Chapter 90

That day, Jun-sang, having finished his morning training simply, was force-feeding lunch to a panting, disoriented Heness.

“I feel like I’ll throw up if I eat.” In the past, she would never have uttered such words at a dining table, but now, courtesy and decorum were secondary. Yet, Jun-sang, undeterred by Heness’s tearful expression, pushed the spoon towards her. In the end, Heness had no choice but to force down a bowl of rice.

“Ugh…” As soon as the meal was over, Heness collapsed onto the bed. Jun-sang chuckled at her state and began to roughly clear the dishes from the table. Then, Heness, who had been lying on the bed, stirred and slowly got up, approaching the sink.

“It’s alright, go rest.” Jun-sang tried to dissuade her, but Heness shook her head.

“No.”

“…” Come to think of it, Heness did have one thing in common with Jun-sang. Once she decided to do something, she absolutely would not back down. Indeed, without such stubbornness, it would have been impossible for her to endure Jun-sang’s training for even a few days.

Jun-sang and Heness stood side-by-side at the narrow kitchen sink, washing dishes together. Jun-sang, thinking of offering her a warm glass of milk after they finished, suddenly froze as a quest message appeared before his eyes.

“Hoo…” Jun-sang sighed deeply, and Heness, who had been silently helping with the dishes beside him, noticed his strange demeanor and cautiously asked, “What’s wrong?”

“A quest.”

“…” Heness’s expression immediately hardened.

“Finish up. I’ll tidy up outside.”

“Okay.” Jun-sang immediately brought the table and chairs from outside into the house, took down the laundry line, and folded up the terrace. He then unsummoned the wolves and Mongmong who had been lounging outside, came back in, folded up the bed and table he had set out, and turned off the boiler and generator. Heness finished the dishes, locked the dish cabinet, and came out.

“Did you turn off the water?”

“Yes. Don’t worry.”

“Then, go inside for now.”

“Okay.” As Heness, with her hands clasped to her chest and eyes closed, emitted a stream of light and was reverse-summoned, Jun-sang checked the interior again to ensure nothing was left behind, then went outside and stored the container house in his inventory. The small mountain valley that had been their temporary home for several days returned to its original state. Feeling a bit lonely as he watched the scenery, Jun-sang took out a cabinet and put on his combat gear. After putting on Ashdal’s Boots and donning Grunwald’s Cloak, Jun-sang rested for a moment during the remaining time before being transferred.

Finally, when the time came, a stream of light enveloped his body, and Jun-sang found himself not in the mountain valley where he had just been, but on a suspension bridge spanning a desolate and grand canyon.

“…” As the bridge swayed in the wind sweeping through the canyon, Jun-sang quickly grabbed a rope nearby to steady himself. The bridge’s width seemed wide enough for four adult men to walk shoulder-to-shoulder, and its length appeared to be about a hundred meters. Jun-sang first hid himself with Invisibility just in case, then checked the quest information that appeared in his sight.

Quest: Defend the Heavenly Bridge

Defend the Heavenly Bridge.

: This Heavenly Bridge, built in the great Anzermang Canyon, is an important strategic point connecting the northern and central parts of Eshtalen. It must be defended at all costs, both for the recovery of the northern region seized by the Army of Darkness and for accommodating refugees fleeing from them. Protect the bridge until the central army arrives to replace the terrified defenders who fled their posts. [Time remaining until central army arrives: 67 hours 36 minutes]

[This quest involves multiple participants simultaneously.]

(Hidden) Eliminate Pursuit Captain Garland. (Cooperation) -> Uncompleted.

(Hidden) Rescue refugees being pursued by the chase squad and escort them south. (Cooperation) -> Uncompleted.

(Hidden) Obtain the enemy’s operational plans from Garland and deliver them to the central army. (Solo) -> Uncompleted.

“…” After checking the quest information, Jun-sang gauged north using the minimap and slowly crossed the bridge. Due to the limitations of Invisibility, he reached the end of the bridge somewhat slowly. The figures of other players who seemed to have arrived earlier caught his eye. There were two men and one woman. Including Jun-sang, it seemed this quest was designed for four participants.

“One person is missing.” A woman with a boyish short haircut, wrapped in a padded jacket, spoke. One of the men immediately replied, “Could they have fallen off by mistake while arriving? Haha…” It seemed to be a joke, but the reactions of the other two were chilling.

“Is that supposed to be a joke?” The woman retorted, as if finding him pathetic. The man with the slightly frivolous demeanor, who had spoken, scratched his head and apologized, seemingly realizing his joke wasn’t appropriate. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it in a bad way…”

“It’s fine.”

“…” This time, the robust man who had been silent spoke. He was carrying a large pack on his back, which by its shape seemed to contain a sword and shield.

“Has anyone here participated in the quest in Ibelua, or whatever it was called, last time?”

The woman immediately replied, “Me. I thought I’d finally get a comfortable sleep, but it suddenly completed. Were you there too, mister?”

At the word “mister,” the man gave a wry smile and replied, “I’m not even thirty yet.”

“Really? But they say all men are ‘mister’ after serving in the military.”

“Ahem…” The man briefly cleared his throat at the woman’s matter-of-fact tone, then changed the subject.

Jun-sang, hidden by Invisibility, quietly assessed their abilities using Insight. The man with the frivolous demeanor was entirely Blue, while the other two were at least Green.

“Anyway, since we have to work together, let’s introduce ourselves. I’m Lee Min-seo.” At the woman’s words, the robust man replied, “I’m Song Dong-jun.” Then, the man with the frivolous demeanor, who had been watching for an opening, quickly revealed his name.

“I’m Joo Kwang-myung. Kwang (光) meaning light, and Myung (明) meaning bright. So, literally ‘bright light’. Haha.”

“I didn’t ask?”

“Oh, right…”

Jun-sang watched them chatting idly and pondered how to resolve this quest. Setting himself aside, judging by the appearance of the other three, the difficulty didn’t seem particularly high. In that case, wouldn’t it be better to just complete the quest quickly and return as before? However, without a quest marker on the minimap, it was difficult to just move recklessly. Moreover, one of the hidden quests was to snatch the operational plans from the boss and deliver them to the central army, which would arrive later. This meant that even if Jun-sang went ahead and crushed the enemies alone, the quest would likely only end once the central army arrived. If that was the case, it might be better to wait leisurely here rather than rushing ahead and struggling. After all, if there wasn’t some huge reward waiting, like an Epic Quest, there was no need to deliberately suffer. Besides, rushing back would just mean worrying again about when he’d be summoned next.

An Unexpected Guest

Jun-sang finally made his decision, dispelled his Invisibility, and walked onto the wide clearing in front of the bridge. Lee Min-seo, who was about to open her mouth to discuss how to proceed with this quest, was startled when Jun-sang suddenly appeared from behind and walked past her.

“Wh-what the!” Lee Min-seo was still better off. Joo Kwang-myung, who had been peeking at her, was terrified when Jun-sang’s figure suddenly shimmered into existence from thin air.

“Gh-ghost?” Song Dong-jun was equally surprised but silently watched Jun-sang examining the clearing in front of the bridge. Once Lee Min-seo’s racing heart calmed down, she abruptly yelled at Jun-sang, “Hey! If you scare people…” But she couldn’t finish her sentence. That was because a large house suddenly appeared in front of Jun-sang.

“Huh? Huh? Th-that, that?” But Jun-sang, indifferent, summoned wolves and released them around the house, then simply walked inside.

“Th-that… what just happened?” Then Song Dong-jun quietly said, “It’s a container house. A pretty high-end one too.”

“No, not that! Is something like that even possible? It just popped out of thin air!” At Lee Min-seo’s exclamation, Song Dong-jun stroked his chin, then nodded again and replied, “I once heard from people in the Alliance in Ibelua that some high-ranking players obtained Inventory as a reward. Perhaps he used that.”

“Inventory?”

“I only heard that such a thing exists, so I don’t know the details.”

“Wow…”

However, Jun-sang, ignoring the three outside chattering about him, went inside, sat on a chair, and summoned Heness and Mongmong. With wolves and spirits already released around the house, no one else could approach without his permission. As Heness appeared with a flash of light, she immediately asked Jun-sang, who was sitting in front of her, “Oh? We’re back inside the house?”

“Yes.”

“Has the quest already ended?”

“No.” Jun-sang shook his head and briefly explained the contents of the current quest.

“Hmm… so that means we’ll have to stay here for about three days, no matter what.”

“Precisely. For now, sit down.”

“Okay.” Heness sat down as Jun-sang gestured to a chair.

“So, about that, I don’t plan to intervene in this quest except for important matters.”

“What? But…”

“Of course, I’ll take care of the boss and the additional objectives, but I want you to handle the other minor enemies.”

“Me?”

“Yes.” Jun-sang looked at Heness and continued, “You’ve worked hard following the tough training these past few days. But no matter how hard you train, it’s useless without actual combat. Since the difficulty of this quest seems suitable for you, it would be good to gain some real combat experience for the future.”

“…” Anyway, Jun-sang’s level had risen too rapidly, so he couldn’t gain much experience from hunting ordinary enemies. “I’m not forcing you. If you don’t want to, you can just stay here comfortably.” At Jun-sang’s words, Heness thought for a moment, then placed her hand on her chest, took a deep breath, clenched her fist, and replied, “I-I’ll try.”

Unexpected Confrontation

She was about to say something else when someone outside loudly yelled. “Hey! Come out here!” Judging by the voice, it seemed to be the woman named Lee Min-seo. Of course, Jun-sang ignored it and was about to say something else to Heness, but Lee Min-seo’s shouts echoed from outside the door again.

“Didn’t you hear me? I said come out!”

“…” It seemed like she would keep yelling like that all night if he left her alone. Jun-sang frowned and got up.

“I…”

“Stay seated.” Heness tried to get up to follow Jun-sang but, seeing his coldly resolute eyes, immediately sat back down. Jun-sang simply opened the door and stepped outside. He then turned his gaze towards the three people confronting the wolves.

“Ah, you’re out! Hey! First, these wolves…” Lee Min-seo immediately began speaking as Jun-sang appeared, but again, she couldn’t finish her sentence.

“Uh, uhh…” She wanted to speak but couldn’t. The moment she met the red light emanating from Jun-sang’s eyes, her body simply froze. The two men following Lee Min-seo were in the same situation. Jun-sang watched them silently for a moment, then closed the door and went back inside.

What do you think will happen next, with the other players confronting Jun-sang and Heness’s new resolve to engage in combat?