...
Kurose Akira stared at the pink pearl resting in his palm, falling into deep thought. The Elven Queen's commission weighed heavily on his mind.
"It's getting late. I should log out and get some rest."
The Elven Queen's quest would last an entire month—there was no need to rush it tonight. Just as Akira prepared to exit the game, he suddenly noticed Ivsha stepping out of the prayer room.
"Huh? Ivsha, it's pretty late—why are you still at the guild?" Akira asked, genuine confusion in his voice.
It was already nine in the evening. Under normal circumstances, Ivsha should have returned to the church long ago.
"Mmm~ I was organizing some puni— I mean, tools," Ivsha replied with a bright smile. "It took a bit longer than I expected. Before I knew it, it was already dark."
Her fingers were interlaced in front of her chest, her expression relaxed and cheerful.
"Is the prayer room finished?" Akira asked, curiosity flashing through his eyes as he glanced toward its direction.
"Yes, more or less~" Ivsha nodded gently, her voice soft and soothing. "I think it'll be ready for official use starting tomorrow."
"That's great news. When can I go in and take a look?" Akira felt a flicker of anticipation.
"Mr. Akira, your enthusiasm for the prayer room is quite unexpected~" Ivsha's lips curved upward slightly when she heard how eager he was. Her smile carried a mysterious, almost bewitching charm.
That smile sent a faint tremor through Akira's heart. Something felt… off. Subtly, instinctively off.
"But you'll have to wait until tomorrow," Ivsha continued lightly. "There's something very important I still need to retrieve from the church."
"Something important?" Akira pressed, curiosity getting the better of him.
"Shhh~ it's a secret."
Ivsha leaned in and pressed a light kiss against Akira's cheek, then left the guild in high spirits.
After Ivsha departed, Akira also logged out of the game.
He removed the VR headset, rubbing his aching brow with tired fingers. The nonstop grind of the past few days had left him drained, and the rare moment of relaxation made drowsiness surge over him.
After a quick shower, he fell into a deep sleep. His rest was so profound that even his dreams were calm and still—so much so that he failed to notice the Elven Queen drifting softly into his dream like a gentle breeze.
"Looks like the little one is completely exhausted," the Elven Queen murmured softly, gazing at his sleeping face with tenderness in her eyes. "I'll come again tomorrow. Before I go… I'll leave you a few gifts."
As she spoke, her slender finger lightly touched the center of Akira's brow.
A warm white glow flowed gently into him, spreading throughout his body like the light of dawn washing over the land—comforting, serene, and endlessly soothing.
[Elven Queen's Blessing: All status recovery speed increased by 100%. (24h)]
After completing this, the Elven Queen slowly faded from Akira's dream.
The next day, after school, Akira couldn't wait to log back into the game.
The moment he entered, he noticed a new effect added to his status panel—a blessing from the Elven Queen.
"Elven Queen's Blessing?" Akira murmured in surprise, then muttered to himself, "No wonder I slept so well last night…"
Still, he was puzzled. When exactly had this blessing been applied?
"Guildmaster! We're here! What's today's commission?"
Before long, Floria and Fria arrived at the guild, brimming with excitement for the day's adventure.
"Let's sit for a bit first. Ivsha hasn't arrived yet," Akira said gently.
"Okay~ Guildmaster~"
Floria and Fria nodded obediently and took seats on the wooden benches in the guild hall, patiently waiting for Ivsha.
While waiting, Akira opened the world channel to check the latest developments.
But the moment he did, his brow furrowed slightly.
The world channel was flooded with player complaints and cries of despair.
SuperPigHero: "Is this for real? This demon-race quest is insane!"Lightning Superman: "My level 30 rare-quality Minotaur Warrior got one-shot by a demon! This is ridiculous!"Turtle Hermit: "Even my level 40 Royal Knight can't handle those demons. Their combat power is completely broken!"TopPlayer: "The Starfall Kingdom's army is already suppressing the demon outbreak site. We just need to assist with mopping up stragglers—don't even think about charging into the demon lair! That's an enemy even B-rank guilds struggle against!"
"..."
The discussion made Akira's expression grow serious.
He remembered Liu Xue mentioning before that only players of D-rank or higher were eligible for this special quest. Still, he hadn't expected the difficulty to be this extreme.
A level 40 Royal Knight being outmatched… that was shocking.
What surprised him even more was that the demon lair had appeared near the Starfall Kingdom. Could there be some hidden connection?
"Mr. Akira~ I'm here~"
Just as Akira was lost in thought, Ivsha entered the guild.
"Since you're here, let's—"
Akira had just started to stand up to lead the team when he noticed Ivsha's arms were filled with small bottles containing a pale pink liquid.
Ivsha's… honeyed holy water?
"Please wait just a moment~ I'll put these holy waters into the prayer room first~" Ivsha said hurriedly, cradling the bottles as she dashed into the prayer room.
The sight made Akira frown slightly. His curiosity about Ivsha's prayer room deepened further.
"All done~"
After storing the holy water, Ivsha immediately returned to the guild hall.
"Let's begin our adventure, Mr. Akira~"
Akira rubbed the bridge of his nose and smoothly assigned the tasks to the guild members.
With ample manpower available, he temporarily set aside the Moon Goddess Empire commission and distributed the remaining four tasks evenly between two teams.
"Let's move out!"
"Understood! Mr. Akira (Guildmaster)~"
Once the assignments were complete, Akira led Ivsha and Alice into the teleportation array, heading toward their mission site—a hidden cave. Their first objective was to destroy a magic array. Judging from the description, it looked like another witch's handiwork.
"Master! Look!" Alice suddenly exclaimed, pointing ahead.
Following her direction, Akira saw more than a dozen crystal orbs floating in the dim cave, glowing with an eerie green light.
"That must be the magic array we're supposed to destroy. Stay sharp," Akira warned Ivsha and the others.
"Mm."
After locating the target, the three of them carefully approached the array.
But when Akira reached its outer edge, what he saw inside made him frown.
At the center of the magic array lay a corpse.
And hovering over that corpse… was a rare-grade descriptor.
[Corpse]
"?"