57th Floor.

It was a nice floor.

Completely different from previous floors that were rocky, mountainous, and full of obstacles.

Woods stretched throughout the floor. Few lakes and rivers scattered about. It looked like a perfect place to relax and enjoy nature.

It could be mistaken for a national park.

And in the middle of it all, there was a large lodge. Golden light streamed out of the windows. It was made of brown-golden wood and stone, blending in perfectly with the natural surroundings.

Triangle-shaped roof. Four floors. Balconies on each level. Chimney poking through the top. And a cozy fire burning inside.

As a reward for reaching the 57th floor as the first guild, Dead Redemption received this place as a reward for their effort.

Currently, inside the lodge.

...

The fire crackled at the corner while members of the Dead Redemption were sitting about, doing their own thing.

Despite it being late at night, none of them looked tired. They had all gotten used to staying up late.

They remembered the early grinding days of Black Online, when they stayed up all night just to try to stay ahead of their competition.

"...Damn."

Kerr scratched his cheek as he looked at the cards in his hands, and across from him, Hermes was smiling mysteriously.

They were playing some card games to pass on the time.

With them, they had a couple of cups of alcoholic drinks and plates that had remnants of food left on them.

"You aren’t using Read, right? Because that would be cheating, Hermes. You know that my Read is not as good as yours!"

Kerr shouted angrily.

"I am not using it. I promised, didn’t I? But it’s not my fault that you’re easy to read."

Hermes said with a smirk.

"Fuckkkk."

Kerr clicked his tongue in frustration and tried to think of a card to choose, but he couldn’t concentrate with Hermes’s smug expression staring back at him.

’This bastard... I won’t lose to him this time!’

Meanwhile.

Xiao Yue and Aria was sitting by the fire. One was talking, and one was not so much. It was unclear whether Yue was even listening.

Lock and Rasmus were in the middle of a heated argument about the best way to take down a monster called the "Shadow Beast."

"The obvious way is to cut off its access to all shadows, obviously. It can traverse between shadows, making it really hard to kill!"

Lock shouted.

"Bah, I can just shoot an arrow through the Shadow Beast’s core to kill it. I don’t understand why you’re making this more complicated than it needs to be!"

Rasmus rebutted back.

Seonwoo Kim was sitting alone at the back.

She wasn’t wearing her armor anymore and was in her casual clothes, which honestly looked quite tight for her.

As if it were hard to find clothes that could fit someone of her size.

She was looking at Leon, who was sitting over at the couch, completely oblivious to her stares.

Thump, thump~ Sounds came from outside. Creak~! The door then opened.

Several of them looked over, but once they saw Raizen and Rook, they turned their attention back to their previous tasks.

"We found perhaps a clue to the tower. An underground passage. It could be worth looking into."

Raizen said.

"Really? What a relief."

Leon said.

They had been looking hard for the tower, and so far, they have no clue where it could be, but they were clear on one thing.

The tower wasn’t at the surface.

Otherwise, they would’ve already found it.

"If you’re bored, Leon, shall we go take a look at it?"

Raizen asked.

"Sure. I was thinking about logging out since there was nothing for me to do. But this sounds interesting."

Leon said with a smile.

Raizen and Rook nodded. Looking quite relieved actually. They also exchanged a quick glance.

"Can I come too?"

In that moment, Seonwoo Kim stood up and asked.

Immediately, there was a slight change in Raizen’s and Rook’s expression. It was like they really did not want her to come with them.

"The underground passage is some distance away. We need to run to get there, or we’ll be trekking down these woods all night.

"Unfortunately, you cannot keep up with us, Seonwoo."

Raizen said.

"...I can keep up."

Seonwoo Kim said with a serious look on her ugly face.

"Uhh..."

Raizen scratched the back of his head and looked at Leon, trying to make him change her mind.

They knew that Seonwoo would only listen to Leon.

"It’s just a little scouting mission. Not all of us need to go there. We’ll be fine with just the three of us."

Leon said, looking straight at Seonwoo, and she looked sad for a second, but then she nodded and sat back down.

They then packed their gear and headed out of the door.

Seonwoo Kim kept looking at the door that slowly closed, and she furrowed her brows as something felt odd.

’They looked like they really didn’t want me to come along. Do they not like me that much? Do they just want to have some bonding time between men?

’Hardly. I think it’s something else... Suspicious.’

...

Swoosh~! Swoosh~!

Running through the forest, Raizen, Rook, and Leon rapidly sprinted between the trees and bushes.

They outran every deer, every rabbit, and every squirrel.

"I think we’re nearing the place!"

Raizen shouted.

’It’s indeed quite far... So far that my Cry For Help skill won’t be of much help if we get in some trouble.’

Leon thought.

However.

He doubted that with the three of them they would encounter any sort of trouble that required any kind of help.

"It’s somewhere here."

Rook said with his usual cold, stoic voice.

They slowed down their pace until they were walking, and they looked around the dark woods, but Leon couldn’t see anything.

"How did you guys find anything in this pitch darkness?"

He asked with a frown.

"There!"

In that moment, Rook pointed towards a hole in the distance, and they quickly walked over and looked inside the hole.

It looked like a massive mole had been digging there.

"Are you sure? It doesn’t look anything special."

Leon said with a frown.

"We already went inside there. It doesn’t look anything special, but we walked far enough to find tower symbols on the walls.

"The hole goes all the way to some kind of tunnel. We didn’t go any further than that, but we’re certain that it must lead to the tower."

Raizen said.

"...Okay then."

Leon said.

Then, Rook hopped inside the hole. Raizen followed him. Lastly, Leon took a good look around the woods and jumped after them.

They landed at the bottom of the hole, pitch darkness all around them, but then Rook fetched a torch from his inventory.

Its scarlet-red light illuminated the walls.

"Let’s walk."

Rook said and led the two of them through the seemingly very long tunnel ahead of them.

Meanwhile, Raizen took a drink from his inventory, took a sip, and let out an exhale of satisfaction.

"Want some?"

He offered it to Leon.

"That’s not like you, Raizen. You aren’t usually careless enough to get drunk in the middle of a mission."

Leon said, grabbed the cup, and sniffed it cautiously before taking a small sip.

It was really strong.

"Whoah... That’s strong."

He handed the drink back, and Raizen stored it inside his inventory, but then he took some strange vial from the inventory and drank that too.

"What’s that?"

Leon asked as he looked at the vial.

It didn’t look like it contained anything pleasant.

"Ever heard of Green Piss?"

Raizen asked.

"...No."

Leon shook his head.

"It’s a different type of drink. It doesn’t get you drunk, but it’ll make you feel like you’re going insane. The effects will only begin in like an hour, so I am just getting ready for the after-party."

Raizen said with a chuckle.

"Sounds... Shit."

Leon wryly smiled.

A moment later.

The torch’s light reached the end of the tunnel, but unlike what Raizen and Rook said, there was no more to the tunnel.

"Huh? Where the hell is rest of the tunnel?"

Leon walked to the end of the path, but that’s where it ended, with a solid earth wall blocking any further progress.

[Ding!]

[Ding!]

[You have been poisoned!]

"Uh?"

Leon looked at the message in front of him, and his vision suddenly started to turn hazy, and he wobbled to the side.

"W-W-What the hell... Huh?"

He turned around, and he saw his two friends—Raizen and Rook—arming themselves with their weapons.

"Y-You..."

Leon realized what was going on, and without further ado, he opened his mouth and screamed with power.

The voice traversed across long distances.

"Your Cry For Help is useless. We intentionally took you far enough so others wouldn’t be able to hear you."

Rook said coldly.

"You... poisoned me... I saw you... drink the same poison... So how?"

Leon asked with confusion in his eyes.

"Well, this Green Piss... Is just an antidote. It nullifies the effects of the poison. The poison I gave you is special kind.

"I know you also have all kinds of special antidotes in your person, but this poison... It’ll take a while to take effect, but once it does, it also blocks your access to the inventory."

Raizen said.

Leon’s eyes shook, and he tried opening his inventory, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t even open his interface!

"You... bastard!"

He screamed.

"You need to die. This was inevitable. You must’ve known that. It’s not personal. I hope you know that."

Raizen spoke softly, almost regretfully, and at that moment, he grew fox ears and a tail—the Fox God’s Transformation!

The hair also turned a beautiful orange shade.

Meanwhile.

Rook’s appearance also changed.

His head turned to that of a vulture with giant wings sprouting from his back, and his hands became talons with sharp claws.

A vulture-man!

His legacy was—Roc the Mythological Bird!