After the minor heart attack caused by Ms. Roxy's wild rumors downstairs, Shin'ya decided it was best to make a swift exit from the tavern lobby. Sera, now freshly dressed and carrying her cleaned sewing kit, walked right alongside him as his designated personal guide to the city's upper district.
The morning air of Oakhaven was crisp, and the stone streets were buzzing with early-morning merchants.
"So, um, Shin," Sera started, adjusting the strap of her bag as she stole a glance at him. "Are you really not going to clear up the misunderstanding with Ms. Roxy? People in the lobby were looking at you like you were... well, some kind of terrifying creature."
Shin'ya let out a long, soul-weary sigh, keeping his hands stuffed deep into his hoodie pockets. "Sera, if I go back there and try to explain that 'forty minutes' was actually my hyper-specific, multi-layered nap schedule to prevent a dimensional anomaly— I-I mean sacred dimensional ritual, she'll think I'm insane. If I tell her it's a secret training routine, she'll think I'm hiding something. In the world of rumors, once the train leaves the station, you just gotta let it crash."
Sera let out a melodic, genuine laugh, the anxiety from earlier completely melting away. "I suppose you're right. But still, 'forty minutes straight' is going to be your nickname by sunset."
"Please, spare my dignity," Shin'ya groaned, covering his face. He then looked over at her, his expression softening a bit. "More importantly, are you doing okay? You didn't have to walk me all the way to the Central Branch, I know the way Sera. You should be resting or handling your actual maid duties."
Sera shook her head, a soft but determined smile on her face. "The manager actually assigned me to be your personal liaison for the duration of your stay since you... well, since you tipped enough to buy a small house. Honestly, Shin, because of that money, my family can finally breathe. I don't know how you find out these things, but... thank you. Really."
Shin'ya smirked, staring straight ahead as his internal anime nerd did a victory lap. Man, the 'all-knowing mastermind' bit is so addictive. "Don't sweat it," he said out loud, sounding cool and detached. "An A-ranker has to keep track of the people around him. Just make sure you keep waking me up on time."
"Understood, Boss," Sera teased, giving him a playful, mock salute.
Their lighthearted banter came to an abrupt halt as they reached the towering, white-stone gates of the Oakhaven Central Branch Guild Hall. Unlike the rowdy tavern branch, this place was heavily guarded by knights in polished silver armor, which he would have noticed if he paid attention when he first came and went out.
Sera was told to wait in the grand lobby, giving Shin'ya an encouraging nod as the Guild Master's personal assistant escorted him up a grand spiral staircase.
Moments later, Shin'ya was ushered into a vast, mahogany-lined office. Sitting behind a massive desk was the Guild Master himself, Gideon Vance. He was a mountain of a man, with a severe burn scar running down the left side of his face and eyes that looked like they had stared into the abyss and didn't blink.
Gideon unrolled a thick, ancient parchment map across the desk, tapping a heavily scarred finger onto a deeply buried section of the northern ruins. "I'll skip the pleasantries, Arata. The request my assistant handed you is a formality for the public records. In reality, what we are facing beneath the city isn't an A-rank anomaly. It is an active, catastrophic S-rank threat."
Shin'ya's calm expression instantly shattered. He bolted upright out of his chair, his anime-nerd composure flying completely out the window as his voice cracked in absolute disbelief.
"AN S-RANK?!" Shin'ya screamed, slamming his hands onto the mahogany desk. "THEN WHY THE HECK DO YOU WANT A FREAKING 'A' RANKER TO DO IT?! ARE YOU INSANE?!"
Gideon didn't even flinch at the outburst. He just stared at Shin'ya with dead, serious eyes. "Because a standard S-rank raid squad would guarantee the total destruction of Oakhaven within the first five minutes of entry."
Shin'ya's brain, rapidly firing on all cylinders, suddenly caught up with the logic. Wait... Shadow Affinity. Zero presence footprint. The unique mana core... Oh, yeah. I'm the only suitable asset in the entire territory. Slowly, the wind leaving his sails, Shin'ya sank back down into his leather chair, rubbing his temples as an immense wave of mental exhaustion washed over him. "...Fine. Explain."
Gideon nodded, pointing to the map. "The deepest layer of the catacombs is currently flooded with Sound-Eater Miasma. It's a thick, magical black fog where sound literally cannot travel. If you scream, nothing comes out. If a mage tries to cast a spell, the vocal components fail instantly. You will be operating in absolute, maddening silence."
Shin'ya's brow furrowed. A total stealth zone, Great.
"Sleeping within that fog is a prehistoric, disaster-class colossus known as the Grave-weaver Titan," Gideon continued, his voice dropping an octave. "It is completely blind, but its hearing and heat-sensing are god-like. A single heavy footstep, a rapid heartbeat, or a drop of sweat hitting the stone floors will wake it fully. If it wakes, it will tunnel upward, causing the entire city of Oakhaven to collapse into a sinkhole."
Shin'ya internally started hyperventilating. A blind Cloverfield monster?! One sneeze and I'm a permanent resident of the afterlife! "Worse yet, the catacombs are patrolled by thousands of Calcified Stalker," Gideon warned. "They are ancient skeletons whose bone marrow has been replaced by silent, porous volcanic stone. They move like ghosts—zero rattling, zero footsteps. They have no eyes, but fused directly into their ribcages are rusted, ancient bells. If they detect a living soul, they don't attack right away—they violently shake their chests to ring those bells. The sound of a single bell vibration cutting through that silence will instantly wake the Titan."
Shin'ya's internal voice was now a full-blown siren. THE ENEMIES HAVE BUILT-IN ALARM CLOCKS?! This isn't an S-rank mission, this is an endgame stealth-horror DLC! I just wanted grocery money and a safe place to sleep!
"Standard stealth magic emits a faint light or heat signature that the stalkers can sense," Gideon explained, looking at Shin'ya with deep gravity. "But your Shadow Affinity is pure. You can literally melt into the ambient darkness, erasing your body heat and masking your presence entirely. Your weapon emits no loud magical aura, and your sub-space shadow storage means you carry no clanking armor or rattling supply bags. You are the only person who can slide past the swarm like a ghost."
Gideon slid a heavy, glowing silver spike across the desk. It hummed with a pure, holy energy. "Your mission: slip through the soundless fog, walk right past the sleeping Titan, and drive this holy sealing spike into the ancient pedestal directly beneath the monster's foot. It will force the Titan back into a century-long slumber."
Shin'ya stared at the silver spike. The gravity of the situation was heavy, but as he looked at the parchment map, his practical mind calculated the timeline.
Two days... Forty-eight hours. That was exactly enough time to abuse his 40-minute sleep loops, test his shadow-slipping limits, and figure out how to completely mask his heartbeat and footsteps using his shadow aura. If he was going into a horror game, he was going to grind his stealth stats to the absolute max first.
Shin'ya picked up the heavy silver spike, his face hardening back into his cool, deadpan expression. He met the Guild Master's scarred gaze.
"Two days," Shin'ya said quietly. "I'll be ready."
Gideon Vance let out a breath he seemed to have been holding for a long time, giving the fourteen-year-old a respectful, solemn nod. "The fate of Oakhaven is in your hands, Shin'ya Arata."