Rin opened his eyes to a blinding white glare. It stung. His lashes fluttered as he squinted into the light, vision slowly adjusting.
When the blur faded, he found himself surrounded by damp trees, their trunks dark with recent rain. The scent of wet earth filled his lungs. Mist curled along the forest floor, and moody gray light filtered through the leaves above.
"Looks like I'm in a forest… and freshly rained on too," he murmured.
He scanned the area. Silence. No voices. No footsteps. Not even Nariku.
"Interesting. We didn't land together. So everyone's starting location is randomized?"
Even better, he thought.
A soft chime echoed in his mind.
---
[NEW QUEST – MAIN]
Title: Defend the Village
Objective: Save the village from monsters
Time Limit: None
Failure Condition: Main Crystal destroyed
Failure Consequence: Death
Reward: 1000 Gold + 5 Random Stat Points
[NEW QUEST – SECRET]
Title: Erase the Others
Objective: Kill 10 players by any means
Time Limit: Same as Main Quest
Failure Condition: Witnesses survive to report your kills
Failure Consequence: Lose 5 Random Stat Points
Reward: Gain 5 Random Stat Points + 3 Stat Points
---
Rin's eyes narrowed.
A dual path. Hero or monster. And the system already made its choice for me...
His lips curled into a grin—sharp, wild, amused.
"Villain, huh?" he chuckled. "I like it."
He wandered through the forest, navigating with ease. His steps were quiet, practiced. Around thirty minutes passed before he spotted a cluster of thatched roofs in the distance—a village.
But just before that, a strange sight: a small goblin camp, hidden deep in the woods. Smoke trails curled into the sky.
"A goblin village… ten minutes from the main one," Rin muttered. "That's convenient."
He continued walking, the main village finally within reach. His boots sank slightly into the damp ground as he approached.
That took longer than expected. More than twenty minutes to get here from spawn. If this is the place we're meant to protect, it's not well positioned...
He moved quietly around the village perimeter, eyes scanning for signs of life—or weakness.
From the bushes ahead, a pair of eyes watched him.
A girl—slim, cautious—peeked through the foliage. Her voice trembled.
"Huh... why are you here, mister?"
Rin's gaze snapped to her.
A familiar face.
Yokuta, he recalled.
He softened his expression into that warm, signature smile.
"Rin. Call me Rin," he said gently.
The girl blinked, surprised. "Oh! I'm Yokuta. N-nice to meet you."
"Yeah. Sure."
She shifted awkwardly. He tilted his head.
"Hey, do you remember that boy I was with before we got teleported? Small, kind of quiet?"
"Oh, yeah. I saw him! He's over by the south gate of the village. We're near the north one."
"Thanks, Miss Yokuta."
She blushed faintly at the 'miss' and quickly retreated back into the defensive formation forming behind the trees.
Rin waved lazily at her back, the smile still pasted on his face. Inside, his mind was already racing.
So Nariku made it here too. Good. Useful.
His nose twitched. No blood. No screams. No burnt wood.
The monster attack hasn't started yet…
As he walked deeper into the village, he passed what looked like a makeshift medbay—a simple blanket laid out over dirt, lined with mismatched pillows. Nearby villagers shuffled with quiet tension.
At the heart of the village, he spotted it: a gemstone.
Emerald green. Floating slightly off the ground in a stone pedestal. Its light pulsed softly, like a living heartbeat—dim, then bright, then dim again.
"That must be the Crystal," Rin murmured. "Our main failure condition."
He stared at it for a moment, studying the patterns in the light.
No guards. No barrier. Wide open.
He turned on his heel.
"Time to find Nariku."