, unfazed by the attack's pressure.
"What are you talking about?"
"Why does someone with the same name as him have the same skill? Why do they feel so familiar and yet so different?" Jeff bombarded Erik with questions, but it did not sound like he sought any answers.
"I let him join my group because I thought it would be better than having him become a third party in this quest and be a potential enemy. But even with him in my ranks, I felt uneasy. I had planned to get rid of him during the third night, but it seems like I don't have to move a finger anymore."
Jeff jumped away when Erik applied even more force.
"What happened to him?" Erik asked threateningly, his eyes grim.
When Jeff was about to answer, the footsteps of Luna and the others echoed across the hallway. Erik reflexively let his guard down and looked at the door, but when he turned his head back to Jeff, he was already gone. Only a pack of tissues was on the spot where Jeff had been.
"We're back." Luna announced weakly before she let out a big yawn. While she was lending the half-asleep Nina a shoulder, Neil and Carl had to work together to carry the unconscious Randy.
"H-hey, what happened here?!" she asked as the shock after seeing the room's state washed away her fatigue.
"Get some rest while you still can. We will act once the sun is up." Erik declared sternly.
"What? So early already?" Luna gasped.
"Believe me, I want to give you as much rest as possible, but the situation has changed for the worse."
Since the group of rookies was occupied with defending the entrance, they had no idea what had occurred inside the building. They did not know about the disguised enemies, the storm of intruders, the cold Jay's appearance, and Jeff Dynos's visit. Of course, Erik did not know what happened outside or that the cold Jay had fought against Jay. However, even if he did, he would still declare the appearance of Jeff Dynos as the most alarming.
"We will have to switch our strategy completely for tomorrow if needed."
"D-did something happen?"
Erik stared at the concerned Luna. Even Neil and Carl noticed that the situation had become a lot more serious and kept their mouths closed.
"The enemy leader of this quest is a man called Jeff Dynos. If you ever happen to cross paths with him, run away. Run as if your lives depend on it." Erik said, stern and vigilant.
"Jeff Dynos...?" Luna muttered, baffled.
"T-that Jeff Dynos...?!" Neil stuttered anxiously, breaking into a cold sweat.
"Y-you know him, Neil?" Carl wondered.
Erik heaved a heavy sigh.
"Jeff Dynos... He's a Conqueror."