As the sun dipped below the horizon, the violet glow from the north intensified until the sky looked like a bruised plum. The forge was finally quiet, the line of players having moved on toward the front lines.
Grizz dropped onto a pile of leather scraps, wiping sweat from his eyes. "We've made enough gold today to buy a house in the capital. But I don't think I can lift my hammer another inch."
"We've done enough for the Outpost," Si-woo said. He was looking at the Heart-Stone Compass again. The vibration had changed from a rattle to a steady, low-frequency hum. It felt like the earth itself was shivering.
"Si-woo," Mina said, her voice small. "The players we sold to... do you think it'll be enough?"
"It'll help them survive the first wave," Si-woo said. "But the 'rot' the scouts described... that's not a boss. That's an opening. If someone doesn't close that seal from the inside, the whole province is going to be overwritten by that violet energy."
He looked at his friends. They were exhausted, soot-stained, and technically still "low level." But they were the only ones who understood that the world wasn't just a game to be won.
"I have to go up there," Si-woo said.
"We're coming with you," Hana said immediately, standing up and grabbing her hammer.
"Hana, it's a Level 30 zone," Jin-Ho reminded her, though he was already reaching for his scroll-crate. "We'll get wiped the second we step into the aggro range."
"Not if we go as 'Suppliers'," Si-woo said. "The guilds are setting up a forward camp at the base of the peaks. They need a forge on-site to handle repairs. If we volunteer to be the camp smiths, they'll escort us right to the front door. Once we're there, I can find a way into the seal."
Si-woo looked at the north. He could feel the "logic" of the world straining, the Dao of the land being twisted by something that didn't belong here. He didn't need to be an immortal to know that the situation was critical. He just needed to be a guy who didn't want his new home to burn.
"Pack the portable tools," Si-woo said. "We're heading for the peaks."